Hi,
I have learned a lot since starting this thread.
Buy a parrot and grow a grey beard. I love that poster.
Thanks for the helpful hints, I used to be able to freemount regularly but have not been riding the 36 much, I have now taken the pole out in the bush on my 29 so it will be a downward progression from now on 26, 24, 20 and then 16", bike, wheelchair etc.
No snakes, dogs or unfriendly people yet but it sure works on swooping magpies (spring in Australia, they are a great problem for riders).
David, it is a folding pole; it doesn’t take much weight, is long enough but just a third point of contact that helps.
Feisty, I relegate you to the 14 yo catagory. I didn’t learn to ride any unicycle till I was 46, so just the fact that I am riding means I know all about the philosophies (no offence):). What else can I say, pride is a great thing but not if it stuffs up what you like doing. I went for a long ride today, the first one since winter on a treeless, postless, peopleless road with the attitude that if I have step off I can get back on. Ironically I had the pole and did two freemounts. I am now a walking pole carrier.
Cheers
I agree. You don’t want to get riding advice from people who fall off every 10 seconds.
As for freemounting, it’s all about technique. If you have solid technique, you should still be able to do it even when tired. How to learn the technique? Mostly I guess it’s a lot of repetition. Practice the mounts when you’re tired; it can be the best time to improve your technique, since every little movement is important.
Having said all of that, I did learn to ride when I was a teenager. But I didn’t get my first 36" until I was 40.
Uh, I guess that’s not fair. I got a 45" when I was 20.
In my case the psychological part of it is failing. I start missing mounts, gets angry and stressed and thus miss more and more mounts
I can also stubbornly miss up to thirty mounts in a row …up to the point where my head is dizzy, my heart near to explosion and I can’t do anything anymore …
I was so upset with my last 36er ride that the Coker has stayed in the garage for a year now … no such problem with the 29er
That’s not healthy; sounds like a vicious cycle of disbelief in yourself. So what’s needed is to build confidence.
I was thinking about it, and it occurs to me that 36" unicycles are harder to mount than my 45" (or other hard-tire big wheels). The handmade wheels with hard rubber tires have low friction in those tires, allowing them to easily twist side to side. All of the 36" tires so far available are very grippy, resisting turns to the side. This makes them great for cranking out long distances, but is not optimal for mounts. This is especially true if the 36" is set up for touring, with a big handlebar, short cranks or other modifications to make it less nimble.
So I think what I often do when mounting is to pause for a moment when I first get up over the wheel, with my feet on both pedals, and give it a little jerk to the left or right, to correct before I start rolling. Jerk meaning a little twist to aim the wheel in the right direction. How do you know which direction? Lots of practice I guess.
Like any other skill, to master it you need to break it down into smaller parts, to see how they all fit together. Terry’s video (linked in an earlier post) is a great tutorial on the static mount. That gets you up there on top of the wheel with the pedals level. But if you’re off balance to the side, it’s harder to ride away. Add a little correction twist before you start pedaling, and it makes it much easier to stay on (and away from those cars in the intersection).
To practice this, I guess you could practice jumping up into a stillstand. Do the static mount technique, but instead of riding away, see how long you can balance in that position. In time, you will either learn which side you tend to go toward, or correct that and get more and more balanced. Or both. In time, you should be able to mount to a stillstand, and then when you start to lose balance, make a little correcting twist and ride away.
Interesting thread, free mounting was a bugger… and i only have a static mount down, but when i get tired… i get tired… and free mounting is not as successful as i would prefer. I also run the nurse ben method, need 30 seconds, use at tree, riding with a really slow group of bikers stop and use a tree to let them get ahead… I think the biggest thing that i found helped my consistancy was just variety, after riding only my 26" Muni for like 6 weeks after i got it i found it near impossible to mount my 20… so once i got perfectly comfortable on both, and a few different cranks everything seemed to get much more natural, and remembering to keep my weight low… i am SO pumped to get a 36" (in the near future) Keep on riding!!!
I’ve been practicing holding the brake and stepping up onto my coker.
It works quite well. Took a bit to not “roll out” as soon as I let the brake loose.
Works when I’m tired too. If you have a brake it’s worth playing with.
I just was having a hard time mounting. I couldn’t practice away from a tennis court, because I just couldn’t get on and we have no trees or mail boxes close to the road. I watched the wheel hold mount and managed to get it. I can now freemount that way most of the time. I have had a couple of hard falls while trying to freemount and I think that is a factor. Once I am up, I can ride ok, even going over acorns and baby roots Like everything uni…it all comes down to practice. I have only been using the 24" because of a fall trying to get on the 29", but I am going to try getting back to the bigger wheel. Good luck to all you other age challenged riders!
The easiest way to free mount without aid a big wheel(at least for me) that a lot of people don’t know about is to put one foot on the pedal and then one hand on the tire to steady it, then hop on and ride forwards.
Like everything uni…it all comes down to practice. I have only been using the 24" because of a fall trying to get on the 29", but I am going to try getting back to the bigger wheel. Good luck to all you other age challenged riders!
