Free mounting, losing air and tired legs

Unicycles and Equipment
1

Tired Legs.

Well, after much practice, I finally got to the point where I can ride for a
long time without falling off!!! I’m so happy! It’s such an exhilarating
feeling. But, I find that it takes an incredible amount of control with my legs
to keep my balance, and it especially tires out my upper calves (I think that’s
them… the leg muscles on top of the femur bone). Is this normal? I’m
experimenting now also with shifting more weight to the seat, and lowering /
raising the seat to see what feels more comfortable. What I suggest to other new
riders: don’t give up! The same morning everything “clicked” and I just suddenly
could ride, I was saying to myself, “Ahh, this thing is so hard… I’ll never
learn to ride…” Just be stubborn, and your body will figure it out eventually!

Losing Air.

I practice probably about an hour a day, but I find that my tire needs to be
pumped back up about once a week… is this normal? It’s a 40 PSI tire, I keep
it around 65-70 PSI. After a week of riding, it gets a bit saggy (drops to
around 40-50 PSI).

Free Mounting.

Okay! I’m very excited now to learn to idle and free mount. However, I’m not
quite sure how to free mount, and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions
on techniques.

I set the back pedal about 35-40 degrees, and set the seat somewhat under me…
but hopping up onto it, the wheel kicks back, and then the pedals are completely
vertical, so I fall off trying to get my footing… it’s just a big mess. I try
mounting with the pedals already vertical so the wheel doesn’t kick, but then I
just fall off again due to lack of momentum.

I would really love any feedback, with as much detail and tips as possible, so I
can get a really good feel for how this is done. Any tips on idling would be
great too!

  • Luke :wink:

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2

Re: Free mounting, losing air and tired legs

Hey Luke! Hope this helps:

> Tired Legs.

Tired legs are normal when you learn to ride. Keep riding regularly and your
legs will get stronger. After a while, you’ll find that your rear end gives out
long before your legs do…

Actually, I was rather dismayed to learn that my legs have lost much strength
over that last few months. I haven’t really been riding, and I decided I’d
better start to get in shape for the upcoming CA MUni weekend (October 15-17
1999 in Santa Cruz; info at http://sites.netscape.net/brbundy/homepage). I tried
riding up this monster hill near my house, and flat out failed… :frowning: My calves
(back of the leg, below the knee) and quadriceps (front of the leg, from knee to
hip) were sore for a few days. Well, that told me what I needed to do.

As for seatpost height, I like to have mine pretty high for smooth, flat riding,
since it reduces the load on my legs. When you get to the point when you’re
riding over rough stuff and hopping curbs, though, the seat has to come down
some, as your legs kind of act like springs and shock absorbers. It’s basically
a tradeoff between maneuverability and ease of riding.

> Losing Air.

I don’t really pay a whole lot of attention to PSI. For normal street riding, I
pump up my tire enough so that it hardly gives at all when I push on it with the
ball of my hand. For off-road, I let it squish in just a little. When it gets
too soft for my taste, I pump it up. More air = less friction. Unless your tire
starts getting squishy fairly often, I’d say everything is fine.

> idle and free mount

Check out these for a detailed explanaion:

http://www.unicycling.org/unicycling/mounts/freemount.html
http://unicycling.org/unicycling/skills/idling.html

In short:

Free mount:

  1. Pedals horizontal.
  2. Place seat between legs.
  3. One foot on rear pedal.
  4. Jump up onto front pedal with other foot; try to apply as LITTLE PRESSURE AS
    POSSIBLE to that back foot (i.e. don’t press down)!
  5. Try again.

Idle:

I actually learned to idle while trying to ride backwards. I’d slow down to a
stall, and then start pedalling backwards. After I could get one or two revs
backwards, I’d try to stop and pedal forwards. Idling just kind of “clicked”
after a while practicing that. Unfortunately, riding backwards is almost like
learning to ride all over again. It really helps if you can idle,though.

Basically, the best advice I can give you is keep practicing and don’t give up.
You seem pretty into learning all this stuff, so I have no doubt that if you
keep going at it, you’ll get it in no time.

Have fun,

Sam

3

Re: Free mounting, losing air and tired legs

At 05:23 AM 9/18/99 GMT, you wrote:
>exhilarating feeling. But, I find that it takes an incredible amount of control
>with my legs to keep my balance, and it especially tires out my upper calves.
>Is this normal?

For a new rider it is. Sit motionless on the uni while holding onto something
and relax your legs. Feel the pressure of the seat on your bottom? Now ride and
try to relax your legs so that you feel the same pressure.

>Losing Air.
>
>I practice probably about an hour a day, but I find that my tire needs to be
>pumped back up about once a week… is this normal? It’s a 40 PSI tire, I keep
>it around 65-70 PSI. After a week of riding, it gets a bit saggy (drops to
>around 40-50 PSI).

That might be normal, or you might have a little valve leak. Put some soapy
water in the valve and see if any bubbles appear after a minute or so. If they
do, replace the tube.

>Free Mounting. I set the back pedal about 35-40 degrees, and set the seat
>somewhat under me… but hopping up onto it, the wheel kicks back, and then the
>pedals are completely vertical, so I fall off trying to get my footing… it’s
>just a big mess.

Start with the wheel in front of you half a pace. Put the mounting pedal at
about 8 o’clock with the seat under you. Now lean on the seat and put equal
portions of your weight on the seat and on the down pedal. Hop up, but not on,
the uni and try to maintain equal forces on both the pedal and the seat so that
the wheel does not roll forward or backward. Practice that a bit. That is
balance that you have to maintain while you mount so that the wheel is under
your control.

-Rick