From novice to 40 mile bike tour in 7 months?

General
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This is time well spent! As mentioned by some others in this thread, idling teaches you some other skills. You will learn momentary still-stands. If you can practice large idles, moving from the 3:00/9:00 to 9:00/3:00 positions, you’ll be in a good spot to practice small hops during the still stands. You will most likely learn how to ride backwards after learning to idle.

I think there is certain value, albeit limited value, to practicing idling at a wall. It will help you learn how to exert back pressure on the pedals, feel the range of motion of your legs and practice changing directions. However, learning to idle involves a lot of uncontrolled right-left twisting, which a wall might inhibit you from doing.

I suggest trying the following method for learning to idle:

Ride forward, come to a momentary still-stand, then attempt to continue riding forward. As you improve, practice riding at greater speed–into the still stand. It will be necessary, under these conditions, to get the wheel out in front of you, prior to the still stand, with your upper body then swinging forward into a balance position. At some point, instead of riding forward out of the still stand, the wheel will be too much in front, and you’ll fall off the back after the stand still, hopefully onto your feet. (I suggest practicing all this on dirt; falling and sliding is less traumatic than falling and sticking to the pavement.) Now for the hard part: ride into the still stand, with the wheel out in front, freeze, then pedal backwards, half a revolution, to keep from falling off the back. Then, use the forward-riding skills you already possess to ride forward out of it.

The above method was a breakthrough, for me, and this is after I spent a lot of time practicing idling holding onto a fence. Learning “one” really good idle was, for me, more valuable than practicing 5,000 idles, assisted, at the wall.

Just my two-cents…

38

Note: Almost no one does a traditional idle on a 36" wheel, so the value of idling as a training goal is pretty low. Small hops are way more useful than idling on a big wheel, especially in heavy bike traffic (idling will send your wheel back into the people behind you).

I’d work on riding and hops unless you specifically want to learn other uni skills.

39

This is true for 36er riding. But the value of learning to idle, because of the other benefits it brings, still makes it a good thing to work on with your smaller wheel(s). Those are skills that will serve you well, even on a 36" if you only ride forward.

Probably where you would get the most benefit there, is on mounts. All that practice on slow and stationary balancing will server you well when getting onto your 36". It will seem very intimidating at first, but with practice (and cross training like idling) you will have the ammunition to comfortably climb up there, then confidently ride away.

40

True it’s pretty rare but some do it:

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Sure, it can be done and some people do it. But if the goal is to go from zero to doing a long 36er ride in a relatively short period of time, it doesn’t seem like a wise thing to spend time on.

To Foss’s point, yes, practicing idling will improve other skills, but so will practicing other skills. An hour spent on freemounting will do more for freemounting than an hour spent on idling.

42

Advice on Five Boro

I’ve ridden in the Five Boro twice on a 36er (this year and in 2013) and three times on a bike. I hadn’t ridden a unicycle in years when I got a Coker in June 2012. That first summer my wife asked me if I’d consider riding the unicycle in the Five Boro, and I said no way. But by registration time in January I’d grown a lot more proficient and I began considering the tour as a possibility. So I signed up and figured if I wasn’t comfortable when May rolled around I’d just do the ride on a bicycle again. But it worked out – the event is very festive and lots of fun, and I strongly recommend it. The vast majority of cyclists are delighted to see a unicycle, and you will receive lots of attention and supportive comments.

Here’s a thread with some excellent advice I was given:

If you’re in decent physical shape, you’ll definitely have the stamina to finish. The route is pretty flat except for the bridges. I’ve seen 10-year-old kids complete the ride.

Good freemounting skills are crucial. It’s important to remember you’re going to be stopping and starting A LOT. During the ride up 6th Avenue in Manhattan, you will occasionally be required to stop for cross street traffic. Also, you will definitely encounter bottlenecks at some point – chances are in Central Park, Harlem, possibly on the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge, definitely in Brooklyn. Once you get on the BQE it should be non-stop riding to the finish. You will also probably pass many cyclists riding up the Verrazano Bridge (but then they’ll blow right past you on the way down).

Also, bear in mind you will be riding with lots of inexperienced cyclists (and lots of children) who think nothing of cutting to the right or left suddenly without looking, or they decide just to stop without giving any warning. So it’s important to have the skills to navigate crowds, to swerve quickly, and ride defensively.

I heartily agree with the people who’ve suggested handle bars. I didn’t realize how much I rely on handle bars until one of the bolts broke on my handlebar and it kept slipping during the tour. It definitely detracted from my enjoyment of the ride.

Finally, I recommend you register for the event and if in May you don’t feel your skills are quite up to the task, then ride the tour on a bicycle. The experience will definitely be valuable in the future because you’ll know exactly what to expect.

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Thanks for all the advice Vertigo, Johnfoss, krjames, elpuebloUNIdo, tholub, Leeway283!

Major breakthrough today: 100% success rate with free-mounting, all 6 attempts were successful this afternoon. I was surprised because I joggled 20 miles this morning, and usually struggle more with free-mounting and unicycling in general after long runs. For some reason my legs weren’t that tired.

Struggling a lot with idling, though I’m doing more backwards practice these days since I find it less frustrating. Very occasionally I can do as much as 3 back-and-forths idling without my hands on the rail. I usually just do 1 or 2. Can go backwards for half a revolution without fence support. I feel a little more comfortable doing this compared to a few days ago.

I think there may be something to this advice I’ve read here that the farther away you look ahead while idling the better. Could be selective perception, but I don’t idle as well when the building in front of me is 50 feet away instead of 150 feet.

I realize it is impractical besides very difficult to idle with a 36er. I intend to learn how to hop soon, but I want to get a helmet first, just in case though I hear it’s pretty easy to learn this skill(I have knee/elbow/shin protection already). Some kids learn how to hop with their unicycles before they learn how to ride them. I think it was Johnfoss who mentioned this in another thread, that unicycles, especially the smaller ones can be used like pogo sticks.

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I definitely do need to work on distance riding some more. The farthest I’ve been has been around 3 miles a bunch of times. May ride 5 to 6 miles this week on one of the local bike paths. Since I’m a runner, I’m not too worried about my stamina, which is why my main focus is on skills.

I don’t think it’s so strange that you bought a 20" just to learn how to idle. I think I saw a few others here or on Youtube say they did the very same thing. Thanks for the advice.

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Update: Rode 6.4 miles today in 1 hour and 19 minutes on a bike path, falling or dismounting 3 times due to bumps and unevenness. This is the most mileage ever for me. Halfway in my groin and privates area started to feel like it was on fire. My legs were really tired by the end. All the falls and dismounts were in the first half of this activity, so I went 3 miles without falling or having to dismount. I suck at free-mounting when my legs are tired. I can do it about 75% of the time when my legs aren’t tired.

Didn’t have much time to work on backwards or idling today, only did that for 20 minutes this evening and no improvement.

Again, thanks everyone for your advice.

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Thanks for the advice Leeway! It’s great hearing from someone who did this race a few times. Awesome pics BTW! I’m used to how chaotic some race events can be due to all the marathons I’ve run, though I think it would be very different and perhaps more difficult as a unicyclist, especially if I am going fast and there are many kids around on bikes and other craziness. At least I’m used to getting a lot of attention(this was difficult for me at first).

Do they still have those rules against bags? What if someone violates them? Anyone ever try unicycling this event while juggling?

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If you aren’t wearing bike shorts, it’s time to start getting acquainted. And don’t buy the cheapest ones; the quality ones are well worth it. My favorite pair is from Pearl Izumi, but there are many good brands.

But mostly, getting used to distance riding is going to be about doing plenty of distance riding. I did 10 miles last weekend, after a long gap during which it was almost all shorter rides that were low on miles and night on climbing. The 10 miles made my crotch a little sore; our standard weekend ride was just over 20 miles and we used to toss it off like it was nothing. If I can get back to doing it regularly, it will be nothing again. :slight_smile:

The tired legs will fade away as you gain experience. You are still building muscle memory, confidence and efficiency. Make sure you’re sitting down all the way, and not using more leg tension than needed.

First be aware it’s not a race. This is a good thing, because tens of thousands of anything trying to race on city streets would be an awful cluster! Expect average speeds around 10-20 mph. Lead riders at the front of the pack hold the group to a moderate speed, but if you’re in the middle somewhere you have room to go faster. You have to stay above a 10 mph average though, or risk being caught up by the sag support. By the time ride day rolls around, I imagine you’ll have the confidence and skill you need to ride on a street full of bikes.

It’s not the same a joggling, where you get a rhythm between between your steps and your throws. On a unicycle the juggling and the pedaling are usually separate, unless you find a speed where you can synchronize your throws to your cadence. It’s a long way to juggle the whole thing; I recommend concentrating on the ride this year, and adding in the juggling for 2017. :sunglasses:

This thread makes me want to fly out for that ride someday. How fun would that be? I haven’t been back to NY since 2005!

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Out of interest, and I’m sure this has come up before, but do you find it worth going for the ones with padding? I’m wondering if either the padding is in the wrong place for us or it’s just useless because unicycle saddles are cushier than most bike saddles anyway.

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Bike shorts without padding aren’t real bike shorts. Or maybe they’re some kind of outer layer? I absolutely recommend some padded shorts. The padding not only provides a bit of cushioning, bit is also protection against chafing. While we don’t interface with unicycle saddles exactly the same way two-wheeled cyclists fit their saddles, it’s pretty close, and nobody is making shorts for unicycles yet. :slight_smile:

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Update:

Rode 8 miles a few days ago in 1 hour and 30 minutes on a moderately hilly bike path, and felt like I could have done a lot more. No falls, only a few dismounts because of cars at street crossings, and all free-mounts were successful.

When it comes to idling, my record is currently 16 cycles/idles without support, which I did today, but I could only do this once. I usually do 3 to 6 without support; after several minutes of idle practice, I can often do 8 to 10 idles, at least this is how it’s been the last 2 days. I’m getting better at pivoting. After about 1 hour of idling practice my right/down foot feels like it is going to fall off. Is it okay to start practicing outside without any support?

Thanks John Foss, Vertigo and everyone else for your helpful advice. Thanks for sharing that Vertigo - I know you’ll conquer idling and when you return to NY you’ll do much better than last time.

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[QUOTE

My girlfriend did a 80km race (on a 24"/114mm) after only 8 months riding.[/QUOTE]

That is absolutely awsome!

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Update:

Can now do 24 cycles without support while idling, another big breakthrough. I managed to do this in spite of being out very late last night(no drinking though), and I ran 16 miles in the morning. Only did this once but I can do 10 or a little more without much difficulty.

Unfortunately, I still can’t go into idling while riding, I can only do it starting from a wall. I just can’t figure out how to ride, stop, and do a half-revolution backward to get the idling started. I’ll dig through this site for tips, and watch some Youtube videos, but if anyone has any advice please share.

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Something that’s been called a “super idle” (really a lot easier than idling, I’d say) is to ride forward slowly, stop with the pedals near level, and ride backwards for either a half turn or a full turn; then stop again, ride forward, stop again, repeat. You can switch feet depending on whether you ride a full turn or half a turn. Search the site and you’ll find a few threads discussing it.

It’s a fun drill and good practice for lots of things. It definitely helped me with the transition from riding to idling.

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That sounds like a good idea. That’s why I tried to learn backwards riding first, before idling, though I had to stop backwards practice because my favorite fence now has Christmas lights on it, and idling is more useful anyway.

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Update:

I rode for 12 miles today in the rain in 2 hours and 36 minutes, with minimal dismounts. If I was running this distance, this would be unusually slow for me. 1 dismount was due to a hill that was too steep(this was sort of a UPD, though I expected I was going to dismount), another was to take a bathroom break, and another because my crotch felt like it was on fire again.

Luckily I’ve figured out how to sit up off my seat for up to 30 seconds while riding to give my crotch some relief. If it wasn’t for that, I would have had to dismount several times more. While riding, my right foot often shifts to the right off the pedal, almost coming off, but this seemed to get better toward the end. I’m getting better at correcting and preventing this.

As far as idling goes, my new record is 35 cycles without support, which I did yesterday(I still start from a wall, not from a free-mount or while riding). I did this only once. I haven’t duplicated this; the closest I’ve come was 30. Doing 10 cycles is getting easier and easier. I did only 16 cycles today during a much shorter idling practice session(35 minutes) than usual because of the long ride earlier today.

The 40 mile bike tour looks increasingly doable for me. Now I just need to decide which 36er to get. Thanks everyone for your advice and support.

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For the transition to idle, especially if you’ve been practicing the actual idling and backwards riding, just try making stops while riding forward. Come all the way to a stop, or as close as you can, and then continue riding. You will see that to stop, you have to get the wheel out in front of you. But to get going again, you have to be in front of the wheel. With practice, you can stop for longer and longer periods (whole second, several seconds).