gliding/coasting

General
1

I’ve just finished digging all the bits of nettle and fence out of my
arm. I think I might be doing something wrong. I can’t start gliding,
and I can’t stop coasting. I’ve tried a number of ways to get going
gliding, and will soon be out of elbows if I keep trying to work out how
to stop coasting.

I’ve got quite a nice smooth slope to play on, and my tyre and shoes are
both quite smooth (read bald), so I probably just need a lot more
practice, and some elbow pads. Still, if anyone could give me any advice,
or tell me if there’s anything I’m doing wrong, I’d be very grateful.

With gliding, which I assume is a lot easier once you’ve started, I’m
just not sure how to get into the right position, if I wheel walk one
footed I go too fast and if I start with my foot resting on the tyre and
release pressure slowly I just fall off backwards (trying to correct
this by leaning forwards before I start just means I fall off forwards),
the only way I’ve got anywhere at all is by approaching the slope in a
normal wheel-walk and then just stopping wheel-walking when the unicycle
seems to have enough momentum, but then I have no control of where my
feet are on the tyre and it doesn’t feel like proper gliding anyway, and
I still fall off.

Coasting seems somewhat easier to start doing. On flat ground or a slope
with a little speed I can lift my feet off the pedals and keep gong
usually a few metres with a decent amount of control. Which would be nice,
except that I can’t dismount very gracefully at all. You know normally
when you fall off you can control where you land, generally end up on your
feet and often even catch the seat. If my feet aren’t touching anything
though I can’t seem to get off the seat, I lean backwards (or forwards, or
whatever) and the unicycle does too, but my feet don’t touch the ground,
and it all gets rather painful. I suppose I could leave this 'til I’ve got
more control through gliding and the like, but it does seem frustrating
that the only reason I can’t do it is coz it hurts at the end, especially
coz it’s so much fun that I don’t know if I have the will power to just
not do it until I can, and so will probably keep injuring myself. Unless
anyone has any useful suggestions. ? .

Bethan.

2

Bethan,

I think that it’s probably best just to keep working on going from one
foot wheel-walking into gliding. Try to scuff a little bit after each
push down the hill. Hill angle makes a big difference. Too steep and you
will fall on your butt as you start to scuff. Too gentle and you have to
be almost coasting (only gentle scuffing pressure on the tire) to avoid
just stopping.

Do you have a unicycle with a square fork crown? It makes a HUGE
difference if you can place your non-scuffing foot on a secure spot on
the frame.

If you get going at all and then find you can’t control whether you turn
one way or the other, don’t worry about it. I had big problems in the
beginning because I always seemed to turn to the right, but it sorted
itself out automatically after lots of practice.

-Kris — Bethan <redirect@gotohell.co.uk> wrote:
> I’ve just finished digging all the bits of nettle and fence out of my
> arm. I think I might be doing something wrong. I can’t start gliding,
> and I can’t stop coasting. I’ve tried a number of ways to get going
> gliding, and will soon be out of elbows if I keep trying to work out how
> to stop coasting.
>
> I’ve got quite a nice smooth slope to play on, and my tyre and shoes are
> both quite smooth (read bald), so I probably just need a lot more
> practice, and some elbow pads. Still, if anyone could give me any
> advice, or tell me if there’s anything I’m doing wrong, I’d be very
> grateful.
>
> With gliding, which I assume is a lot easier once you’ve started, I’m
> just not sure how to get into the right position, if I wheel walk one
> footed I go too fast and if I start with my foot resting on the tyre and
> release pressure slowly I just fall off backwards (trying to correct
> this by leaning forwards before I start just means I fall off forwards),
> the only way I’ve got anywhere at all is by approaching the slope in a
> normal wheel-walk and then just stopping wheel-walking when the unicycle
> seems to have enough momentum, but then I have no control of where my
> feet are on the tyre and it doesn’t feel like proper gliding anyway, and
> I still fall off.
>
> Coasting seems somewhat easier to start doing. On flat ground or a
> slope with a little speed I can lift my feet off the pedals and keep
> gong usually a few metres with a decent amount of control. Which would
> be nice, except that I can’t dismount very gracefully at all. You know
> normally when you fall off you can control where you land, generally
> end up on your feet and often even catch the seat. If my feet aren’t
> touching anything though I can’t seem to get off the seat, I lean
> backwards (or forwards, or whatever) and the unicycle does too, but my
> feet don’t touch the ground, and it all gets rather painful. I suppose
> I could leave this 'til I’ve got more control through gliding and the
> like, but it does seem frustrating that the only reason I can’t do it
> is coz it hurts at the end, especially coz it’s so much fun that I
> don’t know if I have the will power to just not do it until I can, and
> so will probably keep injuring myself. Unless anyone has any useful
> suggestions. ? .
>
> Bethan.

Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with
Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/

3

Re: Glide/Coast/1’ww: Kris is absolutely right about the approach:
concentrate on 1’ww and then glide more and more as you improve. I can
vouch for this method as I am in the middle of learning all of this right
now. Regular ww took me a long time to learn, and I am still not that
good, but going from that to 1’ww took little practice; less than a week
and I can already manage about 20’ on average and have gone 50’ on several
occasions. When I am really ‘on,’ I can glide decent distances, esp when I
am going down a mildly steep grade, and the feeling is SO COOL! It also
really helped at the outset to have a big stick (like a ski-pole) to help
with balance while working on the coordination.

David

danger_uni@yahoo.com writes:
>Bethan,
>
>I think that it’s probably best just to keep working on going from one
>foot wheel-walking into gliding. Try to scuff a little bit after each
>push down the hill. Hill angle makes a big difference. Too steep and you
>will fall on your butt as you start to scuff. Too gentle and you have to
>be almost coasting (only gentle scuffing pressure on the tire) to avoid
>just stopping.
>
>Do you have a unicycle with a square fork crown? It makes a HUGE
>difference if you can place your non-scuffing foot on a secure spot on
>the frame.
>
>If you get going at all and then find you can’t control whether you turn
>one way or the other, don’t worry about it. I had big problems in the
>beginning because I always seemed to turn to the right, but it sorted
>itself out automatically after lots of practice.
>
>
>-Kris — Bethan <redirect@gotohell.co.uk> wrote:
>> I’ve just finished digging all the bits of nettle and fence out of my
>arm. I
>> think I might be doing something wrong. I can’t start gliding, and I
>can’t
>> stop coasting. I’ve tried a number of ways to get going gliding, and
>will soon
>> be out of elbows if I keep trying to work out how to stop coasting.
>>
>> I’ve got quite a nice smooth slope to play on, and my tyre and shoes
>are both
>> quite smooth (read bald), so I probably just need a lot more practice,
>and some
>> elbow pads. Still, if anyone could give me any advice, or tell me if
>there’s
>> anything I’m doing wrong, I’d be very grateful.
>>
>> With gliding, which I assume is a lot easier once you’ve started, I’m
>just not
>> sure how to get into the right position, if I wheel walk one footed I
>go too
>> fast and if I start with my foot resting on the tyre and release
>pressure
>> slowly I just fall off backwards (trying to correct this by leaning
>forwards
>> before I start just means I fall off forwards), the only way I’ve got
>anywhere
>> at all is by approaching the slope in a normal wheel-walk and then just
>> stopping wheel-walking when the unicycle seems to have enough momentum,
>but
>> then I have no control of where my feet are on the tyre and it doesn’t
>feel
>> like proper gliding anyway, and I still fall off.
>>
>> Coasting seems somewhat easier to start doing. On flat ground or a
>slope with a
>> little speed I can lift my feet off the pedals and keep gong usually a
>few
>> metres with a decent amount of control. Which would be nice, except
>that I
>> can’t dismount very gracefully at all. You know normally when you fall
>off you
>> can control where you land, generally end up on your feet and often
>even catch
>> the seat. If my feet aren’t touching anything though I can’t seem to
>get off
>> the seat, I lean backwards (or forwards, or whatever) and the unicycle
>does
>> too, but my feet don’t touch the ground, and it all gets rather
>painful. I
>> suppose I could leave this 'til I’ve got more control through gliding
>and the
>> like, but it does seem frustrating that the only reason I can’t do it
>is coz it
>> hurts at the end, especially coz it’s so much fun that I don’t know if
>I have
>> the will power to just not do it until I can, and so will probably keep
>> injuring myself. Unless anyone has any useful suggestions. ? .
>>

Co-founder, Unatics of NY 1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
2:30 @ Central Park Bandshell

4

I learned gliding on a gym floor. I would ride fast and then bring one
foot up to the tire and the other foot up to the crown of the uni. after I
learned how to glide on a level surface it wasn’t too hard to try on hills
and stuff.

peter

> I’ve just finished digging all the bits of nettle and fence out of my
> arm. I think I might be doing something wrong. I can’t start gliding,
> and I can’t stop coasting. I’ve tried a number of ways to get going
> gliding, and will soon be out of elbows if I keep trying to work out how
> to stop coasting.
>
> I’ve got quite a nice smooth slope to play on, and my tyre and shoes are
> both quite smooth (read bald), so I probably just need a lot more
> practice, and some elbow pads. Still, if anyone could give me any
> advice, or tell me if there’s anything I’m doing wrong, I’d be very
> grateful.
>
> With gliding, which I assume is a lot easier once you’ve started, I’m
> just not sure how to get into the right position, if I wheel walk one
> footed I go too fast and if I start with my foot resting on the tyre and
> release pressure slowly I just fall off backwards (trying to correct
> this by leaning forwards before I start just means I fall off forwards),
> the only way I’ve got anywhere at all is by approaching the slope in a
> normal wheel-walk and then just stopping wheel-walking when the unicycle
> seems to have enough
momentum,
> but then I have no control of where my feet are on the tyre and it
> doesn’t feel like proper gliding anyway, and I still fall off.
>
> Coasting seems somewhat easier to start doing. On flat ground or a
slope
> with a little speed I can lift my feet off the pedals and keep gong
> usually a few metres with a decent amount of control. Which would be
> nice, except
that
> I can’t dismount very gracefully at all. You know normally when you fall
> off you can control where you land, generally end up on your feet and
> often even catch the seat. If my feet aren’t touching anything though I
> can’t seem to get off the seat, I lean backwards (or forwards, or
> whatever) and the unicycle does too, but my feet don’t touch the ground,
> and it all gets rather painful. I suppose I could leave this 'til I’ve
> got more control through gliding and the like, but it does seem
> frustrating that the only reason I can’t do it is coz it hurts at the
> end, especially coz it’s so much fun that I don’t know if I have the
> will power to just not do it until I can, and so will probably keep
> injuring myself. Unless anyone has any useful suggestions. ? .
>
> Bethan.

5

> sure how to get into the right position, if I wheel walk one footed I go
> too fast

You must be a real fast 1 foot wheel walker! You want to go at least wheel
walking speed to get a feel for gliding. I think your problem is not
having your other foot on the fork. Without that, your only control spot
on the unicycle is thru the seat. With a foot on the fork you have two
control spots, so you can work your foot to control the angle of the cycle
(so it stays under you where it belongs).

Practice down a driveway or other mildly downhill slope. The key is in the
transition between the push and the “scuff,” as it’s called in BMX
Freestyle.

For coasting, same thing. One or both feet need to be on the fork. Don’t
believe the illustrations in the Jack Wiley books, he had never seen
anyone do it when he made those. Both feet on the fork is good for
coasting in a straight line, and one leg relatively straight works well
for doing it in a circle (indoors). There are exceptions to both rules, as
I observed Irene Genelin in the coasting competition at NUC. This goes
straight down the track, but she used the one foot method for what looked
like 80 meters or so.

Good luck, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com

“The key to crash-free learning is knowing when to bail.”

6

One thing that may help you is to learn to pull glide first. This is where
someone else holds either one or both your hands and pulls you along while
you are gliding. It is easier than gliding but feels very similar. The
comparison would be riding with someone holding your hand.

The advantages of learning pull gliding are:
a) You can get into the gliding position holding on to someone, you don’t
even need to be moving
b) holding on to one or two hands makes it a lot easier to balance
c) you don’t run out of momentum because they are pulling you along.

To begin with the puller should be on foot (eventually you can do it with
someone riding backwards on a uni).

Once linked you can either start from a stationary position or get into
the gliding position from riding.

There are a few ways of doing it:

Option one -the puller faces you and holds both your arms, then the puller
walks backwards fast pulling you with them. Quite stable but can be nasty
for the puller if things go wrong.

Option two -the puller faces you then moves to one side and grabs only one
arm (ie their right grabs your right). They then walk backwards pulling
you. This method requires a bit more balance on the riders part but means
the puller doesn’t get a unicycle in their shins when things go wrong.

Option three -get two pullers facing you, one on each side, each holding
one of your arms. Then get them to walk backwards pulling you. This is as
stable as the first option with the benefit that the uni can shoot out
between your two friends without damaging anyone.

Hope that helps Peter

o o Peter Bier o O o Juggler, unicyclist, programmer and mathematician.
d/|\o peter_bier@usa.net

7

I spent some time a little while ago learning how to 1foot WW, but gave up
partly in frustration and partly because of a lack of practise time.
Previously I was just trying to do a few pushes with my right foot, with
the left foot waving around wildly. Then, after about 2-4 pushes I’d lose
control and use my left foot to stabilise myself.

On the weekend I started practising again and decided to just commit to
1footed WW. This meant I would WW for a little way and then stick my left
foot straight onto the frame and see how far I could get just using my
right foot. This was around 3-5 pushes. So I guess what I want to know is:
is the best way to learn 1FWW simply to commit and stick the spare foot
straight onto the frame?

nic

On Thu, 2 Aug 2001, David Stone wrote:

> Re: Glide/Coast/1’ww: Kris is absolutely right about the approach:
> concentrate on 1’ww and then glide more and more as you improve. I can
> vouch for this method as I am in the middle of learning all of this
> right now. Regular ww took me a long time to learn, and I am still not
> that good, but going from that to 1’ww took little practice; less than a
> week and I can already manage about 20’ on average and have gone 50’ on
> several occasions. When I am really ‘on,’ I can glide decent distances,
> esp when I am going down a mildly steep grade, and the feeling is SO
> COOL! It also really helped at the outset to have a big stick (like a
> ski-pole) to help with balance while working on the coordination.
>
> David
>
> danger_uni@yahoo.com writes:
> >Bethan,
> >
> >I think that it’s probably best just to keep working on going from one
> >foot wheel-walking into gliding. Try to scuff a little bit after each
> >push down the hill. Hill angle makes a big difference. Too steep and
> >you will fall on your butt as you start to scuff. Too gentle and you
> >have to be almost coasting (only gentle scuffing pressure on the tire)
> >to avoid just stopping.
> >
> >Do you have a unicycle with a square fork crown? It makes a HUGE
> >difference if you can place your non-scuffing foot on a secure spot on
> >the frame.
> >
> >If you get going at all and then find you can’t control whether you
> >turn one way or the other, don’t worry about it. I had big problems in
> >the beginning because I always seemed to turn to the right, but it
> >sorted itself out automatically after lots of practice.
> >
> >
> >-Kris — Bethan <redirect@gotohell.co.uk> wrote:
> >> I’ve just finished digging all the bits of nettle and fence out of my
> >arm. I
> >> think I might be doing something wrong. I can’t start gliding, and I
> >can’t
> >> stop coasting. I’ve tried a number of ways to get going gliding, and
> >will soon
> >> be out of elbows if I keep trying to work out how to stop coasting.
> >>
> >> I’ve got quite a nice smooth slope to play on, and my tyre and shoes
> >are both
> >> quite smooth (read bald), so I probably just need a lot more
> >> practice,
> >and some
> >> elbow pads. Still, if anyone could give me any advice, or tell me if
> >there’s
> >> anything I’m doing wrong, I’d be very grateful.
> >>
> >> With gliding, which I assume is a lot easier once you’ve started, I’m
> >just not
> >> sure how to get into the right position, if I wheel walk one footed I
> >go too
> >> fast and if I start with my foot resting on the tyre and release
> >pressure
> >> slowly I just fall off backwards (trying to correct this by leaning
> >forwards
> >> before I start just means I fall off forwards), the only way I’ve got
> >anywhere
> >> at all is by approaching the slope in a normal wheel-walk and then
> >> just stopping wheel-walking when the unicycle seems to have enough
> >> momentum,
> >but
> >> then I have no control of where my feet are on the tyre and it
> >> doesn’t
> >feel
> >> like proper gliding anyway, and I still fall off.
> >>
> >> Coasting seems somewhat easier to start doing. On flat ground or a
> >slope with a
> >> little speed I can lift my feet off the pedals and keep gong
> >> usually a
> >few
> >> metres with a decent amount of control. Which would be nice, except
> >that I
> >> can’t dismount very gracefully at all. You know normally when
> >> you fall
> >off you
> >> can control where you land, generally end up on your feet and often
> >even catch
> >> the seat. If my feet aren’t touching anything though I can’t seem to
> >get off
> >> the seat, I lean backwards (or forwards, or whatever) and the
> >> unicycle
> >does
> >> too, but my feet don’t touch the ground, and it all gets rather
> >painful. I
> >> suppose I could leave this 'til I’ve got more control through gliding
> >and the
> >> like, but it does seem frustrating that the only reason I can’t do it
> >is coz it
> >> hurts at the end, especially coz it’s so much fun that I don’t
> >> know if
> >I have
> >> the will power to just not do it until I can, and so will probably
> >> keep injuring myself. Unless anyone has any useful suggestions. ? .
> >>
>
>
> Co-founder, Unatics of NY 1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
> 2:30 @ Central Park Bandshell

8

pricen01@tartarus.uwa.edu.au writes:
>I spent some time a little while ago learning how to 1foot WW, but gave
>up partly in frustration and partly because of a lack of practise time.
>Previously I was just trying to do a few pushes with my right foot, with
>the left foot waving around wildly. Then, after about 2-4 pushes I’d lose
>control and use my left foot to stabilise myself.
>
>On the weekend I started practising again and decided to just commit to
>1footed WW. This meant I would WW for a little way and then stick my left
>foot straight onto the frame and see how far I could get just using my
>right foot. This was around 3-5 pushes. So I guess what I want to know
>is: is the best way to learn 1FWW simply to commit and stick the spare
>foot straight onto the frame?
>
>nic

Yeah. What I did was to find a wall or post, set myself up (strong foot on
the wheel, weak on the frame), and then push off. Later I added a long,
thick stick to my free hand, like a ski poke, and this was quite helpful
for a day; I outgrew the need after that day, tho, and it became more of a
hindrance, so I stopped using it. It’s weird, but I find 1’ww much easier
than regular ww, and I think it’s cuz the former allows gliding. You
really have to be comfortable with that relationship bw your foot and the
wheel, tho, bc quite often you’ll actually stop mid-glide to shift balance
or slow down, and so this skill is even more about touch than about
balance. It took me about 7hrs to get to a point where I could test and
pass this skill level – compared to about 90 for ww.

David

Co-founder, Unatics of NY 1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
2:30 @ Central Park Bandshell

9

> foot straight onto the frame and see how far I could get just using my
> right foot. This was around 3-5 pushes. So I guess what I want to know
> is: is the best way to learn 1FWW simply to commit and stick the spare
> foot straight onto the frame?

Yes. Holding it in the air makes you much less stable on the cycle.

Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com

“We’re fat . . . and old!” – Ken Krakat, on seeing me for the first time
in over 10 years, along with other former Redford unicyclist Hans Mills