Just joined here, pretty new to unicycling having just acquired a 2nd hand 24" Nimbus, thanks to Mikefule, who I blame for my new interest! Just about manage 50’ and need to venture beyond my own backyard.
Part of the reason I thought I’d try Uni was for core stability and to see if it helped my balance skiing. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
I went out on my mountain bike a couple of days ago and was amazed how far I cycled “hands free”. So I know the Uni is improving my balance.
Looking forward to meeting some new folks in the world of 1 wheelers.
Gary
I interviewed an author on ski fitness at the beginning of the season. She said that the biggest thing you can do, fitness-wise, is to strengthen the core muscles and work on balance. I asked specifically if that would include a unicycle…and she said “Most definitely!”
So it’s now confirmed by an expert.
There are a lot of skier/boarders here would attest to the fact too, I’m sure.
The reason I started unicycling (close to 10 years ago now, I think) was that I read an article in Ski (or possibly Skiing) magazine about the colorado freestyle team learning to ride unicycles in the off season. As an avid skiier, I decided to train the same way they did. Of course, now I’m fully involved in both sports.
Without question it will help. In addition to helping my balance, I ride in the summer to build my quads for snowboard and ski racing. I was quoted in an article recently attributing my success at the Nationals to unicycling.
The fact that Bode Miller trains on a unicycle should put all question to rest.
Hey Nick! You live in New Britain. Are you interested in racing at Mt. Southington on Monday nights?
Oh hey, i can see all the skiers beat me here… dang… Lol. Anyway, Yeah! It helps loads! It keeps me fit and in shape for freestyle skiing in winter. From unicycling this summer, and doing a lot, im guessing i’ll be far better at freestyle skiing in the winter.
hi Gary, welcome to the forums and unicycling! unicycling deffinetly improves ballance, because i used to have appauling ballance, but i can do no hands on a bike too, it scared me, i was bored so took my hands off (with out thinking) like i would on a unicycle, but i stayed upright! it should deffinetly help with skiing. anyway, have fun riding and skiing!!
not to be a downer but i don’t get what the big deal about no hands on a bicycle is all about. bicycles and motorcycles are designed to steer themselves basically straight once you reach a speed somewhere above a jog/run, and to make it turn either way takes some deliberate effort. the only issue with taking your hands off is when something hits the front wheel and forces it to turn off course at which point you get low-sided and eat road. the mechanics of how bikes and motorbikes work in motion can be quite interesting to read about and understand.
or perhaps i misunderstood what the fear of no-hands is about?
also, i don’t really get how unicycling supposedly helps your ‘core muscles’ which i read as your stomach / oblique / lower back muscles. aren’t we all supposed to be ‘sitting on the seat’ which would put all the work into the leg muscles as they adjust the pedal speed. can someone perhaps elaborate a bit, because really the way i see it is unless you sit in a chair 99.9% of your life then you generally have a reasonably ‘stable core’ anyway due to everyday things like walking around and standing etc and unicycling doesn’t seem to demand anything more than sitting upright in a chair does.
I’m not much of a racer, never trained for it, but I think I might be making snow there this winter. If I am, and have a free lift ticket, maybe I’ll see you around. I’ll make sure to bring it up this winter.
As a kid, I used to sit sideways on the cross bar and ride no handed down a long steep hill and I never once fell off. However, on my fixie, the combination of head angle, light wheels and rake is such that I would not ride it no handed on a smooth flat surface. It does very much depend on the bike. However, I agree that on most bikes, it requires little more than confidence to ride no handed.
