Hello. I’ve been working on being able to hop up stairs (and curbs!) lately. And while my jump height could use some work, I’m pretty sure I know how to work on that. One thing I’m not sure of, however, is how you guys always seem to have your pedals horizontal. Is there any trick to this, or have you just developed a second sense for when to approach the obstacle to hop over it.
I’ve been trying for a few days now with some short (one, one and a half foot) boards in my driveway, to little success.
Any advice from you more experienced people?
(p.s. - thanks so much to unicycling.org and unicycle.2ya.com. The tips and videos and stuff on your sites have been beyond helpful! :))
Sweet a Newfoundlander, I’m from Nova Scotia, if you ever come to the mainland give word.
Assuming you mean rolling yeah generally people will go up to it and then ride backwards to where they are starting or walk there uni’s back. Or if you can you can ride at it diagonally or along side it and jump when it feels right.
Basically just takes practice. For starting out, don’t bother too much with rolling hops. Go somewhere near your obstacle, slowly get the pedals horizontal, stand up on them and start hopping in place. Then just direct your hop closer to the obstacle, and go for it. After a while you’ll get good at this, and for smaller obstacles you’ll be able to just go and hop over it without a second thought.
I’ve been working on this too. I can clear a three set, but I put the wheel right on the edge and then roll it back three turns. Then I count “one-two-three” as I ride towards it, and then jump on “three.” I would ride backwards instead, but my backwards isn’t spectacular yet. I can eyeball some small hops. Usually I just ride at a bit of a diagonal and fine tune as I ride, then cut in and jump.