I am looking forward now to making Level 6, and to do that I must learn to hop
on the wheel 5 times. Working on the theory of “divide & conquer” I am
concentrating now on just the hopping part. I will save the transitions to and
from seated riding for later.
I have been simply leaping from the ground and trying to get both feet on
the wheel at the same time but just this week I discovered an easier way
to get up.
I stand with the uni in front of me, left hand on the back of the seat,
right hand on the front of the seat. The nose of the saddle points forward
and to the right at about a 45 degree angle to the "straight forward" line
of my body. I then put the ball of my left foot on the tire just behind the
fork crown. Leaning the uni frame forward a bit so that the tire tries to
roll forward and thus presses my foot against the back of the frame, I then
step up and place the ball of my right foot on the tire just in front of
the fork crown and bring the seat close to my knees. Do I swing around to
the uni or do I twist the uni under me to get my knees touching the seat?
I'm not sure, probably a little of both.
Then I attempt to hop. Once I got 5 hops, several times three before
bailing out. My best sucesses were on level ground, sloping sidewalk is
harder. This is starting to happen!
Dennis Kathrens