How long did it take you to learn?

Following up on a suggesting by wobbling bear, I would like to
quantify the notion that younger people take less time to learn
riding. So everyone is welcome to chime in and reply to this thread
(or my e-mail if you prefer). I am after the following:

A. Age when you started to learn?
B. Number of ‘solid’ hours you practiced before you could ride 50
metres?
C. Male or female?

If you don’t remember A or B, give an estimate. If you don’t remember
C, see a doctor.

You can answer for yourself as well as for others in case they are not
participating in rec.sport.unicycling. In that case, I’d like to have
the name of the person to detect duplicate entries (e.g. from people
attending the same club).

Thank you and any results will be announced here of course!

(wobbling bear if you want to take part in the analysis let me know.)

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict

“I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks, so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks? - George Carlin”

A. 11 yrs old
B. About 30 hrs spread out over 4 months
C. Male

-Mark Stephens

A) I started when I was 13

B) It took me several months but probably around oh, maybe 20 hours of practice. I’m not sure. I was a slow learner.

C) Female

Nikki

It took me three days of about 4 hours practice each to be able to ride almost any distance I wanted, up or downhill, and turning left or right. It took longer to freemount but you only care about the 50 meter part. I was 11 years old. My crotch was raw. I’m still a boy.

Age: 15 or 16 years old
Time: About 30 hours over 2 weeks
Gender: Male

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

A. 16 years old
B. 8 or 9 hours over 2 weeks in my gym class
C. Male

My best friend got a unicycle about 6 months after I did. He was 12 at the time. He learned during the Kansas winter rather than the Kansas summer. It took him two weeks to learn. I can’t tell you how many hours but, knowing him, it was fewer than me. He was very agile and had exceptional balance. He had occassional ice and snow to deal with. He remains a boy to this day.

When I was about 20 I taught a friend (same age roughly) who had a learning curve identical to mine, so total practice time to 50 meters consistently was about 12 hours. He was a boy and I presume that he still is.

My son tried when he was 11 years old. He did the same 4 hour practice days but only did two days and then gave up. When he was 22 he tried again and mastered the 50 meter consistent ride over a period of several weeks with an accumulated time of about 10 hours. My best estimate is that he accomplished 50 meters consistently in just under 20 hours of practice total. He also is still a boy.

A woman of 28 who worked at my lab wanted to learn. She bought a unicycle and learned pretty much on her own and it took her months but I think she only did practice sessions of an hour or so. Sorry, I can’t give you a good estimate of her accumulated hours. She is still a girl, I know that much.

A) 25
B) 5-7 Hours (5 to 7 one hour sessions over about 2-3 weeks)
C) Male
D) learned on a 20" freestyle

A. 19
B. 20h over 7 days
C. Male
D. 24" and later I swopped over to 20" (I now regret).

Name, Mike Wilkinson
Present age, 40.

Learned aged approx. 24
It took a week or so of evenings, half an hour or so per session, so say 5 hours to learn to ride 50 metres plus - as far as I can recall
.
Freemounting took a few hours longer.

My learning curve then remained flat from 1988 ish until 2002, when I bought a better unicycle, and learned a better style fof freemount, learned to idle, and started to do serious distance.

Idling took several sessions of half an hour or so to perfect, although the basic skill took only an hour or so to learn.

I’d guess each MAJOR skill (riding, freemounting, idling, idling one footed) has taken between 3 and 5 hours to learn to a good standard, but split into sessions of half an hour.

A. 11 years (that’s my age right now)
B. About an hour every day. I also took a break for almost 3 weeks thinking I couldn’t ride.
C. Male

well…

A.14
B. hmm… 2 weeks an hour every day so about 14 hours
C. Male

A. 22
B. About two or three weeks of mild practice. Probably 6-10 hours before I was reliably going as far as I felt like.
C. Male

How long did it take you to learn?

Thats a tough one because my dad has had a unicycle since i was born so there has always been one around for me to muck around on, but i never got more than 5? pedals when i was 10 yrs old? i didnt ride it at all again until i was 18. Then it only took me a couple of days, trying to ride for 4? hours a day until i got the hang of it. I learned to free mount from the start too, because i had nothing to hold on to. Im now 19 yo.

How long did it take you to learn?

Ooops, im male:D

43 yo.

About 7 hours on rough ground for a week, then about another 15 hours or so on pavement over two weeks before I could do 100 yards next to a fence without touching it. But I wasn’t just going for distance; sometimes I’d try to ride slowly, or do two cycles each try for the 100 yards for control.

Consistency took a lot longer.

Freemounting and riding completely away from the fence took another couple of weeks; about 20 hours I’d say.

male.

Just to expand on mine…I only practiced freemounting.

A: Age 27.
B: 6Hrs. Maybe 10 at least when I’m not Busy.
C: Male. (What do you Think. A Male turn into a Female)
Learnt to ride the unicycle in just under 10 minutes. Sorry that’s True folks. With a 20" Juggleart Taiwanesse with that dreaded Savage Saddle. Now it’s a Viscount Saddle. Coming Soon KH24" Unicycle From Unicycle.com, Don’t know when.

David.:slight_smile:

Re: How long did it take you to learn?

A: 11
B: 30 over 1 month
C: Male thinking about Females
D: 26"
E: No instructor

My daughter, Carly, just learned.
A: 12
B: 15 over 3 months
C: Female, better not be thinking about Males
D: 20"
E: Instructor

A)22yrs
B)15-20hrs
C)Phenotypically male
D)Cheapo 20’ Uni
E)No instructor
F)Started with a flash of inspiration one stormy night