i’m going 2 attpet going backwards on my uni this weekend any tips? warning etc? i’m trying 2 learn 2 idle so i thought going backwards would prepare me a bit
(also it sounds like fun!) 
Pick a really smooth surfaceto ride on. Going over bumps backwards is most disturbing. Try to look over your shoulder as you go. It’s harder than not looking, but you’ll have to learn to see where you’re going sooner or later so you might as well start now. Good luck.
One thing that helped me to learn was instead of thinking you are going backwards, think you are riding forwards with your body in the wrong place. It’s hard to explain, but it works 
Happy learning!
Actually when I started going backwards I found it a lot easier to not look backwards. Trying to peer over my shouder just made balancing even harder, so I just made sure I had lots of space behind and nothing to crash into and went for it.
Once I’d got the hang of that, then I started trying to look to see where I was actually going.
Of course this only works if you have a large, unoccupied space to practice in…
Phil
or a very loud voice!!
Also true; people tend to get out of your way quickly if you’re riding backwards screaming “AAARGH!!! I CAN’T STOP!!!”
Phil
And keep this in mind to keep you from getting discouraged.
None of the skills you’ve learned while riding forward will come into play when you go backwards. I found it as ‘hard’ (I use quotes because learnign to ride wasn’t hard…just a lesson in patience) to learn backwards as I did going forwards, when I was already extrememly comfortable going forwards.
Do the things you remember doing as you learned. The half rotation, the full rotation, etc…
What comes in handy though, is when you can’t yet do a full rotation backwards. You get your half rotaion in, then you can change it to forward. Go back 2 rotations, then change it to forward, etc…
This also comes with a burden…you’ll notice yourself giving up on the backwards sooner per session, because when you get frustrated, you can just ride forward all you like.
All these are personal observations, and may not reflect everyone’s learning curve…but I bet they’re all quite similar
Idling and reversing are closely linked skills.
It is better to retain control and stop deliberately than to ride backwards until you fall. If you fall when riding backwards, you might damage your back, your elbows, or your tailbone. (i can’t spell ‘coccyx’)
Ride forwards slowly, stop with your dominant foot down (i.e. the way you normally freemount) then ride back a half turn, then ride forwards.
Then try forward, back, forward, back, forward and away.
Then extend the pattern.
For reversing, do the above, but do a full turn back, then ride away forwards.
Then build up.
You will find you have a dominant foot. It’s probably better to learn on the dominant side until you’re comfortable with the whole reversing thing.
I practised for hours riding 4 turns forwards, 4 turns backwards, 4 turns forwards, until I’d got it. I can now sit on a small uni almost indefinitely, idling and reversing short distances, all on a very small patch of ground.
For idling, look at something a long way ahead of you.
For reversing, keep looking forwards, or glance to one side. Looking over your shoulder will ruin your balance.
Good luck. Idling and reversing are two really useful skills. They will improve your general riding, your low speed control and your freemounting, and will make a strong platform for developing new tricks and mounts.
And it’s fun.
I started learning to go backwards by extending idling in the way that Mike Fule just said. Got a bit distracted when I learnt thatI could role back a half turn and practise idling on my weak side (years of juggling get you into the habit of trying to learn all skills symmetrically).
So I’ve mainly focused on that and as a result my weak side idling is getting qiute good; I figure that I should soon be able to idle on my good side, go back 1/2 rev, idle on weak side, go back 1/2…etc, and then by reducing the no. of idles will be riding backwards.
But people learn in different ways and some seem to have more success by just riding backwards and seeing what happens.
I’ve also found trying to look back over my shoulder to be a real distraction, Ifigure that when I can ride backwards o.k. I can work on looking back.
Re: In rewind! going backwards?
On Wed, 14 May 2003 08:10:56 -0500, foolish
<foolish.nf73n@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>> Of course this only works if you have a large, unoccupied space to
>> practice in…
> or a very loud voice!!
The problem is that most trees and lamp posts pretend not to hear you.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
I have not yet begun to procrastinate.
Re: Re: In rewind! going backwards?
If you choose your wide open space well beforehand, I find trees and lampposts tend not to move fast enough to cause a problem in that respect…
Phil
Totally agree…this is what I did to work up. Ride forward, stop, half pedal backward, resume forward. Then full pedal backward, then 1.5, then 2, etc… Then move to same number pedals backward and forward.
Tip: For me, holding ski poles helped a LOT, because I could use them for micro-adjustments, versus having to hop or fall off. Over time, I just got rid of them as my practice got more solid.
thanx
cheerz 4 all the tips they’re very helpful i’m gonna spend a whole day @ the weekend trying it all out! wish me luck i’ll update (if i’m not in hospital!)
Re: In rewind! going backwards?
the best tip i got ref riding backward was on a thread about peter tosh (who’s quite a keen unicyclist)
somebody suggested that his music is good for learning to ride backward to because u have to be relaxed in your hips to ride backward and when u listen to peter tosh, u can’t be tense
it made no sense to me at the time but as soon as i started riding backwards and focused on relaxing my hips, it made a world of difference
have fun!
Who’s Peter Tosh?