Hi. I learned to ride on a 20" Norco Tuffwheel (remember them?) about 20 years ago. I could ride forward, freemount about 50% of the time, but couldn’t idle or ride backwards. I’ve barely ridden for about 15 years, and just bought a good quality, 24" uni. I’m re-learning with some success. You kinda DO forget how to ride a unicycle. Actually, I’m doing OK, but had a minor mishap today. I took a header…a crash like I’d never experienced in the old days. (Remember, I’m just riding forward on level ground… no tricks!)
Body parts involved - wrist, elbow, shoulder, knee and hip. Nothing serious, but I’m now wondering about protection, aging bones and all.
Is there such a thing as hip guards? I searched* and found info and input on helmets, wrist and knee guards, etc., but nothing on protecting the hips. Short of hockey pants, any ideas?
Thanks a lot,
Cd
*I won’t bring up the whole scrotum thing…the topic seems to be covered well!
Welcome to the forum Canadave! Enjoy your new old hobby.
Hip protection? Some companies market full body harnasses. Forgot who but maybe search on something like that. Those have been discussed here before but are generally considered overkill.
The whole scrotum thing had better be covered well indeed
Your brain is your best defense against hip damage I think. Train yourself up to land on your feet. Practise stepping off before you totally lose control. If you really wanted some padding you could strap some high density foam inside or outside your pants, around your hips. It could be restrictive to riding though depending on how much you use. Losing circulation in the unmentioned topic can be dealt with by having regular balls breaks, allowing the blood to return to the affected region. Also the type of saddle you use can aid in comfort there (or discomfort).
[b]Welcome to the forum Canadave! Enjoy your new old hobby.
(snip)
The whole scrotum thing had better be covered well indeed :-)[/b]
Thanks, KB. (Got it/them covered!)
Rowan wrote;
Your brain is your best defense against hip damage I think. Train yourself up to land on your feet. Practise stepping off before you totally lose control.
This was the first time I ever didn’t land on my feet. I almost always catch the unicycle too. This time was different…just lost control…
and…Losing circulation in the unmentioned topic can be dealt with by having regular balls breaks, allowing the blood to return to the affected region. Also the type of saddle you use can aid in comfort there (or discomfort).
It wasn’t so much a circulation problem, as a “get them the hell out of the way before you start pedalling” problem. I read some good tips in earlier threads.
Thanks both!
PS Hey Rowan, we were in NZ for 2 weeks in late July…we had a great time!
Learn to roll out of a fall. A martial arts person can show you how to roll.
If you can find a mat in a gym somewhere, a half hour of rolling practice is
a half hour well-spent.
Glad to hear you enjoyed your time in New Zealand Canadave. When you fall off your Unicycle, you should worry less about catching it, and concentrate more on landing safely. When you get the hang of riding again, and end up riding along trails with steep banks dropping into rivers, then it becomes more of an issue to keep hold of your Unicycle. You can get those SixSixOne shorts from Unicycle.com for 99 cents cheaper than in the link you posted, and they are especially made for Unicycling (just kidding). I had a nasty bruise on my hip once from falling onto my Maglite belt loop whilst riding, but it doesn’t happen often so I wouldn’t bother buying special armor.
Personally, I’d make it even more of an issue to land the rider (me) safely in this case, and I’d let the uni fend for itself. If uni lands in the water she doesn’t need to breath, and uni will probably survive the steep banks in much better shape than my body would.
Hi. I learned to ride on a 20" Norco Tuffwheel (remember them?) about 20 years ago. I could ride forward, freemount about 50% of the time, but couldn’t idle or ride backwards. I’ve barely ridden for about 15 years, and just bought a good quality, 24" uni. I’m re-learning with some success. You kinda DO forget how to ride a unicycle. Actually, I’m doing OK, but had a minor mishap today. I took a header…a crash like I’d never experienced in the old days. (Remember, I’m just riding forward on level ground… no tricks!)
Body parts involved - wrist, elbow, shoulder, knee and hip. Nothing serious, but I’m now wondering about protection, aging bones and all.
Is there such a thing as hip guards? I searched* and found info and input on helmets, wrist and knee guards, etc., but nothing on protecting the hips. Short of hockey pants, any ideas?
Thanks a lot,
Cd
*I won’t bring up the whole scrotum thing…the topic seems to be covered well!
I’m sorry, but I just can’t relate. My experience was completely different. I spent most of my first 18 years on one wheel, just getting from here to there. When I got lazy and finally bought a car, (Four wheels- Yuk!) I didn’t ride a unicycle again for ten years. When I got back on, it was like I was born on it. I was riding people on my shoulders within five minutes, just like getting back on a bike.
Growing up, I remember meeting people on the street who said they used to be good, but when they tried again they couldn’t even turn the crank. Is my case unique? How easy is it to forget your balance? How long does it take? I just don’t get it.
“Canadave” <Canadave.u2p8f@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message news:Canadave.u2p8f@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> Hi. I learned to ride on a 20" Norco Tuffwheel (remember them?) about
> 20 years ago. I could ride forward, freemount about 50% of the time,
> but couldn’t idle or ride backwards. I’ve barely ridden for about 15
> years, and just bought a good quality, 24" uni. I’m re-learning with
> some success. -You kinda DO forget how to ride a unicycle.-
> Actually, I’m doing OK, but had a minor mishap today. I took a
> header…a crash like I’d never experienced in the old days. (Remember,
> I’m just riding forward on level ground… no tricks!)
>
> Body parts involved - wrist, elbow, shoulder, knee and hip. Nothing
> serious, but I’m now wondering about protection, aging bones and all.
>
>
I find a well tuned sense of balance is your best protection.
Not only does it minimize the frequency of falling, it makes you like a cat,
and you end up landing on your feet. Feet are a marvelously constructed, and
can take forces that would break other bones with a fraction of the force.
I am 46, riding 35 years, I don’t recall the last time I fell and didn’t
land on my feet. But I never took 20 years off. There was a period in my
teens when I took a couple years off. I was more into girls, and just never
found the time
The only time I have a problem, is when I see somebody riding, mention I
ride too, they offer me their unicycle to try, and their seat is too high
for my feet to reach the pedals. That is embarrassing.
Another thing, is when I started, ther was no such thing as a comfortable
unicycle seat. So I use a bicycle seat. I have checked out some of the seats
that are now on the market, and it seems that a unicyclist has actually
designed them. So I might give them a try one day. Of course, it makes it
hard for people to see the seat, and I get comments about, “how do you ride
that with the post up your arse?”
That is proof that in your case, the Unicycle seat did not cause infertility (yet). It does not prove that Unicycle seats cause fertility, do you suggest that impotent people ride Unicycles in order to increase their chances of conceiving? I’d say that similar to skateboarding, if you had a nasty accident while riding/grinding on a rail, if you landed on your reproductive organs there could be a chance of infertility. Also the loss of circulation in your testes caused by long rides on inferior saddles may hinder your sperm count (that’s just a guess, not proof). I think it would be more accurate for you to say:
"My children are proof that my Unicycle seat did not make me infertile ", rather than claiming that you yourself are proof that seats cause fertility.
>Is there such a thing as hip guards? I searched* and found info and
>input on helmets, wrist and knee guards, etc., but nothing on protecting
>the hips. Short of hockey pants, any ideas?
At the 1980 USA National Unicycle Meet, Randy Barnes, a unicyclist stunt
man, had sewn dense camping foam inside a set of clothes. It’s amazing
how much protection a 1/2" of dense foam can provide. He may have
rolled down at least a half (maybe a full) story of steps in these
clothes without apparently any scratches or bruises (and certainly no
broken bones). Can anyone else please add more about Randy’s unique
protective gear?
I am 46, riding 35 years, I don’t recall the last time I fell and didn’t land on my feet.
Before Sunday, me neither.
and…
But I never took 20 years off.
Excellent point!
Cd
BTW, I don’t get email notification of a new post in this thread, even though I have “Yes” checked beside “Use ‘Email Notification’ by default?” in my options. Any ideas?
send rsu-request@unicycling.org an email with “subscribe unicycling” in the message body, but without the quotes. i was saying that the instructions i just gave you were on the unicycling.org site
Actually, I’m doing OK, but had a minor mishap today. I took a header…a crash like I’d never experienced in the old days. (Remember, I’m just riding forward on level ground… no tricks!)
