So I saw some other guy doing something like this and it seems a pretty good idea. Basically I’ll have daily posts updating how my progression of learning goes. Hopefully this will be able to help new people plus I can read back on my notes so that I’m not making the same mistake twice. Just as a note, depending on how this goes, I may stop doing this or miss some days if I’m too busy or just don’t get a chance to unicycle.
Anyway, here we go…
DAY 1
So I got my unicycle (24" nimbus muni) and my first impressions are as follows. “Damn that tyre is huge!” and “That looks sick!”
I got in about 2 or 3 hours worth of practice today. I started off just working my way along a railing which was actually harder than I expected at first. By the end zone f the day I was able to ride pretty well along the railing with just one hand brushing along it. If I tried to venture away I would be able to get about 5 metres before I fell off which I’m pretty happy with
Key lessons of today -
Sit up straight
Try to lean forward and find your balancing point instead of jolting backwards and forwards.
When on the railing, have one hand stretched out to the railing and the other pointing out for balance.
So yeah, that’s pretty much it for today. I’m probably only gonna get about 1 hour worth of practice in today but hopefully I’ll be able to post something.
You are going to love unicycling! Sounds like the rail is working well for you; make sure to practice using it in both directions (so, for example, you are not just grasping the railing with the left or right hand). I suggest keeping the MUni tire at maximum pressure, which should diminish the stickiness/resistance of the tire and help you feel the side-to-side and forward-backward motion of the wheel, which is necessary for developing balance. Just for fun, you might try riding ‘backwards’ next to the rail. This will hasten your acquisition of other skills, like roll-back mounts, idling and backwards riding. You might also experiment with holding yourself back while grasping the rail and practice riding forward under that resistance; this will emulate, somewhat, what it feels like to ride through rough terrain or up hills. If I had to start over, I’d get the exact MUni you have; good choice!
Thanks for the encouragement! Yes, I made sure that I was going both ways along the railing so I could get used to having either arm out for balance. I did feel that the tyre was a bit low when I got it for learning so I put some extra psi in it.
I have tried riding backwards but it just felt to scaring for my level at the moment. Hopefully it’s not too far away though.
Hi guys, didn’t get to much practice I. Today as the family and some friends of ours went to the local freshwater lake to do some biscuting/knee boarding. Had a great time up there but didn’t get back to late afternoon so I only got about an hours worth of practice in.
Anyway, I just practiced similar stuff to yesterday but focussed more on venturing away from the railing. One thing that I did notice was that it took almost half the time to get up to where I left off yesterday.
I was able to mount on the railing and pedal a metre or so, assisted by the railing, then let go and I would make it a few metres but sometimes I would be able to go til I ran out of room (about 6 metres of unassisted pedalling).
I did try some free mounts just for the heck of it and was pleasantly surprised. Although I wasn’t able to free mount and ride away as well as I could using the railing, for about two of I was able to mount and get half a revolution or so of pedaling.
Anyway, that about somes up my practice for today. Overall, I’m pretty happy with where I’m at.
Key lessons of today -
I don’t really think I’m picture worthy yet as it would just be me with my arms in a blur and half fallen over. I will atleast try to show you guys where I’m practicing (maybe with me in it) and the uni in a photo soon (maybe)
Exactly my personal experience. You have not yet re-wired your brain. Don’t be discouraged. Just give yourself enough time to make it over that hump each day you practice.
Hey guys, feeling great about today!
Set an alarm and woke up early this morning and got about half an hour of practice in which got me up to about where I left off yesterday.
I had work this arvo and didn’t get home to about 6pm but that didn’t stop me. I started out at the usual verandah and railing that I’ve been practicing on and continued to practice unassisted by the railing. About half way through the hour I was practicing for, I felt pretty limited by the space I had so headed up to the street. We live at the top of a hill which is at a dead end and has a round-about sort of thing (not really, the street just ends but it is round and fairly wide). I practiced up there for the rest of my session today. I mounted at the lamp which is at the top of our driveway and after the first few minutes of getting used to it I was consistently able to ride across to the other side which would have been almost 20 metres.
I think I’m almost at the stage where I can mount (assisted) and ride until I run out of space or UPD due to a bump or something. At the moment I feel that the main thing holding me back is my inability to turn. I think it was just come as a natural thing where like skiing you just look where you want to go and lean into it and that’s it. Obviously I don’t know much about it so help would be very much appreciated.
Just as a side note, I had another try at some free mounting. About half the time I would just fail but for a quarter I would get about 1 revolution in and for the other quarter I would be able to ride off as well as I could usually.
Anyway, pretty happy with my progress so far and I’m hoping that by the weekend I’ll consider myself ready to venture out into the real world.
Key lessons of today -
When catching up from the previous day, go back to basics (along a railing for the first 10 minutes or so.
Good job! You’re really picking things up quickly. I think it took me about 4 hours before I could ride uneasily around on the local greenway; however, I only practiced 15-30 minutes at a time, so it actually took me several weeks before I got to this point.
As far as turning is concerned, unless you’re making very sharp turns, they do just happen naturally. I learned to ride following a gravel path along the backside of a baseball fence. Because it was curved, I picked it up as I was learning to ride. Basically, just look in the direction that you want to go, and your body will take you there.