I used to think so too, it’s not true. Age and balance does go down somewhat with age. If you ride casually you should never fall doing normal riding; once you get a bit better.
Actually, I rarely fall. My definition of “fall” is having to put any other part of me (other than my feet) on the ground, so I count putting my hand on the ground as a “fall”. I do end up dismounting when I don’t really want to because I feel I’m losing my balance after only a couple of minutes. Getting better is happening very slowly - over a period of months rather than hours. I can’t help thinking I don’t have the knack because I keep hearing that learning to ride takes 10 - 15 hours, and I’ve spent many times that. Perhaps it depends on the definition of “learning to ride”, because I can ride, but not for long.
Never is a big word. Even super experienced long distance riders report crashing once in a while. With thousands of miles I do wear the proper PPE for that very rare occurrence when something will catch you off guard. It is just the nature of the beast.
I fall constantly, but then again I try and push myself. I’m not doing anything crazy, but I’ll try and ride a trail that I’ve had trouble with in the past or work on a skill that I don’t have down yet.
I consider any dismount where I have to bail because I no longer have control of the unicycle a fall though. Just because I managed to land on my feet doesn’t mean I didn’t fall off the darn thing.
If you want to accelerate your learning, here is a suggestion: If you can stay on for only, say, two minute during basic riding / turning, then instead practice something you can only sustain for 20-30 seconds or less. In my own experience, harder stuff frequently is the key to unlock the more basic technique. I don’t know exactly what level you’re at, but some possible techniques you could try are: make a slalom course, practice riding extra slowly, work on your static mounting, practice riding while grabbing the seat handle with one hand, then the other, ride up a hill. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that riding a longer distance or a longer time is going to make you better. As a beginner, you have a limited set of tools for balance. Instead of trying to perfect your technique using this limited set of tools, try stuff outside your comfort zone (that is also not too dangerous). IMHO, that’ll make the easier stuff easier. Just a suggestion, and YMMV.
I agree with 98% of what you said, but riding farther and harder is important too. Even if you don’t practice skills one day, if you push yourself and ride further you’re building both your muscles and your knowledge of what you’re capable of. I rode 4.5 miles a few days ago and I learned that what was holding me back most now was discomfort with my saddle.
I try to be charitable to myself as an old geezer (age 70), so I’ll make a distinction between “falling off” and “falling down”. I guess it’s all in the definitions. How do you define “able to ride”? For me, I decided it was the ability to go completely around a city block in one shot with no dismounts. I freely admit that I chose a small block - about 1,000 ft (300 m), and I celebrated success once I managed it.
A lie - a lie! 
Some people will pick it up in that time, sure, but it varies a lot. I took almost 50 hours to ride 100 meters, and I was 13 at the time. It may feel like learning is progressing at a pace that is next to nothing, but just keep trying (as you no doubt have been doing).
Why does it seem like you’re falling? Do your legs burn out, or are you struggling to keep your balance the whole time, or is it something else?
I just feel that I’m losing my balance. My GP thinks that it may be muscle fatigue, and it could be, but I suspect I’m somewhat out of balance, and not sufficiently desperate to stay on. I don’t think it’s my legs burning out because I’m a bit of a bike nut and my average bike ride is over 100 km (62 miles). It astounds me that I can do an 8 hour bike ride, but not an 8 minute uni ride. Of course, on the uni, every muscle in my body is very tense, though I do make a conscious effort to put my weight on the seat.
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This is the main reason why unicycling is so exhausting in the “beginner” stages.
But rest assured the relaxation comes in eventually and then you’ll be able to ride for much longer time / distance.
And then you start riding more challenging terrain and you can wear yourself out again
What worked for me to “keep weight in the seat” it to (ocassionally) focus on lifting the knees on the up-stroke of the pedalling motion.
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Ohh yes. When riding on smooth surfaces is not chalenging, throw in rough ground riding on single track. Cardio workout!
It actually could be muscle fatigue. I don’t do 60 mile bike rides, but I do do 10 mile rides and at first I found 1/4 mile on the unicycle left my leg and back muscles sore for days after.
When you’re starting out on a unicycle every muscle in your legs and core are super tensed up the entire time as you struggle to maintain your balance. As it becomes instinctive you begin to relax.
I’ve been riding about an hour a day now for a little over 3 months and I’m just reaching the point where what bothers me most is saddle discomfort and numbness rather than muscle fatigue. Practicing muni skills can still be exhausting though.
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That was definitely my main metric as a beginner. Riding the 1/4 mile loop around my neighborhood without dismount. I wasn’t going to tell myself I could ride until that happened. If @combike is making it only a couple minutes before dismounting, that sounds like classic beginners’ inefficiency, which affects everyone. A tiny change in efficiency, at this point in learning, could make a huge difference.
As a beginner, I made the most progress after the 30 minute mark in my practice sessions. A second wind of sorts. My theory why that happened, in a nutshell: I was getting weaker, more tired as the session progressed. But I was also gaining more of an affinity for what I was doing. Those two curves (energy and affinity) crossed one another at about the 30 minute mark, a low-point in my session. But, if I kept at it, the affinity curve started to win out, and perhaps more importantly, I started getting better results using less energy. Then I had my best rides / mounts / whatever. (Warning: being tired can cause you to have a bad fall.)
There has been past discussion on this topic. Some riders claim that keeping the sessions short, 30 minutes or less, worked for them.
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That’s impressive! I’m coming up to 60 in a couple of months – I probably do 3 or 4 100 km rides a year, and they wipe me out.
I remember the feeling of “I can’t hang on any longer, gotta dismount!”. It was a feeling of no longer being able to handle the instability, especially if I was doing big side to side corrections. I can’t remember what cured me of it, but it might have been the ability to correct my position on the seat by standing up on the pedals. One other thing to check that might be an easy fix – tire pressure. For a long time I didn’t have a pump with both a Shrader connection and a working gauge. When I got one, I realised I had been seriously under-inflated, and it was making riding much harder.
+1. As a heavier rider, I find that higher tire pressure is a big help. Any time it feels like I am riding crooked I know its time to check my tire pressure. On dirt and grass it doesn’t matter as much, but on the street I like max pressure.
I feel like an idiot. Yesterday, before my ride, I decided to check the tightness of all the parts of my 24". I started with one of the pedals. It immediately loosened. What? I realized, quickly, that the wheel had been installed backwards. How did I do this? I am obsessive about checking the right / left orientation of the unicycle. I reflected on the last time I had removed the wheel. One of the bearing caps had gotten loose, I recall, and I removed the caps and checked the bearings before putting it back together. I probably rode it five times before realizing the error! Gulp! I am glad that I routinely tighten the crap out of my pedals, or else there might have been a problem. Anyway, no damage done, but I am still scratching my head how I screwed that up. The tire I use doesn’t have an obvious tread orientation, but I did notice that, on yesterday’s ride after remedying the situation, the tire seemed slightly more responsive in the left / right pivot regard. So humiliating!
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Glad you weren’t riding and had an equipment malfunction then! It’s very easy to put the wheel in backwards.
Hey 1on1!
Woohoo! Thanks for your posting! I’m surprised at the durability and usefulness of this thread. I just started riding again, finally, after several years away from it. I went out yesterday for a ride and was pleased at how well it went 
Guess it’s time to start posting here again as I start learning again.
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Well, I hope that I will start again. Had tried it in January again and am driven immediately 50m… never give up! 
Back in the saddle after many (8?) years without riding. I rode 30 minutes two days ago and 30 minutes today.
Pleasant Surprise: The feel is coming back quickly 
Here are a few learnings from these 2 rides that are good reminders to myself of things I learned before my long hiatus:
Key Learning: Look up, look ahead, look around but DON’T look down - It’s okay to look down briefly but look up and ahead again quickly
Key Learning: Lean a little into the turns
Key Learning: Let it come - don’t fight the uni or try too hard
Key Learning: UPDs will happen - don’t try to catch or save the uni; it is very tough and can handle the hard falls much better than I can!
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