You give us too much credit! Both of us have mtb and road bike experience, so most of the gear can be reused… and we probably don’t get butt pain or legs as tired compared to someone who have not been doing any kind of cycling before unicycling!
I think I’m gonna rest for a few days, sprained right ankle from 2 weeks ago still feels weird. 
Agreed, i spend 12 hours a week body building, and 10+ hours biking/street boarding, so every muscle in my body gets a very through workout, so i have fantastic control over my body, and I’m still fairly young >< My work out philosophy is “everything helps everything” and i find this to be very true, having very strong muscles helps me pull on my bicycle, and have a very strong core helps me on the unicycle, and have great cardio helps with all of it >< The more in tune your body is the easier everything is.
Dang, the original poster took this way farther than I did with mine. Fun read! Keep pedaling! 
I have not had a decent night sleep in about 4 nights… worked to much, never even flinched with my exercising but i managed to get a decent uni practice in tonight. I have having some nasty arthritis pain in my left hip all day… and i was feeling rather light headed…
I have found the actual riding part to be trivial… its no that hard any more and i am riding at 1/2 the speed i was, with A LOT more control, my turning is going well, and i have found it more beneficial to ride slowly for longer duration then quickly for longer distance, i was riding over some substantial bumps in the road in the dark, and made it over a speed bump a few times. My free mounting went very well, i would guess about 75% of attempts were successful and my fails were still pretty decent so i am really starting to get it! I am going to try and shoot a how to free mount video, for beginners, by a beginner =D not that the vids on youtube and on here weren’t great but there was a few important steps that took me a bit to figure out which i believe were over looked because they are just so fluent at free mounting they forget the tribulations with it >< One advantage to teaching yourself things is you critique and modify and have a very firm understanding of things ><
Nice job, riding in the dark over obstacle’s is a huge challenge. Sounds like you are coming along great. I find that during freemount practice, it helps if I don’t ride too long before I dismount. Maybe a small circle to practice turning left or right then dismount. Then when mounting again the previous freemount is fresh in my mind and my body recalls the actions it took to make it successful. Kind of like how one’s body recalls a good golf swing and such.
Self instruction is very useful, but it is nice to have a mentor or riding partner. Neither of which I have, but oh well. Keep up the good work.
One of those things… no sleep + lots of work + tons of exercise = trouble. I have been light headed all day and my whole body is achy… it was rough practicing today… ready for tomorrow…
Dude! You finally found this thread 
Thanks for the inspiration. I took it further, but it really has taken on a life of its own since. But it is a fun spot so we just keep it going
+1
My biggest problems have come when I tried to ride too fast too soon. I think the speed-ability will happen naturally, but me pushing for speed too soon brought nothing but pain (some pretty bad crashes).
I totally agree. I have thought about doing the same thing, but I am too busy with other stuff. Though I think I still remember those key things pretty well. Look forward to the videeo!
The mentors and partners I had were out here on the Community. I taught my daughter, brother, and nephew to ride. Since I learned everything the hard way I remembered all the fine details and all of them learned sooooo much faster than me! (So far I am still a little ahead in skills, but that is probably only because I have put in so much more time!). So yeah, having a teacher or partner is a big help.
Keep up the great work 
NSYO
Take a rest! Resting is an integral part of training too. 
Looking forward to your video.
^+1. Rest is good. (I’m sure you know that…) Great progress, and glad that you have riding partners. That helps a great deal. Still can’t get my son to want to learn yet.
Rode with my wife this morning. Her bike is fixed, and she’s happy to be out, but not too happy with my cat5 hill. I almost made it up today, about 20 feet from the top of the quarter mile hill, and I lost it. But I’m psyched, best climb yet! Only did 4 miles. One of these days, I’m gonna do six, just because my legs aren’t feeling it as much.
Key Learning Point:
Hit that same cat5 with yesterday fresh in my mind, and made it up! Kept going, made it down the backside. Kept going, made it up and down the next long hill. Turned around for return trip, made it halfway up, then UPD. I’m crazy psyched!! That’s a whole lotta hill for me to do without losing it.
Stopped at friends house for water break, 15 minutes. He’s building a new deck, had to admire the handywork. Continued on, down to cat5 backside, had a car trailing me about 50 feet back. Made it up without UPD, and the car passed me. It was a friend who lived down the street. Top of cat5 and down frontside, there’s said friend standing in driveway with ice water. Water break #2!! 15 minutes. She mentioned she has a never-used camelbak I can have if she can find it. WooHoo!
Rode home. 5.62 miles, 2 unintentional 15 minute water breaks, and only 1 UPD. BEST RIDE EVER!!
Nicely done! I love those breakthrough moments.
Way to go AnimalCage!!!
Just so you guys don’t think I’ve dropped out of the game… I haven’t.
School has started again so I’m back to practicing at school
and will get back to afternoon practice after school SOON!
I’m sure I look like a wimp, but I have to admit that practicing in 95 degree (or hotter) weather got best of me.
I’m still practicing, at least enough to keep the freemounting skills in order and improving. I don’t have any milestones to report, but that should start taking place again soon. I was planning on being able to do one mile by this time. That didn’t happen, but I think I can get to two miles by next May.
You guys absolutely ROCK!
(57UniRider) Wow, 95f is like 35c, which is really hot. The temperatures around where I live are 29-35c in the day though, so I know how it feels. I’ve been practicing in the night to avoid the sun.
Decided to try the static freemount today. After 2 hours, I made this video. Success rate around 10-20%, but I get the idea now. It doesn’t feel like a totally static mount though, as I still rollback a little to get my weight in front of the wheel.
(Wanted to edit my post, but was too late)
I’m having problem with proper foot positioning after mounting. My left foot would be all over the place, sometimes rubbing against the crank. And I find it almost impossible to move my foot while pedalling.
PS - …and when I get to the 2 mile mark with no UPDs, I’m going to reward myself with a new higher quality, “spiffy model” uni.
Hey, LoneReaction. That looks pretty good. I imagine you can tell that it looks like your uni needs to be a little more forward. Maybe put a little more confiction into the forward motion as you hop on. TopHatPlus also had it right when he said to keep your body low. I also noticed that when I was first learning the freemount.
I have to scoot my feet after mounting too. I had a couple of awkward UPDs early on because of that. After a while, you’ll be able to do it without thinking about it. I think the secret is to keep your weight on the seat. You can’t move your feet when you’re standing up on the pedals.
Hey 57, I knew school had started, figured you were getting yourself settled. If there’s not a quitter on here, its you! Keep pedaling, and have “spiffy” unicycle dreams!!
Lone Reaction, my thoughts to your video: +1 to 57’s comment. You need a little more conviction in your push-off. What I see happening is you are pushing off with your left foot, but not enough. This causes the seat to stay behind the vertical straight line where it should be. Your right foot has to compensate by pushing down and back to attempt to get the seat upright. This brings the left pedal up too high, and you lose a lot of leverage needed to move forward. This causes the moment of hesitation where you have to find your proper vertical position before you can ride off.
Another way to look at it: How many times do you miss a freemount, and fall forward? Be fearless on the push-off, and your momentum will carry you into a solid static mount.
About foot positioning: You’ll get it. I remember vividly the first time I was able to reposition my foot and not UPD. Learning that will help turn a lot of failed freemounts into successes. Typically I move my left foot when my right foot comes over the top, and there’s the least amount of pressure on the left. And as always, what aarons said: Keep your weight on the seat.
Edit: I have in my possession a camelbak, with the shrinkwrap still on the straw! Thank you my friend Jeanne!!!
Thanks for the advice guys! I did notice that I wasn’t pushing off enough, after trying a curb mount. In the curb mount I could cheat and use my right foot as well, which helped me to find out how far I needed to go. My left leg was getting tired from all the one footed jumping and i never could go as far as on the curb mount though. But I’m sure that with enough practice, I’ll get stronger
NSYO this is a great and insperational thread have only found it last week and have been catching up its great!!
I’m new to the community and new to uni’s, it was the moving of the feet that made me post. I’ve just reached that level of comfort this week and it brought the added benifit of gaining enought control to be able to rise up in saddle slightly and adjust a somtimes less than comfortable sitting possition. This has had the added benifit of not having to abandon a ride, which led to my personal best this evening of 2.2 km I’m so happy it really feels like progress. 
I must start off that it is rather depressing to read these updates while not riding… i have a cold and was SUPER light headed so riding was next to impossible… I got home from work today… my throat was sore and i was tired… but i seen a few more updates and lonereastion’s free mount video and i was fed up and went out =D It went better then i expected… i had maybe 10/40 successful free mounts but when they were successful i was in cruise mode! I have found my self increasingly less interested in increasing my speed on the uni… so i was working more on increasing and decreasing my speed at low speeds to work on conrol, i made some smooth corners, one of which being a 180 in a circumference of about 8 feet =D it was pretty sweet! I did some random crazy pattern around a playground which included turning both ways, uphill, downhill and riding as slowly and in control as possible! a day or so more and i’ll have my video up! I start holidays tomorrow (2 1/2 weeks late which means 2 1/2 weeks less time off, and almost 2 weeks off)
Then i went for a 10 km ride on my rocky and i rocked it! i have noticed such a control difference jumping back on two wheels >_<
I am a body builder, when I’m in the gym its game time, how serious do i take myself? This si my new shirt for working out. I purchased it at the Victoria secret PINK store with my girlfriend, it was a lovely shopping experience and after i paid for it the teller said “tough guys wear pink”. I agree!
