Well i have read this thread from the start in teh last month or so as i have been learning and it has been great to read.
Like everyone i have gone through many of the same steps. (Some made harder by breaking a couple of ribs one ride. Dont hold on to metal guard rails and try and stop the uni from slipping out from under you. Hurts lots to get guard rails in the ribs…)
But getting better was planning on going to ashvale this weekend but as i still cant sleep on my side and driving is not that comfortable have decided not to. But… PAX and MAW are you still riding in MD as if so that is a much shorter drive and would love to come and ride with some others. I live in philly and i have been unable to find anyone to ride with.
In the last month or so i have done a 20 mile ride on my 24" sun. (The day after i orderd a 29" that ride dam near killed me…)
I am trying to commute 3 - 4 miles each way to work a couple of times per week and before the ski season i would love to get in a few rides with others.
Currently working on stalling, Hopping and idiling.
Davey, STL, with a winter weather advisory just posted for the DC area it must be time to get the muni out! I’ve barely ridden in the past six months but now that it’s getting cooler…
I’ll let MAW tell us where he is since I haven’t heard from him in a couple of months.
I’d be up for some Cedarville Forest fun if you want to drive south. Time on the trails is soooo much better with company.
My sister came home just as I finished a ride, and took this video. Freemounting is the biggest problem here… Today I’ve been trying the “rolling mount”.
Woah! LoneReaction!!!
You are LOOKING GOOD!!!
No Way!
One of these days I’m going to try one of those monsters myself.
And HOW long have you been riding a unicycle?
Since something like June, maybe (or less)?
Davey, those are 125/150mm cranks… I’m using 150mm. Probably looks small compared to the wheel!
57UniRider, on the 28th july was the first time I touched a unicycle. On the 30th, I bought a used one to learn on. So, it’s been 3 months. And I spent the last month resting my ankle!
The only skills I have are riding forward and freemounting (poorly). I’m biting much more than I can chew, still quite herky jerky. UPDed on yesterday’s ride a few times (normally when trying to go up unavoidable tiny curbs, or screwing up a mount)… but that’s what guards and gloves are for.
Freemounting the big wheel is really hard, especially for a 5’3" person. There are a couple of times where I failed 10 times before getting on. It seems a big factor is fatique… near the end of the ride it was almost impossible. I guess it needs more practice, and better technique.
Yesterday there were some mild occasional winds, and for the first time I felt the wind trying to push me back. It always happens on a road bike, but being on one wheel is another matter.
Hello all!
I’ve been in CA for a couple months, riding a few times a week. I had the opportunity to ride at MUNI weekend 16 in Auburn, with many of the legends, old and new! What a great bunch of folks, lots of fun and of course some epic riding with epic scenery. I managed to keep up pretty well with the bunch of them, the atmosphere was laid back, we’d take breaks and keep the group together. There was plenty of inspiration, at one point Kris flew by me on a straight section on his geared 26er at 15mph, made me feel like I was standing still! Lots of photos in the thread, good times!
Anyway, trying to catch up:
Suddenly in the summer I wasn’t such a great partner anymore
Rolling hops are still inconsistent for me… it seems to be a matter of timing the pedal stroke, if it’s not lining up you have to peck up to it from a 1/4 rotation away, set up then hop sideways over it. At least that’s working more often for me.
AC I am still very intimidated by downhills, especially on the trails. I’ve started wearing knee/shin pads, somehow that miraculously made be a little better
Hiya Davey, looks unlikely that I’ll be back in the DC area anytime soon, I’m in CA for a bit. You should hook up with PAX and/or tstessney (in the Altoona, PA area if I remember correctly).
I wholeheartedly agree! And those Cedarville trails are really nice, very rideable for beginners with some challenging stuff for intermediates also. Many good memories in there with PAX and company!
I think I’ve already shared my beach ride video- there may be another coming soon featuring my Dad and his black lab on the local trails here in the Nevada City, CA area…
till then, roll smoothly!
Nice to get an update from you. Welcome to California! VERY cool that you were able to join in on the recent MUNI event in Auburn. Impressive! I have dreams of participating at some level in events like that in future years (just now getting back to riding and still working on the most elementary of skills, someday…hopefully soon). I live in California on the Central Coast and really enjoyed seeing your beach riding video. If you get a chance, some learning points from your experiences riding on the beach (sand vs. pavement, dirt trails) would be another most appreciated addition to the learning journal!!
A BIG shout out of thanks to all the Learning Journal posters for sharing your insights from your learning and for the inspriation! This thread (and many others on the forum) and resulting virtual riding friends have been such a huge help from the start (THANKS NSYO for creating this spot on the forum!!) and have kept my interest up during the long periods when I have not been able to ride.
Hey Kickstand - great to hear from you! Hope you are getting back in the saddle a little more. Keep it up! Cali beach sound like rough duty…but somebody has to do it
It has been a busy couple week so I haven’t been out here on the forum much but it was fun to catch up tonight. What about 20 miles on a 24?? I did 13 on a 36 and another 13 on mountain trails on the Muni 26". That one was REALLY tough! Have done 2 miles on the 24" a few times, but can’t imagine doing 20 on it!!
Hoping to get out on the Muni again this fall but life has to slow down a bit. I’m sure no one else has this problem :D. Meanwhile it is fun to check in and read the TLJ posts. Like Kickstand, it always keeps me coming back.
Well, I’ve got something to report. This is especially for krjames, and anyone else who tried to tell me to do this. I left my house on a hunt for a good place to practice. On the spur of the moment, I decided to drive by the high school to see if the track might be free of runners and walkers. To my surprise… there was nobody there! I had to figure out how to get inside the gate. All the gates seemed to be locked, but I finally found one that was wide open. So I had a good practice session all by myself. If I could do that every day for a month, that would be just the ticket! Thanks for that advice James!! Of course you are absolutely correct, the track is the perfect riding surface! Now I need to figure out when there is likely to be nobody using it.
Unfortunately, the group that was meeting at the college (where the wonderful walkways are located) is not meeting there until further notice due to daylight savings time. That was working pretty nicely, even though I was the only one doing any unicycling.
My unicycle friend finally has her uni, but has not taken off without a wall for support yet, and she is very busy… but I’m hoping for a steady practicing partner soon.
I need to have something to report more often, because I surely am missing visiting with you all.
Hello 57Unirider, have you read aracers’ story on " 48 and…( Sal M) .The last paragraph has inspired me.
I make a point of looking for this thread and yours when I turn my ipad on.
Shall I tell you all how I’m getting on. I’m not doing aswell as some but I am sticking with it, cos I think I’m addicted. There I’ve said it…“My name’s Elaine and I’m addicted to Unicycling”…ah that feels better.
Well, where was I? Yup . Since last time I now own
20" freestyle
20" trials
26" freestyle
(dreaming of buying a muni)
With the 20" freestyle I can ride round corners. I am hoping to start back at the uni club once a month then I can take that and practice my turns and idling. I’m not doing to well at idling, the only time I get anywhere near is when I am tired and much less consentration, then my feet don’t come off the pedals as easily so they stay there for that bit longer and I almost manage an idle. Must practice more on that.
My 20" trials is my mini muni. I like it, I can go over fallen leaves and conkers but I wish it was a bit bigger…I feel as if I am pedalling at getting nowhere fast. …hence the wish for a muni, though undecided between 24" and 26"
The 26" freestyle. This is great for rolling along the prom. I’ve managed to stay on for 7 minutes. When I do upd I can usually freemount within about 4 goes. I’m having a new learning curve as I have just swapped my 114 mm cranks from my 20" freestyle and put the 127 mm on that. So my little legs are going as fast as they can to stay on. That’s fun! Think I’m going to land on my face anytime soon.
I can manage to lift my feet slightly of the pedals if I freemount sqewwiffly ( not staight).
I am getting in a lot more rides than expected at this time of year as we are having some wonderful November weather. Tonight is our first frost, that’s not bad. Hoping to go out tomorrow night to the club with my 20" freestyle and practice idling…wish me luck.
Great thread, love to hear how everyone is doing.
Lone reaction…Well done on the 36"
57Unirider…can you ask at the college when is their quiet time. Hope you get to join up with your uni buddy soon.
Last Thursday I rode for 16km, and my right ankle is aching again. I thought it was healed. Most of my tendons has healed from the sprain in august, and now the soreness is more pinpoint. I guess all the jumping from trying to mount the 36" is not good. I think that it is the peroneal tendon. I think I will ask my chiropractor for referrals to a sports doctor, want to get rid of this problem once and for all.
Hey Alucard! I’ve been wondering about your name, Alucard.
Can you tell us how you came up with it. What is the derivation?
I did go over and read aracer’s story. Thanks for that tip.
YOU are doing some pretty awesome stuff yourself!
Hello LoneReaction! Bummer on your ankle. I watched your 36" video, and I keep seeing it over and over in my head. You look great! I saw another video over on the “riding the 36” thread. YOU look smooth, and after no time at all. I hope you figure that ankle out. No fun having stuff interfere with your fantastic progress. I momentarily forgot that you had to sit out for a month. That makes your 36" achievement even MORE amazing in such a short period of time! Way to go LoneReaction!
Wonder where TopHatPlus is?
And imRisk was doing great before he moved to Iowa.
I hope he is okay and still riding.
It’s interesting to see how people seem to appear in waves. It seems busy for a while, and then people disappear. I wonder what keeps them coming back, or what happens to make people lose interest. “Life” I suppose. I miss some of those people that were so active here when I first found this fantastic forum!
Elaine! (Alucard)! How was the freemounting with the 114s attached to your 26"? That sounds pretty difficult!
57Unirider.
not a very exiting answerbut here goes…
My twin sis is left handed and likes to write back to front ( there’s probably a proper name for that) . When I was a lillte kid my nikname was dracula and she used to write it backwards.
Using 114mm cranks on the 26"freestyle (2.1 inch tyre)… instead of the usual 127mm…well it was interesting. I had the wind behind me going along the prom to Rhyl, didn’t realise that till I turned round to head home. So I thought I was doing well. Going up slight inclines, I leaned forwards over the wheel and pedalled like mad. My pedals are metal with studs and they really grip my feet so there was no chance of my feet slipping off. I think I looked a bit like ‘roadrunner’ It was a bit hairy scary but interesting at the same time.
Cycling into the wind on the way back was a learning curve. I was leaning into the wind to keep going forward when suddenly the wind would stop blowing and I would lurch forwards. Normally I would just fall off at this point, but my feet where ‘stuck’ to my pedals so I ended up pedalling like mad and eventually get back to a rhythm. I feel that if I had 127 Cranks on I would have fallen off a lot more times.
I think I need to improve my riding skills a lot more before I venture out on 114’s, so maybe I’ll put the 127s back on for a while longer. Though it certainly does get the old ticker going.
Interesting point though, I found it easier to slow the uni down on shorter cranks, than the 127s. I thought that would have been the opposite. That’s why I thought muni’s had longer cranks.
Maybe a lot of the regulars on here are students and they’re not posting because they are back in class. Just a thought.
I do hope no- one has given up riding.
Looking at ‘you-tube’, unicycling seems to be the latest craze.
57Unirider …Hope you managed to get some more practise on the sports track.
I also need to improve my riding skills a lot before going to shorter cranks on any of my uni’s. I have tried shorter cranks on my Muni and on the 20" but went back to longer on both.
The bigger the wheel the more difficult it will be to slow down using smaller cranks unless you have really strong legs. It can also put a lot of pressure on your knees to put back pressure with the shorter cranks. At least that is how it feels to me. I kind of had the same experience initially, feeling that I could slow down easier with the shorter cranks, but I quickly learned that if I had a lot of speed it was very scary trying to slow down with the short cranks - it is much easier to stay in control with the longer ones when slowing down or going downhill.
Hope this helps. Not that I am an expert though, and I may not have much more experience than you. But this is what I experienced this summer on the Muni, so I am back to the longer cranks on it!
Just saw this,
obviously no more 16k rides for you for a while…
But that doesn’t mean you have to stop riding. Cut the distance back and put/wrap a bag of ice cubes around you ankle after your ride for 15 minutes and any other time during the day you feel like it.
This is what I do with any sort of soft tissue injury (running) and it seems to work pretty well.
But definitely cut back on the distance if you know that it will cause pain. And perhaps riding only every second or third day until everything is ok again.
Thank you for your advice, Krjames. Today I went to my university clinic and they got me a physiotherapist. It was not expensive at 25USD per appointment, so I figure why not? She twisted and turned my foot, and it seems that some of my tendons and muscles are tight. So I was given a calf massage, and got some kind of tingly electric therapy.
I think you are right, when I rode for 6km, then 10km, it wasn’t much of a problem. It is so hard to tell yourself to stop riding! I actually don’t ride often, only once or twice a week.
My knees are killing me! You were so right about the crank lengths. It seemed okay at the time but now my knees hurt like never before.
I think I will swop the cranks back and try again a bit later, maybe next spring.
I’ll be putting some photos in my profile soon…
regards,
Elaine
I have been patiently praticing almost every week day for over a month.
I take my 20 inch sun something and go along a four foot high fence in an
elementary school yard. It is probably sixty yards from one end to the other.
My dog of course trashed my knee last December and I am making up for lost time. I go one way and then the other touching the top of the fence as little as possible… I have finally gotten to going almost the whole distance without
touching at all. I do the trek twenty times. I support myself to get on and brace myself a bit when I first get started. Once I’m rolling I go the distance.
I discovered low tire pressure was a big hinderance to getting going smoothly.
My tire was really low and I couldn’t get passed one turn easily. I now, not now, I then would go to the point where the fence angled off. About seventy feet of wiggling the tire pretty violently but without touching the fence.
Now, today, I went to the store to get my wife’s pills and take back the rotten ice cream. Someone took my cycle from the back of my truck.
My dog was in the back and usually barks everyone away. This one didn’t stay away.
Where’s an inexpensive Uni?
At 69 I have little time to waste. The tire presssure increase really made things lots easier. Some one has a 20 inch Elite his brother bought in Germany. They want $75. Is that akin to my 20 inch Sun somethng or rather.
I haven’t seen another unicycle in our area.
Any recession pleasant suggestons.
that ride dam near killed me…)
