Cheers Darth Elevator 
I’m still in shock myself
Here’s the vid from yesterday evening. I’ve sent it via my phone so quality isn’t as good. Can’t get into my ‘youtube’ account on the computer 
Ha ha, If I had trouble freemounting that just might go in my signature…
That’s excellent, Alucard. I was weeks on the 36r before I could freemount it. You’ve really made great strides recently!
How do you like the tour bars? My coker doesn’t have them, and I’ve been thinking about adding them. I’d appreciate your point of view as a new 36 rider (as am I).
Looks great! And that looks like a sweet location to ride.
Gotta love the whispered “yes” when you successfully climbed on toward the end. 
Cheers guys 
Lance B
I like the handle very much
I’ve got the bars to fit on my new cycle computer and shiny new bell
I don’t understand that I can’t hold onto the front seat of my other uni’s without wobbling off but I can hold onto this with both hands. 
I took to them like a duck to water. When I was going a tad fast I pulled up on them like reigns without thinking and when I came to a slope I pulled on them hunched myself forward and shot up the slope like Unigeezer 
The way I have them set up now, they protect my brake handle if it falls.
Hope that helps.
Will someone pinch me LOL I think I’m dreaming all this !!!
Ha! I know the feeling.
Very cool. I think I would like to try a 36 in near future.
My speed skating compatriot and I went to our usual park to skate last night, and I brought my unicycle along to goof around on and show off for a few minutes before skating. I had done the same thing three weeks ago when I was just getting to be able to ride consistently in a straight line for a few pedal cycles, and there were lots of oohs and aahs and compliments for me then for even being able to do that.
Last night I rode so much better, hitting free mounts more often than not, doing nice turns, riding lots different surfaces, and transitioning smoothly from the road onto and off of foot paths. And no one paid any attention to me or had anything to say about what I’d done. 
Today I went to another park, the city’s arboretum, and found more good places to practice. There’s a little-used concrete basketball court that was excellent for working on tight turns, plenty of walking paths that winding along with gentle grades, and a nicely arched wooden footbridge over a creek that I had fun trying to cross. It’s only a couple of miles from home and I’ll definitely be going back there. It’s all quite scenic and I’ll think about bring a camera along next time. Maybe that can be my first “Pictures of your latest ride” posting.
Oh, and last weekend I found a 24" Sun unicycle with a cool wide white sidewall tire at a second-hand shop for $20! The crank arms were loose and I thought that might be an easy fix, but when I got it home and checked the threads on the axle were bad and the nuts jammed in place on them. I’m partway through getting that worked out–rim unlaced, bearings pulled-and I will ride it soon. Going kinda retro with it, more as that develops…
I went back to the Arboretum this afternoon, had some more adventures, explored some paths I hadn’t seen before when I’d gone there to walk, and took some pictures. That wooden bridge is good challenge for me right now. I haven’t made it all the way up and over yet but I think I’m close to getting it. The trails with the pine bark mulch feel pretty slick and I haven’t tried to ride any parts of those that are even close to being steep.
Nice post, Eddie. Looks like a sweet place to ride. Don’t worry about that bridge, it won’t be long before you can ride it blindfolded.
Thanks, DE! It’s a nice, quiet park that’s maintained well, and it’ll be a while before I run out of things to work on with the different features and surfaces there. If I mount up in the middle of the bridge I can ride off in either direction, but I keep getting tripped up by the transitions when I try to go up onto it. But I’ll get it. Not so sure about that blindfold though.
Forgive the post stalking 
I was just excited to finally see a rider in the triad area (I’m in the triangle area but have family in the triad). Anyway, what I’ve noticed over the years is that people get all excited and tend to egg you on when they see you struggling at something… but they don’t really have comments when they see someone beasting it up. Take the lack of comments as a true sign of progression. 
To round out the social psychology of unicycle bystanders I’ve also noticed that for men unicyclists the younger you are the more jeers you’ll receive. I guess teens that like to posturize in front of their friends don’t feel as threatened by us older dudes so there’s less incentive.
Revered silence, the reward of the older, seasoned rider. :D:D
If you get a chance check out:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NCUnicyclists/
I believe most members are either in the triangle, Charlotte, or Asheville areas.
No prob.
For better or for worse, I was back to getting egged on yesterday at the Arboretum. A cute (and way too young) girl walked her dog past just as I was botching two mounts in a row, and smiled and said, “You got it.” I had to tell her, “No I don’t. I really don’t.”
Oh, OK, I hope that’s it. I was thinking more along the lines of anyone beyond school age seen riding a unicycle was suspicious, possibly dangerous, best left alone.
WOW! That is great! You will love the 36. Your video looks great.
I have a love/hate relationship with my 36. I have good days and bad days.
My car was having some work done, so instead of sitting in the waiting room eating doughnuts at the dealership for an hour and a half, I took it out for a spin at the nearby school. It was horrible. I hadn’t ridden in a few days and I could tell. I started leaning to the left again! I hope it is something like not being enough air in the tire. I didn’t check before the ride.
I am freemounting it on occasion (10%), but with our current heat wave I have had little desire to do it over and over again for practice.
For me the 36 is proving such a challenge that I am thinking of riding my 29 in the marathon at the Nationals. Now the whole reason for getting the 36 when I did was so I could have an easier ride during the marathon. So I might hear about it from the family financial manager.
One nice thing about the 36 is that it makes the 29 seem small and easy to control. My son and I went to the top of a small mountain, really a large hill, and road the trail down. It was easy on the 29. He was on his 20 and can really ride that thing well.
GlennG - great to hear you are riding so well. It sounds like you are ready for the Nationals.
For those who have smelly pad syndrome, I have been spraying my pads with a mixture of vodka and water which cuts the smell a little. I learned about that from the forum. But it still got bad so last night I stuck helmet, wrist guards, and leg armor in my dish washer with a little dish soap. The smell disappeared and I had a strange desire to eat my lunch off my leg armor.
Same thing happened to me this morning. I went for a ride after about a week’s break from the 36" and I promptly fell off on my first uphill stretch. Luckily, it’s garbage day, so I had something to lean against to mount. It’s funny, skillwise I feel like when I first learned to ride unicycle – I can’t freemount or idle, turns take a lot of space and concentration, and UPD’s are plentiful.
I still have yet to get a successful freemount. Although I should add that I’ve only tried a few times a day. Ditto what you said about the heat.
I was thinking the same thing! It was like I was totally new on a unicycle. I am determined to head home and conquer this think. I may change seats. I took the Coker seat off and when I got it and put the freeride seat on that feels so comfy on the 29. But when riding today the seat felt slippery under me. Perhaps it is what I wear. Maybe I should get a pair of rubber shorts to really grip the seat!
I use the wheel mount method:
This is how I first learned to mount my 29. Now I can do it on the 29 without the wheel mount. I should be able to do the 36 easily with this method, but, being of larger size, jumping is not my strong point.
Off to home to try again - well at least until I hit the blast of hot air when I walk outside.
It’s really great to read these posts – let’s me know I’m in good company! I had a fairly spectacular UPD Friday night, so I spent the weekend “nursing my wounds,” and not riding. Then starting out on this morning’s ride it was like starting over. It’s amazing how quickly it goes away! (Fortunately it comes back pretty fast.)
My daily practice sessions have become pretty much devoted to freemounting (the 36"). I get on it, ride out about 20 or 30 yards, turn around and come back, dismount, start over. I do that about a dozen or so times in the space of a half hour, then I’m pretty much spent. I think I’m up to about a 50% average now, sometimes more, sometimes less. I’m just waiting for when it becomes “automatic,” and I land it every time. (I’d be interested in hearing from others who have mastered this, how long it took.) Fortunately, I’m pretty patient. Plus, I have a friend who’s learning, who practices at the same time. (Out in the far end of the company parking lot.) Having another person there makes it a lot better.
Man, I turn my back for 5 minutes and you guys are all moving on to 36ers…just when I thought I was catching up. I hope you’re not going to join this madness LargeEddie…you’re my yardstick
I used that same mount to free mount a 24. Start watching this video at the 25-second mark to see why I shortly thereafter learned a regular free mount.
