mroze, you’re killing it! Someone else, the other day, mentioned riding on a crushed cinder (fine gravel) surface, for side-to-side movement. There are an amazing number of different surfaces within 1/4 mile of my house. Sand, coarse gravel, fine gravel, thick grass, soccer field, dirt track, wood chip beds, asphalt, cement. Riding on all these surfaces helped me progress.
Keep up the good work! If I recall, my challenges at the ~100 meter riding stage were: 1. Remembering to breathe, 2. Keeping my speed in check, 3. Not running out of road (because I couldn’t steer that well).
I thought my response to this quote may be better suited here.
This may be the biggest trump card (sorry ) in the learning-on-grass deck, and that’s because you go straight from “I can ride 100 meters!!” to “I can quite easily ride around the neighbourhood without falling!!!” when you move onto pavement for the first time.
Grass feels unnecessarily hard when you’ve done something on pavement before. That’s why I think if you move to pavement too soon, you’ll be tempted to stay on it because it’s so much more satisfying than grass.
As long as you’re not getting discouraged with grass (which in theory you wouldn’t, viewing the failures as normal parts of the learning process) then I think it helps with the mental game in the long-run (because of the above, but also because you don’t have to re-learn to ride on irregular surfaces).
Some riders ask, “Why make learning any harder than it already is?” in reference to learning on grass. My primary argument for learning on grass is to keep the rider from quitting due to bad falls. My secondary argument is that it helps with the transition to muni and other resistant and uneven surfaces. As a beginner, I was not afraid to ride on blacktop. What scared me was epic failed mounts / sudden falls onto the street. That’s what sent me to the park to practice mounting. As far as free mounting on pavement goes, I suggest beginners use a “safe” mount and save their more experimental, less polished mounts for grass.
This has been covered on the forum before, but a good “safe” mount is the “tire grab”. I learned it on my first unicycle, a 24". I can’t quite reach the wheel doing it on a 20". I wore full fingered gloves while practicing the tire grab. Its advantages are: 1. It keeps the wheel from rolling forward or backward. 2. It gives tactile feedback about the degree of backward force being placed on the first pedal (which will gradually be diminished as you progress toward a proper static mount). 3. It stabilizes the side-to-side motion of the uni during the mount. 4. It allows the mount to be slowed down. 5. It encouraged leaning forward with the upper body, getting the center of gravity more forward, which will help later on while static mounting. 6. It helps develop balance that is not reliant on looking forward / toward the horizon (I have read about other riders getting disoriented when looking down at the ground; probably, this is more a function of never practicing looking down). 7. Since you’re leaning forward / looking down during the tire grab mount, you can more carefully place your second foot on the pedal. 8. You can start the mount closer the 3:00/9::00 “strong” position.
I think you can keep discussing this until they end of time. I say, just practice on whatever you like and have available. Trying different things is gonna help you figure out what you like.
Ex. I did my first freemount on gravel (just to practice somewhere in peace), but I also learned that loose stones tear the skin something terrible .
Hm, that’s really strange. I had to teach myself to look up, I learnt looking at the ground (to watch for bumps - that’s grass for you ).
This specific field is quite irregular (in some spots more than others), yes, but I think the main reason it’s hard to ride on is that it has terrible drainage. On that hill behind the camera, you can be at the top and the grass will be moist, even on a generally hot day. The water makes riding a nightmare.
@Brian87 great job on the freemounting “Ex. I did my first freemount on gravel (just to practice somewhere in peace), but I also learned that loose stones tear the skin something terrible” I learned to freemount on gravel, and yeah, loose stones can be a bit “slippery” and also as you say can tear up skin something nasty. I think in those earlier days I didn’t even attempt to ride with shorts on even if the day was way too hot. That also goes for long-sleeved shirts or jackets too. Now I have got to the point where - oh and I only right now really ride pavement and some grass - I only wear cycling gloves, a bandana (to sop up the sweat and to protect my bald head from sun), and a helmet for protection.
Generally, I think almost everything is easier to do on concrete than on grass, but when I find a new skill particularly intimidating and I anticipate falling, I search out an ideal patch of grass to practice on.
How is free-mounting on grass easier? The wheel is always locked and it takes much more pressure to start rolling. I can static mount near 100% on concrete, but not on grass.
I found learning on a gravelly bumpy dirt road to be very difficult. The grassy field in my yard was even worse for throwing me off. Once I moved onto a paved road my learning definitely improved at a quicker rate. I think wearing protective equipment is necessary regardless of the learning surface. My dirt road and lumpy grass caused me many more UPDs than a smooth surface. On a smooth surface there are no hidden obstacles to hit that would make you wonder why you came off the uni.
I did not have a wall or fence to hold in the beginning stages of learning. I found my tall saw horse with a patio stone chock for the wheel worked perfectly. It was portable for different spots in my yard, I also took it with me a couple of times to a paved area. I also used it a couple of times when getting used to different wheel sized unis.
You can put more weight on the back pedal without it shooting behind you (if you’re static-mounting), so it is a bit easier to get the idea of it without a bunch of incisions in your shin from the pedal slamming into you.
I was not worried about the wheel shooting away. Because grass can be very bumpy, at least the many lawns here in the park, that when mounting, the wheel just blocks against some bumps, so getting on is easier, but taking off requires an extra push. If I don’t have my balance right while I stand on, I will step off the front again.
This is a fair point, and bumpy grass is much harder to start riding. Somewhat fortunately, I guess, I have a field which is very smooth in a couple places, but the overall levelness of the surface would certainly greatly influence how easy it is to mount.
@AndrewA just happens to have a nearly perfect grass pitch where he lives. It is ideal for learning. I put in some solid hours on that grass field when I just started learning. I haven’t found a better surface, not even astro-turf. That grass field has nice solid dirt so the surface is soft with the grass (e.g., to fall on) but it’s not tufty or bumpy or sluggish or squishy (except in the monsoon season).
I think you could make a solid argument that the perfect grass surface is superior to the perfect concrete surface and perhaps as good as a hardwood gym floor (I’ve never tried one).
Perfect grass surfaces are rare. Pretty good concrete is probably better than marginal grass surfaces for most uni endeavors and pretty good concrete is easy to find.
OK, I learned by holding to a neighbors open garage door overhead and leaning into the direction I thought I would go down a paved drive. Not really how it ended up going, but I did learn from that and progressed out to the road which was loose stones. The rest of my local town was unpaved at the time so the rest of my learning was fields or dirt road.
So my rambling point is that I think you have to use the conditions available to you at the time. Only those individuals that have a real desire to ride the unicycle will find their place to practice at their comfort level be it grass, a wall or railing or friend standing by. You sir are an asset to those you teach. Continue please.
) in the learning-on-grass deck, and that’s because you go straight from “I can ride 100 meters!!” to “I can quite easily ride around the neighbourhood without falling!!!” when you move onto pavement for the first time.
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