learning problem. "special" injuries

Riding Advice
1

> Anyway the question is this: expecially when I try to free mount the unicycle
> it’s quite frequent that my testicles (Ok, I don’t know the correct word in
> english, I mean the balls) get in a very unpleasent position. This is quite a
> problem to me. Besides that sometimes it happens that it really hurts, I’m
> always cautious before putting the weight on the seat so I step on the cranks,
> get out of balance and fall.
>
> Did anybody have the same problem ? Is it related to the seat height or to the
> kind of seat ? Do you wear “special” protections (like soccer players)?
> Finally: is it only my problem ? (I don’t think so. Some of my friends
> experienced the same).
>
grin

I’m afraid its not just your problem. I would go as far as saying that for males
it is a universal problem. Every male I know of has experienced this when they
first get on.

Most of my friends when they first try a unicycle make coments about the small
chances of me having children and the fact that I’ll soon be singing Soprano:-)

You are right thought, there isn’t much on the “male problem” but it is one of
the biggest hurdles for any male learning to ride. (Females do you have similar
difficulties?)

So be rest assured, althought it isn’t talked about much it is indeed a wide
spread and here’s what you can do about it…

Rule number one: Genitals are sensitive, they do not take kindly to being sat
on! Therefore don’t sit on them.

They key to this is in your mounting. Most people who have never unicycled mount
by getting up somehow, standing on the pedals and then lowering themselves onto
the seat. As you have observed this is where the problem arises. Before mounting
make sure your seat is in the right position. When free mounting you should be
sitting on your seat before you do anything else.

Tuck your seat between your legs so that any genitalia are forward of the seat
out of the way. If necessary pull them up out of the way. You can actually avoid
looking rude by using the seat to do this. When positioning it between your legs
as you pull it up underneath you the end should tuck your testicles up out of
the way. In no circumstances should they be under you.

If you get the seat it the right position before mounting then things shouldn’t
be a problem. To free mount you push down on a pedal at about 45 degrees
bringing the seat up underneath you, the seat’s position in relation to your
buttocks etc shouldn’t change. Everything should still be tucked out of the way.
There are descriptions on mounting on http://www.unicycling.org As I said though
the key is to position the seat correctly before the mount.

When free mounting the seat should not leave your buttocks. If it is you are
doing it wrong. Don’t worry about the seat being in contact the whole time. You
sit down fairly often so your buttocks are more than capable of dealing with
the pressure.

Problems can arise when you try jump mounts etc. When doing these kind of things
before settling down on the seat, tuck anything loose up out of the way and keep
it there until you are safely on the seat. With a little experience it is
surprising how unobvious this is (again you can use your seat to do the deed if
you pull it up between your legs correctly.

*Bike pants are a help and make riding more comfortable, they still don’t take
care of everything though.

*Seat types have a part to play. Some seats are a lot more comfortable than
others. Generally bike shaped unicycle seats are more comfortable than saddle
type seats although it is a matter of personal opinion. Some people put
covers over their seats (Eg sheep skin) to make it more comfortable. Others
place a semi inflated tire within the seat but I don’t know much about how or
why that works.

Hope that is helpfull.

BTW your English is correct, testicles is the polite word for balls.

Catch ya Peter

            o Peter Bier - computing student o O o pjb10@waikato.ac.nz o(|\o
            (delete nospam- to send a message)
2

Re: learning problem. “special” injuries

Perhaps a rather unlikely subject for my first posting here, but someone might
find the following useful.

In the event of sitting on/twisting the contents of one’s scrotum (perhaps even
unconsciously), if any resulting ache lasts (I’m guessing - I’m not a doctor)
for more than an hour, and especially if it gets worse, not better (in fact,
it’ll be agony!) - get to a hospital fast. Some people are more prone than
others to twisting the blood supply to one or other testicle - if it stays
knotted up for more than a few hours, bye-bye testicle…it took about 6 weeks
for me to recover from its removal, followed by a nervous few months before I
could have the remaining one tacked to my scrotum to stop it moving around. I
guess the clue was that since before my teens, I sometimes used to wake up with
an ache in the groin, would re-arrange myself, and half-an-hour later, would
feel ok…except on that one occasion it got worse…

It’s not awfully common, nor is it extremely rare…but no-one’s going to shout
about being a testicle down on their alloted quota, either. If there are any
inaccuracies in the above, I’d be grateful for someone to correct them.

Hope I haven’t put anyone off their supper !

Jon

3

Re: learning problem. “special” injuries

(I get these postings through e-mail. For some reason, I didn’t get the original
to this response. Let’s see how well I answer the original question.)

On Thu, 6 Nov 1997, Peter Bier wrote: [someone else wrote:]
>
> > Anyway the question is this: expecially when I try to free mount the
> > unicycle it’s quite frequent that my testicles (Ok, I don’t know the correct
> > word in english, I mean the balls) get in a very unpleasent position.
> >
> > Did anybody have the same problem ?
>
> I’m afraid its not just your problem. I would go as far as saying that for
> males it is a universal problem. Every male I know of has experienced this
> when they first get on.
>

I had the same problem when starting half a year ago, and I felt all alone: no
one would tell me what to do or even that it was problem.

First of all, not surprisingly, I learned to ride by first holding onto
something like a wall to mount; i.e., I learned to free mount later. I found
that, with the right seat (I have a Semcycle seat which works great), I could
“position” myself so my weight was not on my “sensitve parts”. I had to
carefully “align” myself as if I was fitting into my seat like a jigsaw puzzle.
It was usually dark and I hoped people wouldn’t see me doing this and call the
police. I never got arrested for public display of whatever.

Then I had to learn to freemount, which is hard w/o testicle problems. Note the
following top view.

                                   l
                                   ll
                                   wx

The lone “l” on the left is my left leg on the left pedal. The middle “l” over
and “l” is the wheel. The “w” is my rear end. The “x” is my right foot on the
ground. Note this: DON’T MOUNT THIS WAY!.

My variation:

                                   l
                                   \l
                                   wx

See the left leg out at an angle; i.e., I moved my left knee farther from the
wheel. This gives a lot more room for the testicles. You may want to drape “one”
on one side of the seat and the “other” on the other side of the seat.

There’s a lot more room this way. I wish someone had told be this, so I’d be
able to learn faster.

Good luck!

4

Re: learning problem. “special” injuries

41FELBER@cua.edu wrote:

> (I get these postings through e-mail. For some reason, I didn’t get the
> original to this response. Let’s see how well I answer the original question.)
>
> On Thu, 6 Nov 1997, Peter Bier wrote: [someone else wrote:]
> >
> > > Anyway the question is this: expecially when I try to free mount the
> > > unicycle it’s quite frequent that my testicles (Ok, I don’t know the
> > > correct word in english, I mean the balls) get in a very unpleasent
> > > position.
> > >
> > > Did anybody have the same problem ?
> >
> > I’m afraid its not just your problem. I would go as far as saying that for
> > males it is a universal problem. Every male I know of has experienced this
> > when they first get on.
> >
>
> I had the same problem when starting half a year ago, and I felt all alone: no
> one would tell me what to do or even that it was problem.
>
> First of all, not surprisingly, I learned to ride by first holding onto
> something like a wall to mount; i.e., I learned to free mount later. I found
> that, with the right seat (I have a Semcycle seat which works great), I could
> “position” myself so my weight was not on my “sensitve parts”. I had to
> carefully “align” myself as if I was fitting into my seat like a jigsaw
> puzzle. It was usually dark and I hoped people wouldn’t see me doing this and
> call the police. I never got arrested for public display of whatever.
>
> Then I had to learn to freemount, which is hard w/o testicle problems. Note
> the following top view.
>
> l
> ll
> wx
>
> The lone “l” on the left is my left leg on the left pedal. The middle “l” over
> and “l” is the wheel. The “w” is my rear end. The “x” is my right foot on the
> ground. Note this: DON’T MOUNT THIS WAY!.
>
> My variation:
>
> l
> \l
> wx
>
> See the left leg out at an angle; i.e., I moved my left knee farther from the
> wheel. This gives a lot more room for the testicles. You may want to drape
> “one” on one side of the seat and the “other” on the other side of the seat.
>
> There’s a lot more room this way. I wish someone had told be this, so I’d be
> able to learn faster.
>
> Good luck!

This seems to make a lot of sense, I think you’re saying to go a bit bandy and
get some space to move your parts around in ? (-:

I’m not free mounting yet, but I’m getting to the point of realizing that
some/most of the discomfort goes away as I sit more upright and get my weight
onto my “sit bones” (I don’t know the medico term) vs on my scrotum. I’d guess
the problem isn’t male specific, but I don’t know any female uni’ists well
enough to ask them about it.

Still wobbling,

Reg