Hello, i just bought a trainer model (24") from the Unicycle Source. I greatly
underestimated how difficult these things are to ride. Can someone give me some
tips on how to learn?
I’ve been trying for hours…but i can’t stay upright for more than 3 feet!
Thanks, Robert.
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Re: Learning to ride a Uni
>Hello, i just bought a trainer model (24") from the Unicycle Source. I greatly
>underestimated how difficult these things are to ride. Can someone give me some
>tips on how to learn?
>
>I’ve been trying for hours…but i can’t stay upright for more than 3 feet!
>
>Thanks, Robert.
Ideas for learning:
to lend shoulderscheck out our site for more details! http://members.tripod.com/~MarshT/
tammy
Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com
Re: Learning to ride a Uni
>and then fall…i’m thinking of putting training wheels on it! Has anyone done
>that? That
The Monkees did it. But I don’t think they were taking the whole unicycling
thing seriously. The LeRun or skatebike did it. All of these are tricycles
of course…
>way i could concentrate on balancing front to back and after i get that down,
>pop off the training wheels and concentrate on side to side.
I don’t think this would be useful as a training method. While you’re learning
the front to back, you basically won’t be able to turn in any normal way.
Be strong, and do it the way most of us have; you’ll be all right!
On a similar subject, Tom Miller and Al Hemminger in the 80’s made some
“dicycles”, with two wheels next to each other. Though I’m not aware of anyone
actually working with one of these as a training device, I remember Dora
Hemminger (Teresa’s mom) sitting on it with considerable ease, as a complete
non-unicyclist.
John Foss Angeles City, Philippines
Re: Learning to ride a Uni
Jack Halpern wrote:
>Two people, yes; shoulders, not so good. Just hold the tips of the fingers. You
>may want to get my book “Anyone Can Ride A Unicytcle” for details.
Can we still get this book? Without buying whole unicycle from Miyata? In
English? Good sales are possible. Where to get it?
John Foss
Re: Learning to ride a Uni
Greetings
In message “Re: Learning to ride a Uni”, Tammy Marsh wrote…
>
>>Hello, i just bought a trainer model (24") from the Unicycle Source. I
>>greatly underestimated how difficult these things are to ride. Can someone
>>give me some tips on how to learn?
>>
>>I’ve been trying for hours…but i can’t stay upright for more than 3 feet!
>>
>>Thanks, Robert.
>
>Ideas for learning:
>
>* a tennis court fence
>* a wall
>* dorm hallways
>* broomsticks
>* ski poles
>* crutches
>* canes
>* monkey bars
>* rooms with low ceilings
All of the abive are not very effective.
>* two people to lend shoulders
Two people, yes; shoulders, not so good. Just hold the tips of the fingers. You
may want to get my book “Anyone Can Ride A Unicytcle” for details.
>
>check out our site for more details! http://members.tripod.com/~MarshT/
>
>tammy
>
>
>_______________________________________________________________
>Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com
>
>
Stay on top, Jack Halpern, IUF Vice President Website: http://www.kanji.org
Re: Learning to ride a Uni
Thanks, well i’ve gotten so that I can ride (wobble) across my car port (about
15 ft.) and then crash. My problem is i’ve got no control i wobble
uncontrollably all over the place swaying my arms around in an attempt to stay
upright and then fall…i’m thinking of putting training wheels on it!
Has anyone done that? That way i could concentrate on balancing front to back
and after i get that down, pop off the training wheels and concentrate on
side to side.
> Ideas for learning:
>
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you don’t.
Re: Learning to ride a Uni
If I were to do it all over again I would practice more with one foot (of course
while holding on to a wall or something)
Along with being able to balance and understand where to put weight and when,
you need the physical strength to do it. Repitition. Repitition. Repitition.
I kept reading that all the weight should be on the seat., but when I finally
got the ‘hang of it’ , I did it by putting all my weight on the pedals. I think
bringing the weight to the seat should come along as you progress
Chris Carey
> > Ideas for learning:
>
Re: Learning to ride a Uni
> Thanks, well i’ve gotten so that I can ride (wobble) across my car port (about
> 15 ft.) and then crash.
Keep practicing. Pretty soon, your car port won’t be big enough.
There is a common “barrier” of around 20 ft. A lot of learners experience a
stage where they can ride about 20 ft., then fall off. Once you get past that,
you’ll be able to ride until you get tired, sore, or run out of room.
Once my driveway became too short, I began practicing in the parking lot at
work. A big empty section of parking lot is real handy when you don’t have much
directional control.
I am convinced that learning to ride a unicycle is a lot like learning to walk.
Ever watch a toddler who is learning to walk? They do a lot of wobbling and
don’t go very far before they fall down. In fact, the first thing they learn
after standing up is how to fall without getting hurt. Sound familiar?
When’s the last time you really paid attention to keeping your balance while you
walked? With practice, riding a unicycle will also become that natural.
Jim
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you don’t.
Re: Learning to ride a Uni
jbreed@ingr.com wrote:
:> Thanks, well i’ve gotten so that I can ride (wobble) across my car port
:> (about 15 ft.) and then crash.
: Keep practicing. Pretty soon, your car port won’t be big enough.
I found that it’s helpful to have distractions, and targets. At our club at
university, it’s traditional once or twice a term to get all our unicycles out
and go on a tour of the eight campus bars. People have actually figured out how
to unicycle whilst on these bar crawls, then found it harder later when sober…
But the extra boost of confidence that comes from the alcohol, and the extra
burst of motivation (i.e. you don’t want to miss out on the next bar because
you’re too slow!) seem to help a lot.
When I was learning, I got to the stage where I could do about two metres[1]
before falling off, so I set up some tables, inverted on top of other tables,
and focussed on getting from one table leg to the next. This meant I had
short bursts of balancing, followed by the opportunity to hold on to
something… pretty quickly I had worked up the distances between the tables
to a fair amount.
Then there is moving things (like tables) about while on the unicycle. This is
strange because it requires you to manipulate more, but you have more points of
contact with the ground so you are actually more stable. The dining hall’s
trolleys were an excellent aid for this purpose.
Hope some of this helps, I guess you don’t have access to a University dining
hall, do you…
[1] 1 metre = 1 meter.
–
Steve Carter, York, UK. steve@juggler.net The opinions expressed here are not
necessarily shc103@york.ac.uk my own, let alone those of the University of York.
Re: Learning to ride a Uni
When I learned (at age 10), I backed the wheel right up against the bottom step
in front of our house & held on to the railing. I got up on the uni & kept
myself up with the fingertips of my right hand only. Gradually, I would venture
further & further down the sidewalk (away from the step) until ‘voila’ I was
able to go for miles. I then rode it everywhere. (Even in a bike-a-thon once
just for the heck of it). I only went 3 miles, but for a 15 yr old at the time,
that was pretty challenging!
Shane
Chris Carey wrote:
> If I were to do it all over again I would practice more with one foot (of
> course while holding on to a wall or something)
>
> Along with being able to balance and understand where to put weight and when,
> you need the physical strength to do it. Repitition. Repitition. Repitition.
>
> I kept reading that all the weight should be on the seat., but when I finally
> got the ‘hang of it’ , I did it by putting all my weight on the pedals. I
> think bringing the weight to the seat should come along as you progress
>
> Chris Carey
>
> > > Ideas for learning:
> >