You will be better balanced and get less tired if you sit up straight. Pull your backside forwards and keep your shoulders and head up.
Think about balancing a broom on your finger tip: with the head of the broom at the top, the centre of mass is high, and you only need to adjust the balance slowly and smoothly. Try to balance the broom the other way up, with the centre of mass low, and it becomes twitchy and you find yourself making lots of fast energetic corrections.
Maybe raise your seat a tad. Other than that, the more riding you do, and the more little challenges you set yourself, the more that you will find that you settle into the saddle in ānormal ridingā.
Most accomplished riders give this same advice to novices, not realising the technique of an accomplished rider is very, very different from a beginner.
Beginners need inherent quasi-stability far more than they need efficiency. Stability comes from the rider leaning slightly forwards to make the uni lean backwards to keep the contact patch of the tyre under the riderās centre of mass. This geometry has a far greater tolerance to imprecise positioning of the wheel under the rider.
It is actually what accomplished riders also do to increase stability when negotiating an irregularity on the road surface. We lean forwards and transfer weight onto the pedals.
As riding skill improves we can bring the uni more upright and get weight onto the seat. Uprightness is a goal to aim for over time, not a technique to make riding possible for a novice.
Note that the forward lean is not very much and it certainly isnāt about hunching over. Extend the body upwards but lean slightly forwards.
If the unicyclist were doing a still stand, the contact patch would need to be directly under the centre of mass. The riderās posture and the angle of the unicycle would affect how high the centre of mass was above the ground, but it would still be above the contact patch. Leaning yourself forwards and therefore leaning the uni backwards doesnāt make the centre of mass any more or less over the contact patch than if the rider were sitting upright.
However, youāre correct that IF the rider leans forwards, the they have to lean the unicycle backwards to compensate.
When you are actually riding, the centre of mass needs to be sightly ahead of the contact patch. The unicycle is constantly in danger of falling forwards but this is prevented because the wheel is constantly chasing it. The combination of the two forces is dynamically stable.
Raising the centre of mass has the effect of slowing the period of oscillation, meaning that changes happen more slowly and can be reacted to more promptly. However, when the centre of mass is higher, if it does get out of control, ithas more leverage and is harder to recover. For this reason, lots of people doing balance activities tend to squat low because they feel safer. Iām a lousy rock climber (scared of heights) and I find myself crouching on ridges when I should stand up and walk naturally.
A further consideration for a unicyclist is that if they are folded up too much (low seat, stooping, backside stuck out) then it is harder for them to pedal smoothly or to respond quickly when a change of input is required.
Mikefule and OTM, thank you both for your recent help on my quest to ride. I have to change my gravel route from my house to the woodshed, which is just over 120ā. I am starting to go to the end with some consistency. I have an 800ā gravel driveway, I will try to start riding it as my home training route, potholes and all.
I raised my seat today about an inch, which is pretty close to just a slight bend in the knee. It has smoothed out my jerky peddling somewhat. I believe I am sitting up fairly straight after I get going a bit. My legs are still screaming at me after half an hour of just runs of a few hundred feet on the pavement. Iāll just keep at it as I have been doing. I believe you when you say soon Iāll start to relax, get more efficient and get some endurance. It will just occur, right? I tried freemounting for ten minutes tonight, not even close. Another impossible skill to learn lol.
Cheers
Not sure if youāre being ironic, so Iāll take the question at face value.
Thereās two things going on:
Is the basic principle that keeping your weight high makes balancing easier. (The balancing a broom on your finger principle.)
Is that the act of lowering your weight because of a misplaced perception that it is easier or safer can result in you putting yourself in a position where the act of correcting your balance becomes more difficult.
Imagine the most extreme example to illustrate the principle. A learner puts his seat an inch or two to low so heās nearer the ground, and the result is that heās pedalling with his legs too bent. He then leans slightly forward and, to compensate, has to stick his backside out, so that the unicycle itself is leaning slightly backwards. His centre of mass is in the right position in relation to the contact patch, although it is lower than it should be.
Because the centre of mass is low, balance events happen more quickly. (Imagine balancing a pencil on your finger.) In addition to that, the rider is less able to respond quickly simply because he is in a bent over and scrunched up position.
Later in his riding career, a rider may choose to lower his seat, or to ride in a crouch for some legitimate reason. When learning, it is best to fight the urge to bend over. Itās better to sit straight and tall in the saddle, with the saddle at a good height, and the uni will be more controllable.
(Female pronouns are also available.)
A unicycle is similar to a pendulum, but the other way up ā a bit like the moving arm on a metronome. Slide the metronome weight up the arm and the arm moves more slowly. Slide it down near to the pivot and it moves more quickly. An inexperienced unicyclist will react more slowly and more clumsily, and therefore they need things to go wrong more slowly. Sitting tall in the saddle is the equivalent of moving the weight on the metronome up the arm.
The backward lean of the uni puts it in a more stable geometry. When the uni is upright there is very little margin for error in getting the wheel exactly under the rider.
Having the centre of mass in front of the contact patch is required to accelerate. At a steady speed on a level surface, the contact patch is directly under the centre of mass. Conversely when decelerating it is behind the contact patch.
Learning to ride isnāt much about balance. It is about controlling the position of the wheel. Mastering the uni involves balance.
The balancing a broom analogy is not perfect and especially not for a learner. It assumes the riderās weight is in the seat. The position of the contact patch under the centre of mass must be near perfect to do this or the uni will pop out from under them.
The uni is far more stable with the weight way down low on the pedals and the saddle gripped between the thighs. In this configuration the uni becomes a wheel on a stick extending out from the feet and held in position at three places. Legs vertical means uni vertical. It is a lot more like walking than sitting on a pole.
Putting weight on the pedals is exactly what the experienced rider does to gain maximum stability in very rough conditions.
Lowering is solely about removing the insecurity of falling sideways to overcome the fear of gaining too much momentum in a sideways fall before touching the ground wrong-footed to save the fall. The limitation going too low is that it becomes impossible to properly grip the saddle between the thighs because it is too far down where the thighs move too much or having the legs too scrunched up. Scrunched up legs are not fluent and they also move a lot of mass about.
Later the rider has the skill to keep the uni in exactly the right position with their weight on the seat at any height. We learn to do things that are unimaginable to a learner. For me the ultimate crouch is my body virtually horizontal when passing under low hanging branches on my 36.
It is important to remember that the technique required for getting started on a uni is very different from accomplished riding. Failing to understand this and trying to copy the technique of experienced riders is why it takes most people so long to learn.
Thanks Mike!
Nope, no irony here - tried to find a āthis is a genuine questionā emoji but no such thingā¦
What was puzzling me is this line: respond quickly when a change of input is required.
Bear in mind english is not my first language.
Your explanation cleared it thanks.
I was curious about your explanation for the crouched riding. I tend to crouch a bit, especially doing muni. I feel that if I hit a hole/root/stone/etc, I have a chance to straighten up and dampen, and therefore not fall. If I was all the way straight, the only way to get over the obstacle (especially if I hit it by surprise), would be to accelerate to compensate for the sudden block. Not easy if youāre already pretty fast. Unless you have advice to do it better?
No, that works for me too. But the person who is just learning wonāt be hitting holes, roots or stones etc. But yes, the ability to straighten up and ādampā a sudden potential trip over an obstacle is a good thing.
When straight up it is very easy for a raised obstacle that retards the wheel to knock the uni out from under you. Pedalling harder is required to resist it and the rider must react.
Leaning forwards causes the frame to lean back. Some of the force from hitting the obstacle is now transferred up the frame and must lift the riderās weight on the seat to retard the wheel. This geometry is more stable.
As you straighten out your centre of mass is also retarded keeping it above the contact point which is being retarded by the obstacle.
When going down a hole, a vertical uni will drop straight down then be retarded by the exit side of the hole like it is with a raised obstacle.
The backwards lean also puts the contact point behind the steering axis introducing ātrailā the same way it does with the forks on a bicycle or the steering geometry in a car. All properly designed wheel vehicles have some trail in their steering geometry to stabilise it.
I had a very good days practice yesterday. I was able to ride on my gravel driveway for a few hundred feet. My course included a long slow 90 degree left turn. This turn proved difficult the first several times, then I got it on most of the remaining rides. I also felt I had good saddle contact throughout most of the session. My launches were consistently good by the end of the practice coupled with full length rides.
My driveway has a large round a bout built into it. In a few more days Iāll move to the other side of it and practice turning to the right. Things are coming along just fine, other than free mounting . Thanks again for the input folks.
Dingfelder, Thanks, yes it is coming along. The comments posted by members have been super helpful and being able to practice the tips with time in the saddle is the reason. Iāve been able to do an hour a day, getting close to 30 hours now, so evidently Iām not a very fast learner at the uni game. Weāll both get it figured out if we persist.
Yesterdayās training time was interesting. My morning session was on the gravel driveway at home. I had very few failed attempts at launching into my rides which is encouraging. I also was able to ride a lap around my round a bout, to the right. It is just over 100 yards around with a slight incline to it, so I had a bit of up hill and downhill and and a slow curve to navigate. My seat contact was pretty good too.
I went to the old Hwy for the afternoon practice. My first six or so attempts were failures right off the bat. that surprised me, my gravel take offs were so good earlier. My next attempt saw me get to over 700ā, my arms were flapping and my seat contact was poor. My legs were very tired. I got back to my start position and immediately tried again, My arms were pretty stable, my seat contact was much better and I peddled until I had no more in my legs and bailed off. I took two strides towards the roadside grass at a run, lost it and managed to fall into a rolling stop. No damage. I got to well over 900ā on that one. I guess from now on I should keep a little gas in the tank for dismounting. There was a guy sitting in a parked pickup truck facing me, I wonder what he thought of my performance? Anyhow, a great days practice.
Wonderful, you were only at 300 a few days back and that itself was a big outlier from getting to more like 150 just a hair before that. You are progressing quickly!
Thanks Dingfelder, if only I could get sitting properly, consistently,
so my legs would hold out. That or an adrenaline drip. Once you start catching on it comes quickly. I fall off at the start way less than I did earlier on. Good luck to you today.
I am dealing with the same issue in regard to wheel walking. I am very inefficient at wheel walking. If I WW for more than 20 feet then try to transition back onto the pedals, Iām tired out, and this increases my chance of falling during the transition. If you are always going for a personal best distance, youāre going to have more sketchy dismounts. As you suggested, think of dismounting while thereās still āgas in the tank.ā Maybe now is the time to focus on riding a tiny bit more slowly. It may temporarily shorten your runs, but in the end it may be key to crossing the 1-mile-sans-UPD mark. Mac, youāre killing it!
elpuebloUNIdo, Thanks, thatās great advice. Iāll take it and give it a good try. I need to work on so many uni things. Exhausting my legs is using up my training time, especially with the long walk back to my take off spot. Iāll find a comfortable distance to ride to, that lets me work on some skills and safely dismount, leaving enough energy to do it several more times.
Cheers
I donāt know what mounting method youāre using currentlyā¦but one way to save your legs is to start your workout practicing mountsā¦particularly, mounts youāre not so good at. Then, when you finally are able to roll away from the mount, you will have earned your ride. Try to mount slowly. I find it difficult to start any maneuver using high energy, then dial back the energy. An example is wheel walking. If I push off too hard with the first foot, itās a challenge to slow down and relax after that. So, in your case, if you can land a slowly executed mount (even if it takes you more attempts to do so), youāre more likely to ride away from it in a slow/calm/controlled fashion. Something to think about. Applies to me in a variety of situations, your mileage may vary.
. Thanks again for the input folks.