eek, this is hard. Is there a method im missing? Im trying to have to chairs on the side of me for help getting up, then ijust release and go. Its not going to well. Any suggestions?
e39m5
not really its all about style… practice thats all i got
Chase
ive been going out for like a half hour, then coming in for like 15. I culd get like a quarter of a revolution now.
e39m5
Re: Learning to Unicycle
That is what I did and I’d have to say it worked for me. Maybe try having someone walk next to you at your same speed holding onto their shoulder for support. This will help some, but in the end you really just have to “push off” from the two chairs and go.
Keep trying…
-Lee
Ya know, learning to ride a bike was a lot easier. But this is a lot more fun. Hurts, but you get used to the feeling. Well, not really.
e39m5
oh dont worry youll be used to the feeling in no time… keep on trucking
Chase
Heres whaT I can do so far. I get up on my own. But cant tay up. I use the chairs to get me balanced. Leaning on the chairs i have 2 poles. I grab the poles and start pedaling forward. I can get like 3 revolutions now. I want to get 5 then drop the poles. ITs burning hot outside though. Have to break a lot.
e39m5
Hey I’ve been teach a bunch of people to unicycle lately, here’s what I tell them:
Once you get up make sure to sit up nice and straight and put some wieght on both the peddles and the seat. Rock back and forth a bit to get ballanced. Try not to lean to far forward or back. I usually have people start off against a low wall, but poles could also work. Try to put less and less wieght on them. And yeah, I takes about a million trys. Keep going!
lol. I tried so hard to stop the poles from hitting the ground, it actually went up and clonked me on the head. I dont have a small wall or fence, which is truly annoying me right now. I would be nice to have something i can always grab onto just incase. Am I right to be practicing on grass?
e39m5
it took me about 4 hours to learn. i put my back to a wall and got up on my unicycle. then i shoved off and started pedaling. it took me a couple hundred times before i could stay on it for any lenghth of time but persistance is the key.
Re: Learning to Unicycle
In message <e39m5.1p380d@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com>,
e39m5 <e39m5@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> writes
>
>Heres whaT I can do so far. I get up on my own. But cant tay up. I
>use the chairs to get me balanced. Leaning on the chairs i have 2
>poles. I grab the poles and start pedaling forward. I can get like 3
>revolutions now. I want to get 5 then drop the poles. ITs burning hot
>outside though. Have to break a lot.
I’m starting too - have been for six weeks. I didn’t get on with the
chairs - too short a distance. Founds some crutches in the garage left
over from when the wife broke her leg twenty years ago. I can now get
around a playground with them to help, using them less and less. It’s
the hardest thing I’ve ever done physically, but fun.
New breakthrough today - managed to mount just using the crutches to
help!
Keep trying!
Martin E Phillips
The grass is a nicer surface to fall on, but, a hard smooth surface is much easier to ride on.
Errr. My borhter who wanted to “try” changed the height of the seat and now im all screwed up again. I keep falling right after i leave the chair.
e39m5
I learned in a good few days. I did my learning with the help of a nice pickup truck. 
g/l with your learning! Its great once you can just keep going, its worth the hard work in the beginning.
my only tip is to lean forward just a tad to ge going in the beginning, sit up straight once you get goin and keep your head up
Re: Learning to Unicycle
On Sun, 15 May 2005 13:10:08 -0500, “e39m5” wrote:
>Is there a method im missing?
Yes there is! It is described in a Word document written by Andrew
Carter and myself. Not entirely coincidentally, it has /exactly/ the
same title as your thread. You can download it from
<http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/uni_beginners.htm> (towards the bottom
of the page).
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
wouldnt you be grumpy if somone just said you had PMS? - jagur
Re: Learning to Unicycle
On Sun, 15 May 2005, e39m5 wrote:
> eek, this is hard. Is there a method im missing? Im trying to have to
> chairs on the side of me for help getting up, then ijust release and go.
> Its not going to well. Any suggestions?
Pushing off and riding is the key! But note the following:
You have most control when your cranks are horizontal. When they are
vertical, you have almost no control at all.
One good way to start getting distance is to concentrate on pedalling half
a turn at a time, pausing slightly whenever your cranks are horizontal to
regain your balance.
Unfortunately, this then needs to be unlearned when you want to ride
smoothly. It’s still very handy in some terrain though.
Hope this helps a little,
Stu
(4.8 miles on my 20" on Saturday - maybe I’m getting back into riding at
last)
Push off and ride, thats how I learned. Also don’t be scared of getting hurt or falling off. If ur worried about it, pad up more until you just bounce, it worked for me. I learned in a 6th form suit, in stupid shoes…
The half turn - balance - half turn is a great way to learn, it also means if you aren’t confident about the next turn you can always dismount without injury. For smooth riding you’ll have to unlearn it, as stu said, but for Muni you then have to re-learn it again, for rocky and uneven slopes 
… the irony.
Good Luck!
Loose.
I highly recommend not starting on grass. I have good control over my uni now (on pavement I guess. It’s also a 20" :D), and it still takes concentration to get over all the lumps and crap that is in grass to get to my destination.
So just get out in your driveway, or better yet, the nearest tennis court, and go from there! You’ll learn to fall off onto your feet in short order.
I think im gonna try getting my hockey gear on, and going on the pavement. Bill, Im going to download that when i get home. Is there anyway i can use a “correct” seat hieght?
e39m5