>>>>> “Amy” == Amy Weissman <amy@ragtime.sf.ca.us> writes:
Amy> Chan told me that when freemounting the 6 foot unicycle you need to put the
Amy> pedal bit forward so the unicycle goes underneath you when you mount it.
Amy> What exactly does forward mean? Is the pedal rotated towards you or away
Amy> from you when mounting it? Does the tire move towards you or away from you
Amy> when you mount?
i think he meant that the bottom pedal is further away from you than it would be
if it was straight down.
this is strange to me (unless he meant that the TOP pedal goes forward a bit) -
i prefer to have it towards me so that when i stand on it, the wheel comes under
me, just like mounting a 3 footer.
here’s something you should definitely try if you can manage it:
mount without first putting your foot on the tire. just reach one foot right up
to the pedal and stand up. at first it will seem like an INCREDIBLY big step,
but i encourage you strongly to attempt it seriously at least a few times. you
may need to stand on your toes on the other foot and really spring up to get
past the first 6 inches.
the great advantage to this mount is that there is only one move, not two. i
learnt the foot on tire mount first and still don’t like it. my friend told me
to try the foot straight up. i thought “yeah right, that’s fine coming from you
(he’s 6’2”, i’m 5’6")". anyway i gave it a halfhearted attempt and before i knew
it i was standing up on one pedal with tons of time to think about getting the
seat under my bum. it’s much easier, in my opinion.
i agree with the gym mat sentiment expressed before - get off them. go out into
a carpark and learn to fall off. the thing to try and avoid is falling sideways.
it’s important to reach the point where you have no worry about falling. and, as
the other person said, it would be nice if you actually had a chance to ride
once you got on.
another tip
- think tall! imagine yourself as being very upright and tall.
another thing that helps is to look up (i.e. at the horizon) as early as you can
in the process. you should be able to do this once your first foot is on the
pedal. your hands know where the seat is and your other foot knows where to find
the other pedal. don’t be looking down, it’ll be much harder to gain your
balance once you do start getting the seat under you and your other foot on
consistently. if you use the mount i suggested, you can look up all the time -
you don’t need to be looking at anything.
you might find it easier to ride off if you do a quarter pedal backwards before
going forwards. it is not too hard to arrange for the second foot on to impart
some backward momentum to the top pedal.
also, you might try lowering the seat an inch or so. this will make it easier to
get it under you. don’t do it too much or the mounting will become harder. if
you really are thinking tall and standing right up on that first pedal, you
shouldn’t have trouble with seat clearance.
one more thing - it’s not easy! i must have done it at least a thousand times
before i was getting it about half the time. once i started the foot straight on
mount, my average went up dramatically.
terry.