I’m trying to figure out which discipline is the most difficult 
Muni is hard. Today I rode a very familiar trail after work. It isn’t technical but it is steep. I made the mistake of taking my Nimbus Oregon for the ride. I didn’t know that it was going to be nearly 100 degrees today and the Oregon is heavy and beastly compared to my 29". I also had to wear sunglasses since I’m treating an inflamed eye (again 
) and have to keep my pupil dilated. Sun glasses suck! My helmet makes them go a little cockeyed and with my prescription it warps the ground. It was a not so fun, tough ride today. I fell off a few times and took one real hard fall. Weird because I know this trail so well. The unicycle felt bad, the heat was bad, and my vision is crap. I’m glad I went though. It was a tough workout, though frustrating.
MadFurai, if you are reading this thread, muni will get easier and harder. It depends on the day, conditions, and attitude. I knew it was going to be a difficult ride when I stepped out into the heat. I did it anyway. It wasn’t “fun” today, but it was a good workout. I’ll probably stay off the dirt until I can ditch the sunglasses.
Glad this thread exists for us completely new to muni. One thing I’ve noticed is that there are trails and there are trails. There’s a nice relatively smooth trail in my area where I can go until my leg muscles give out, but most mountain bike single tracks in this area are more root than anything else. I’d love to go on some of the trails I see in the pictures of your last ride thread - most look nice, some look impossible.
OK, so I’m a beginner. Only been riding for 6 months and really keen for muni. Been tackling the odd gravel road and such, every day is easier and fewer UPD’s. Today I felt really brave and took on a 11km (we do the metric thing) MTB ride that is close to home, this excludes the 3km there and back. The most I’ve done in one day previously was 12km, mainly paved road and little bit of gravel.
Well, this is a spectacular ride with beautiful vistas over the Stellenbosch winelands and such. A mix of double track and single track with hardly a level patch. Fun was had. Needless to say that there were far more walking and UPD’s than actual riding. I seriously doubt whether I will be able to get up for work tomorrow.
The point is: ride your level and you will have lots of fun. Always challenge yourself just enough, wish I knew that beforehand 
There is a fine line between bravery and stupidity, or so I heard. 
Like so many people have said on these forums if you bother to read: “If it was easy everybody would be doing it.” It is in fact the constant challenge that is the most fun. Maybe in a couple of years I’ll feel differently, who knows.
Even when I’m on top, it’s so easy to fall, ie UPD. There are days when I am a rockstar, then there’s last Friday when I was a washed-up-has-been :o
Really, it’s such a funny sport, so hard, so tiring, so mental, that even being a little off can lead to a poor ride. I can usually get my head back into the game if I ride long enough, but some of the rides do start off a little rough.
I rode today at noon, in between patients, it was hot and humid, I was tired from my ride on Monday, so I sorta sucked for the first fifteen minutes. But I was able to relax, added a little air pressure, and ultimatley I was riding fine, though I did decide to hike a couple tough hills due to sore legs 
Seriously, it’s all good, and muni is the best!!
I had a bit of success in my outing yesterday but I have to ask… is it considered cheating to grab a tree with one hand to help you whip around switchbacks. 
IMO trees are part of the trail and any part of the trail that gets you down without a upd is fair game.
Me and my riding pal Roland always say “trees are in!”
Back when I rode mountain bikes, if I was going to take a quick break, I’d stay clipped in and lean against a tree, so I don’t see how doing the same on a uni is cheating.
In fact, when I get tired and freemounts start to be more of a struggle, I don’t hesitate to grab and tree. And why not, I’m not riding in the woods cuz it’s easy, so I might as well take advantage of every tool available to me 
Seriously, there’s no such thing as cheating when you ride muni, even hiking is fair game, though you should give a good go before hiking…
I like trees, I guess that makes me a tree hugger 
Nah, I do it all the time. Not that I need the tree to avoid falling, but it’s fun. Who cares what other people think?
Ride with Ben, hug trees and hike often!
Ben, the ride I did with you here in the Wasatch was HUGE for me (as you know), and I did quite a bit of tree hugging and hiking as well. I agree that there is no such thing as cheating, and I don’t care what anyone thinks of my riding ability :). That was my attitude as I fell on my butt on a very steep down hill and slid all the way to the bottom in front of some MTB riders, and I’m sticking to it 
I hope MadFurai gets back into this thread at some point - there is a lot of good to learn. And yes, MUni is really hard 
No wonder so many love it!!
I would have to agree with the other responses that grabbing a tree is cool and whips you around a corner wicked fast, plus you got to love the looks from bikers on the trial
Just thought I’d share my first MUNI experience.
When I was in Kauai there was a trail from the condo to a secluded beach. At the “trailhead” there were a bunch of warnings cautions etc… It was kinda hard to walk down. Well maybe for some people. After a few times up and down I was thinkin(that was my first mistake) that I would own this trail on my uni. I jump on my uni and ride to the trail. My first UPD was right at the trailhead into a bunch of flowers. Not daunted I get back on and immediately take off at a breakneck speed. i’m practically leaning parallel with the trail trying to slow down. All in vain. I go out of control and crash into more flowers. I walk the rest of that section down where you cross a stream. After the stream you come to a pretty flat section with lots of tree roots to trip on. I handle this like beast. Then i came to some crude “stairs” I hop down a few then notice it’s not that big of an incline and that there was a space next to the stairs. I start riding on it. I handled it like a beast. After that section the trail narrows into about ten inches of dirt with a small cliff down to the sharp lava rocks below to your right and a steep hala tree covered hill to your left. I decided not to try that. Took a break. Then I started back as I didn’t really want to go all the way to the beach. Hiked most of the way back except the flat part. All in all it was a humbling, extremely hard, tiring, encouraging, discouraging(if you know what I mean) and fun experience. I have a new respect for all Muniers.
I guess I kinda rambled on, but I wanted to share. Thanks for any encouraging words or helpful critics.
And MadFurai, keep after it.
That sounds very similar to mine, unicyclists are a peculiar breed. :p:D
You do get better with practice, but in the end technical Muni is still all about obstacles and overcoming them without a UPD, which is hard. Biking is just so easy that muni looks hard. I ride quite a lot of muni and there are days when I just kill it, then there’s days when I get killed
I have a piece of advice for folks learning to ride muni: Build yourself a handlebar and learn to use it. The amount of additional power and control you get from a good bar will improve your abilities tremendously. Soon you’ll be doing rolling hops and flying down trails, then you’ll relaly need a brake!
Look under reviews, I posted some pics of what I built, it’s inexpensive, super strong, and easy to adapt to if you’re used to a seat grab handle.
I still don’t have a Muni i did all that on my trials. But when I get a Muni Im sure i will invest in good bar and brakes.