Last night I sat down and wrote out a few goals/accomplishments I wanted to achieve this spring and summer on my new impact Reagent flat 20". To the majority of you they will sound so basic and simple but to me they are mountains.
Here are the basics:
idle for 10 secs (facing the same direction )
ride backwards 10ā
SIF 10ā
Stomach on seat 10ā
hop up and down 3 stairs (individually, not in a set)
idle one footed
ride one footed 10ā
Much to my surprise when I was practicing today I decided I also wanted to learn to jump mount. You ākidsā make it look so easy! Ha! Anyway, I was afraid to pull the trigger and jump. I got my son in law to come out, hold the uni, and put his foot in front of the tire. This was on the grass. I am pleased to say it worked like a charm! It took 4 tries then I did it myself. Still havenāt tried on cement yet though.
Anyway, with spring around the corner, what are your goals??
BTW, any suggestions/videos you know of to help me achieve my goals would certainly be appreciated.
Ride my Guni more (priority)
Ride Muni more
Ride more period (new Fat bike coming that Iāll be breaking in this summer, along with a road bike and my uniās)
Be more like Aspen Mike?
Number 1, ride more/further.
Number 2, free mount.
Number 3, ride off road.
Longer term, there is likely to be an mtb race in my town in October. Last year was the first time it had been held, and it took the format of a beginners/fun race in the morning, 1 lap of the course, then a 2 lap race in the afternoon for more experienced riders. Iād like to enter at least the fun race on the uni. Does this seem unreasonable, given its 9 months and Iāve only been riding 5 wks so far? Itās about 6km of off road.
Iād like to enter at least the fun race on the uni. Does this seem unreasonable, given its 9 months and Iāve only been riding 5 wks so far? Itās about 6km of off road.
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Not unreasonable at all. You will really start increasing your distances in leaps and bounds. The hard part, beginning is behind you. Persist until you succeed!
Number 1, ride more/further.
Number 2, free mount.
Number 3, ride off road.
Longer term, there is likely to be an mtb race in my town in October. Last year was the first time it had been held, and it took the format of a beginners/fun race in the morning, 1 lap of the course, then a 2 lap race in the afternoon for more experienced riders. Iād like to enter at least the fun race on the uni. Does this seem unreasonable, given its 9 months and Iāve only been riding 5 wks so far? Itās about 6km of off road.
Short-term - fully get-down the weird hop-on-spot trick on my 36er, so Iām no longer limited by traffic lights. I can do the stop on the spot and hop part, but I canāt carry on riding afterwards. I always fall backwards. Note to self - lean forward more!
Over the course of this year - enter the Horwich Unicycle Road Race, hopefully come somewhere between last and first. Also, do the Manchester SkyRide again, and try and do 60+ miles there (I did the 2014 one on my 29er and did about 40 milesā¦ I now ride a 36" with handlebars, but Iāll still have to train hard for this!)
Long-long-term - Be a mad old man who unicycles to work.
Nine months from when I learnt to ride I came second in the 10km Standard Wheel Masters at the Australian Unicycling Championships. Masters is over 40 and I was 55.
Main thing is to have fun and meet other unicyclists.
Maintaining aerobic exercise is my goal. I can achieve that by practicing new skills. It seems there is a struggle associated with learning new skills which gets the cardio-vascular system working. For example, I recently rode backwards 100 meters. It took a lot of concentration, it was disorienting, and I was breathing hard and sweating by the end of that short ride. When I was a beginner and first rode āforwardā 100 meters, I felt the same way. I think there is a natural progression for each skill, moving from inefficient to efficient. If we are practicing new skills, we may be inefficient, resulting in more energy expended, and a better aerobic workout. So, when we are in an aerobic state, there is a good chance we are also improving our skills.
To put my goal another way: struggle. This seems to contradict the idea of having āfunā while riding. Maybe a lot of riders on the forum have become so inured to the struggle of learning new skills, that they need to remind themselves to have fun while riding. The etymology of the word āfunā is from Middle English, meaning āfoolishā, āsillyā, āstupidā. None of those terms describe how I feel about the unicycle. There is a huge aspect of delayed-gratification associated with skills acquisition on the unicycle. āFunā implies instant-gratification. I am not implying that wanting to have fun is a bad thing, and I experience plenty of instant gratification on the unicycle; rather I am wondering what people mean by āfunā. If you enjoy the process of learning new skills, even when youāve attempted the same mount unsuccessfully for 100 times, then youāre able to have fun while at the same time struggling.
I really like your thought pattern. I have been able to ride since I was 12. Getting on and going forward for however far was not an accomplishment to me. What I am really enjoying now is the āstruggleā you mentioned and then success. I just came in from a 2 mile ride with my wife on my nightfox (she was on her bike) and that was ok. The real joy was when I then got out the 20" and tried basic riding skills such as idling and riding backwards. These are things I never took time to master. Now I was only out there 15-20 minutes but I sure broke a sweat because of the āstruggleā. I did accomplish my goal of 10ā backwards but it was pretty sorry, sort of a controlled dismount the whole way! Ha! Canāt wait to āstruggleā some more!
Funny you mentioned thatā¦Two days ago I went on a long ride on my new 29" road unicycle. Yesterday, I was out late, under the street lamps, working on my 20" skills. I felt a lot stronger and more in control of the pedals. I think moving from the big wheel to the small wheel really worked, sort of like removing ankle-weights after youāve been running with them on.
Conversely, spending a lot of time on the 20" then moving to the big wheelā¦makes the big wheel seem very unresponsive.
BTW, rem48, you have the coolest avatar. The tire tracks, weaving off the raod, are a nice touch. Yikes!
Totally. If it were a race Iād be a bit concerned of the condition of the road. Iāve seen āoff roadā from a worn paved road to moderately tech XC. But since this is for fun itās fine if you take a bit longer or have to walk parts. My rule is over train (fitness and technique) and youāll never be overwhelmed by the course.
I did the Brooklyn Bridge ride last August. It was my third month of riding. Tons of fun! Actually had to walk the first part because Iād never done any hills. Also there were lots of pedestrians. Iād love to do it again but on my 29er and make it all the way to Coney Island (14 miles). Iāve been training to do it again although Iām not sure Iāll make it over there this year.
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Well done!