Got a 20" unicycle last Christmas. I am 70, 200 lbs. I would practice 15 minutes every evening [didn’t want people to see me]. After 4 months, my free ride record was 21 feet and it was not improving every week. I could ride with my arm bouncing off a low fence quite well. A month ago, I bought tallest ski poles, 135 cm. I can ride 200 feet routinely now. It looks pretty stupid, but it is something that I can do pretty well, and I am still improving. Also, I can do it anywhere. Some day I may get good enough to throw off the ski poles, but maybe not.
Awesome! You’ll totally get it, keep at it!
That’s impressive! It sounds like you’ve got to the point where it’s enjoyable as well as frustrating. Perseverance will get you there, even if it sometimes feels as if you’re getting nowhere.
I took up unicycling a few months ago, just before my 58th birthday. It was months before I could ride more that a few feet. I’m still not great at it, but slowly improving according to how much time I can invest. Taking up unicycling in later life happens quite often, and I would love to know why it happens!
There’s a lot of good advice in old threads on this site, worth reading if you haven’t yet. It’s good that you’ve left the fence – hanging onto the fence is a dead end once you’re used to the feel of sitting and pedalling. It keeps you from learning the key skill, which is correcting side-to-side imbalance. I can attest to this, having wasted a lot of time on the fence myself. What kept me on the fence was fear of a bad fall. What helped my fear was getting lots of practise at jumping off at the first sign of trouble, and wearing lots of protection. Wrist guards are the most important, but shin, knee and elbow guards are good too. I did have a couple of falls where I didn’t land on my feet, but they happened after I could ride, when I was practising free mounting.
Welcome to the “Old Geezers On One Wheel” Club!
Keep riding! It’ s a fountain of youth! (there are other seventyish riders on the forum and they enjoy every moment of their rides! So join us!)
Knectom, welcome aboard, good for you to decide to start riding. If you are determined and put in the time you will ride your uni. I am very much a beginner also. At this early stage I found it can be exhausting after a short practice. Keep at it and improvements will occur. I think soon you may decide you don’t need your poles. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience on this site with the members willing to share. If you ask, they will answer. Good luck, keep positive and enjoy the ride.
It sounds so cozy. I wish I was 70 
Setonix, it is cozy, but you’re still pretty young, I’m not sure you could handle being 70.
it’s easy: stick to good beer (not fancy things with sugar added 
), keep pretending you look young for your age :D, tell stories about auld times (as a student in 1968, your first flight in a WWII plane revamped for civilian use :o, recall your meetings with “celebrities” nobody remembers, how you attended a Satchmo concert and so on…) and always enjoy your unicycling rides (even if your technical skills are not up to the challenges !)
Beer n Unicycle
Funny somebody mentioned beer. I have no problem being able to ride my unicycle after a few beers. Guess it’s like my golf swing, too. If you have the basics down it doesn’t take extra concentration to be able to do it.
Yeah, at the end of a 20-mile ride on my 29, I rode a 36 for the first time after gulping down a liter of very good beer. Perhaps the beer helped me overcome my fear. Unicycling after a drink or two is fun as long as you don’t have to climb any big hills. It also helps you sober up quickly.
Dude, you were swerving!