Hey all,
I actually learned to ride a uni over 20 years ago but have only recently owned one and am trying to refine my skills. I can basically only ride it at this point and although I am quite comfortable riding it(24 inch Zephyr), I am still trying to learn to freemount as well as learn other basic skills such as idling and riding backwards. For me learning to ride was easy, but learning to mount is somewhat difficult! 
I have a considerable background in BMX freestyle, and I was really good at it back in the 80ās. I was and still am extremely good at riding a wheelie and thats what prompted me to try unicycling. In the early 80s, I built a Schwinn Stingray specifically for doing wheelies and used to ride for many miles on the rear wheel without stopping. So although I am not even a level 1 unicyclist yet, I am certainly no stranger to single wheel locomotion!
Well, thats me, hope you donāt mind an old fart like me hangin out once in a while! 
not at all. youll be a nice addition to the old farts we already have here. 
Welcome to the forum!! Iām one of the old farts, itās a good bunch of people youāve come across. Have you tried putting a brick behind the wheel while mounting? That sort of forces you into a static mount which feels easier (in my opinion). Then you just learn the feel of that and get rid of the brick. There are lots of resources available here for learning every conceivable skill. Good luck.
Re: New here
On Sun, 9 Oct 2005 19:36:47 -0500, wheeliemaster wrote:
>Hey all,
Welcome to the forum.
>I am still trying to learn to freemount as well as
>learn other basic skills such as idling and riding backwards.
Some tips for you in the pdf document downloadable from
<http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/uni_beginners.htm>.
>I built a Schwinn Stingray specifically for doing wheelies
>and used to ride for many miles on the rear wheel without stopping.
We have had someone in this forum called Jeff Baker, nicknamed
āunibikerā. He used to ride wheelie-only on an adapted mountain bike,
usually for many miles, and wrote quite nicely about it. Do a āsearchā
and you will find. Sadly, he passed away, maybe about a year ago.
>Well, thats me, hope you donāt mind an old fart like me hangin out
Old fart? Iām 52.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
ādit dit diddle diddle dit dit did-it, dit dit diddle diddle dit dit did-it, dit diddle dit dit dit diddle dit dit, diddle-diddle-diddle-diddle-dit dit diddle diddle dit dit did-it,ā¦ - Spudmanā
As well as the PDF document Klaas mentioned (that he and I wrote) there are some other tutorial tips, pictures, and videos available for free at www.unicycle.2ya.com . Thereās a freemounting video that may help you.
Good luck!
Andrew
Well thanks for the warm welcome guys!
I have been practicing static mounts with my wheel against a curb, that seems like a good idea. Without it, my wheel just rolls back real fast and the crank winds up vertical and I just fall sideways.
But I will keep practicing, I will get it pretty soon! I can actually freemount the unicycle with it behind me. With the unicycle leaning forward, I just put my butt on the seat and one foot on the forward pedal and hop up and quickly put my other foot on the back pedal. Works every time for me, but I would rather know how to mount with the uni in front of me. I just hope my butt gets used to the abuse of riding this thing! I am skilled enough to ride for as long as I wish, but my butt is beggin for mercy after about a mile! Any suggestions for a better seat? Or do I just need to get used to it?
I remember seeing something about that unibike fellow a while back, I wonder how he had the bike set up? The only modifications I had on that old Stingray of mine was to install 175mm cranks (the pedals would hit the ground unless you rode a wheelie) and I adjusted the banana seat to be level when riding a wheelie. I simply maintained balance by feathering the coaster brake when I started to fall backwards and using my butt on the curved banana seat to help hold the bike up instead of using my hands all the time. I used to ride around without the front wheel sometimes but for some reason it was easier to maintain balance with the wheel in place. I do have one really cool picture of me carrying the front wheel in my hand while riding a wheelie. If I ever get my scanner fixed, Iāll post it.
I always had a little help with my learning to unicycle (my brother could do it before me 
) but what he told me to do was just [in the middle of nowhere] try to free-mount over and over and over again until you get it down.
I did this and within 10 minutes i could free-mount
and you might also want to try to get used to mounting with something to hold onto first and make sure you can get your foot on while keeping the cranks and pedals horizontal. that helps A LOT.