Greetings,
My daughter and I have both broke through some personal Uni barriers. She can now start herself from a wall without a spotter and ride. She has been caught up in a fear of falling when starting herself, so yesterday I worked with her launching from a pole. First, spotting her as she started and then having her reach for my hand, touch it and then roll on. After a few of these, she went to a fence, started herself and then rolled off, which is really cool. She made it completely around the track and rode on some more- it was more than a quarter mile! Wahooooo!
A couple observations I have found during this father daughter experience are:
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It’s especially difficult to help a child overcome a fear. Fear is a rather insidious swine and can get quite a grip on ones brain- especially a child’s. It must be mastered one small step at a time.
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It’s difficult to help someone learn something you are learning yourself. I have to analyze what it is I’m doing in order to explain it to my daughter. Even simple things can be quite complex. Example: Tying your shoes is not too complicated, describing in words how to tie a pair of shoes is damn near impossible.
- Teaching your own children can be tough. In the case of my daughter, she is ‘extremely’ competitive. I seem to have progressed just a ‘little bit’ faster than her (which I think is unusual), and she takes it personally. I think she may be just a little bit discouraged by it- although she hides it well. I have been extremely careful not to be competitive with her, and only talk about our progress on an individual basis. This is the golden rule.
Okay enough child psychology. I just thought I would post these observations for other parents helping their children with the Uni. Everyone’s different.
I made some progressive breakthroughs as well. I can now free mount ‘without’ grabbing my wheel for support! When it works, it’s actually less work because I’m not bent over (grabbing the wheel) when I mount.
Also, I nearly made it 1/2 mile before dumping the Uni- which was just a little unnerving. Here is what I did to get the extra distance:
I followed John Foss and others advice about putting all my weight in the seat. It was a real effort. One would think that simply sitting on the seat would be enough, but it’s not. I found I have to make my self heavy and sort of push down on the seat (it’s tough to explain), but it works to give you more stability and puts less weight on your legs. Also, when I started to feel the strain on my legs, I grabbed the front of the seat with one hand and pulled a little bit to suck my butt down in the seat, this relieved some of the pressure on my legs, giving them a moments rest.
I was still quite tired by then end of the run and my legs were a little bit wobbly when I dumped it in the end. I was sucked into, and abruptly launched out of a gravity hole (yikes), the same one that ruined my pants last week. I almost feel forward flat on my face- actually it was quite a thrill!
Also, I should mention that until yesterday I have been helmetless. My daughter has always been fully padded and protected, and I have always had wrist guards but I needed a helemet and was just too busy and lazy to get one. So I guess I’m now style’n in my new Bell helmet thingy. 
Cheers,
) was what pushed me over the edge to the point where the whole thing became wide open to me.