This is the first time I have posted via the unicyclist.com website. I’m now a registered member!
Yesterday I came across the father of one of my daughters friends. I was told that he is unicyclist, so I took the opportunity to ask him for any pointers he may provide.
He mentioned one thing which I tried and it sent me soaring. I am now averaging about 20+ feet.
He said, “raise the seat a bit higher than you might think is correct, and use the balls of your feet on the pedals”. I tried it (raising the seat about an inch or so) and the difference was felt almost immediately. It seems to give me more control with less effort?? I guess what I mean to say is that I really felt much more ‘naturally’ balanced and thus have a lot more control. At one point I went 40-50 feet while in total control, I even managed to turn to avoid hitting an obstacle and kept going. It was really a wonderful feeling. So if your a newbie such as myself, you might want to give it a try.
To update you on my 11 year daughter:
She is still cruising at about the same level as two days ago. She seems to have hit a wall (metaphorically speaking), which I think is generated by the fear of falling. She still does a mile at the track each night, but she doesn’t want to go ‘totally solo’. She will solo for about ten to fifteen feet and then grab my hand again, even though she seems to be quite balanced. I think she could takeoff at any moment. My five year old son fell from some playground equipment and sprained his wrist the other day, and she has been a bit timid ever since- which I think is normal.
She’s by far a better unicyclist than myself at this point, because when she does go solo she is in ‘total control’ and travels nice and straight. I think she just doesn’t want to fall.
I am going to see if she will try the basketball hoop pole tonight. It seems to be a nice level spot to ‘launch’ a Uni. Once she goes totally solo without me to support her (assuming she doesn’t get hurt there will be no stopping her!
I also live in Anchorage and I think it would be great to get together. I think I may need to get past my 20’ average ride first though (grin), especially if you ride in the mountains. I have been thinking about Powerline pass as a place to try a MUni type ride (once I am able to ride). I have only logged 8 hours in the saddle so far. Have you ridden there?
>He said, “raise the seat a bit higher than you might think is correct,
>and use the balls of your feet on the pedals”. I tried it (raising the
>seat about an inch or so) and the difference was felt almost
>immediately. It seems to give me more control with less effort?? I guess
>what I mean to say is that I really felt much more ‘naturally’ balanced
>and thus have a lot more control. At one point I went 40-50 feet while
>in total control, I even managed to turn to avoid hitting an obstacle
>and kept going. It was really a wonderful feeling. So if your a newbie
>such as myself, you might want to give it a try.
That was my experience in the beginning about ten years ago when I was still in
the flailing-madly-from-one-lamppost-to-another stage. Some guy carrying trash
out behind a restaurant saw me go by and yelled, “Put your seat up! Put your
SEEEAT UUUP!” (he was about a block away). When I got home I raised the seat up
about three inches (I had it WAY too low of course) and was astonished by how
much easier everything suddenly had become. So thanks, Restaurant Trash Guy,
wherever you are. I guess people do, occasionally, yell useful things at us.
>> He said, “raise the seat a bit higher than you might think is correct,
>> and use the balls of your feet on the pedals”. I tried it (raising the
>> seat about an inch or so) and the difference was felt almost
>> immediately. It seems to give me more control with less effort?? I guess
>> what I mean to say is that I really felt much more ‘naturally’ balanced
>> and thus have a lot more control. At one point I went 40-50 feet while
>> in total control, I even managed to turn to avoid hitting an obstacle
>> and kept going. It was really a wonderful feeling. So if your a newbie
>> such as myself, you might want to give it a try.
>
> That was my experience in the beginning about ten years ago when I was still
> in
> the flailing-madly-from-one-lamppost-to-another stage. Some guy carrying trash
> out behind a restaurant saw me go by and yelled, “Put your seat up! Put your
> SEEEAT UUUP!” (he was about a block away). When I got home I raised the seat
> up
> about three inches (I had it WAY too low of course) and was astonished by how
> much easier everything suddenly had become. So thanks, Restaurant Trash Guy,
> wherever you are. I guess people do, occasionally, yell useful things at us.
OK, so where does the seat belong? I figured I should set it up the same as
a bicycle. That is, I should have my leg straight if I put my heel on the
pedal, which gives me a slight bend when I put the ball of my foot there.
This puts me just shy of overextending.
That’s funny, we were just riding PowerLine Pass last week. We had some great looks and better comments from those 2-wheelers. We actually climbed and rode down most of FlatTop last Feb. A buddy of mine has been filming some of our rides and putting them into his software editing program.
Shoot me an personal email when you want to ride with us.
has she got wrist guards, you can get kids wrist guards for not very much
from any skate shop / sports shop and they really decrease your fear (and
the danger) of hurting your wrists.
when i show people how to teach themselves to ride a uni, i show them how to dismount safely before we get close to riding
may i suggest that u get your daughter comfortable with dismounting and then attempting to ride a specified distance (well within her current ability) followed by a controlled dismount
the thinking being that the confidence of being able to ‘climb off’ at any time, might help her break thru her metaphorical wall
>
> Carl wrote:
>> *OK, so where does the seat belong? I figured I should set it up the
>> same as a bicycle. That is, I should have my leg straight if I put my
>> heel on the pedal, which gives me a slight bend when I put the ball of
>> my foot there. This puts me just shy of overextending.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Carl
>> *
> That is the correct way to set your seat height. You’ve got it set at
> the proper height for freestyle and road riding.
Thanks for the confirmation. Glad to hear I had it right. (And yes, my
interest is on the road, rather than muni.)
> has she got wrist guards, you can get kids wrist guards for not very much
> from any skate shop / sports shop and they really decrease your fear (and
> the danger) of hurting your wrists.
>
> Joe
Yes she does. Wrist guards and a helmet are ‘mandatory’ when riding the
Uni. My son was just playing on some playground equipment when he fell.
He’s okay now.
GILD wrote:
>
> when i show people how to teach themselves to ride a uni, i show them
> how to dismount safely before we get close to riding
> may i suggest that u get your daughter comfortable with dismounting and
> then attempting to ride a specified distance (well within her current
> ability) followed by a controlled dismount
> the thinking being that the confidence of being able to ‘climb off’ at
> any time, might help her break thru her metaphorical wall
>
Thank you very much for the advice. She can dismount fairly smoothly
(unlike myself), and she is now soloing up and down our street. It’s the
freemount that we are both working on. I can do it, but it’s quite hit
and miss - something like 1 out of 6 tries. I discovered that a very
slight downhill start really helps.
> when i show people how to teach themselves to ride a uni, i show them
> how to dismount safely before we get close to riding
>
> Dave
I just wondered what you meant by a ‘safe dismount’… is it just
letting the wheel go back and stepping off forward? Or is it the
level one forward dismount which I take it means that the wheel
actually heads out front and you step in behind it?
Erin, who is doing all this in theory until next week when she picks
up her first uni at the Seattle juggling festival.
there will be no stopping her!