I have surprised myself. I ran out of driveway in my practice session today. I went to the end of the street and was riding over 200 feet regularly. Basically, if I rode 20 feet; I would ride 200-300 feet then fall. I’m still shakey, but more of a controlled shakey than normal. Time into the hobby is about 6 days times 20 mins = 2 hours
Here is what is surprising me:
I am in good shape. I mean, I run ultra marathon and do the eco challege type races. This uni wears my ass out. A 200 foot run will have me huffin’.
This is great fun. My goal was just to see it I could ride a uni. Now I’m already looking forward to getting another one… well, I still have a lot of learning to do with this one first.
You’re probably wearing out because you’re too tense yet at this stage. Most likely you’ve got both legs really tight to be ready to instantly correct. Try to relax some, and as others have said, let your weight settle as fully as possible onto the seat. Once you gain confidence, you’ll start to relax and loosen up. Then you won’t be puffin’ so much.
Of course, as soon as you go off road, that whole tense/relax cycle will start up all over again. But it’s worth it!
You’re doing GREAT!!! It will take awhile until you begin feeling more relaxed on the uni, at which time you’ll find it less tiring. I came from a motorcycle and mountain bike racing background and thought I was in good shape until I threw a leg over a uni. You’ll get more comfortable and relaxed on it soon and be looking for ways to make it even more challenging
Thanks for the comments. I don’t think I would have even tried the hobby if it were not for this forum and the time a few of you took to help me out. I really mean it; thanks!
Hey, congratulations! Nice work getting it down so quickly. If you can go the 200, a mile is just around the corner. Soon you need to change that screen name to oldunihat.
I think everyone hit on the same point about getting winded…it’s more a function of lack of technique than anything else. I still get more winded than the people I ride with…not just because they’re in better shape (they are), but because I have to work harder to compensate for lesser technique. I am noticing that as I ride more, it’s less of an issue than it used to be. It’s also around using specific muscles in specific ways. I notice the same thing around skiing…even when I’ve chosen to train hard before a ski season, it still takes a while to get my “ski legs” once the season starts. Bikes–real or stationary–don’t exactly replicate the muscle use pattern of riding a uni.
Very impressive, newtouni! Ditto the others comments. It’s been fun reading about your progress. Sounds a lot like my own, only about 10 times faster. Now don’t be afraid to take it to some dirt roads or easy trails. And keep us posted!
Nice job, NewToUni! The next question is, have you learned to freemount? You’re at the stage where it’s too long of a walk back to your mounting location. It’s time to learn how to get up and ride back.
Not yet, but walking back to the car to remount will soon become a drag. Right now, I’m still at the stage where I am still so freakin’ amazed that I can even ride the thing that the walk back to the car is a treat.
Freemounting is now on my mind.
Is there a short web clip anywhere that just shows somebody doing a simple basic freemount? That would help me learn faster I think.
in case u’re looking for reasons to choose between the static- and the roll-back mount (and everybody will have an opinion on this:) ), i would suggest the roll-back simply because it introduces the kind of control that will come in very handy when u want to (and u WILL want to) learn how to idle later on
might as well kill two birds with one stone
I tried to freemount some last night in the garage. I blew off trying to acual ride the uni. I was amazed at how hard it was for me, as a beginner, to ride the uni without good light.
I found the static mount much easier. I tried maybe 30 times and was able to get it to work only two. The roll back method was very hard on my shin gaurds.
depending on the kind of terrain u were attempting to ride, it may not be as strange as u think
use the ‘search’ function to find threads about ‘uni lights’ and u’ll see how much of a challenge badly lit riding situations can be
lil’ bumps that u would almost unconsciously prepare for and ride over without as much as second thought can become easy UPD material if they take u by surprise
(one favour u may want to do yourself from the start of your freemounting career is to throw in the odd couple of attempts at mounting with your ‘other’ foot. it may feel devilishly impossible at first but so did riding that thing about a week ago. ambidextrosity is a handy thing to have in unicycling. being able to think of the right word and not come up with clangers like that is also quite handy;) )
Ditto the others comments. It’s been fun reading about your progress. Sounds a lot like my own, only about 10 times faster. Now don’t be afraid to take it to some dirt roads or easy trails. And keep us posted!
