Next step

General
1

I’ve been in the hallway for a couple of days now, trying to keep my weight in the saddle, looking forward, rocking and trying to balance a little, while holding onto the wall. Got a couple of revolutions without holding on. Told myself once I could do that I’d go outside and try to push off from a tree, see how far I could get with no wall to lean on (grassy earth sounds like a much better place to fall than hard blacktop.) I went outside, put the uni on the grass next to a tree and got on. It sunk into the ground an inch and wouldn’t move. There goes my whole plan.

Am I gonna kill myself if I go out on the driveway tonight?

2

If you don’t fall off then NO, but if you do well…you’ll just have to go and see for yourself, what have you got to lose?

3

u will not hurt your self at all. you dont fall with your unicycle if u fall off it the worst that could happen at your level is get a clip from the pedal but no u wont die.

4

Re: Next step

In article <digigal1.14b4ap@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com>,
digigal1 <digigal1@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> wrote:
)
)I’ve been in the hallway for a couple of days now, trying to keep my
)weight in the saddle, looking forward, rocking and trying to balance a
)little, while holding onto the wall. Got a couple of revolutions
)without holding on. Told myself once I could do that I’d go outside and
)try to push off from a tree, see how far I could get with no wall to
)lean on (grassy earth sounds like a much better place to fall than hard
)blacktop.) I went outside, put the uni on the grass next to a tree and
)got on. It sunk into the ground an inch and wouldn’t move. There goes
)my whole plan.
)
)Am I gonna kill myself if I go out on the driveway tonight?

You probably won’t fall. You’re probably a couple hours away from
being good enough to fall. For now, just don’t try to catch the unicycle
and you’ll be OK, you’ll just wind up standing on the ground.

You probably should wear gloves or wrist guards, but don’t worry about it
too much.
-Tom

5

“tonight”? perhaps best to practice when there’s light out. just a thought.

-Grant “worms is mighty good eatin” Houghton

6

Go to the local ballfield and ride on the dirt there. You can push off the backstop, the dirt is hard-packed, but the ground is much more forgiving than concrete or asphalt.

7

Klownlife, what I’ve got to lose is all the feeling from my waist down. I’m 38 and I’ve never been on a unicycle in my life. 'K?

I proved the rest of you wrong; in addition to falling on my feet a couple of times, I also fell flat on my ass. Dat’s what I’m talking about! When you said I couldn’t fall, I thought hmmm… I guess they don’t know me and gravity. Does it get any better? Cuz as I was lying there I had a fleeting thought “It’s only hit the ground a couple of times - I could sell the damned thing.”

8

hey man, I knew you would fall on your ass, everybody does at some point, I did it last week while practising wheel walking. It doesn’t really matter, if you don’t wanna fall, then don’t ride, that’s the long n short of it and I’m sure some Uni Guru like John Foss or Kris Holm will back me up wit that aswell. Fall 7 times, get up 8 times!

9

I was over 42 and never been on a uni when I learned. I still haven’t seen another uni rider (yet).

The hobby is great fun and worth the challege. As somebody told me on the list “age isn’t an excuse”. I think they were 50 something…
…and they were correct.

10

GO FOR IT!!!

The only way to learn is to take some risks. The risk of falling and hurting yourself is very small and very worth it for the reward.

11

I learnt to ride from day 1 outside on concrete. If you fall the speed in which you fall is so slow your not going to hurt yourself, that is while learning. Once you get better and start doing different things falling just comes into it. The worst thing that happens if you fall is maybe a bang on the knee. You get worse injuries from tripping over.

12

I agree. I broke my hand learning to do one foot riding and I don’t have any regrets

13

I’ve heard that gravity doesn’t pull, the Earth just sucks. You’re the same age as I was when I learned, digigal1. Keep going, soon you’ll be willing to endure incredible amounts of pain for this sport happily.:smiley: It’s just so rewarding! Stick to hard, more or less smooth ground until you figure it out a bit, and listen to those who tell you to just step off and let the uni fall. Good luck! and keep us posted!

14

To be successful, just keep pedalling no matter what. Keep your feet on the pedals, keep your back straight, and keep your feet moving.

15

Re: Next step

From personal experience, you are only going to kill yourself with a unicycle in the early stages if you die of embarassment at just how useless you are at riding the blasted thing. :smiley: This is from somebody who KNOWS. I have spent far too many evenings at the club watching people whizzing round the hall on my wheel when I can barely drag myself along the wall on it.

If you are practicing on a fairly hard surface I would recommend wrist and knee guards at the very least. My only really bad fall to brick paving (other than the spectacular AFD - ass first dismount - which left me with spoke burns) was a wrist and knee plant. I had wrist guards but no knee guards. Hands were fine, knees were bruised for a while, even though I was wearing jeans at the time of the fall. On the down side it was a real confidence buster and I didn’t get back on the uni properly for at least a week after that.

If it makes you feel better get somebody out there with you. A shoulder to lean on can be very reassuring, and at the very least there is somebody around to call for help if anything bad does happen. :wink:

If it makes you feel any better I’m 33 (34 in May) and I’ve been at this since late Feb this year. I have only put in about 7 hours actual uni time (darn that day job and maternal responsibilities :wink: ), but I still feel I should be better than I am ie actually confident enough to ride the blasted thing solo!

It will come in time. As you work at it you will notice improvement. When I stop feeling sorry for myself about how useless I am I realise just how much better I am at this than when I started.

Jayne

16

Re: Re: Next step

I was wondering why it was taking you “so long” to learn. Because you seemed to be having so much fun with the magic of learning you actually inspired me to “start over” with learning how to ride unicycle.

Tonight, I was able to make 20 pedal pushes!!! (Pedal pushes are not revolutions or even half revs - they are the number of times I apply pressure to each foot). It is the easiest thing to count. :slight_smile:
At first I was procrastinating; then, I got half dressed and rode around in the house denting the diswasher and scratching a cabinet. With that, I put on full armor and made it around the block (in 1-15 push attempts) for a grand total of 1.33 miles. (I did .60 miles in the house) I was proud of myself because I am well on my way to learning to ride over again.
By the end of the week, I will be able to ride 5 miles!

What helps me learn faster is to:

  1. Isolate a particular skill (freemounting, riding, turning)
  2. Set an arbitrary difficult distance goal.
  3. Continue until the distance is reached.
  4. Set frequent practice times (today’s session was after 11pm).

What helps the most is that I have an odometer on my unicycle to help me measure my progress. I am very goal-oriented and have a tough time “just having fun.”

Jayne, I can’t wait for the day that you post that you have learned to ride (I bet it will be soon - at the 10 hour mark).

Digigal1, Jayne, I highly recommend both of you “take it to the field” find football game sized field and attempt to ride. Your wheel may sink, you may hit bumps that throw you off, you may end up dirty. However, you will gain confidence because falls won’t hurt so much, you won’t have to worry about going in a direction, there will be no obsticles, and you will develop your pedalling technique faster.

Believe it or not, I find it easier to ride on grass, uphill and downhill than smooth pavement - because my common beginner’s flaw (overpedalling) was offset by the need to use force (to overcome bumps, hills, or slow down). I started to learn to ride (again) last week, and the first thing I did was “take it to the field.”

Today’s session was on pavement and I look forward to actually making 5 miles worth of attempts tomorrow. :slight_smile:

Savor learning the basics - it is the most satisfying aspect of unicycling.

17

Re: Next step

If an unplanned dismount occurs, you mostly land on your feet but
indeed not always. Yet I don’t think for a beginner practicing is very
dangerous though, loosing all the feeling from your waist down is a
very very remote possibility.

On Tue, 6 Apr 2004 18:51:42 -0500, “digigal1” wrote:
>I could sell the damned thing."

Most people in the world have never ridden a unicycle and don’t know
what they miss out, but you would (sort of). Could you live like that?

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict

Clearly a system of 1/14 and 1/16 is not decimal - Mikefule on the English weight system

18

Re: Re: Re: Next step

WOW - officially a good influence! What will that do to my reputation? :smiley:

Seriously though, despite the setbacks and “Why am I bothering?” moments, I am having a lot of fun. Tonight I am measuring the 4YO for a unicycle as she wants to learn too. We’ll look too sweet riding down the street - me on my coker and her on her tiny (by comparison) wheel.

I have to be riding well by this time next year as there is a relay we’re planning on taking part in. Personally, I need to be riding by 25 May at the latest as that’s when I’m graduating (for the second time - it’s a Dipoma this time, the degree came in 2000). I want a picture of me on the uni with the robes flowing out behind me. Much more fun than the boring ones they usually take.

Jayne

19

Re: Re: Next step

Thanks Jayne. I wasn’t really serious in selling it, but I think I at least want to wait to get back on until the stiffness goes away. You’re not getting on for a week actually made me feel better about it!

Thanks to everybody else, too, for the encouragement (except Klownlife - you are way too brusque for my tastes.)

20

Re: Re: Re: Next step

OH GOOD! It made me feel like a total wuss. Glad somebody got some benefit from it.

Ignore all these hotheads who tell you to take your life in your hands and head into the scary abyss when you’re not ready for it! You know what you are happy doing. If you can’t talk yourself into doing something don’t let somebody else do it for you. It will come when you are ready, no sooner and no later.

Jayne