old guys on unicycles

[LargeEddie]

Good advice from Young at heart there. I’m still learning myself but turning is going pretty well for me these days. Things that seemed to help:

• Use the space you have. If you start feeling shaky in the middle of a turn, let the arc run wider but keep on pedaling. If you try to slow down to hold a tight line, you’ll UPD every time.

• Throwing in some sharp corners in the middle of turns is fine if that’s what it takes to get around. Tracing smooth steady circles is a nice goal but make stop signs until you can if that keeps you going.

• As an exercise, find a nice street without a lot of traffic and practice making lazy S-curves back and forth. That way you can bail out of a turn any time you need to and still keep on going down the road. Make each arc as deep as you can and work on the feeling of turning smoothly to one side and then the other.

Lately I’ve been working on riding the tightest circles I can as fast as I can for as many times around as I can, literally until I’m dizzy. It’s fun!

[markus]

Young at heart and LargeEddie, thanks a lot for your advice.

I believe the “look where you want to go” is deeply ingrained in me since I also do a lot of motorcycle riding and you’re getting yourself into really big trouble if you don’t learn the “head and eyes” mantra. When I’m practicing tight turns on my motorcycle I’m looking almost 180 degrees ahead of my turn. The spot in front of your tire is the last place you want to look at.

For practicing, I think I should follow LargeEddies advice. My current training course is the narrow boardwalk by my house with the concrete stretch shown in the pictures below connecting the two big straight sections. While this is good in forcing smoothness (my straight lines are really straight), making a 90 degree turn on a path that is only a few feet wide is a real challenge. I think I’ll move to the more open area by the garage or in the parking lot and set up some cones to weave around. Once I’m getting better, I can move the cones closer or do offset weaves. Maybe then I can start doing circles until I get dizzy

I’ve attached a few pictures of my practice this morning. The concrete path section is the most difficult (other than the tight 90 deg turn that I can’t even fathom to attempt yet) on my exercise course. It is the most difficult part because it is (a) slightly curved as it bends around the base of the bridge and (b) isn’t quite level and has a few half inch steps between concrete slabs. While I made it across this section four times this morning without dismounting , I haven’t been able to make the turn either towards the bridge or away from it during the few times I attempted to. May still be worth trying some more since there is only grass to land on if I don’t make it.

[johnfoss]

I’m just shy of 52. I’m not old. As I see it, I just recently passed the halfway mark. Even if that means “middle age”, I refuse to act the part.

Someday I will qualify as old in my own mind. At that time, I hope I am still riding unicycles. Doing so will continue to push that day farther into the future!

[Klaas_Bil]

@johnfoss

Someday I will qualify as old in my own mind. At that time, I hope I am still riding unicycles. Doing so will continue to push that day farther into the future!

I remember you wrote a couple of years ago “I plan to ride at 100”. Has your aspiration weakened?

[JerryAttrick]

“Middle age” is ten years older than you are. I speak as one who is just 10 years short of middle age!

Jerry

[LargeEddie]

@johnfoss

I’m just shy of 52. I’m not old. As I see it, I just recently passed the halfway mark. Even if that means “middle age”, I refuse to act the part.

My private name for the exercise where I ride in the smallest circle I can as fast as I can for as long as I can is “Uni-Cyclones” in honor of John. Speaking of refusing to act the part…

The idea of riding a century on a unicycle doesn’t do much to move me, but I dream of doing a pirouette one day.

[markus]

My wife is still waiting for me to grow up

My daughters used to want to appear older than they were, so they were always celebrating “I’m half of …” on their birthdays. Strangely they stopped doing this when they reached their twenties I got the evil eye two years ago when I paid back my older daughter (the one who is responsible for me having started unicycling): “Happy half of fifty!”

[unibokk]

@LargeEddie

The idea of riding a century on a unicycle doesn’t do much to move me, but I dream of doing a pirouette one day.

Hello LargeEddie. Very short cranks might help you to do a pirouette i.e. 75mm cranks on a 20" freestyle unicycle.

[LargeEddie]

@unibokk

Hello LargeEddie. Very short cranks might help you to do a pirouette i.e. 75mm cranks on a 20" freestyle unicycle.

Remember that I’m old and inexperienced, and not a quick learner of physical skills in my best day. It might take a bit more than that.

But I’ve gotten used to 114s on it now, so I guess I’ll go ahead and switch to the 102s I’ve got waiting and keep on working downward there. Thanks!

[billtheturner]

Eddie 52 is not old. You are a young guy.

[UniGeezer]

Unicycling for me has definitely been a fountain of youth, and at 58, I feel and look younger than I did at 35. Yes, unicycling has played a big role, but also staying out of the sun as much as possible, eating well, not being a smoker or drinker, not partying too much and getting 8-10 hours of sleep each night. Wow, I’ve missed a lot!

[LargeEddie]

@billtheturner

Eddie 52 is not old. You are a young guy.

Nice try, Bill. I appreciate the sentiment but I know where I stand. For the past two weeks I’ve been watching the Olympics, where an old broken-down guy giving it his last shot for glory is 36. I’m doing ok for my age but “for my age” is the key element there.

So I went to swap over to the shorter crank arms the evening. I hadn’t looked all that closely at the new ones, but I know I ordered 102mm and somehow I ended up with 89mm instead. Oh, well. I’ve had to deal with enough deferred gratification lately so I went ahead and put on the 89s and rode for a while in the driveway and out in the street. And boy was that different.

I’m still pretty tentative going downhill on any unicycle, but for the first time I had a UPD because of not being ready to apply as much back pressure as I needed. While going down my driveway, I was rudely ejected off the front. I landed on my feet, no harm done, just surprised by it. I’ll stick with them for a while but it’s gonna take some getting used to. I get the feeling that I’ll need to use my ankles a lot more and my upper legs a lot less.

[johnfoss]

@Klaas Bil

I remember you wrote a couple of years ago “I plan to ride at 100”. Has your aspiration weakened?

No. My aging parents have, though, at age 81. I hope that unicycle will hold me together at least 20 years longer…

@LargeEddie

My private name for the exercise where I ride in the smallest circle I can as fast as I can for as long as I can is “Uni-Cyclones” in honor of John.

Cool. What you’re doing sounds like a spin, but it depends how big the circle is. If you smooth out the pedaling, the rest will follow and you’ll be spinning.

I had a trick that I referred to as Cyclone Spins for lack of a better name. It’s hard to describe in words, but essentially it’s a series of backspins/frontspins done in a large curve or circle. Flip backwards, do a half-revolution, flip frontwards, do a full revolution, repeat. Or use different counts of revolution. If you get it down to a half and a half I call that an Idle Spin, as you’re spinning while idling. For that you need a smooth floor, short cranks or both.

@markus

My wife is still waiting for me to grow up

Mine too, though she’s kind of given up on the idea.

@unibokk

Very short cranks might help you to do a pirouette i.e. 75mm cranks on a 20" freestyle unicycle.

You don’t really need those. Long cranks can be a problem on a 20" if they make your pedals hit the ground. Otherwise, it’s mostly about smoothing out the pedaling. If you can work out the stops and jerks, the rest will form itself into smaller and smaller circles. That leads to the Pirouette. Once your spin gets real small (near to the pirouette), you don’t even need to pedal fast. You can pedal pretty slow and still spin at a good rate. In a proper pirouette, you aren’t pedaling at all, as it’s supposed to take place on one spot.

@LargeEddie

For the past two weeks I’ve been watching the Olympics, where an old broken-down guy giving it his last shot for glory is 36.

Yeah, but that’s the Olympics, not life. Have you noticed that almost all of the Winter Olympic events are insane? Not to say that unicycling isn’t, but we’re not in the Olympics. So many of the events are so random, or risky, that it hardly seems worth all the effort to get to that level, when one slight mistake or tap can send you crashing.

Of course that makes those events more interesting to watch! I love Board Cross, which is like a BMX race on snowboards. Lots of people crashing out all the time.

[unibokk]

Shorter cranks help to narrow your profile which makes you spin faster. Check out an ice skater. She begins her spin with her arms out and with her feet in a wide stance. To do a pirouette, she brings her arms together and narrows her stance so her feet are much closer to each other making it possible to spin on one spot. The same dynamic applies to a unicycle pirouette. High tyre pressure also helps. I pump my 20" freestyle tyre up to 80/100 psi.

As for the age comments! we all age differently. You know what your comfortable with. The important thing is to enjoy yourself and ride within your limits.

I hope the 89mm cranks work out for you. Have fun!!

[wobbling_bear]

@MuniAddict

… staying out of the sun as much as possible, eating well, not being a smoker or drinker, not partying too much and getting 8-10 hours of sleep each night. Wow, I’ve missed a lot!

same for me … (OOps! it depends on what you call a “drinker” … a glass of Guinness is always welcome after a ride ;))
you forgot: mixing with people much younger than you … it helps!

[LargeEddie]

@johnfoss

What you’re doing sounds like a spin, but it depends how big the circle is. If you smooth out the pedaling, the rest will follow and you’ll be spinning.

Thanks for the tips! Calling it a spin would be an act of charity. On a good day my head is spinning in one place, but going by what I’ve seen a unicyclist’s whole upper body should be upright on the axis of a spin. I’ve got a ways to go to get there, and especially to get smoother.

I had a trick that I referred to as Cyclone Spins for lack of a better name. It’s hard to describe in words, but essentially it’s a series of backspins/frontspins done in a large curve or circle. Flip backwards, do a half-revolution, flip frontwards, do a full revolution, repeat. Or use different counts of revolution. If you get it down to a half and a half I call that an Idle Spin, as you’re spinning while idling. For that you need a smooth floor, short cranks or both.

I have a mental picture but I’d love to see video.

Yeah, but that’s the Olympics, not life. Have you noticed that almost all of the Winter Olympic events are insane? So many of the events are so random, or risky, that it hardly seems worth all the effort to get to that level, when one slight mistake or tap can send you crashing.

You’re right. A lot of them are, particularly newer ones like snowboarding and freestyle skiing but not exclusively. Short-track speed skating and cross-country skiing had their share of mayhem. Curling needs some of that.

Of course that makes those events more interesting to watch! I love Board Cross, which is like a BMX race on snowboards. Lots of people crashing out all the time.

As a spectator, I’m mostly ok with that, if the point is not to objectively determine who is the best (whatever that would mean, and as if you could in a single trial) but to find a champion. Then it’s ok for fate to have something to say about it.

@unibokk

As for the age comments! we all age differently. You know what your comfortable with. The important thing is to enjoy yourself and ride within your limits.

I hope the 89mm cranks work out for you. Have fun!!

Thanks again for the tips and the encouragement. I was mainly joking with my comments about being old, although most certainly I am slower to recover from a hard effort than I was 20-30 years ago. Age might be just a number but aging is a real thing.

[UniSpud]

@LargeEddie

Age might be just a number but aging is a real thing.

+1 - I’m in total agreement with that.

[Klaas_Bil]

LargeEddie, those were some well-worded philosophical thoughts.

[moffatuniguy]

Just turned 51

I just turned 51 but I don’t feel old at all. After being a professional Ballet dancer and riding unicycles for over 40 years, your only as old as you feel.

[moffatuniguy]

Pirouette

I have been called the “Spin Master” because of my pirouette’s. I used my ballet training to make this possible. It is one of the few tricks I can do, but I do them well. I have not seen anyone at all the meets I have been to that can match my pirouette’s. I can do them on a 36" , but can really get crazy on a 24".