Riding One-Footed
Ok, this guide starts off assuming that you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing when you try to ride one footed. Hopefully, if you follow these steps, (with practice), you’ll be able to ride one-footed.
From here on, the foot that will not be pedaling, and resting on the crown, will be Foot 1, and the other one will be Foot 2
Stalling one-footed
One of the major things that helped me when I learned was to learn how to “pull” the back pedal while riding. This is usually a fairly big problem when learning, because if you don’t have enough momentum, and can’t pull the pedal, you’ll stall, and then fall off.
The best way to do this, is to find a mailbox, or something else about shoulder-level to hold onto. Your feet should be in the horizontal stall position, with Foot 1 on the front, and the outside, like this:
While supporting most of your weight on the mailbox, move Foot 1 up it’s resting position on the fork. Make sure to get comfortable resting the balls of your feet on the fork, and not the arches. This ensures that your feet won’t rub against the tire while riding.
Next, when you’re comfortable with that position, slowly transfer your weight back to the seat, and use Foot 2 to pull the back pedal up towards you. Do this by bending your foot forward (so your toe is pointed towards the ground), and using your ankle and your calf strength to pull the pedal in the direction shown.
Due to gravity, and your weight on the pedal, right now all it will probably do is keep the pedals horizontal, but while you’re riding, being able to pull the pedal up like that while slowing down can save you from a UPD.
Now, go practice doing that. When you get good at doing that with the mailbox, try doing it while riding. Ride a little bit, then stall, snap your foot up, put it back on the pedal, and then ride away again. The only tip I can offer here is practice, practice, practice.
Riding One-Footed
Now, what I’m about to tell you might seem a little backwards, but it’s how I learned, and it worked great for me.
When you finally try to start riding one footed, don’t do it with your foot on the crown. Start off this way instead…as you’re riding along the street, just take Foot 1 off, let the wheel go one revolution, then let your foot meet back up with the pedal….don’t bother trying to put it on the fork, just let it go one rev. This helps you get used to the feeling of just having one foot pedaling the unicycle.
When you get to the point where you can do both of those skills (stalling with Foot 1 on the fork, and riding one revolution one-footed) fairly well, it becomes time to put them together. You’re going to want to snap Foot 1 up to the fork as the pedal Foot 1 is on approaches the top, as shown here:
After you master doing one revolution, all that’s standing between you and riding one footed proficiently is lots of practice.
Good luck, and feel free to PM me with any questions.
sniff im a lazy bum