One of the other guys on my unicycle team used to be really good at standing up
out of the seat, holding it in front or in back of him as he rode, putting it
under his stomach and riding that way, and so on. I wonder if that could be
combined with riding with one foot? I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that the same
same quote applies here as to juggling with 5 balls, then 7, then more: “that
way lies madness.” – Paul Goodrich
psgoodrich@bpa.gov
Sara Langseth <sl@cs.brown.edu> wrote that she learned to ride one footed
by “winding up” and going forward from one footed idling. She said : “there
was no way I would’ve tried to learn by casually removing a foot from the
pedals while riding (it’s scary to think about even now).” One thing I’ve
gathered from reading this list and talking to other unicyclists is that
everyone doesn’t learn things the same way. I wanted to tell everyone that
one night shortly I after I learned to idle one-footed, I had a dream about
riding one footed. It was such fun that I went out the next day and started
learning to do it here in the waking world. Of course I didn’t get it on
the first try, or even the first day, but the dream gave me the confidence
to try it. I learned to ride one footed by rolling along in a straight line
at a medium fast pace and at the top of a stroke, putting one foot on the
fork crown. Having the IUF Skill Levels video to study was a great help. I
knew I would have to lean forward a bit, and pedal fast on the downstroke
and slow of the upstroke. From the first dozen or so attempts I learned
that I always tended to fall over to the side I was pedaling on. I learned
to compensate for this by holding the arm on that side downward at a 45
degree angle while holding the other arm straight out. By day three (1 and
1/2 hours of practice) I could go 10 revolutions pedaling with my left foot
and recover to two footed riding. Learning to use the right foot only took
about half that. BTW, I’m in Cedar Rapids for a few weeks on my way back to
Kansas. Any unicyclists around these parts? Dennis Kathrens
d.kathrens@genie.geis.com
Re: one wheel, one foot
Paul Goodrich <psgoodrich@bpa.gov> wrote:
>One of the other guys on my unicycle team used to be really good at standing up
>out of the seat, holding it in front or in back of him as he rode, putting it
>under his stomach and riding that way, and so on. I wonder if that could be
>combined with riding with one foot? I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that the same
>same quote applies here as to juggling with 5 balls, then 7, then more: "that
>way lies madness."
Well, riding one footed with the seat in front happens to be in IUF Achievement
Skill Level 9. It could be said that anyone attempting that level is “truly
mad”. 8-} Has anyone officially completed level 9 yet?
A lot of the variations Paul mentions are also in the Standard Skills List.
Want a really, really mad unicycling skill? Trying coasting backwards, standing
on the seat in a figure 8! Is it even theoretically possible?
Stay on Top (of the seat, standing on it! :^),
Ken Fuchs <kfuchs@winternet.com