I’ve been practicing seat drag a lot lately and have now gone ten meters dragging the seat in front and in back. Generally, I find the seat drag in back easier, but I have actually gone a little farther dragging in front. Anyway, I am now interested in learning to pick the seat up again. I really have no idea how to go about it so I would like some advice. Specifically, I would like to know which way is easiest, as I have thought of several different ways to go about it. Is it best to do it while riding fast, or should I come to a standstill? Or would it be better to stop, hop in place while holding the tire and grab the seat that way? How about kicking the seat up with the toe or heel? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Jon
The coolest way to pick up the seat, when it’s dragging in back, is with your heel. You keep pedaling, turn your heel inward, and pick up the fork as your foot comes by. Your hand is somewhere around your butt to catch the seat and put it in place. To bystanders, it looks like the seat just levitated off the ground!
With the seat in front, my limited experience is with just picking it up while riding. Someone like Ryan Woessner could probably fill you in with lots of variations and more knowledgeable advice.
Got the pickup!
I got the pickup from seat drag in front for the first time today and caught it on video. Below is a frame from it. I still have to learn the pick up in back. Can anyone give me some advice? It seems like I’d have to lean down a lot farther than for the pickup in front.
I’ve seen videos of people, while dragging it in back, reach back and to the side and lift the fork right around the crown and stand back up into riding seat in back/seat on the side… I’ve been trying to get the pickup too, catching it with your heel soudns awesome, but I fair a lot better dragging in front…
Dave
Yes, use your heel. If the goal is to impress an audience, the no-hands pickup is way cooler than the regular way. The only reason to pick it up with your hands is to do the harder trick. I know you’ll have to scrunch down farther, but nothing much useful beyond that. Check out World Champion Ryan Woessner in his NAUCC Freestyle performance. He picks it up by hand somewhere in there:
http://www.unicycling.com/naucc/
Sorry about the massive download; it’s the entire 4 min. performance!