Though usually I stick to juggling, on occasion I do bunny-hop unicycling
with a jump rope. In spite of being able to comfortably execute the trick,
I am unable to execute the trick comfortably. Er, does that make sense?
Let me try again (and I will try to be polite!), the insides of my legs
are KILLING me! Suffering for your art is one thing, but this is too much.
I have tried using both Schwin style and Miyata seats. Are there
techniques to keeping the uni underneath you without using a pelvic vice
grip of death? Are these tricks painful for everyone, and I am just
being a whiner?
steve@remove.academicedge.net writes: >Though usually I stick to juggling, on occasion I do bunny-hop >unicycling with a jump rope. In spite of being able to comfortably >execute the trick, I am unable to execute the trick comfortably. Er, >does that make sense? Let me try again (and I will try to be polite!), >the insides of my legs are KILLING me! Suffering for your art is one >thing, but this is too much. > >I have tried using both Schwin style and Miyata seats. Are there >techniques to keeping the uni underneath you without using a pelvic vice >grip of death? Are these tricks painful for everyone, and I am just being >a whiner? > >Steve
When I learned this skill, I was just 13. By the end of the day, I could
barely walk. When I got home, I took a bath and counted over 60 little
sores or abbrasions on my inner thighs (about 30 per thigh). These
abbrasions took a few days to heal, so I didn’t bounce for awhile, but I
rode on as much as I could. By the end of a few days, I was back at it,
and when I did it again, I didn’t have the same problem to the same
extent. Little by little, I developed calluses, so of, so that my inner
thighs have always been a little tougher than they were meant to be – but
it’s not like I have actual calluses that you could see. I can only tell
you that I could hop for 5 minutes straight without special bike shorts
(as I did last year – boring) with no adverse effects. Just keep at it,
and in time, you won’t even flinch when someone says the word ‘hop.’ But
for now, rest. As for seat preference, both Miyata and Schwinn (and Sem –
even better) seats are fine. Just avoid those old Miyata seats with the
metal side brackets – killer!
David Co-founder, Unatics of NY 1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday @ Central
Park Bandshell
1:30 start time after 11/1/01
> I have tried using both Schwin style and Miyata seats. Are there > techniques to keeping the uni underneath you without using a pelvic vice > grip of death?
Good advice from David Stone. I had similar pain when learning to jump
rope. When learning a skill, you do it over and over and over. But once
you get it, you need to do it less and less often. Now, I do it maybe once
before a show, and once during a show. Never enough to get sore over.
Give yourself time to heal in between, and keep at it!
Steven A. Ragatz <steve@academicedge.net> wrote: > Though usually I stick to juggling, on occasion I do bunny-hop > unicycling with a jump rope. In spite of being able to comfortably > execute the trick, I am unable to execute the trick comfortably. Er, > does that make sense? Let me try again (and I will try to be polite!), > the insides of my legs are KILLING me! Suffering for your art is one > thing, but this is too much.
> I have tried using both Schwin style and Miyata seats. Are there > techniques to keeping the uni underneath you without using a pelvic vice > grip of death? Are these tricks painful for everyone, and I am just > being a whiner?
Something that helps me a lot is to make sure that I don’t just grip the
saddle with my thighs, but also move my feet in and stand partly on the
cranks. This allows me to either grip the frame with my insteps or even to
poke my toes in the spokes and thus release some of the pressure higher
up. Doing this seemlessly takes a bit of practice (as I’m sure you’d have
guessed) but I found it very worthwhile.