Quote of the day (from non-riders)

Hmm. No real other advice here sorry. I assume there is nothing wrong with the unis you have, the crank lengths are suitable for a learner etc.

I think most people can ride a uni if they apply themselves. It takes some people a while longer to learn than others, and some other people are just really good at balance exercises and need next to no time at all to learn.

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be patient! it took me two months to just be able to ride 10 meters :smirk:

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I guess this isn’t really a quote from non-riders as my wife Terez does ride one wheels.

But while she follows my unicycle obsession with interest, she didn’t quite hear the terms used right it transpired, as she mentioned in conversation:

“So when you take your cardboard rimmed unicycle to unicorn…”

Needless to say the conjured up a funny image

:package: :unicorn:

:joy:

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And it does, even if you don’t master unicycling as well as you’d like.

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Well, you have all convinced me to get back on the unicycle. Showing signs of improvement already, but it is still too soon to know if it goes anywhere.

At least I am excited about trying again. :sunglasses:

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That makes me happy, Ravenkeep!

I was hoping you would make that decision.

Now, I can pass along one piece of advice/wisdom that was given to me by my 16-year old son on a day when I kept bailing after 20 feet. I felt like I just wasn’t ever going to “get it”.

He let me know that I wasn’t allowing myself to get it. He said, “You are the one keeping yourself from learning. You’re just scared.” (This cut deeper than I think he realized.). “You can do it! But, you need to want to!”

Then, he walked away, picked up his unicycle, mounted and rode down the street to the stop sign, turned right, and didn’t stop.

He left me to figure it out on my own, after he had given me every pointer he had.

The next day, I rode 100 yards for the first time.

That is why my profile name is Uni2ONE2. (Say it out loud, with the emphasis on the ONE).

I’m looking forward to reading your post in the “Today I Brag” thread.

By the way, I learned to ride a unicycle in 2018 in my late 40’s, after a spinal cord injury and two spine surgeries that required me to go to physical therapy to learn to walk correctly again, and gain back my proprioception (your brain knows where your body parts are, and can adjust accordingly).

I realize I don’t know your history, so I am really hoping I didn’t step over the line too far and do the “If I can learn, then everyone can.” thing.

I, and many others on this site I am sure, am hoping to hear successful updates from you in the future!

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Thanks for the encouragement. :slightly_smiling_face: Oh, if I can finally ride my unicycle with confidence, you will see a new topic with the video footage of it. Several people in my area want video proof that I can ride. LOL :smile:

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You can do it. I believe you will do it. :grin:

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For me, one of the most rewarding things about unicycling is feeling the micro improvements… I never really set any milestones or goals, but gee, I feel happy when I feel I balanced that little bit longer than last time… or reacted a bit differently and for that time, it seemed to work for me.

I think that is something bicycling doesn’t have. There is a plateau and acquiring new skills on a bike isn’t really a thing… or I might be wrong.

If your expectations are higher than what you are achieving then disappointment occurs. Just do it for the enjoyment of doing it.
My 2 cents.

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So much this! I mainly ride road and did 1 day of muni total this year and saw my average speed go up but didn’t think my technical skill did. This winter though I’ve been able ride all my unis on pretty uneven snow and bikepaths pretty well. Last winter it was unrideable

It’s the comparison to last year or previous years that gets me excited. This spring I’m excited to see how Unipacking is going to go :slight_smile:

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That’s the beauty of continuing to ride throughout any conditions (this one being winter- having slick conditions, uneven terrain, hidden obstacles, etc…), it allows your body to learn how to handle any conditions while riding.
The riding may not be the best, it may seem like you’ve regressed, but once the dirt comes back you realize that riding on dirt is super easy compared to the last 5 months of dicey riding.

It’s almost like your riding level will “one up” over a winter of dedicated riding.

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Exactly, like I’ve never done MTB in my life but winter cycling gives you really good handling skills on crappy terrain.

I completely agree. And, if you have the luxury of a basement or somewhere indoors that you can work on (less-fun-than-normal-outdoors) footwork like idling, hopping, SiF, etc., it can really transform your skills for when the nice weather arrives.

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And remember that learning skills on a unicycle is often like getting a tan - think about it as exposing your body to the new environment and situations. You’ll get there if you put in the time. You just need little bits of exposure very regularly. It’s not always as active as we may think.

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This is all good to know. So failure doesn’t mean failure. This is just part of the journey to mental and physical conditioning needed to ride. I can work with that.

How on earth were you able to ride in the snow? :astonished: Did you have to buy a special tire to do that. I would have thought your unicycle would slip slide all over the place. :exploding_head:

A bunch of us regularly ride in the snow. Here in Norway, if you avoided the ice and snow you would miss out on large part of the year, e.g.

So the dirty secret with winter riding in Canada is that the roads and such are plowed and salted so I’d say 80% of the winter I’m down for the asphalt and need to dress for the cold.

There’s times you’ll get ice, a bit of snow that people have walked on, and it’s loose slippery terrain. You’d encounter the same terrain doing muni in certain places so I ride with a 29 x 3.0 & 2.6 tire in winter, and have a 24 x 2.8". I did slip a bunch last winter but my uni skills have gotten much better and one the days where the roads and sidewalks are bad I just have kept practicing and can ride it with 100mm & 90mm cranks quite well.

With ice the secret is to just not lean over, pivot into turns, and start and stop slow. Moving slow and carefully on ice usually gets good results but needs lots of practice as with riding on any terrain.

Guy, beard, 50s, road bike, black rain coat:

“I’m sorry mate, that’s just WRONG!”

Said while over taking, he continued throwing over his shoulder:

“You need two of ‘em!”

Rider repost:

“Two’s cheating :grin:

I guess this was all a kind of humorous back-handed compliment(?!?)…

But the way he said it all - the “wrong” was like I was doing something deeply disgusting :face_vomiting:

I’m just glad it’s an improvement on: Where’s Your Other Wheel :wheel:

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Alternative: you don’t need the training wheel.

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