You can do it. I believe you will do it. ![]()
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.
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 ![]()
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.
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.
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.
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?
Did you have to buy a special tire to do that. I would have thought your unicycle would slip slide all over the place. ![]()
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
”
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 ![]()
I’m just glad it’s an improvement on: Where’s Your Other Wheel ![]()
Alternative: you don’t need the training wheel.
I’d say: I have 11 of them.
Out on a river footpath ride today i had two guys come in the opposite direction on what i assume were gravel bikes as one shouted “whoa look a gravel unicycle , go gravel unicycle go!”
Sadly i didnt get a chance to say "muni cycle "
It did make me laugh as the man shouting was so excited.
Do you use those studded tires to ride on the ice? They are supposed to be able to maintain a grip on the road.
They are great on ice and heavy on everything else. I find a regular MTB tire will grip the small patches of ice we get here provided you ride carefully and watch your balance and acceleration.
We don’t really get a lot of ice on road but the forest trails get incredibly icy in the winter so a fat muni with a studded tire would be amazing in those conditions. It’s more uneven snow and surprise pot holes I have to deal with so just having knobby tires and being careful tends to be enough.
On the days we get freezing rain I usually don’t ride for a day or 2 while everything gets salted. But a studded tire would be more than enough on a day like that as they have amazing traction and give a stupid level of confidence.
Oh, that’s good to know. So I should just get a MUNI. That comes with an MTB tire, right; or, is that a separate purchase? Where can I get those studded tires?
While passing a group of teenagers at the park. Heard as they were talking amongst themselves as I went by.
Teen1: Those things are hard as hell to ride.
Teen2: Yeah. They mash your balls.
Gave me a laugh as I rode past them.
Okay so gross over simplification but Unicycles are fairly simple things. I’d say the big difference between a muni and a regular unicycle is tire and cranks size, and type of axle. The more knobby a tire is the better it is off road, and you have road tires that are more slick and roll better.
Just so we don’t derail this thread, I’d say start as new one saying:
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What’s your budget?
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Where do you want to ride? And what kind of distance/length of time are you riding?
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What terrain is there where you ride? (Small gravel, paved roads, really rooty and rocky trails, smooth lacked down trails, lots of mud and loose stuff, etc)
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What’s your skill level?
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After your first places you want to ride, is there anywhere else you want to go? Like do you drive to the trails or do you want to take the bus and ride there too?