Soon-to-be new learner wants advice on expectations

Riding Advice
21

I think age and location made a big difference as well. I started riding
about 2 years ago (I think that made me 19), on campus, in a parking lot.
Being that I am at RIT, a techincal school, there are a good number of
nerds around, and almost no jocks. Plus, a reasonable number of people
passing by were people I’d known from class already.

I have found college students have incredibly open minds, as compared to
any other social groups I’ve dealt with. I’ve had a good number of people
express genuine interest when they see me practicing (I think
skateboarders and bikers are the most frequent to approach me). Since I’m
surrounded by engineers, people will often be interested in how balancing
works, and sometimes have interesting ideas for tricks which may or may
not be possible.

But hey, I think most people in this group have already learned it doesn’t
matter how well you ride, or what people say or think. Just ride, and
enjoy doing it. My GPA might be a little higher if I’d never tried a
unicycle (or learned to juggle), but my confidence level, and the amount
of joy I get out of life would be a lot lower.

jefflutkus

> Jeff,
>
> But re fear of failure it worked differently for me, e.g. I felt
> held-back to venture away from a wall-rack or railing out of fear to
> fall. The people I witnessed learning that were the boldest were also
> the quickest (but this may be a chicken-and-egg issue). Most of my
> practicing was in a unicycling club where everyone was better than me
> but no one had the desire to make fun of me (except in friendly ways). I
> felt a bit less secure clinging to the railing of a bridge in the park
> where passers-by observed my clumsy attempts.
>
> Klaas Bil

Sent via the Unicyclist Community - http://Unicyclist.com

22

“Jack Halpern” <jack@kanji.org> wrote in message
news:mailman.1007611507.31445.rsu@unicycling.org…

<SNIP>
> you can ride it feels real easy. (If you need more information on the
method we use,
> it is described in my booklet “Anyone Can Ride A Unicycle”).
>
> Stay on top, Jack Halpern Executive Director for International
> Development International Unicycling Federation, Inc. Website:
> http://www.kanji.org

Where can one get your booklet?

-mg

23

>“Jack Halpern” <jack@kanji.org> wrote in message
>news:mailman.1007611507.31445.rsu@unicycling.org…
>
><SNIP>
>> you can ride it feels real easy. (If you need more information on the
>method we use,
>> it is described in my booklet “Anyone Can Ride A Unicycle”).
>>
>> Stay on top, Jack Halpern Executive Director for International
>> Development International Unicycling Federation, Inc. Website:
>> http://www.kanji.org
>
>Where can one get your booklet?

See below.

         ANYONE CAN RIDE A UNICYCLE

          by Jack Halpern

Recently I have been getting a number of inquiries about my book, ANYONE
CA RIDE A UNICYCLE. Here is some infrmation for those interested in
acquiring it.

Miyata and I are considering publishing a new edition if I ever have time
to deal with it, but this might take quite a while. In the meantime, to
get a photocopy, please do the following.

  1. Send me US$15 or equivalent in cash (cashing a check costs more than
    that in Japan!).
  2. Let me know your snailmail address.

I will airmail you a copy as soon as I know your address and you inform me
that the payment hs been sent.

Some of the pictures in that book have been place on the unicycling
home page.

Here is a quote from the unciyling FAQ describing the book.

    o Anyone Can Ride a Unicycle by Jack Halpern

      For the material it covers this is the best book on unicycling.
      In particular, book tells how to learn to ride, as well as a
      variety of beginning and intermediate skills. It also covers
      practical issues like unicycling attire, adjusting the unicycle,
      and theory.

      The book is based on what are considered the most effective ways
      of learning. John Foss helped a lot with reviewing the
      manuscript and by providing excellent photographs. Much credit
      is also due to Bill Jenack,the founder of modern unicycling, who
      has developed most of the techniques introduced in the book.

      The book comes with Miyata unicycles, and you can also get it
      from Jack Halpern while supplies last. Miyata is out of stock at
      the moment, and has no definite plans at this time to reprint
      it. In the meantime, he will be glad to send you photocopies for
      $15, including airmail.

      The amount you send need not be $15 exactly if you send it in
      another currency. You should send this in cash form, not a
      check, since it is very difficult to cash a check in dollars in
      Japan. Supplies are short, so you may want to send e-mail to
      Jack before sending cash to verify availability. His address is:

    Jack Halpern, CEO & President The CJK Dictionary Institute, Inc.
    (CJKI) Komine Building (3rd & 4th Floor) 34-14, 2-chome, Tohoku,
    Niiza-shi Saitama 352-0001 JAPAN Office Phone .: +81-48-473-3508
    FAX : +81-48-486-5032 Home Phone .: +81-42-587-3318 FAX :
    +81-42-587-2802 E-mail : jack@cjk.org WWW : <a href="http://www.cjk.org/">http://www.cjk.org</a>

>
>-mg
>
>
>__________________________________________________________________-
>_________
>rec.sport.unicycling mailing list -
>www.unicycling.org/mailman/listinfo/rsu
>

Stay on top, Jack Halpern Executive Director for International Development
International Unicycling Federation, Inc. Website: http://www.kanji.org

24

“John Foss” <john_foss@asinet.com> wrote in message
news:mailman.1007595067.29398.rsu@unicycling.org…
> > Eric The Half A Bike. (name from “How to ride your Unicycle” by
> > Charlie Dancey)
>
> Charlie got the name from “Eric the Half a Bee,” a Monty Python song and
> sketch by Eric Idle.
Indeedy:-

Intro: Take it away Eric the Orchestra Leader Orchestra Leader: A-one,
two, a-one two three four (Piano - introductory flourish) Lead Singer:
(speaks to piano accompainment) Half a bee, philosophically, must eo ipso
facto half not be But half a bee has got to be, vis a vis its entity
- D’you see?

But can a bee be said to be Or not to be an entire bee, When half the
bee is not a bee Due to some ancient injury
- Singing! ...

All Sing: La, di di, one two three Eric the Half a Bee A B C D E F G Eric
the Half a Bee

Lead Singer: Is This wretched demi-bee, Half asleep upon my knee, Some
freak from a menagerie?

All Shout: No! It’s Eric the Half a Bee. All Sing: Fiddle di dum, Fiddle
di dee, Eric the Half a Bee Ho ho ho, tee hee hee, Eric the Half a Bee

Lead Singer: I love this hive epmploy-ee-ee Bisected accidentially, One
Summer afternoon by me, I love him carnally.

All Sing: He loves him carnally… Lead Singer: Semi-carnally.
(Speaks) The End.

Voice: Cyril Connolly? Lead Singer: No, semi-carnally. Voice: Oh. All
sing: (quietly) Cyril Connolly

(Ends with elaborate whistle)

Andrew xADF

25

lewis@lwb.org (Lewis W Beard) wrote in message
news:<c581d835.0112051249.53fe135b@posting.google.com>…
> All,
>
> Hi. I am new to unicycles …

Baby Steps. Thats what it was. Baby Steps good. Baby Learn. :slight_smile:

Well, I took a couple of baby steps last night. Since I had my old High
School uni that was in great condition, and since it held air in the
tire with no problem even after all this time (though I should replace
it on principle), Chris came over with his armor and we messed around a
little bit.

Basically, I just practiced balancing on the unicycle some as much as I
could, with one foot on a pedal in the down position. I did this
alternating feet, and I would stay on the uni for half a second, or a
second and a half or 2 second or 1 second … it varied. I also practiced
the start of the freemount, but I let myself go over the top, with the
goal of keeping the unicycle straight during the maneuver (I was
practicing to avoid spinning the uni due to pressure on the pedal). Both
of those worked well, and I could semi-feel the balance point and stay on
it just a tiny bit.

Fortunately I live across the street from an elementary school, and they
have a ton of iron railings at waist height for no apparent reason (at
least I didnt notice a ramp there, but I’m not observant). Chris and I
went across the street and we both practiced. He was working on tight
turns and side-hops, and I was just working on getting a sense of balance.
I was able to get up on the uni, hold one arm out, and grab the iron rail
with the other, and pedal down the 30 foot bar while using one hand on it
for guidance. This really let me feel my sense of balance, and I would
grab and spin around on the other end and pedal back.

Several times I intentionally came away from the bar and managed 1 or 2
revolutions (usually 1, but once I got in 2 :)) balanced on the uni with
my hands in the air totally free and clear of the bar.

I was even able to give Chris one pointer on his hop too … he kept
spinning his torso and twisting his uni when trying to hop sideways. I
suggested that he let himself actually fall/tilt (“timber!”) about an
inch, and then hop/spring up as he was doing that and level out and pull
the uni under his torso’s new location, and it seemed to help. So, I felt
slightly mentally useful as well.

So, after this brief little night-time window of practice, I feel really
confident. I know that I will manage riding, with patience and effort!

Thanks for all the encouragement and suggestions, and thanks for indulging
me in this post about my first Baby Steps. I’ll avoid logging every little
thing here, except in the case that I have a question Chris can’t answer
(which is unlikely, since he is a good teacher, so far).

Anyway, catch ya later.

Lewis

26

In-the-flesh, I have only briefly seen 3 other unicyclists, in my life- my brother, when I was about 7, 13 years later a guy on a BMX wheel conversion ziped passed me at the university, never to be seen again, and a 10’ girrafe working the same packed croud at a festival (he was the one obviously on the uni- we were so tightly packed that the only people who could see me riding were right next to me).

Anyway, this is the first time I have riden with some one else focused on unicycling. The potential for synergy is amazing- I’v been deprived of the insitefull observations of even an observant beginer. The side hoping was a great example: I would not let myself leave balance when attempting a side hop. Having some one there to say “Hey, why don’t you start to lean your Bike over before the hop?” accelerated my progress.

Christopher

27

> Hi, I’m another would-be learner, and I’m such a newbie here I had to
> register to post this. I have read a number of responses about what it
> takes to get to the point of riding a few hundred meters (in some
> cases less).
>
> My question is what it takes to be better than that and how realistic
> some things are. More specifically, if I want to be able to ride on
> the neighborhood sidewalks for a quarter mile or so reliably. How
> difficult will that be. Also, how stable is a unicyclist? For
> instance, will I ever be able to walk/jog a dog while I ride? Does it
> matter if the dog is 70 lbs or 20 lbs?

Once you get to the point of riding a couple of hundred metres, you’ll
very soon find that you can just keep going and going. You’ll still fall
off every so often when you hit something unexpected, but there’s always
lamp-posts if you can’t freemount. When I was learning, I went from being
able to ride from one traffic meter to the next one, about 150 metres, to
doing 6 or 7 mile rides on muddy rutted towpaths within a month or so.

Walking the dog, you can either use an extending lead, which shouldn’t be
hard as long as you can stay on and don’t get tangled up, or a normal
lead, which might even help as you can lean on the dog a bit.

> When I think of a unicycle I think of something that goes in any
> direction on a dime – forwards, backwards, angling off and back
> again. Am I looking at years of practice?

Once you’ve got the hang of riding forwards, riding backwards is mostly a
matter of overcoming fear. If you learn to idle, you’ll have the basics of
all the going in random directions sorted. Idling isn’t too hard, maybe a
bit harder than mounting, but not that tricky, definately not at the years
of practice level.

Joe

28

On Wed, 05 Dec 2001 21:32:44 -0600, “Carol McLean”
<cettermclean@hotmail.com> wrote:

(an enjoyable story, but what I liked most was:)
>“If you can’t do something well, enjoy doing it poorly.”

That is what I often do, feeling slightly guilty about it. I’m glad that
it’s now sanctioned!

Klaas Bil

“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked
automagically from a database:” “BSS, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, STTC”

29

>“If you can’t do something well, enjoy doing it poorly.”

A variant my dad has always used–and lived by is, “If a job’s not worth
doing, it’s certainly not worth doing well.”

30

On Thu, 6 Dec 2001 03:15:11 +0000 (UTC), Elaine
<forum.member@unicyclist.com> wrote:

…
> For instance, will I ever be able to walk/jog a dog while I ride? Does
> it matter if the dog is 70 lbs or 20 lbs?

I’m wary dogs and uni/bike/tandems because of the danger that said dog
will get distracted and find its nose caught in the wheel (ouch).

Cheers,

Jim.

–
http://www.javery.demon.co.uk/
I.C.Q. 27906259

31

On Thu, 6 Dec 2001 16:15:08 +0000 (UTC), rhysling
<forum.member@unicyclist.com> wrote:

>Having some one there to say "Hey, why don’t you start to lean your Bike
>over before the hop?" accelerated my progress.
Are you still pulling Lewis’s leg, or trying to pull ours?

Klaas Bil

“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked
automagically from a database:” “BSS, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, STTC”

32

I was watching an IJA tape, and I believe it was Bob Nickerson who said
something like this: You see, jugglers aren’t effeciency experts. We see
something and say, “There’s got to be a harder way to do that.”

>>“If you can’t do something well, enjoy doing it poorly.”
>
> A variant my dad has always used–and lived by is, "If a job’s not worth
> doing, it’s certainly not worth doing well."
>
_________________________________________________________________________-
__
> rec.sport.unicycling mailing list -
> www.unicycling.org/mailman/listinfo/rsu

Sent via the Unicyclist Community - http://Unicyclist.com

33

I’ve been riding twice a day with two 70 lb dogs on leash for the last
year. As long as you feel confident in your uni ability to stay clear of
the dog(s), and the dog isn’t too skittish, you’ll be fine. As others
mentioned, make sure you can ride very comfortably before trying this. I
had ridden 8 years when I started running my dogs with the uni.

Dog running is a lot easier and safer for the dogs with a 20"
wheel, than a
24." I tried Muni with the dogs on a leash. That kind of freaked them out,
plus it was a drag for me.

On a side note, riding with the dogs has improved my skill tremendously.
Try idling while one dog is peeing and the other lunges for a squirrel. :slight_smile:

Joe

In a message dated 12/6/01 4:28:36 PM Eastern Standard Time,
jima@javery.demon.co.uk writes:

> > For
> > instance, will I ever be able to walk/jog a dog while I ride? Does
> > it matter if the dog is 70 lbs or 20 lbs?
>
> I’m wary dogs and uni/bike/tandems because of the danger that said dog
> will get distracted and find its nose caught in the wheel (ouch).
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jim.

34

Sure better hope Chris Groves doesn’t read this- or we’re bound to end up with a “I was just wondering how many of you have iddled while-some-sort-of-animal-or-person-on-a-leash eliminated it’s waste” thread.

:astonished:

Christopher

35

And there is another optionI think it was Kris Holm who mentioned some
time ago that he enjoyed gliding while being pulled by a dog (or two?).

Klaas

On Fri, 7 Dec 2001 12:21:15 EST, Nycjoe@aol.com wrote:

>I’ve been riding twice a day with two 70 lb dogs on leash for the last
>year. As long as you feel confident in your uni ability to stay clear of
>the dog(s), and the dog isn’t too skittish, you’ll be fine. As others
>mentioned, make sure you can ride very comfortably before trying this. I
>had ridden 8 years when I started running my dogs with the uni.
>
>Dog running is a lot easier and safer for the dogs with a 20"
>wheel, than a
>24." I tried Muni with the dogs on a leash. That kind of freaked them
> out, plus it was a drag for me.
>
>On a side note, riding with the dogs has improved my skill
>tremendously. Try idling while one dog is peeing and the other lunges
>for a squirrel.
>
>Joe
>
>In a message dated 12/6/01 4:28:36 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>jima@javery.demon.co.uk writes:
>
>> > For
>> > instance, will I ever be able to walk/jog a dog while I ride? Does
>> > it matter if the dog is 70 lbs or 20 lbs?
>>
>> I’m wary dogs and uni/bike/tandems because of the danger that said dog
>> will get distracted and find its nose caught in the wheel (ouch).
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Jim.

–
“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked
automagically from a database:” “36800, kill, INSCOM”

36

Went for a ground breaking ride this afternoon and have to share my
excitement. Armed with technique from posts of late I went up a steep (for
me) dirt track grunting and pulling up on the seat in the best possible
form for one all but stalled. Continued on for 7 km to a coffee shop
where I stopped to contemplate the world etc… It dawned on me that
unicycling orients all of us to the centre of the planet being, as we
are, so married to gravity. Of course I’ve had a glass or two too
many now,… wine, hmmm… Anyway, in retrospect, I feel like I was
watching the planet revolve under my wheel all the while in column
with a radii, radius? (one radius damn it!) drawn from the centre of
the earth. And all the other unicyclists riding at the same time were
scribing centrifugal (?) paths plotted about the same origin. After
coffee I managed to climb up a steep (for me) paved hill earning a
high five from a mountain biker (and several motorists) and rode back
to the dirt track previously ascended pulling off a clean descent
whereby the ride was concluded. So endeth the descertation. Good
night all.

Greg

37

wow,its poetry night_____________thanx greg

38

> Half a bee, philosophically, must eo ipso facto half not be But half
> a bee has got to be, vis a vis its entity
> - D’you see?

Holy moly! I thought I was bad, remembering there was a song by that name.
Hopefully Andrew has this in a book or on a CD or something, not trapped
in his head in such detail!

Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com

“If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done.” - Kevin
“Gilby” Gilbertson

39

> > Half a bee, philosophically, must eo ipso facto half not be But
> > half a bee has got to be, vis a vis its entity
> > - D’you see?

But can a bee be said to be, or not to be an entire bee. If half the bee
is not a bee, due to some ancient injury…?

…a la de de, a 1 2 3, eric the half a bee!

LOL… I know all the words as well…This is truly sad!

David

John Foss <john_foss@asinet.com> wrote in message
news:mailman.1008008572.8921.rsu@unicycling.org…
>
> > Half a bee, philosophically, must eo ipso facto half not be But
> > half a bee has got to be, vis a vis its entity
> > - D’you see?
>
> Holy moly! I thought I was bad, remembering there was a song by that
> name. Hopefully Andrew has this in a book or on a CD or something,
> not trapped
in
> his head in such detail!
>
> Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com
> www.unicycling.com
>
>
> “If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done.” - Kevin
“Gilby”
> Gilbertson

40

“John Foss” <john_foss@asinet.com> wrote in message
news:mailman.1008008572.8921.rsu@unicycling.org…
>
> > Half a bee, philosophically, must eo ipso facto half not be But
> > half a bee has got to be, vis a vis its entity
> > - D’you see?
>
> Holy moly! I thought I was bad, remembering there was a song by that
> name. Hopefully Andrew has this in a book or on a CD or something,
> not trapped
in
> his head in such detail!

:slight_smile:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Eric+the+half+a+bee yielded
http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/python/Songs/EricTheHalfABee.html

( http://feldhaus.co.uk/14.%20Eric%20The%20Half%20A%20Bee.mp3 for the
unenlightened. )