O.K. a change in topic. Some of you have already heard from me about my
painfully slow progress to tame this monster. But remember, I am a
middle-aged person, totally un-athletic, and my reflexes are a bit slow.
Anyway, I have finally managed to let go of the wall and can fall somewhat
gracefully. Those backward-land-on-your-butt-twist-your-ankle falls are
becoming less common. BUT…I can only pedal two revolutions before
turning sharply to the left and then falling. I warm up every day on a
stationary bike and sometimes get my children to go along beside me holding
my hand. But when I try to take off alone I still plop down after only a
few feet. Occasionally I go six or so revolutions before falling. I usually
fall off the front of the uni. I have tried leaning further forward, have
tried pedaling faster, have tried turning my torso to the right at the
start. But still I almost always turn swiftly to the left. Any suggestions?
I have put in 15 or so hours since I started and my learning curve has been
slow with an occasional jump like when I managed to let go of the wall and
when I managed to go a good bit down the road while holding hands with
another unicycler. But I am on a slump now. Help!
Well what a great response I got to my questions about learning. All of you
experienced riders out there are great to share your suggestions. Thanks to a
whole group named John, plus Peter, Greg, Roger, Rick and Seth. I’ll keep you
posted. Tina
RE: Still learning
> becoming less common. BUT…I can only pedal two revolutions before turning
> sharply to the left and then falling. I warm up every day on
> the front of the uni. I have tried leaning further forward, have tried
> pedaling faster, have tried turning my torso to the right at the start. But
> still I almost always turn swiftly to the left. Any suggestions? I have put in
> 15 or so hours since I started and my learning curve has
15 hours is not bad as a learning rate, especially for a person who describes
herself as you do. Slumps come and go. For the time being, enjoy the progress so
far, and as always, try to relax as you ride. If you are always spotted on the
same side, switch sides now. If you always fall to the same side, see what it
takes for you to cause yourself to fall to the other side. The ride you’re
looking for is somewhere in between.
But the main thought should be that this will pass, just keep on playing.
Stay on top (as much as possible), John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone (reply to
jfoss@unicycling.com) http://www.unicycling.com
“I’m okay, I crash like that a lot.”
- Dan Heaton
Re: Still learning
Hi
You know what’s great about this list?!
No flame wars. Just plenty of good advice, support and encouragement.
Excellent!
Have a great uni / muni weekend wherever you may ride.
Cheers
Matt Goodyear London - England
>From: “Greg House” <ghouse@southwind.REMOVEME.net> Reply-To: “Greg House”
><ghouse@southwind.REMOVEME.net> To: unicycling@winternet.com Subject: Re: Still
>learning Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 00:06:27 -0600
>
>Mom4491971@aol.com wrote in message <0.77fb550c.255c84a2@aol.com>…
> >O.K. a change in topic. Some of you have already heard from me about my
> > painfully slow progress to tame this monster.
>
>
>Yeah, just hang in there and keep at it.
Snip
>
>So don’t get discouraged, you could be a day, or an hour away from suddenly
>having something click for you! Keep trying, if I can ride the thing I expect
>just about anyone can.
>
>Greg
>
>
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Re: Still learning
Tina wrote:
> O.K. a change in topic. Some of you have already heard from me about my
> painfully slow progress to tame this monster. But remember, …Snip
You are at a very common place with learners, I would call it the holding hands
stage. I was amused reading you can ride holding on to another unicyclist, as
this is what I would have suggested next. My suggestions are summarised from
what I know of others at your stage: Ride smoother, try and think your feet in
circles… Sit harder on the seat so taking weight off your feet (this helps
with the smooth bit as well) Ride faster Relax!
Have fun
Roger
Re: Still learning
now, this might not be the best approach for you, and i must admit that i have
only taught 2 people to ride (and they were both under 20 years), but…
i don’t recommend learning to ride first, but instead… learning to
mount…freestanding. this is how i taught myself (at the age of 11) to ride. the
process of aquiring the flow, control and balance necessary to mount the wheel,
well… the wheel and i became well aquainted and it was only a little more
effort before i was wheeling around the block.
of course, tackling the mount first can be frustrating…it’s like being a child
again, you want to walk but you can’t even stand up without falling over.
ok, it’s not very instructive, but hey…it’s my first bit of input since i
started lurking on this list 3.5 years ago (thought it was time i tried being a
voice once in a while). still, you might give it some thought. i’m sure others
with more teaching experience can be more helpful.
-peter
At 3:44 PM -0500 11/11/99, Mom4491971@aol.com wrote:
>O.K. a change in topic. Some of you have already heard from me about my
> painfully slow progress to tame this monster. But remember, I am a
> middle-aged person, totally un-athletic, and my reflexes are a bit slow.
> Anyway, I have finally managed to let go of the wall and can fall somewhat
> gracefully. Those backward-land-on-your-butt-twist-your-ankle falls are
> becoming less common. BUT…I can only pedal two revolutions before
> turning sharply to the left and then falling. I warm up every day on a
> stationary bike and sometimes get my children to go along beside me
> holding my hand. But when I try to take off alone I still plop down after
> only a few feet. Occasionally I go six or so revolutions before falling. I
> usually fall off the front of the uni. I have tried leaning further
> forward, have tried pedaling faster, have tried turning my torso to the
> right at the start. But still I almost always turn swiftly to the left.
> Any suggestions? I have put in 15 or so hours since I started and my
> learning curve has been slow with an occasional jump like when I managed
> to let go of the wall and when I managed to go a good bit down the road
> while holding hands with another unicycler. But I am on a slump now. Help!
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
ooooooooooooooooooooo
one world, one wheel
ooooooooooooooooooooo
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Re: Still learning
Mom4491971@aol.com wrote in message <0.77fb550c.255c84a2@aol.com>…
>O.K. a change in topic. Some of you have already heard from me about my
> painfully slow progress to tame this monster.
> Any suggestions? I have put in 15 or so hours since I started and my learning
> curve has been slow with
an
>occasional jump like when I managed to let go of the wall and when I
managed
>to go a good bit down the road while holding hands with another unicycler.
Yeah, just hang in there and keep at it. I had a similar experience when I was
learning (earlier this year, also middle-aged, not too athletic, and out of
shape). I went for almost a week, practicing at least an hour a day, at almost
exactly the level you’re describing. Then suddenly one day, as I tottered away
from the car…I kept going. It was very sudden. I went from not being able to
go more then 10 feet to going a block or two between my morning & afternoon
attempts that day. I can’t explain how it happend, it just happened.
I’ve had similar experiences when learning other unicycle skills like
freemounting. I’ll practice for days, seemingly without success, then suddenly
one day I’ll just do it, and keep doing it.
I’ve heard from other riders that this is pretty common.
So don’t get discouraged, you could be a day, or an hour away from suddenly
having something click for you! Keep trying, if I can ride the thing I expect
just about anyone can.
Greg
Re: Still learning
In article <0.77fb550c.255c84a2@aol.com>, Mom4491971@aol.com wrote:
>…I can only pedal two revolutions before turning sharply to the left and
>then falling. … Any suggestions?
The main suggestion is keep trying and don’t give up. It will happen.
Remember when your kids learned to walk? You’re going through a very similar
process learning to unicycle. You are at a stage comparable to walking a step
or two then wobbling and sitting down. The part of your brain that controls
your muscles when you walk also controls your muscles when you unicycle.
Believe it or not, if you stick with it, you’ll be able to unicycle as easily
as you can walk.
Now that the pep talk is out of the way… When I learned last year (at age
37), I was better able to go straight when I tried to keep my knees closer
together. Your thighs help point the unicycle. Once you get a little better,
you won’t have to do this, but starting out it may be easier if you keep your
knees together.
Another thing that will help is to practice in a parking lot so that you can
concentrate on keeping going without worrying about running into something.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.
Re: Still learning
Mom4491971@aol.com writes:
> I can only pedal two revolutions before turning sharply to the left and then
> falling.
I did the same thing when I was learning. When I showed an experienced rider, he
gave me the (now predictable) advice: put more weight on the seat, and less on
the pedals. Like magic, the problem went away.
Re: Still learning
jbreed@ingr.com wrote
>Another thing that will help is to practice in a parking lot so that you can
>concentrate on keeping going without worrying about running into something.
This is excellent advice. When I was first learning, I was practicing in our
(single car) driveway and on the back patio. It was pretty tight, and I found
I felt a lot easier when I went out in the street rather then by the house
'cause I didn’t have to worry so much about running into anything. I didn’t
realize at the time how much that was inhibiting me, but it made a big
difference in my progress.
Greg