I usually throw a set of plastic BMX pedals with aggressive plastic pins on a uni the first few rides until I get used to it. Right now, I have plastic pedals on the 36-er because I switched to 125’s and am UPD-ing more than I was with 150’s. I will soon swtich to my Magnesium Wellgo MG-1 pedals.
They’re SUPER light and I can still rearange my feet if they’re on wrong. I wear shin/knee guards when I am on my MUni but not on the 36-er and have not bashed my shins at all… in fact, I find that I whack my shins on my pedals ONLY when I have bad pedals on or if one of my plastic pairs are worn down too much.
I started the session going straight, then turned left (the only direction available
from the take off I was using), then eventually I started taking off the opposite way
and trying to turn right (a clockwise lap) and found that was difficult. Eventually
I got a lap to the right, but I think watching so much NASCAR has made it
difficult for me (I find left turns easier in every sport though - speedskating
probably is what translates into my unicycling the most, I would guess).
I should have got video of when I rode down the road coming back from filling our
water bottles - it was a slight downhill and a longer distance, so I probably rode
at a better speed. Then again, going slow might be harder than going fast, so
I may find that my sluggishness is an advantage when I start trying to do tricks
like juggling and idling later on in my progression (if I stick with it and continue
to progress).
That is so cool. You two have progressed so much. Its looking really good. I hope you do stick with it. There are a lot of different things to do with it, especially around here. And if you get really into it, it actually can be a rain or shine kind of thing. If you keep it up we could get together and have a little unicycle get together, show you some cool things to try.
Super, Looks like you have it made. Congratulations.
Now, since your mother wasn’t a unicyclist, get some bike shorts and wear a helmet. See that those shoe laces never get wrapped into the cranks. The both of you. Tough love.
Honestly, I don’t wear all the safety stuff one should, just the helmet. I ride conservatively as a result and hope for the best. I imagine it is better to be dressed for success, less prone to injury, so one can push the envelope a bit more and develop technical skills. Of coarse there are many who don’t sweat injury, and there is no guarantee that equipment will protect 100%.
Great Job!!! I had the same problem in that turning right was alot harder for a while. It will become more natural, just practice it. You will probably have the same problem I did (do) in that your son will progress ALOT faster than you now. It is awsome to watch, but bugs the living daylights out of me that he can do things I can’t! LOL Keep it up u 2
I wanna go ride again today, but my knees are pretty sore today.
I might take a day off, or see if I can find a long gradual downhill slope
so I can just sorta pedal lightly /coast downhill.
Aging Sucks.
Drew is progressing quickly. I knew he would learn faster than me.
He has basically kept up with me - he rides 3 days a week for 1/2 hour
and I ride 6 days a week for about 45 minute on average.
Yesterday I put in 1.5 hours. He mixed in some time on his Razor scooter
and probably got 40 minutes on the Unicycle.
The really cool thing is my Daughter is thinking of learning.
So is my wife - but she is going to have shoulder surgery first.
I told her to ask the surgeon if she will be able to ride a Unicycle after the surgery.
Have you learned to relax and put your weight on the seat? If you are still nervous and putting your weight on your pedals it will burn your energy quickly.
Its normal to get tired quickly by a new activity. Endurance will steadily increase. Things are looking up. You’ve earned your first unicycle merit badge!
I do sit down when I remind myself to sit on the seat more.
It makes me ride smoother, but isn’t second nature to me yet.
Sometimes I do have to weight the pedals a bit to recover my balance,
and of course when I go up the road in front of our house (slight uphill)
I have to stand on the pedals more.
But I am trying to sit on the seat more to conserve energy and save
my knees. I need to find a larger space at work for my lunchtime sessions…
this dry weather won’t last long.
When I was learning to ride, my knees got so sore I couldn’t walk up and down stairs without them screaming in pain and crackling all the time (and I was 24 when I learned to ride, so I don’t think it was age :)). I swore up and down that I was putting my weight on the seat and eventually went on to discover that no, I really wasn’t.
I’m not saying you’re doing anything wrong (sore knees seem to be part of the learning process for a lot of us), but as you get better and start putting all of your weight on the seat, I’m fairly certain that you’ll see the knee soreness go away. When I was first learning I was only able to ride every 2 or 3 days because I had to let my knees recover. It gets better.
I’m forcing myself to rest as much as I can. Having the Olympics on
TV is helping a lot. Unfortunately the TV is upstairs and the computer
is downstairs, and I’m finishing up some fiberglass work on a composite
race car panel for a neighbor (It’s kevlar composite & I’m repairing with
fiberglass & epoxy) so I have to go up & down to check on it and stuff.
I know I stand on the pedals a lot - when I think of it I force myself to
sit on the seat, but end up gradually standing as I struggle for balance
without realizing the transition back to the pedals is happening.
My knee was one of my biggest problems when I trained for a Marathon.
Hopefully rest and reconditioning will strengthen it enough so that along
with better technique it will become a non issue.
It’s great to hear from someone who had exactly the same experience
I am working through right now and ended up conquering it.
My painful knees scared me early on. I was afraid that I would have to give up the sport. I too thought I was seated when I rode, but I still have a tendency to ride with my legs more than I should. I still tense up at times. I love to stand up when climbing. My knees got better with time. They used to hurt and feel like there were water balloons behind the kneecaps. I would force myself to rest for a couple of days. It was hard since I just wanted to go out and practice. I started riding my bike in between unicycling days. I would always wrap my knees with Ace bandages. I don’t know if it helped but it did keep my 661s from tearing up my skin.
Anyway, I started at 49 and now at 50 my knees don’t really bother me hardly at all. I did get brakes for downhills. That has helped a lot. I envy your son’s young age. You are right. Aging sucks. But, I keep going. I want to be able to climb a hill steeper than a 20% gradient.
I am (and was for some time before I started unicycling) a long-distance runner. It shocked me that I could run for 4 hours straight without any sore knees the next day and I could unicycle for 30 minutes and not be able to walk up stairs. It was scary and I, too, did consider quitting because I didn’t want to end up unable to run.
Ice packs and anti-inflammatories work wonders It sounds like you are coming right along, though, and I think the knee thing will work itself out in time. Just be sure to give it enough rest.
I don’t have knee problems now, except for some minor soreness the day after a lot of trail riding (standing on the pedals to climb or get over roots, etc).
Congratulations Mark and Drew! Looks like 2 more unicyclists are born.
Mark,
I watched your video’s and noticed 2 things. First, I think you should raise your seat a bit because your legs are still significantly bent at the 6:00 position. Once you get used to that, you’ll see that it’s less tiresome. The other thing is that you are hunching forward. If you watch your video closely, you’ll see that results in the unicycle having a backwards tilt. That also burns up more energy because you are fighting yourself to keep the wheel underneath you. Try to sit straight up.
These are normal mistakes so don’t feel bad. You’re doing just fine.
Actually, hunching forward is something to practice along with the opposite posture. If you can maintain good control while hunched forward and while leaning backwards, your overall control will be improved. You will also develop more awareness of your posture.
One more (hopefully helpful) comment regarding weight on the pedals: I just looked at your most recent videos and saw that your wheel is twisting back and forth with every pedal stroke. This is a classic sign that you and your son still have a lot of weight on the pedals. I am bringing this up because you can use this as a metric for how much weight you have on the pedals – when the wheel stops wiggling back and forth (and hopefully your knees stop hurting), you’ll know you’ve got your weight on the seat.
I am very impressed with how well both of you are riding so far. It would be cool if your wife and daughter learn as well – we need more women in this sport (not that I’m biased or anything, of course . . .)
It relates to my self preservation philosophy for beginning ice & roller skaters…
if you lean forward you will fall forward and you can catch yourself w/o as
much risk of breaking your wrists.
Wrist guards wouldn’t help - I would still lean forward from force of habit.
I’ll work on sitting more upright - but I have improved quite a bit if you look
back at my earliest videos (posts).
I’m not so sure about raising the seat any higher though. Here is a good
picture with the pedal at six O’Clock… (opinions?)
I think your leg extension looks okay. You are doing great. I remember how tired I would get when learning. I would sweat and burn many calories riding out in front of the house. Now I don’t feel like I workout unless I climb a hill. You will get to the point when you are more relaxed. It just comes with time. Keep making videos so you can keep a record of your progress. I wish I had made more in the early days.
I just practiced about 35 minutes…
I’m exhausted, and I was trying to take it easy.
It didn’t really feel good - just couldn’t get into the groove,
and I only continued in order to get some seat time logged in.
I do get more exercise in the same time now that I’m not spending half
of my time falling and walking.
I started out by warming up inside the abandoned building.
I found that I still don’t make it the full length (about 120 ft) more
than about 70% of the time.
When I made a point of weighting the seat and sitting up straight
I fell a lot more often and felt out of control. I think I’m not going to
force it, and will see if it comes gradually as I gain comfort (seat time).
I went outside for awhile, but there wasn’t much advantage to it.
The space inside the building is big enough that I can work on technique,
and I can probably create a course of about 100 yards if I sweep up
more of the screws and nails and go around the rooms in between open
areas. But the open area I use is adequate - I can almost turn around
and go back (I could if I made that a goal).
There is a large open parking area about 5 minutes walk away from
my building, and I may use that on the sunny days. But the indoor
area is away from spectators, which is nice.
Eventually I can ride the bike trails that are only about half a mile away.
We all have off days. I can feel them really early now if Im having one. I usually dont ride for very long on those days. Dont want to hurt myself, I do that a lot. My ankles are weak.
Great riding too. You should probably start working on the freemount a little bit more now. Its nice to not have to use a wall to restart when you fall off, or just want to get off where there is no walls. Really opens up the possibilities for you. It just takes times… I never learned how to freemount when I first started riding and would always end up halfway down the road and have to come back home to start again
I didnt learn how to freemount until I started riding again 10 years later.
Good work on the progression. I think ill pm you and see if we cant figure out a way to meet up, you are pretty close.
(not that I’m biased or anything, of course . . .)
