Hi Mark,
You are making great progress and it is fun to read about it.
You will get comfortable with more practice. It does get much easier. I would advise riding in circles and figure eights. Good turns help compensate for imbalances when riding and make you a much better rider.
Have fun!
Scott
A couple of things that might help you along:
Your progress so far has been highly commendable!
I have some red leather hi-top converse allstars…
The main problem is my feet are too wide and they started to hurt
for walking (my feet get wider every year). They might work for
pedal sports though.
I took a forced rest day today. That gave me time to spend my lunch
on cleaning up & posting pictures of how I modified the seat to get
rid of the chafing and bruising to the inside of my thighs.
My cranks actually bend inwards. The pedal axles are still straight, so
it isn’t due to crashes or anything. I would imagine if the pedals get
too far out it makes the wobblies get a little worse.
I probably have another set of cranks in my BMX hardware. But I think I’ll
just keep trying to get my feet & ankles farther out. I might wear some
kind of a guard or just hi-top shoes.
I do miss riding, but I have to regain some strength in my legs or risk
overuse injury. Especially for my right knee (same one bothered me
when I was running).
Yesterday went well.
The first time I mounted I was able to ride the whole length of the room (120 ft).
On the second mount I went around the shell of all of the offices and
conference rooms and did a full lap - I paced it off as about 330 feet.
The way I pace off is by rolling the Unicycle back over the same path
and counting revolutions. The outside diameter of my tire is almost exactly
24", and since I keep the tire pumped up hard, I calclated the distance per
revolution as πD = 3.141592ft = 6.28 ft per revolution.
(if you have a different diameter, then use 3.14159*Diameter in inches/12)
I had thought 24" would be the rim diameter - but it’s not.
For my son’s Torker Unistar LX 20" (the outside diameter of the tire
measured right at 20") it would be 5.24 ft per revolution.
Anyway, the lap was even in my “off direction” which is right turns,
so it surprised me that I could do it w/o even much of a warmup.
What limits my distance now is fatigue. My legs burn and I get winded at
about 100 yards.
I also developed a new problem - my right foot migrates outward on the pedal.
I think it probably always has, but it is just a fraction of an inch at a time,
and wasn’t noticeable until I started riding far enough to accumulate enough
displacement for it to feel awkward. I’ll have to learn not to put pressure
in that direction.
In case you just came into this thread, I practice in a vacant building -
it has been mostly gutted, and there are no lights in some areas, so
it’s like the inside of an abandoned building. I had to sweep up the screws,
nails & debris - in an ever increasing area. I have now done FOD control
on the entire open space of the 2nd floor - about 10,000 square feet I woul
estimate. But I finished the last of it yesterday, including the hallways
to/from the stairs and the restrooms in the part of the building that is
back in use. Very few people have seen me, and generally they are amused.
Speaking of amused…
Drew and I might put on our first Unicycling show today 
He and my daughter (Elizabeth) play basketball.
On the day they had team pictures taken, we had large gaps
in the schedlue. I had just gotten my unicycle, so I brought it
in order to try it out when we were stuck there with nothing to do.
I ended up in a hallway by a restroom that is not used much.
But a few people came through, and a couple of the coaches
said they want to see me ride on the court at half time.
We have a hour long gap between Drew & Elizabeth’s games
today, so we’ll bring the unicycles and practice (it’s a big building,
and there are some covered areas outdoors too).
If they ask us to ride on the court during half time of either game,
we’ll probably go ahead and stumble through a couple of big circles
around the court.
Next year we should be able to do tricks and juggle too!
Does a one revolution ride from a free mount count as success?
Then I’m level 3 now!
I’ll hafta bring a video camera to the kids’ basketball today. 
I agree on that one. And I would really love to have a female 40+ age group at the next Unicon.
Best regards,
Sanne
I think I read somewhere that you have to ride 10 metres after mounting. Or maybe I dreamed that part. You’re not far off anyway!
We didn’t do a halftime show.
We rode right outside the little diner during the hour between my kids’ games.
People could see us through the windows, but didn’t say anything.
I think they enjoyed watching us struggle and admired our tenacity.
I did pull off a successful free mount one time! 
We offered to ride around the gym during half time next week.
If the driector remembers and asks us, we’ll display our inexperience
for everyone to enjoy. Maybe we can plan to crash into each other.
I should make up some jousting lances with some of those fun-noodles
and a couple of nerf balls. Or do they already make Nerf jousting tools?
That could be a hilarious show - watching us fall before we even get
to each other!
I made up some clubs and we practiced knocking each other down.
Unfortunately Drew fell once (before I could hit him) and with the distraction
of carrying something he hit his bare knees on the concrete. It was between
his sister’s BB game and his. Last game of the season, and he ended up
playing with a sore knee 
Next time he’ll have on knee pads.
Maybe this afternoon…
I posted this last Tuesday (3/16/10) in another thread
but forgot to add it here:
I laid out a course in the vacant gutted building across from where I work.
Using cardboard coffee cups as highway cones I laid out a 530 ft course…
and made it all the way around (including a couple of critically placed turns)
That’s 1/10th of a mile! My legs were burning when I finished, but I did it!
Then the following day (Wed 3/17/10) my wife had shoulder surgery.
To pass the time while waiting, I rode my unicycle in the parking lot
of the surgery center. It was on a hillside, so it was on several levels.
I got to where I could go up and down hill after awhile.
Had two successful free mounts.
Then I went to the hiking trail, found a relatively flat and mostly
smooth area and tried trail riding for the first time. I made it about
20 feet a couple of times, even managed to pick the smoothest route
over a root a couple of times. Once I got past the flat it got too
steep for me (downhill).
I rode for more than an hour though - the sun was out, so I really enjoyed it.
The people in the surgery center could see me out the window.
They didn’t think to come out and get me as I passed by to tell me
that the surgery was done and the doctor was giving the post-op
report and instructions.
But it all worked out okay - I still had to wait a few minutes to see
my wife… they had to get the pain under control because she was
screaming when she came out of anesthesia. She said it was more
painful than childbirth. I think she just had better drugs for those ones. 
It’s been about 3 weeks since I last posted an update.
Been to busy to post (let alone create video).
Here are some of the meter stones I’ve accomplished so far…
Went to a running track with a chopped rubber surface.
My son and I both made a full 1/4 mile (400m) nonstop lap.
He repeated it a second time too.
I started riding over obstacles. First just a piece of plywood about
2 ft x 2 ft (approx 5/8 thick). Then elevated one end about 3/4 "
So far I made it over a 2-1/4" ramp (woo-hoo). Someone at work asked
how much air I think I got. In a total deadpan I answered “2-1/4”.
I’ve gotten pretty reliable at curb starts - even when only using a
short 2x4 behind the wheel to keep me from rolling back.
Yesterday I made a couple of curb starts using my opposite foot.
I occasionally pull off a free mount (about 1 in 20 on a good day).
Directional control had gotten good but still needs work (I can go where
I want to, but can’t complete the IUF obstacle course).
My son is keeping up with me (might be slightly ahead of me) even
though I practice more than he does. He has gotten addicted though.
We have a lot of fun riding together and cheering on each other’s
accomplishments.
I’ll have to get some video of where we are in skills and also of us jousting.
Its awesome to hear you are still progressing. Video would be really appreciated. Its fun to watch you guys learn more and become better.
I came home from work on Monday & my wife said “Drew is riding
out in the woods in the backyard”.
I said “Dirtbike?”
“No, Unicycle”
So I went and stood on the back deck and watched…
our backyard is a valley with a creek at the bottom.
He was using a tree as support for mounting, which meant
the first 2 feet are steep, followed by a downhill trail.
I think Banzai describes his technique.
He has directional control and bravery. Even made it across
the brindge a couple of times.
I really need to shoot some video.
Still no videos, but here’s a progress report.
Rode 1/3 mile through a course with turns that use up a lot of energy…
I think 1/2 mile on a running track should be doable now.
Went off of a 5" ramp (more of a drop - I kept my speed down to
make it more difficult).
Rode the length of a 5-3/4" x 56" board and a 7-1/2" x 101" board.
I succeed my curb starts about 9 times of 10 (maybe even 19 out of 20).
I succeed on free mounts about 1 in 5 times on a good day, 1 in 20
on an off day, totally hopeless on a really off day.
I find it quicker and easier to take the unicycle than to walk for distances
of 100 to 200 yards (like from the building I work in to the ATM to get cash).
I can go up and down mild hills, and moderate obstacles like driveway aprons
with a 1" step. The bumps and dips in the asphalt of the street I live on
don’t make me fall most of the time.
I can look to the sides, but not behind me to check for traffic.
I can share a sidewalk with a pedestrian coming the opposite direction.
My knees don’t bother me - largely because of Chondroitin / Glucosemine
supplements. The chafing is gone - partly because of the seat mods.
I don’t knock my seat crooked very often anymore.
I can dismount gracefully getting off forward (unicycle behind), but I’m
very inconsistent in how graceful my dismounts are when I try to
dismount with the unicycle in front of me (as required in the skill levels)
Overall, I’m happy with my progress, but hope to add idling, backwards
riding and juggling 3 balls to my skills sometime soon.
Gonna try Muni soon too - once the trails dry up a little and I have time.
Today… I’m busy applying for layoff benefits.
The bummer is I lost my indoor riding area inside the vacant building
at work (I practiced every day at lunch).
I had a 5" ramp, a 2" x 54" board, a 7" x 101" board, a 5" wide zigzag (about
5 feet per section, 3 sections, 45° joints with nice splice plates - never made
the whole length) an IUF course (never made it through) and a slalom (10 snapple
bottle caps spaced 2 meters apart, with markings for 1.5 and 1 meter as well).
A 1/10th mile course.
A platform and several 2x4 curbs to start from.
It was all laid out with marker and permanent marker on the concrete
floors which were stripped of tiles. I also swept up nails and screws and
other FOD.
All indoors.
It rains a lot in Seattle… where am I gonna ride now?
Sux about losing your job. I live in Michigan where the unemployment rate hit over 15% and have had ALOT of drinks with friends who lost their jobs. My boys and I did alot of uniing in our basement over the winter, so if you have one… and you can always go to parking garages or learn to ride in the rain. Good luck.