Welcome.
This is a great place for information and encouragement. Good luck and keep at it.
Today I…
Made a little progress with idling.
Increased my distance ride from 500 to 750 ft. with good success and control on the turns.
Totally sucked with my static freemounts.
Managed to consistently static hop a few inches off the ground! 
I’m working on learning to hop because not being able to hop is really limiting me from getting into more tchnical muni. I’m getting to the point to where I can’t just roll over everything, so hopping it is. By the end of tonight’s practice, I could ride along a few revolutions, stop, hop a few inches, then get going again for several hops in a row. Twice, I even got two hops in place before peddling away again 
In case anyone is stuck on static hopping, this is what seems to be working for me:
Practice riding along and slowing down to a complete stop for an instant, then pedal away again.
Once you are comfortable with (1), practice riding along and slowing down to a complete stop, then standing up on the pedals and grabbing the seat briefly before sitting back down and pedaling away again
Once you can do (2) comfortably, start trying to hop once you are standing on the pedals
For some reason, I was able to do small rolling hops on like my second or third try, but static hops have taken a lot of work to get to even this point.
Missed posting this last night, but yesterday I:
Executed two 180 unispins in a row
Hopped on tire 10 times
Wheelwalked 10 revolutions
Idled 5 times while juggling (right)
Idled 7 times while juggling (left)
Today I:
Jump roped 8 times
Today I worked on my rolling 180’s at first they seemed really difficult but when you commit they are just as easy as doing them off the pedals. I worked on going into a rolling wrap from the 180 but I can’t get the second revolution in…I’ll have to work on my hand positioning because I can’t get the saddle into my right hand.
Any tips?
Oh, and today I got a letter telling me that I’ve been accepted into my university course 
there’s a few unicyclists hanging about there too!
i wheel walked like four revolutions!!!
Awesome!!! I’ve been working on wheelwalking lately. I can do 10-15 revolutions but still need work on getting back to the pedals.
Today I:
Rode 10+ revolutions while hula hooping
Idled 3 times while hula hooping (right and left)
Jumped rope 18 times
Idled 11 times while juggling (right)
Transitioned from wheel walking to regular riding
Today I…
–increased my distance riding. Managed .2 mile. (don’t laugh it is an achievement for me)
–did a lot better on my static freemounting (right and left); I’m not comfortable with it yet but it’s starting to make sense
Need some advice…
While practicing my distance riding, I find that my left arm is doing a lot of work in helping me keep my balance while my right arm is relatively passive. The left arm moves from the side to the front and then back to the side. In the past, I found that I have a tendency to veer left and I wonder if I am compensating for that with my left arm. I’ve checked my uni wheel and seat and everything seems OK.
Anybody else had this tendency to veer to one side? Any thoughts or solutions?
Thanks in advance.
I think this happened to a lot (if not most) of us. I veered to the left when I learned as well. To this day I am still more comfortable with left turns than right, but it is mostly evened out in my every-day riding. When you get better, practicing making right-hand turns and going in right-hand circles. Also practice riding while holding the seat with the arm you flail with the most (best to practice holding the seat with either hand). As your balance becomes more sub-conscious, and you get more comfortable turning to the right, it will work itself out.
Today I idled for more than a couple of cycles. I did probably 20 with my right leg and 10 with my left leg. Woo hoo, now at least practicing idling is fun and I can work on balance.
Nice going, Ibedon! It’s good that you’re practicing left and right side freemounting at the same time. For a long time after I learnt to do it, I only ever freemounted on my right, and so while I have a decent success rate on that side, mounting with my left is still very haphazard.
I’ve had that issue too. Not entirely sure what I did to try and correct it, but I find relaxing your upper body as much as possible helps. And perhaps focusing more on balancing with your legs? By pedalling slightly harder on one side etc.
I did this a lot while learning. Somebody even commented that it looked like I was “directing traffic” as I had one arm down by my side and the other spinning around all over the place! I’ve evened up a lot since then and now I barely move my arms at all, but sometimes I go back to the old one arm balancing routine if I’m tired or riding very slowly on difficult stuff.
I found the best way to stop with the flailing arms was to practice riding with my hands in my pockets or on my head. It’s a skill I try to work on every time I go out on the unicycle and it helps my balance a lot. Another thing I do is core muscle exercises, which are what you should be using to balance (eventually).
I hope that helps!
I find that I use my left hand to hold the seat. The right arm is just to balance and yet, my right arm is sore after a long ride. Weird.
I also don’t feel like I flail my arm much anymore, but when I see video of myself I still flail more than I thought I did. I flail my arm more if the wheel is smaller. On the 24" I can look like a one-winged bat, on the 29" I flail some, on the 36" I only flail when doing something steep or iffy.
I will be at the one year mark in March (unicycling).
ibedon,
Awesome progress! You’re very close to making the big breakthrough where you can ride indefinately. As for your questions, I think Natosha has given the best advice. I agree issues like yours tend to work themselves out as you aquire more time in the saddle. Don’t worry about the flailing. It will be replaced by confident, relaxed riding.
Other tips:
Practice in a large parking lot and dedicate some time to turning and riding in circles. If you veer to one side, spend more time practicing turns to the opposite side. Same thing with circles. Start with large circles then slowly make the circles smaller as you improve.
By the way, never be shy or embarrased by what you think are meager accomplishments. Next time I’d suggest stating something like this: Today I rode .25 miles!!!
It reminds me of a time I was riding in town. A kid around the age of 12 saw me as he rode a bicycle. He commented, “I could never do that.” I of course responded, “Sure you could.” Anyway, you can do something 99% of the population can’t do. And every bit of improvement is progress toward achieving your unicycling goals.
mbalmer,
I’m coming up on my 1 year mark this spring. I plan on making a video of what I’ve been able to learn in a year. I’d encourage you to do the same. It kind of makes for a fun project and goal.
I’m gonna do that, sound like fun.
Today I worked on getting legwraps consistent and I did. I was shooting for 10 in a row and got it by 1. I also worked on riding backwards more and can get 4 revs consistently.
Thanks to all for the suggestions, thoughts and sharing. I know I’ve only been at it a short while and I get a little impatient.
It is quite frustrating to observe your body doing something while your mind is screaming “no, not that. do this!” and not getting any result. (Be patient, grasshopper.)
r711…I’ve been making an effort to not favor my right or left side from day one. I knew that I would easily fall into a rut if I didn’t. It is slow going but I see progress and I don’t feel like my left is better than my right or vice versa.
SuperG…My practice area is a large, little used parking area with few, if any, cars. A complete circuit is .1 mile and I make an effort to go both ways–clockwise and counterclockwise. The turns in either direction seem to be equally difficult but I do notice that veer to the left no matter which way I am going around. Interestingly enough, there is a lane running right down the middle that has concrete tire stops on both sides. When I ride down the middle, the veering to the left seems less. Go figure.
Today, I…
Practiced freemounting to idle and had little success but felt real good about the process.
Also today, I (off topic)…
Went to a Jazzercise class with my wife. Every year around Valentine’s Day, the class invites spouses and significant others to join the regulars in an hour of aerobics. Unicycling is good exercise, but I promise you, this class will make you sweat as much and more! This is my third time to go and each time I give a new meaning to the word “uncoordinated”.
Today I managed to do a figure eight. I used all the space at the top of my driveway - 20’ x 30’.
I still can’t ride up over the lip into my garage. Don’t laugh, it’s only a couple inches if that. Every time I try to ride over it I do a upd… What do I have to do to keep going when I ride over this?
Joe
I’m not really a Unicyclist yet… but, I would say for small
obstacles the key is speed and confidence.
Don’t let the obstacle intimidate you.
Today I went about 50 or 60 feet without holding onto anything!
I tend to veer right very slightly, and I am most comfortable doing
left turns in almost every sport I do.
I also tried to dodge nails & debris (it’s a demo/construction site in a vacant building)
If you’re doing a Hula Hoop on a unicycle, I don’t think you’re
really a beginner.
I remember falling when I would hit the 1-2" bump going up a driveway. As you ride over cracks and other bumps you will just “get it.” I see a bump or root, rock, rut in dirt, or whatever and I push a little harder over it. I lean back a little to compensate for the “bump” throwing me a bit forward. You’ll get a feel for it. Is your driveway uphill? That would make it harder.