There are a couple of different systems for shock cord laces but here is one:
http://www.amazon.com/ELASTIC-LACES-TRIATHLON-RUNNING-SHOELACES/dp/B001ELBLJS
I just get some thin shork cord and springy things at my local army surplus, camping store, or REI. But they don’t have that nifty light blue color.
This is nice to read, thanks!! I hope to be better then ever too. It was just a crazy bad injury.
mbalmer, I hope you are OK! 
No injuries lol.
I’m out of shape. You dont use your inner quads in other activities. So not up to practicing a lot, yet. The weather is getting nice! Getting brave again too. I was jumping storm drains with my skates yesterday. 
today I…
practiced 1 foot riding. I can get 1 rev, but then I have to put my other foot back on because I stop at the bottom. Anyone have any tips for this problem?
I think one-foot riding is the most difficult trick that I have made significant progress on while unicycling.
It has been coming together recently. One thing I notice is how delicate I need to be with my foot. If I stomp on the pedal I usually UPD in the next revolution. When it is going well I am putting almost no pressure on the pedal, but just keeping a steady rotation going with my foot. I have practiced one-foot idling a lot recently and find that getting comfortable with end of the idle stroke stall helps give me a better feel for one-foot riding. I am controlling the over the top stroke using gentle pressure with my foot, whereas before I was just letting it go and only controlling the down-stroke.
Regarding your specific complaint, if you push hard on the down-stroke, you have to back way off on the up-stroke or the pressure of your foot on the pedal will stop the unicycle dead and you will come off the front. (Been there, done that.) Gentle pressure is better. The key is managing your momentum through the stroke.
I hope some of these ramblings make sense. Keep practicing. 
Scott
My 5.10s have boring, black shock cord (.20/ft at REI). My Nike shoes have a new style of shoe lace that was kind of spendy. I never have to tie theses. I like them, but I’m curious to see how long they last.
Today I am nursing my first perforated shin. I was riding after dark at an airport last night and twice in a row I missed the front pedal on a static mount and pounded my shin into the pedal as I fell forward. You know you hit hard when you draw blood with plastic pedals through sweat pants.
I’m sad to say that last night I resorted to using a fence to get started and finish my riding on my 29". Last night my static mount was not working. After about 30 tries I gave up. My static mount have been running about 50% success.It was really frustrating because there were not many places with something to hold on to help get on the seat.
I don’t know if it was the dark or the strangeness of riding at a deserted airport for the first time late at night. It’s the only long straight stretch of ‘road’ for a long ways so I wanted to give it a try as a place to ride my 29" with out riding in circles on some playground or parking lot. Good news is daylight saving time is coming soon so I can get out there while it is still light out (I sleep during the day). The airport is on county land so it is considered a park and there is pedestrian access 24x7. But it’s not as lit up as I thought it would be. The only lights are near the two gates.
Its raining here tonight so tomorrow night I will head back out there with a better headlamp and hopefully a static mount that is working again.
what you have to do is get some momentum and then just lift your foot off the pedal (dont worry obout the position of the cranks, if you have enough momentum it wont matter). then just pedal like normal; not to gently but not to hard. i can do ten or more kicks now:)
Thanks, man, I practiced it for about 2 hours today and can now do it for about ten kicks also:) your advice really helped, I also found that pulling up on the seat works well, too.
Home
“Bad fall”, “heavy fall”, “wort fall” and “perforated skin”, sounds like I have found my thread!
I was having difficulty learning to static mount so my teacher got me to try jump mounting. We hooked the uni into the wall bars in the gym and he held the uni and I practiced jumping onto the pedals. Got it pretty quickly and when we tried it for real I was away in no time. Started to think I was getting good, hubris. … A few days later I didn’t level the pedals first and the front foot hit the back of the pedal and went under the spindle and I went in hard. After two weeks I’m still not sure if I broke or cracked anything. Then last Tuesday I was feeling good enough to try practicing riding over a 25mm thick plank and upd and rolled my ankle, have been feeling very sorry for myself most of the week in consequence, painful to walk and to sneeze and cough…
But feeling ok today so I went down to the sports ground and rode 10 laps which is my longest so far,(about 4k) not non-stop though. Tried riding up a low ramp every time I went around and by the time I had stopped I was able to get 4 or 5 revs up it before I upd. Felt good as I was feeling in control, not just using momentum.
Then on the way home I rode past the student dorms so I suppose I have come out of the closet too! 
Chest was starting to feel a bit sore so didn’t go for a run after breakfast as I had intended. A good day anyway.
BTW That way of learning to jump mount is ideal, very easy and safe. It’s what you do afterwards that might cost you!!
I still haven’t worked up the courage to try a jump mount. Want to get a good solid static mounts. I’m heading out in a few minutes to ride and today I have soccers shin guards on!!!
Just the pressure of the shin guard is hurting my perforated shin. I’ve got big calves so this guards are little (a lotta) tight.
Glad I took off the metal pin pedals when I got the 29er.
Good job on the jump mount.
I got the onesies
One static mount, one mile (with lot of turns), one (planned) dismount on my 29er. I’m liking my Big Apple tire.
Anyone need a Duro Easy Ride for the cost of shipping?
I could have rode more but I knocked off so I’d have a better chance of repeating the same feat tomorrow.
Now just 53 more miles to go to riding my age.
Jump mounts are my favourite type of mount now. Unless the ground is uneven (and sometimes even when it is!) I’ll go in for the jump mount. It’s just so quick and efficient!
Just keep a good hold on the seat and keep your eyes on the pedals and all will be well. I can’t remember the last time I had a bad fall from a jump mount.
Did a 6-mile ride on my husband’s 29" to the store and back yesterday, with only 2 UPDs. Now I’m understanding why the large wheels are so much better for road rides 
I think he looks quite silly with his long legs peddling around on my 24", but I think it’s just because I’m used to seeing him on a 29".
Now if I can just manage to learn to freemount the beast 
I feel like I can barely step up high enough even holding on to something.
From thursday, this is my first real video of me doing anything trials related. Watch with annotations on, there’s a good number of firsts in here for me and I think it’s a good example to show people of what practicing on a unicycle is really like. This is about an hour and a half or practice condensed down to 7 and a half minutes of some actual accomplishment. The last 50 seconds are the one true goal I accomplished on this day of unicycling, and I hadn’t even planned on doing it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOWP3LMzOkg
Anyone with feedback would be nice. I am 6ft tall and half of me is legs, so I’m slowly working on lowering the seat more and more for trials. This is my third or so week of trials practice.
Are you at work doing this? My boss would string me up!
Today I tried out my new Converse suede high-tops, and also switched from 150 to 125 crank setting on my KH29. The combination was great! I particularly found that a static or rolling mount is much easier with the shorter crank length – with 150’s I was having too much leverage and corresponding tendency to inadvertently roll back.
I found the same thing about crank length. I’m on 165’s right now and there is a difference even from 145’s.
But I think a solid static mount should work on any length crank. I’m working towards no pressure on the crank. I think a clean static mount is really cool. It’s so simplistic and graceful. One second you are just standing there and then seemingly with no effort you are riding away. Unfortunately for me, I flail so much that I look like i’m trying to fly instead of roll away gracefully.
I am fairly lucky in that I have the key and alarm code to the warehouse, so I can stay after work or show up whenever I like and use the warehouse for practice. Since I know how to drive the forklift I can set up pallets however I like and… well, in general, do whatever I like. When I’m good (some day) expect videos of me riding up on the racks 40 feet in the air and such just to show off, hahaha…
I figure my next video, when I learn, will be me hopping up onto the forks of the forklift and maybe, eventually, from one fork to the other. I like to give myself big challenges. I don’t get frustrated easy, and I give myself enough variety that if I start to get tired of one challenge I alternate to another and then back again.
You should post this in the video forum where more people will see it! They don’t usually mind beginner’s videos over there. Seems a shame to have it hidden away in this thread.