[QUOTE=waaalrus;1346407]
Today was an awesome unicycling day! Third time mountain unicycling. My 26" muni should arrive later this week! And this morning I shot some juggling + unicycling videos. The Mill’s Mess is really hard to follow.
Some mad skillz. I would have never thought hulu hoop could be done on a uni. I think the uni/juggling skills deserve their own thread. Behind the back (throw and catch) is awesome. Same with the mills mess. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see if your were going to bust out 5 balls on the uni!
I think a lot of it would have looked better face on to the camera and at the range that you filmed at about 5:00. The club stuff films good side ways but with balls you can’t make out the pattern.
One little critique after the juggling stuff the idling in comparison was kinda ‘plain’.
Thanks for the feedback! The hula hoop is easier than you think, especially going forward. Each behind the back took about five tries before I got one! I completely agree with you about the angles. I could barely see what I was recording in the Sun and looking at the footage afterward I myself had trouble figuring out which patterns were which. I also threw a couple things in there that didn’t really belong since I hadn’t gotten them on video before. Should maybe have just posted them separately! This was actually the first time I tried juggling balls and I need to work on being able to do my usual patterns while idling. I only have three more rugged balls but my five needs a lot of work in general! I recently got a couple mini playground balls I use for head bouncing so I could throw those into the pattern and/or work on head bounce. I imagine I’ll be chasing them a lot!
Today I broke 6 miles on the 29" AND the 6mph pace, and my butt is still complaining. I’m in serious frigen pain an hour and half later. Me and this fusion freeride are not enjoying the honeymoon. I found the seat angle I like. But right now its not legs/fitness that is keeping me going further it’s how much pain can I stand from seating on the seat that long.
I’m going to start shopping for a different top sheet foam. Something higher density to layer in there that does not pack out. I envy all you people who love that seat.
I was never in this kind of pain with the nimbus gel. Might have to switch back and shave it narrower to get rid of the fatness between my thighs.
In good news I love my 150 (switched down from165’s) cranks Thanks to UDC for priority shipping me a new pair after UPS lost the first pair.
And I really really love my new bike Elite II Bib shorts from Performance Bike. For the first time I can remember I wasn’t thinking about my shorts (or the boys) these bibs do a really nice job of keeping them forward out of harms way.
Eric, I havent tried it yet because parts of my Muni are in a different town (at the LBS) BUt I read something about putting Maximum nose UP on the seat so that your forced to use the sit bones (ass bones) to sit on…
Once I get out of work early enough to pick up my tire and rim I’m gonna try that…
Yeah, I’ve read that too. Tried it; hated it. Totally squished the boys, and I don’t seem to have as much trouble getting weight on the sit bones as others. Everyone is different, so it seems you just have to experiment to get the best combination of seat and angle, and perhaps handle, that’s best for you.
When I tried that I got too much chaffing on the back of my thighs and too much pressure against the back of the leg muscles (my seat is set at bicycle height to give my knees a fighting chance)
What I like right now is that I’m balanced between the narrow together sit bones in the taint (where you sit on a bicycle) and the broader sit bones you sit on (like sitting on a bench or in a chair).
By leaning the uni forward (me leaning back) I can load the broad sit bones a little more and by leaning my body forward (like a climbing position) I can load the narrow sit bones a little more.
I can’t tell which one but one of these upper muscles connecting to the pelvis is seriously is still lit up today. Sitting is slightly painful and there is discomfort while walking.
I’m heading out on long walk now to get come blood moving in that area so can get back on the Uni tomorrow. My next distance ride I’m going to try the nimbus gel seat I have.
I know from biking the nerves under/on/near the sit bones will deaden with time. I will just have to work to find a combo that works. I found some foam that I think I will try.
It took me few sec’s to picture a one footed roll-back mount, but I got my uni and kinda paid attention to where the pedals are. Nice wheel control to be able to do that.
My today is pretty minor but I’m still proud of it. Today I dribbled a basket ball 20 times while riding in a straight line. Why I’m proud of it.
My 20" still feels like a toy to me and still getting used to those little circles your feet do.
I haven’t dribbled a basketball since the flintstones were on TV
I pumped up the basketball too hard and it was 40* out so that ball did not have much bounce.
Also got back to some idling (for the past 3 weeks been spending all my time working on getting the 29" up to a fair distance). I did not loose as much as I though I would on idling. I’m idling on both sides but not very solid yet. The basketball is motivating me to work on idling again.
It’s sweet! I went out yesterday evening for a ride on a local trail. I had the seat too high which caused my legs to rub against the frame and I had poor power and downhill control. Lowering the seat was much better.
Unicycle basketball is a lot of fun! I think it really helps your agility which will pay off in learning tricks. Plus it’s a great workout!
That was the one-foot mount I could come up with on my own, but I’m sure there are plenty of others. I wanted to be able to mount one-footed because I’m practicing one-footed wheel walking and want to start one-footed backwards riding.
Today I figured out I’m down for at least a few days.
Up above in my post about my six mile ride I mentioned that something high in my leg was aggravated (sore). I took a day off which helped a little and last night I rode a little bit (the basketball stuff) and this morning ‘it’, whatever it is was sore again, like sore to walk again. Since I’m trying to add to my fitness base I decided to go for a 6 mile walk instead of riding today. I figured getting some blood flow in there would be good since it seems to have been caused by pressure in that area. Short story: by time I got home I could barely sit down and stand back up.
I’m not a big fan of NSAIDs but in this case I think that is what is called for. I have done some light stretching and this is not a muscle/groin pull. I think a nerve bundle or muscle sheath (those are total guesses at the right term) is inflamed.
Big Sigh.
My abs could use some work, and some twisting poses wouldn’t be a bad idea since I’m trying to tighten up my turns.
ARRGGGHHH, just when I had a good riding everyday habit going!
I landed my first suicide mount, learned to wheelwalk (record 70’), and just about landed a kickup mount in the last few “todays”. Also I sprained my thumb… And ezas, hope you get up and running soon!
Today I successfully rode down a set of three stairs at least 10 times (I lost count after a while). I learned that I need to maintain forward momentum, keep pedaling, and pull up on the seat to not get bounced off. I’m practicing some new tricks to impress the kiddies at an Easter Egg Hunt this weekend. Should be fun - maybe I’ll post a picture of the unicycling Easter bunny
Yeah, I’m out of winter hibernation and done working on a huge personal project. I should be back to regular riding/practicing/learning now.
Waaalrus,
Wow! You’ve become an animal! I’m proud of you. I love that you are into variety so much. You work on what you like and I think that’s great. I wish there were more riders that picked novel goals like you do.
Glad to see you back! I love going backwards! I just started practicing one footed backwards riding. One full revolution yesterday! Also two tire pushes on one footed wheel walking. I haven’t been spending as much time on tricks, but unicycle basketball and muni is the rice and beans of unicycle exercise. Complementary! But I still need to make sure I work in regular practice besides these.
Today I went out with a friend for muni on a new trail near Santa Margarita Lake. There’s a great single track at the end of this less exciting ride up and down dirt roads.
ezas, you will heal! Getting hurt is as inevitable as falling. It’s not fun, but it happens and we get over it. My usual unicycle injuries are to my lower body and when they happen I spend more time juggling.
The Aleve is helping a lot. I think what happened was a combination of factors. General inflamation of the area from sitting in the seat (gone now) combined with a groin pull that I did not notice at the time. I probably strained it on a missed static mount.
Well I had a good week last week.
Managed to idle 2 times on the left foot… and I think I did one and a half revs going backwards, which I don’t really find fun. I still worry about falling, still got sore ribs from the beginning of March…
On Saturday I did 2.8km on the sportsground which is a new longest distance record. I had already done 2km on my first run, so feeling very pleased. And managed to get up the driveway for the first time on my way back (you would laugh if you saw how low it is…
I wouldn’t laugh at anybodys hill. I started in the same place and still can’t ride up anything very long or steep. I decided to put down a fitness base first (1 hr/6mi) then start adding hill work back in. I did a 6mi ride and I’m still trying to recover! LOL
I’ll bring this thread back to life with today I put a basketball in the net from my Uni! it took me five tries. It was at an elementary school so the baskets are low and I was using a mid-size basket ball, but I’ll still take it as an accomplishment since I suck at shooting baskets even when standing on the ground.
I also managed to pick up one of the rebounds from dribble while riding. That really made me feel good to get back to the ball before it stopped bouncing and pick up the dribble.
