I have had a 24in Torker LX for a week and a half. I practiced about 3 hours a day for the first 3 days. After 3 days I could ride straight and make turns without holding on to anything as long as I RETAIN UNINTERRUPTED VISUAL CONTACT WITH A FIXED OBJECT(S). 7 days later, practicing on average 2-3 hours a day, I still haven’t got any better. It’s really annoying because I can stay on the unicycle without really even moving my arms too much. I can avoid obstacles. I can go fast. But, the minute anything interrupts my eye contact with the fixed object–someone walks in front of it, someone tries to talk to me, I get bored of looking at it, etc, I get really wobbly and 9 times out of 10 I fall off within 25 feet. The other problem is that when I am going walking speed the wheel moves back and forth in a weaving pattern. I don’t know why. I have really good balance at this point, but I can’t get it to just go straight without going faster. All of my weight is on the seat, I look forward, I lean forward, and I keep my arms out when needed.
Please help. It is frustrating me that I am not getting better, and that I have no clue what I’m doing wrong. I feel like I have plateaued. I really have not gotten any better over the last week. I have video to prove it
Also, my husband has a Torker LX too. The pedals were tightened like mine with a wrench, but when he fell on his, the cranks got stripped. Inside the crank it feels like putty. Is this normal? What did we do wrong? Is it just because it is a cheap starter uni?
Keep at it.
Let your arms do whatever they want to do. Try not focusing on a fixed object, sounds like you’ve become dependant on it. You might not be able to ride as well at first, but once you’ve got used to not depending on it you will be able to go for longer.
Alternatively, you could try putting it down for a few days and coming back to it. Sounds like you could be trying too hard. Sometimes when im trying something new on the unicycle I just can’t get it. Then when I havent tried it for a while I will have a go on the off-chance and normally get it.
The process of learning is non-linear. You are getting better with practice, even if you don’t notice it right away. Sometimes it could help to take on a different kind of challenge to take your mind off riding; try to take a uni ride out to get coffee in the morning, or play some hockey or basketball.
The most common cause of this is that the wheel or the seat was installed backwards; this causes the pedal to unscrew in use, and it usually results in reaming out the crank threads (especially in aluminum cranks like the Torker has). Replace the crank, and make sure you have the left pedal/crank on the left side of the uni.
+1. That’s just how unicycling is. You feel like you’re getting nowhere and then you have a breakthrough.
The amazing thing about unicycling is that the breakthoughs just keep coming, little by little. Just drop your expectations for quick success. It will come eventually. You just have to be a little patient.
When I get frustrated working on something, I also try to put it aside and work on something easier for a bit. Usually when I come back to what was giving me trouble, I have more success.
You could try learning to hop, or tightening the radius of your turns, or free mounting, or riding off a small drop. Anything to change up your focus from what’s currently got you stuck.
Try this experiment: balance yourself on one foot with your eyes open. Now close both your eyes. With your eyes closed, does it become harder to mantain your balance or does it stay about the same as when they were open?
Today I tried riding with my eyes close. First attempt was close to UDP but with in about a minute I was up to riding about 10 seconds with my eyes close. I’m treating as an exercise to improve my riding by increasing my awareness of what my hips are doing, riding by feel as it were. The loss of visual reference is quite strange.
Another thing to try is riding in an open space, such as a car park, where the visual references are less specific. When I was learning, I found riding around a set of netball courst to be good, as I could challenge myself to greater distances, and practice following the painted lines.
“Another thing to try is riding in an open space, such as a car park, where the visual references are less specific. When I was learning, I found riding around a set of netball courst to be good, as I could challenge myself to greater distances, and practice following the painted lines.”
EoinC, that is exactly what I did! It totally did the trick!
