Hi, i just started posting here and i have a problem with doing tight turns 180 and 360 degrees for levels 3 and 4. I searched the forum a little bit and did not find anything that helped. The first thing i noticed when i was practicing 180 degree turns was that i always ended up standing up on the pedals to twist my body. Is that normal to do? I dont have a low seat so I dont think it is because of that. I practice in the street, is it easier on different surfaces? My last problem is that sometimes my pedal hits the ground when i turn which throws me off the unicycle.
If anyone has a tips for me or you learned to turn in a tighter circle, please post them. Thanks.
Practice riding in small circles. Learn to do it with continuous pedaling, not with a stop-start motion. This may be a little tough with your long cranks, but with practice you’ll learn how much you can lean without touching your pedals to the ground.
Yup, I learned pretty quick to turn in a smooth circle once I had to pass level 4 and turn in a small (1m) circle 360 degrees.
The best part is that I accidentally hit a spin one day while doing this, and have been doing it since. Pirouettes are great, and the tire tracks I leave on pavement surely must confuse the heck out of people who come upon them later.
You can find the thread if you search for " 8’s ".
However, this is the sage advice of John Foss:
[I]Practice spins; riding in small circles. At first, you will notice your tire makes an inconsistent scuffing noise, as your circle has “corners” on it. The more you can smooth out your riding, the more constant the tire noise will be.
Practice riding into and out of sharp turns (not necessarily fast). You only need to be leaning when you’re making the turn. Try to keep your body more or less in line with the frame, from side to side, rather than tilting toward the inside. Instead, turn your upper body in the direction you want to go. In other words, if you’re circling to the right, put your left shoulder forward so your upper body faces into the circle.
Thanks for the thread. Where do you practice your riding? (I practice in the street). The advice from the thread helped quite a bit but i still can not get my turn in a 1 meter circle. Will it come after practicing more? How long did it take you to learn it?
I can’t do it smoothly in a meter circle at all, but I can do it. Mine is still a choppy series of reaction turns.
Today the times the turning technique right, it felt completely different. I felt like the unicycle was layed out pretty flat. Do you snow board? It really had the smooth digging-in feeling that a hard carve has. A dynamic equilibrium situation. It was completely different than the spastic twisting I usually end up doing!
I rode for sevral years as a kid. I was the only unicyclist I had ever met, so I didn’t learn many tricks. I took a 20 odd year break and have been just getting into it the past couple months. Now I’m wrapping up level 3 and well on my way to level 4, just the pesky turns.
I actually learned my level 4 mount today, too. I did the jump mount. For level 3 I did the side mount. (unofficial levels).
I have only snowboarded a few times but i going this winter. I skateboard alot more, so i pretty much know what you mean. Now that i have better techinuque, I think the only thing to do is practice and practice. Good luck with your turning.