Ok, still working at this quite backwards, but there really is a
reason for my madness. At least, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to
it!
I learned how to freemount about a month after I got my unicycle.
From what I’ve read, that’s a skill that is normally learned later.
However, I had a very limited space to practice on, and to go to the
local school parking lot required freemount skills. So now I can
freemount and am slowly building distance between UPDs.
So now we’re here at about the 2 month mark and - gee, it sure would
be nice if my travelling direction wasn’t random. I’ve heard that
where the shoulders point is where one goes. Is that true? If so, I
guess the answer then is just to keep riding and eventually it will
just happen. As it is, I’m still a bit shaky while riding, so the
shoulders point pretty much where they please.
Any pointers on turning?
This winter I plan on attempting idling in the basement where it’s
fairly warm. I’m allergic to cold - I break out in goosebumps.
By the way, thanks to all of you who gave me the freemounting pointers
last month!
Sounds like you already know how to turn. Your difficulty is riding in a straight line. I don’t have much to offer, except what you’ve already anticipated – practice, practice, practice.
As you develop more control, I think your “random direction” problem will go away. As you accidentally lean too far to the left, you automatically turn to the left to drive the wheel back under you. This is what you are doing now. You have periodic self-induced imbalances and you naturally turn to correct them. I suspect that in addition, you speed up and slow down your pedalling in order to compensate for when you accidentally lean too far forward or back.
These correctional procedures form the basis of unicycling. As you develop more control, you will need to use them less (or more subtly). And when you start riding on rougher surfaces, the imbalances will not be self-induced; they will be due to the environment (rocks, bumps, ruts, mud, grass, hills, gravity). And the same correctional procedures you are perfecting now will be there for you – at your service. Because once you are off-balance, it doesn’t matter how you got there. The correction is the same.
So, keep plugging away. Sounds like you are doing great. And keep in mind that our improvements are sometimes subtle – they sneak up on us silently and slowly. And we don’t notice how much we are improving. Congratulate yourself, then go practice! Good luck.
Dave Lowell (uni57)
P.S. - Another possibility is that one foot is pedalling more forcefully than the other, but I don’t think that would produce random results. Instead, you would consistently pull to one side.
>
>You have periodic self-induced imbalances
>and you naturally turn to correct them. I suspect that in addition, you
>speed up and slow down your pedalling in order to compensate for when
>you accidentally lean too far forward or back.
I think you’re right. It was all guessing on my part, but that all
sounds about right. I like the term “periodic self-induced
imbalances”, too - PSI2. Heh heh. I’ve noticed that beer causes that
as well, even without the uni.
>P.S. - Another possibility is that one foot is pedalling more forcefully
>than the other, but I don’t think that would produce random results.
>Instead, you would consistently pull to one side.
I did notice a thing with that for about a week or so. My right foot
is stronger and I was turning left pretty consistantly. Got that
under control, which then prompted the “how should I really turn”
question.
The thing that helped me most was finding out that I can make the uni turn with my feet…
I found I could ride in a series of turns where I turn to the right as my right foot goes down and the left when the left foot goes down. After that I was able to work with my feet instead of against them.
Ah, I remember about 5 or 6 years ago when I was learning to ride. It took about a week’s worth of continuous practice to be able to ride continuously for more than 20-30 seconds. I remember trying to go in a straight line and somehow drifting to one side or another without wanting to, and I just couldn’t figure out how to fix it. I guess, all I can say is that it’ll just come naturally. Now I’m trying out how to steer when walking the wheel! I’m sorta getting it by leaning a bit, but if I just try to swerve my body, I’ll spin right off the seat, because there isn’t any grip to the vehicle, except for the bottoms of my shoes touching the tire one at a time! Good luck with your turning. And try to go in a straight line without randomely wandering off to the sides. I think that it will actually help you to learn how to turn if you can STOP yourself from turning. You’ll see what I mean…I hope.
Yes to both of you. You’re both right. Just gotta - well, I dunno.
Go practice some more, I guess. No magic answer, but just go there.
Yeah. Those feet got me for a bit, but I see what you say, too. Oh
heck. If I ride for more than 15-20 mins a night I’ll get it figured
out.
Of topic - hey Jud, you here yet? This is one great group of folks!!
>
>Ah, I remember about 5 or 6 years ago when I was learning to ride. It
>took about a week’s worth of continuous practice to be able to ride
>continuously for more than 20-30 seconds. I remember trying to go in a
>straight line and somehow drifting to one side or another without
>wanting to, and I just couldn’t figure out how to fix it. I guess, all I
>can say is that it’ll just come naturally. Now I’m trying out how to
>steer when walking the wheel! I’m sorta getting it by leaning a bit, but
>if I just try to swerve my body, I’ll spin right off the seat, because
>there isn’t any grip to the vehicle, except for the bottoms of my shoes
>touching the tire one at a time! Good luck with your turning. And try to
>go in a straight line without randomely wandering off to the sides. I
>think that it will actually help you to learn how to turn if you can
>STOP yourself from turning. You’ll see what I mean…I hope.
Unequal pressure on the pedals will cause truning. keeping all your weight on the seat will minimize the effect of unequal weight distribution…
also, keeping your back straight, head up and eyes focused far ahead of you will help alot. i couldn’t ride straight for the life of me my first week, then i looked up and it all came together.
focus your sights on where you want to go and the drifting may slowly go away.
good tip if your practising in a car park, (if there are any) try and follow the yellowline lines painted on the grund on your uni it’s good practise for going straight and turning
