I got my first Uni to learn on in hopes of getting to the point where I can get a MUni to ride at the local trail system. I told my wife I was making progress and she said with a funny expression on her face, “Honey, what are you doing? I am embarrassed to tell people what you are up to.” Funny! She said, “it was fine to tell people that I was big into mountain biking, that that was kind of cool, but unicycling? That just seems kind of dorky.” What fun!
I have a question. At what point to you know you are ready to start trail riding? I know for sure I am not now, but I wondered what I need to be able to do before I even attempt to go out and embarrass myself on the trail.
Oh, by the way, the reason I got into this in the first place was to be able to go out the trails with my wife and daughters and it be fun for all of us. Hopefully one day I will get to that point. Right now it seems like a long way out.
My wife said either the unicycles went or she would. I’ll miss her.
(Well, it’s an old joke, but relevant.)
Get out on the trail as soon as possible. Go for distance, and occasionally divert across something more challenging. Learn to ride with rhythm. When you can start talking in terms of “I did 3 miles today” and you start naturally choosing the narrower path at each junction, it will suddenly seem like a cool hobby.
You need to lose any sense of embarrassment;). Once you can ride across some rough ground then hit the trails and practice. To start with people will snigger, but it doesn’t take long before the sniggering turns to amazement. Hardcore mountain bikers will be impressed and want to have their photo taken with you
The hard bit is getting started when it feels as impossible to you as it looks to them!
Agree. Even if you are quite good, people will think you are a dork and/or just plain crazy. They will only change their minds if they see you riding trails or rough terrain while still keeping control over your uni.
You will become better soon and I recommend to ride trails as soon as possible. Before that you should only be able to ride, hop up curbs and hopping for balance corrections.
I started riding EASY trails about two weeks after I got the hang of unicycling. I recommend just going for it. Find a fire road that’s wide and fairly smooth. I still can’t hop up a curb but as long as I can roll over and drop off of roots and other obstacles I can ride most any moderate trail. Since you already mountain bike, riding uphill shouldn’t be a big deal for your muscles and lungs.
I ride my 24" on trails with my husband and dogs. They all walk and I ride. I go faster than them on the downhills but on steep climbs we are pretty even paced. It’s fun. I like holding onto the dogs while riding. It even helps on some uphills. I know I’m a cheater.
Face it, you’re a dork. So embrace your inner dork! For dorkiness comes from within. It’s not being on a unicycle that makes you a dork, that’s only someone else’s perception. It’s wanting to ride a unicycle and actually doing it that makes you a dork.
In other words, you were already a dork. There’s nothing you can do about it. Also, once you’re riding the unicycle on rough terrain, you stop being a dork again (at least on the outside). I know, it doesn’t make sense but it’s true. The hard part about getting there is all that flat-ground riding you have to do to get ready for the rough stuff.
When to start on the dirt? Immediately. One of my earliest goals in learning to ride was being able to ride down my driveway, and go about 100’ down my own, unpaved street, to the paved street where I would practice. That didn’t take long. It wasn’t long after that I was riding the whole length of that dirt road, and beyond.
Curbs are good for practicing, as they have a uniform size & shape. You can start with small ones and work up to larger ones. There’s riding off, rolling up the small ones, hopping up, then hopping up the big ones. Have fun with it and don’t worry about looking like a dork…
You know, my wife had a very similar opinion. (It only got better when she found out what I paid for my KH36! )
Then, I finally persuaded her to try it, and she’s been working on learning off and on for a while. She really needs to go outside and prax in our driveway or a tennis court, but she refuses because she doesn’t want to look like a dork falling down.
My wife is convinced that I am a Grade One Dork and have been in that state for the past 2 years. It’s nice to hear I’m in good company.
The best way to learn Muni is to JUST do it. Start on easy trails and progress to rougher hilly terrain. Practice riding with one hand holding the seat. This can give more control in hilly sections and rough tracks.
The Dork factor is much better if you can ride with a group. With group riding you can get help with free mounting and also get general advice. You can also ride in pairs with a Muni Group.
I ride with a large group in the hills of Northern England. It’s JUST great. We organise Beginner-Muni rides and invite all abilities of all ages on any wheel size. We also invite bikes and walkers to join in. It’s really popular.
This has been so successful that there have been large groups of Dork spotted riding on the local hills and forests. Land Owners have been concerned over the growing number of Dork and have been organising a cull.
This has been partially successful for the Land Owners who have managed to pick off the slower and weaker of the Dork species. However this has left a hardy core of Dork with faster and more skillful riding abilities. They have been seen to leap barbed wire fences and handle 6 foot drop-off’s with Gazelle-like ease.
So - yes I would definitely advise Group-Muni rides if you can. The Wife-Dork thing is more tricky. Chocolates, Flowers and romantic weekends away sometimes help. (but don’t tell Wifey)
She’s a dorkette by association. I persuaded mine to try it as well but she’s not as comfortable being a dork as I am. After-all, I’ve been a dork far longer than she. She doesn’t practice nearly often enough and therefore isn’t overcoming that dorky wobble new unicyclers so often have.
I hope I haven’t cut short a perfectly good seat post for nothing!
Hmmm, I wonder if I could get some of my dorklets to ride with me instead…
Oh ya, to the OP:
Get out there asap and make an arse of yourself riding over everything you can and more stuff that you can’t. If you find something you can’t ride over, keep trying until you do it or until your allocated ride time is over for the day. It seems kind of silly to walk back on a trail over and over and over trying the same impossible bit of terrain but that’s the best way to learn.
You guys are awesome! Thanks for the great responses and encouragement. I am really looking forward to getting out there on the trails. I have a birthday coming up next month and a MUni is the only thing on my list. What kind of protective gear do I need?
Welcome to the uni crowd. You’re gonna love Muni.
Rockgarden makes some nice shin / knee guards. You may also want to consider elbow pads, and wrist guards.
a pair of soccer guards worn backwards will protect the back of your legs from pedal bites.
You sound a lot like me, although my wife usually supports dorky behavior even more than I do! But anyway…
I started several months ago in my suburban neighborhood on my learner uni.
I felt fairly dorky learning in front of all my neighbors.
But now I’ve got my muni and I feel a lot cooler, and I think I get more cool reactions from people.
I just started riding trails a few weeks ago, and have only gone twice so far. I’ve only ridden one flat trail.
I got the confidence to ride trails once I could ride straight, turn fairly well both ways, and free mount ok. My first trail ride gave me a ton more confidence.
You might be interested in my blog to see how I progressed, which might be similar to you.
MUniOrBust - Nice blog. That is a good way to stay motivated that is for sure. My problem at this point seems to be finding any extra time to work on my riding skills. Dang responsibilities!
Hey, how much protection is needed on the back of my legs? Do the SixSixOnes provide protection back there?
I got the “you’ll look funny, odd, etc” from my girlfriend. You know what, I don’t really care what anyone thinks of how I look, as long as I’m having fun, I’ll be happy. Besides if it’s that bad that my friends and family don’t want to be around me while I’m having fun doing something I want to do and enjoy myself, then I really don’t want to be associated with those people at all. People who look down on someone having a fun time obviously don’t know how to have fun or don’t desire to have fun, and should go off and pester someone else who doesn’t want to have fun.
Sorry about the long windedness, but I look at looks are one thing (there’s plenty of booze to solve that one ), personality is another (again more booze ), being human is preferred over a pain in the rear.(thanks for the dilusion of alcoholic beverages )
Besides, looks only last a few years, then old age sets in, and then the memory goes, and then the memory goes, and then, what was the point I was talking about Oh well
Funny! She said, “it was fine to tell people that I was big into mountain biking, that that was kind of cool, but unicycling? That just seems kind of dorky.” What fun! 
)