Nick-Name: King Uni-Man
Uni-Name: Red Kabouter
Total Days: 10
Total time in the Saddle: 11.5 hours
Injuries: None, though two backwards falls
Moral: Extremely High
Problem Area(s): Distracted by spectators
New Progress: Rides solo 50 feet
My son is now a Unicyclist or as he likes to say ,“King Uni-man”. Two days ago he started riding from me to his mother and sister. He started with 5 and 10 foot runs but yesterday he was averaging 30 to 50 foot runs!
He has been riding really well with me spotting him. I could tell that he had his balance most of the time. He would let go and ride, but then start grabbing for me which caused him to fall to the right. So here’s what I did: I told him that if he felt his balance and let go, he should ride as long as he felt his balance and then jump off the front. Guess what… he stopped letting go :(. He told me it was because he was fierce- he meant to say he was afraid. So I told him I would run out in front of him and grab him. This worked okay, but not great. So we went back to him riding from me to my wife and he rolled about 30 feet on his first try which really excited him. He kept doing it and getting between 30 and 50 feet of controlled ride.
He made a game out of this calling it, ‘Uni Tag’. He lets go of me and tries to ‘tag’ my wife. She backs up as he approaches and he follows her. He also is able to turn to the left and right to follow her.
It’s been a lot of fun teaching my kids and watching them develop their skills. My daughter and I have been riding for just over a two months now.
Yesterday I MUni’d! It was my first and really a lot of fun. I rode for two miles and today my quads are pretty sore. The track started flat, got really hilly, and then flattened out again. It was hard packed dirt and a good place for a beginner. I UPD’d only two times on the way in, and about six times on the way out - I was tired! I did one really cool thing; I was pedaling really hard to get up a steep hill and it immediately went down on the other side. I went from pedal hard to no pedaling, just resisting the downward forces. I almost lost it, but didn’t (yea!). I was grinning from ear-to-ear
My wife made a nice slip of the tongue yesterday. She was talking about my son and I MUni-ing together next summer and said that she and our daughter could ride together…, “she and our daughter”… hmmmm… my wife doesn’t ride a Uni, but I guess she will join us soon!
nice one!!
where did the ‘red kabouter’ nick for the uni come from?
being from south africa and speaking afrikaans, i recognise it as the word for dwarf
quite suitable for a 16 incher i’m sure
i’m just curious to find out if u have a dutch or flemish backround
GILD wrote:
>
> nice one!!
> where did the ‘red kabouter’ nick for the uni come from?
> being from south africa and speaking afrikaans, i recognise it as the
> word for dwarf
> quite suitable for a 16 incher i’m sure
> i’m just curious to find out if u have a dutch or flemish backround
My son came up with the name. My wife’s family immigrated to America
from the Netherlands, and thus we have some Dutch influence in our
family.
Jason Neumann wrote:
>
> GILD wrote:
> >
> > nice one!!
> > where did the ‘red kabouter’ nick for the uni come from?
> > being from south africa and speaking afrikaans, i recognise it as the
> > word for dwarf
> > quite suitable for a 16 incher i’m sure
> > i’m just curious to find out if u have a dutch or flemish backround
>
> My son came up with the name. My wife’s family immigrated to America
> from the Netherlands, and thus we have some Dutch influence in our
> family.
>
> My favorite infulence bering Janaver.
GILD,
Doh! I meant to say Jenever. Must have had too much Jenever!
GILD wrote:
>
> jenever? = gin?
> or a brand of beer?
>
> does your daughter still have her ‘zen-moments’ or r they blurring into
> one long uni-zen experience yet?
>
jenever = gin, (but goes good with a beer )
It’s blurred into one long uni-zen experience. She can go all over the
place now! She freemounts every time in 1-3 tries, and has amazing
balance- posture is good and her wobble is minimal. She very rarely
UPD’s. The other day she decided she was going to nail her freemount, so
she didn’t stop practicing until she did 30 of them! She’s got it. I
think the freemount has really increased the enjoyment of Unicycling for
her because she doesn’t have to rely on anyone ride. I’m really happy
for her and I think it’s really cool that both my children are
developing a love of something that they can share together and with me
(and my wife hint,hint ).
Yesterday both the kids were in front of our house riding figure eight’s
around each other! Our son developed his turning yesterday while I was
at work, and he’s got it down. She was riding in really tight circles
last night which looked cool but difficult. She was really pleased with
it. We didn’t catch any video of them last night, but we did the other
day and will again. These are moments that we will all look back on
fondly as a family.
Also, I had posted the other day about my first real MUni experience. I
had cycled on some dirt before, but never on a mountain cycle track. I
think it could become addictive.
So I told him I would run out in front of him and grab him. This worked okay, but not great. So we went back to him riding from me to my wife and he rolled about 30 feet on his first try which really excited him.