Okay, two days off from work weather not to bad. I hope to learn to ride
backwards. Any hints tips or general wellwishes for a speedy recovery?
I slowly pedaled up to the curb. One of those yellow ones, caution painted all
over the rascal. From my vantage point it seemed like a 5 inch drop to the
street. Caution to the wind, I rode off the curb. The unicycle arrived on the
street before I did. My feet slipped off of the pedals as my rear collided with
the upright seat. The tire moved backwards against the “yellow” curb. Giving the
uni just the right angle to pole vault me into the street. Trying my best to
shift my weight from the sensitive parts of the male anatomy I grabbed the seat
with both hands and moaned. That is all I could do, I could not lift myself off
of the seat. So there I was at the apex of the vault, legs wrapped around the
uni moaning. Struggling to lift myself off of the seat unaware of the rapidly
approaching asphalt. Fear not gentle readers, the impact removed me from the
seat. Nothing broken, no rashes or lacerations. Sat under a tree until all was
well. Gingerly freemounted and wondered what I did wrong.
The first time I went off a small curb (3" or so) I didn't leave enough
room between the seat and my crotch. Wham, that smarts! Making yourself
a small ramp to practice with will help train your body and allow you to
generate a curb situation in a safe place. Use a piece of 3/4" plywood
12" x 48" or 12" x 24" if your okay with a fast rise. By slipping in
2x4's under one end you can create a ramp starting at 2-1/4"
incrementing 1-1/2" for each additional 2x4" you add. If the blocks move
around too much use duct tape or nails to secure them. Ride throught
this ramp as if it wasn't there. Just prior to dropping, making sure to
lift yourself off the seat to provide a small amount of clearance
between the seat and you know what. As gravity accelerates both you and
the unicycle towards the landing spot, weight on the pedals will
decrease creating the feeling of the uni falling away. You need to have
pedals with a good bite to prevent slippage when you land. BMX bear
trap, shark bite or Shimano BMX are good choices. Since the uni has only
the compression of the tire to break the shock of suddenly deccelerating
you'll need to add some negative spring with you knees and angles. Don't
allow yourself to use more distance than you have seat clearance or it
will hurt. Make sure to ride over the ramp many times from different
starting positions to train yourself to be able to land with the crank
in all positions. Go at different speeds too. Add height as you feel
comfortable. You can go up to 10-12" with a 48" ramp. Good luck.
>Okay, two days off from work weather not to bad. I hope to learn to ride >backwards. Any hints tips or general wellwishes for a speedy recovery?
>I slowly pedaled up to the curb. One of those yellow ones, caution painted all >over the rascal. From my vantage point it seemed like a 5 inch drop to the >street. Caution to the wind, I rode off the curb. The unicycle arrived on the >street before I did. My feet slipped off of the pedals as my rear collided with >the upright seat. The tire moved backwards against the “yellow” curb. Giving >the uni just the right angle to pole vault me into the street. Trying my best >to shift my weight from the sensitive parts of the male anatomy I grabbed the >seat with both hands and moaned. That is all I could do, I could not lift >myself off of the seat. So there I was at the apex of the vault, legs wrapped >around the uni moaning. Struggling to lift myself off of the seat unaware of >the rapidly approaching asphalt. Fear not gentle readers, the impact removed me >from the seat. Nothing broken, no rashes or lacerations. Sat under a tree until >all was well. Gingerly freemounted and wondered what I did wrong.