i’m quite a new rider, trying to train both physical and mental to be able to ride distance.
the story is , now i’m able to ride 300m distance. but after a while the muscle above my knees start to get sore and this is usually the reason i unmount.
i need some advice about what to think or how should i treat the sore on my muscle ???
should my thought be something similar to running in a marathon ;keep running ,look forward and keep peddling… ???
I’m a 3 week beginner. riding on a nimbus2 24" with 125crank
New riders never put enough weight in the saddle so wear out your legs prematurely.
I used to chant “weight in the saddle” repeatedly when I was first riding
As for thinking you need to get to a point where you don’t think about the mechanics of riding as your muscle memory does it all for you (other than spotting bumps and things and adjusting for those) then you can start the mental pushing through the physically demanding things like hill climbs etc.
Once you have learnt to ride Unicycling is then similar to Buddhism, you don’t think about what you need to do or what not to do to achieve (unicycling) enlightenment as you will detract yourself and never reach it, instead be mindful of the moment and relax
Also, a beginner riding a 24" with 125mm cranks does not sound nice. When I first started to ride I had 165’s on a 26. I feel that right now you don’t have enough torque. Considering you’ve not been riding for long you really need that torque to make all the big corrections you’ll innevitably have to make with your current experience. So yes, in essence, I’d say your cranks are too short…
I always stretch prior to a ride and realize that it takes about 10 + mins to warm up. Then its just auto pilot and fun. Pic a point in the distance that you can ride to and back and increase it each time you ride. Your muscles will adapt. Also put your weight on the seat and relax and enjoy the ride.
I’m just 5 weeks in myself. I rode 4 miles last weekend and it was glorious. What they say is true, the less you think about it, the easier it is. I can’t imagine how fast you must spin on 125s! I have 150s and if there is ever a time I have to think about what I am doing, it is to slow down my spinning and enjoy the ride.
You might also try raising your seat a smidge during the ride and see if that helps any. I know once I got mounting and slow stuff down and actually started riding, my seat was way too low for distance. My knees let me know they weren’t happy. Plus, it was actually easier to balance with the seat higher. Just remember that the first time you mount/dismount, there is extra clearance height of the seat you may not be quite used to dealing with.
Seriously, I still suffer from the tyranny of vertical poles as I cannot free mount yet. So I am thinking about how far back the last upright was and continuously scan for the next vertical.
I started out on a 24" quax, 127mm in june this year. Now I can keep riding 3+ hours non-stop. That beeing said, I too suffered the same sore muscles. Just keep working at it, and it will gradually get better.
I have lots of thoughts during ride unicycle… But most of the time I enjoying sunrise, fresh breeze from sea and feeling of riding unicycle
Sometimes I thinking about holding hands along body or tilting forth and back…
Going uphill or downhill making me think about everything all together (hold seat, lean forward, balance with hand, feel the balance, do not hurry up etc) and some time I UPD because of too much “ideas how to do it better” :o
Also, very similar to HudsonAktau.
I think how lovely it is to be able to hear the birds tweeting as I go along. I think about what position I am sat on the unicycle, cos it’s usually a bad one. I try to correct it, and then upd
Then, on the odd occassion I just go off into a day dream and start thinking about all kind of things. I call this my ‘auto pilot’. Hubby has been following behind me on his b*ke when I have gone into one of these autopilot moments and he says that my riding technique actually improves. So maybe I need to ‘drift off’ more often
Still after ten or so years of riding, every now and then, I have this sort of meta-reflection where I think, “how is it possibe to ride this thing? How am I doing this? This is insanity!”
