I am a level 1 unicyclist ive been unicycling for 3 days now and i have learned 2 freemount… I have been advised 2 start learning tricks emediatly what should the first trick be? whats a good first/ starting trick? and how would i do it (tips for the preformance of the beforemetioned trick)
thanks for the help
warren
Hop prity self explainatory
somthing more alaborate…i can hop already please post some more…
Idle.
Ride off curbs.
Backwards spin.
I started with riding one footed, then I learned to 180, then riding backwards.
riding one footed is one of the most basic skills, I highly recommend learning that first…then after that, either backwards riding, or idling.
do whatever makes you make happy. ive always done tricks that i wanted just cause i wanted them.
I think seat out front/back riding is a good one to learn, it is fairly easy too. One footed idling/riding is also a good spot to start. Personally, I learnt to ride backwards first (after fowards I mean)
im really having trouble riding one footed. Anyone have any good advice on how to practice doing it?
I had a rough time at first.
You can start by riding two footed. Let the one leg just ride on the pedal without and push. it will give you a sense of the rhythm, which is a little different.
When I was learning to take a foot off, ayt I first didn’t put my foot all the way on the crown, just pressed it on the frame hight enough to me out of the way of the pedal. This way it was real easy to get right back on the pedal! I put my arms straight out like a scarecrow for balance and focused straight ahead. I always started from riding two footed, not off wall or free mounting into one footed.
My thoughts were definitely on the PUSH of the pedal down to give the wheel enough momentum to come around. I can do it pretty well now, not in figure eights, but I am learning to turn. I remember starting I’d only be able to do like 1/2 or 3/4 rev for some time. It took a lot of practice to make hat wheel go all the way around. A little speed is a help, not fast, but some.
Also I;d suggest developing Left and right simultaneously because both are needed for the levels past 4 I think. Just take turns lefty righty.
Good luck!
Practice on the smoothest surface you have access to.
I was having difficulty learning one foot riding. I was practicing on asphalt pavement and not making any progress. Then I went to a local uni meet and got access to the gym. Once I got in the gym I found that I was able to ride one footed by the end of the day. The gym floor has much less rolling resistance so it is much easier to get the pedal all the way around when one foot riding. Once you learn how to do one foot riding you’ll be able to do it on pavement parking lots with no problem. But when learning it is best to find a gym or a smooth patch of concrete or a tennis court. The smoother the better.
There are some tips for one foot riding here. I learned to ride one footed before I learned to one foot idle. Some people learn the other way around. Once I learned how to ride one footed the one foot idle was easy. Before I learned to ride one footed the one foot idle was impossible. Probably works the same way in reverse for those who learn the one foot idle first.
that was the first thing i learned. dont practice putting the stray foot on the frame at first, just let it hang in space. later when you want to learn transition to gliding, its more helpful to put it on the frame though.
Wow! the “T Word” and no flame war! We must all be getting old.
Not “tricks”, but technical skills with a particular suitability for impressing an audience.
Idling is the single most useful skill after freemounting. Idling expands your riding horizons. Idling brings control in crowds, in traffic, in forests, in peformances. Idling is part of mounting, reversing, manoeuvring. Work hard at idling. That is my eidel-adweiss.
A person can ride a unicycle - she impresses her friends.
She learns to freemount - she feels like she’s becoming a unicyclist.
She learns to idle and she knows she’s a unicyclist.
Whether your particular demon leads you to freestyle, trials, MUni or distance (or any other pew in this broad church) you need to be able to idle comfortably for long periods, with either foot down.
First “trick” to amuse and impress? The one foot idle - be it ever so briefly.
Have fun.
i learned idling after freemounting. it’s a very handy skill to learn. hopping will keep you on the spot but it’s tiresome, in my opinion less graceful and can’t be done on a giraffe (unless you’re brave, i suppose).
start by going forwards, doing one half-pedal backwards then continuing. you should use your strongest foot for the idle to start off with (so it’s at the back when you start the trick). a list of difficulties and how to surmount them:
once you get that, it’s a simple task to add more idles in.
permit me to strongly disagree with this. fixing the foot to the frame helps with both dimensions of balance, particularly front-back, and guarantees it out of the way of the pedals. one foot extended is a more advanced procedure for when you want to make sure people notice your unipedal predicament.
Try several at once, and learn whichever one comes easiest first, but learn them all!
^^^This here is good advice ^^^. Mix it up and keep it fun!
One more important skill
This isn’t exactly a trick, but a skill and an important one. Sounds like you picked it up VERY fast, so although you may have fantabulous riding skills for a less than one-weeker, you probably don’t have the experience UPDing that the rest of us had endured by the time we reached level 1.
The critical element of the UPD is that of suprise. It may or may not suprise onlookers but it MUST suprise you, the rider, or else it isn’t unplanned.
The step off can be done in many ways. It can even look like a planned dismount. A modification is if you have enough speed then you have to run it out. These are low-impact UPDs and are generally reserved for moments when the pity factor is expected to be low. This is a good one to master because it definitely has its place in all forms of unicycling, except perhaps mUni, where more spectacular UPD displays are apparently a must. I am just a beginning mUnicyclist.
The more advanced UPDs involve other points of contact between the body, ground and even the unicycle. You may have unwittingly attempted some of these high risk skills. The Infamous James_Potter has recently landed a high speed Coker-related UPD making contact with the ground in at least three places. I was just reading a thread where the eloquent Mikefule endured a UPD involving his chin. Myself, I have mastered the buttocks-wrist combo and have even earned my place in the emergency room, but only once.
Enjoy learning other tricks, but none match the daring, finesse, and spectacle of an effective UPD.
oh, a very easy and classy trick is the jump mount. as long as you’re confident freemounting, this should pose only the problem of, ‘how badly does it hurt if i miss?’ the answer, in all my experience, is not at all.
you can then do the rolling mount, which gives a nice element of surprise - one minute, you’re walking along with your unicycle, the next, you’re riding it. from a standstill, i tend to start with cranks horizontal with the right facing me, and my left foot forward. then, walk forward and jump on after one revolution. remember to adjust for the fact that where you’ll land on the pedals is not where you saw them last, and to pedal straight away.
all of you have been a great help and give great advice… i have had little experience in things unicycle…but i have had my share of upds but they wernt that bad in the grand scope of things…i run most of them off but on the second day of unicycling i was mounting off a street sing and my foot somehow managed 2 get stuck in the spokes …well you could guess a hard fall on the hands…now i have wrist guards… and havnt rode without them again…
Good plan!
It sounds like you’re doing fantastic. Good for you. Check out the new years unicycle resolution thread. Make a few goals for yourseld and see if you can follow through on your first uni-year!