What to do to stop falling sideways?

[JustOneWheel]

Falling off sideways is easy to correct. It means your forward momentum is stopping or stopped. All you need to do is keep yourself sitting up straight but with a slight lean forward, lead with your chin and chest don’t bend at the waist. Stay loose and look forward.
Just like a bike, if your momentum stops or is stopping your coming off to one side or another.

Have FUN!

Adam

[Wheel_Rider]

@billnye

Wheel Rider:

The point isn’t that wobble is preferable, exactly… just that it’s a) not something a new rider will be able to eliminate or even control and b) riding along wobbly is more “informative” than falling off straight. Wobbliness in the wheel IS very natural, and it takes an entirely different frame of mind to eliminate it altogether, as skrobo alluded to by listing riders known for being able to ride very skinny objects in a straight line.

The other benefit to allowing the wobble is that your body starts to “catch on” eventually, and learn to initiate the wobble under its own control, sometimes providing a smooth learning path into turning at the same time as learning to ride straighter.

Enjoy your new wheel

billnye
John M

I think we agree on this. While big wobbles are not the prefered method for riding, it does allow new riders to get started. As a rider gets better the wobbles get smaller and the line gets straighter.

However, and this may just depend on what your/my definition of a “straight line” is, I still say that even joe campbell, ryan atkins, mark fabian, etc, etc… cannot ride a perfectly straight line. Their lines are almost straight. Even while riding a skinny, there is going to be some side-to-side movement of the tire in order to maintain balance. Granted, they have to limit the side-to-side movement to be less than the combined width of the tire and the skinny.

[billnye]

@Wheel Rider

[…] I still say that even joe campbell, ryan atkins, mark fabian, etc, etc… cannot ride a perfectly straight line.

The tendency is still for the wheel to wobble, no matter how advanced the rider, but there’s no requirement that it do so. In order to keep the wheel moving straighter and straighter, two factors come into play: better balance/less wobble in the first place, and different balance methods/counterwobble which usually takes place in the upper body, leading to the kind of “ship ahoy” arm-waving Kris Holm often displays when riding a skinny.

I’m not able to manage anything even approaching a REALLY straight line, but I’m fairly sure that it’s down to my own incompetency, not any law of nature

“riding wide-ys”,

billnye
John M

[monocyclism]

@smivera

Hi, I recently started learn to unicycle. Now I can ride about 10-15 ft without holding on the wall, but after 10-15 ft I start to fall either left or right. Coud you please suggest, what can I do besides of swinging my arms? It does not help much… Thanks!

Is this any help?

Zero to Hero...Hour 5

[smivera]

Thanks!

@monocyclism

Is this any help?

YouTube - Zero to Hero…Hour 5

Yes!
Thanks a lot!
I did this side to side movement today and I was able to ride about 30 ft instead of my usual 15 - several times in row! Probably I looked weird doing “latino hips” and waving my arms but I guess that short plump 43-yrs old lady on unicycle looks weird enough anyway, so I do not care, just enjoy the ride.
When I started fall to the left, I even managed to correct it and stay upright again, and then I fell to the right , non-reversible this time:-)
It is really surprising how little I needed for happiness: just let go off the wall:-)