So, recently I was finishing a nice MUni ride in the mountains outside of Lyons, CO, and I started heading down the wrong path back to my car. Without thinking I did a hop with a 90 degree twist to put myself on the right path. When I say without thinking what I mean is that after I did it I realized that I had hopped without holding my seat!
Alright, so it’s not a big trick. The incredible thing for me is that my mind was only on my car, the unicycling was just happening. Since that day I have tried to do it a couple of times and failed.
It’s a lot harder than I remember; although, to be fair when I think back to the original moment all I remember is where my car was.
Sometimes the best way to do things is not to think about them. Having something to divert the attention of the brain off to something different (such as your car) can fool the body in to just doing things without being told what it can or can’t do.
I’ve seen beginners that struggle to control exactly where to ride start to play unicycle hockey. Now, because they are thinking about position, the ball, the stick and other players, their unicycle seems to behave a lot better then when their brain is in control.
I attempted a very similar hop without holding my seat, also without thinking about it. I, very suddenly, found myself inspecting the dirt. My wrists still bother me from it. :o
