wheel walking

system · July 29, 1998, 2:41pm

I have been trying to learn how to wheelwalk for almost months now. Its just not
working! Riding 1 footed and backwards came naturally to me so I thought that
wheelwalking would come to me natural too but boy was I wrong! Any tips are
highly appreciated.

JamiKate ‘UniKate’

ps. does anyone have any more tips on getting more people involved in a
unicycle club?

system · July 31, 1998, 2:08am

Re: wheel walking

JamiKate@aol.com wrote:
> I have been trying to learn how to wheelwalk for almost months now. Its just
> not working! Riding 1 footed and backwards came naturally to me so I thought
> that wheelwalking would come to me natural too but boy was I wrong! Any tips
> are highly appreciated.

Wheelwalking is very different to normal riding - just in case you hadn’t
noticed.

The main tip that helped me was to lean back more than you think you need to. It
feels very precarious at first but if you lean too far forward, you end up going
too fast - wheelwalking needs to be (comparatively) slow.

One thing to consider - falls during wheelwalking can (and do) hurt. There is a
high risk of falling backwards and it’s much less likely that you’ll land on
your feet. Just trust me on this one. :-}

Anyways, have fun with it - it’s not an easy thing to learn but that just
increases the sense of achievement when you can do it.

> ps. does anyone have any more tips on getting more people involved in a
> unicycle club?

Advertise.
Keep the current members interested - games, workshops etc.
Get enough unicycles for newbies to learn on. Make sure one of the unicycles
is small enough for a young child to ride. Make sure one of the unicycles is
big enough for an adult to ride.
Maybe expand the scope to include jugglers - OK, sometimes they get in the
way but they make great obstacles for practising those turns.

Regards, Mark.

system · August 1, 1998, 7:14am

Re: wheel walking

I’m just learning wheel walking myself, but I would make these suggestions:

your arms are very important! You don’t have the pedals to help you correct
your balance. You may think it looks stupid riding with your arms out and
fingers together (I did), but it’s what you need to do. Start with boths
arms horizontal and fingers together, arms out to the side. If you start to
fall to the left, slowly move your right arm out in front, keeping it
horizontal. Do the opposite if you start falling to the left.
Make sure you are comfortably balanced over the axle, hips and shoulders in
line with the seat post. I like to think to myself “get your shoulders
back”. You may not have them back as far as you think. You may also have to
adjust your seat to get the right feel.
Where unicycle shorts (you can call them bike shorts if you want). Loose
shorts get in the way and bind against front of your legs. You don’t want
to keep pulling at your pants during your many attempts - besides, you need
to have those arms out!
Practice walking around a pole instead of against a wall. This allows you
to keep your position better until your ready to let go. I practice in
the garage around a floor jack, not the kind you jack up a car with, the
kind that holds up the house. Go to a basket ball court. Those poles work
well, too.
Watch someone else do it. I was inspired by the “Unicycling Skills Levels”
video I got from the USA. It’s not really an instructional video, although
there are some tips - after I saw it I thought, “Just do it! It looks as
comfortable as sitting in a chair. All you need to do is stay balanced over
the axle.” Before I got this tape, I couldn’t imagine how to do more than
one mount. Now I’m up to 14!
Try it over, and over, and over, . . ., and over. Determination is the most
important factor.

As for getting your club going, I suggest you ride everywhere you can and take
your uni wherever you go. Get a second uni if you don’t have one - that way
you can keep riding and attracting attention while your prospective members
get hooked.

                                                            Don Christman

JamiKate@aol.com wrote in message <1736a30f.35bf971b@aol.com>…
>I have been trying to learn how to wheelwalk for almost months now. Its
just
>not working! Riding 1 footed and backwards came naturally to me so I
thought
>that wheelwalking would come to me natural too but boy was I wrong! Any
tips
>are highly appreciated.
>
>JamiKate ‘UniKate’
>
>ps. does anyone have any more tips on getting more people involved in a
> unicycle club?

system · August 1, 1998, 3:15pm

Re: wheel walking

JamiKate@aol.com wrote:

> I have been trying to learn how to wheelwalk for almost months now. Its just
> not working! Riding 1 footed and backwards came naturally to me so I thought
> that wheelwalking would come to me natural too but boy was I wrong! Any tips
> are highly appreciated.
>
> JamiKate ‘UniKate’
>

It took me all summer last year to figure out wheel walking. Don’t give up. Some
of the kids in my club have been trying to master it also. Some of the advice I
have given them is:

If you feel as if you are going to fall backwards you are sitting just about
right. It is a very, very fine line between balancing and falling on your
… When I was learning I always wore wrist guards so all those times you
fall backward and attempt to catch your self you don’t hurt your wrists.
I found the heel was the most important contact point. As your foot pushes
the wheel make sure your heel stays in strong contact with the wheel until
your next foot is on the wheel and pushing. I found many times when I would
mess up while learning I had almost started idling using my heel on the
wheel. (Can’t do it when I try…must be one of those learning mistakes).
After practicing wheel walking for a while the back of your shoe should be
well worn.
Keep practicing. I got to the point of going about 10 feet regularly and
couldn’t go any further, then one day while demonstrating different skills to
a family member, all of a sudden I went about 40-50 feet. Just like any other
skill … all of a sudden it will “click” and off you go.

Good Luck,

> ps. does anyone have any more tips on getting more people involved in a
> unicycle club?

–
To reply to me click on your REPLY option and remove the NO.SPAM. from my
address. This is supposed to help reduce spam since the “reply to” is where the
spammers get all there addresses from. We’ll give it a try.
uniclown@mcleodusa.net

system · August 1, 1998, 7:24am

Re: wheel walking

DxChristman wrote in message <6pv7tu$3ta$1@news1.fast.net>…
>I’m just learning wheel walking myself, but I would make these suggestions:
>
> 1) your arms are very important! You don’t have the pedals to help you
> correct your balance. You may think it looks stupid riding with your arms
> out and fingers together (I did), but it’s what you need to do. Start with
> boths arms horizontal and fingers together, arms out to the side. If you
> start to fall to the left, slowly move your
right

^ Oops! I meant to say “left arm” . . .

>arm out in front, keeping it horizontal. Do the opposite if you start falling
>to the left.
^ Yeah, I meant right here . . . I guess i should have
re-read it BEFOR I posted!
>
> 2) Make sure you are comfortably balanced over the axle, hips and shoulders
> in line with the seat post. I like to think to myself "get your shoulders
> back". You may not have them back as far as you think. You may also have
> to adjust your seat to get the right feel.
>
> 3) Where unicycle shorts (you can call them bike shorts if you want). Loose
> shorts get in the way and bind against front of your legs. You don’t want
> to keep pulling at your pants during your many attempts - besides, you
> need to have those arms out!
>
> 4) Practice walking around a pole instead of against a wall. This allows you
> to keep your position better until your ready to let go. I practice in the
> garage around a floor jack, not the kind you jack up a car with, the kind
> that holds up the house. Go to a basket ball court. Those poles work well,
> too.
>
> 5) Watch someone else do it. I was inspired by the “Unicycling Skills Levels”
> video I got from the USA. It’s not really an instructional video, although
> there are some tips - after I saw it I thought, "Just do it! It looks as
> comfortable as sitting in a chair. All you need to do is stay balanced
> over the axle." Before I got this tape, I couldn’t imagine how to do more
> than one mount. Now I’m up to 14!
>
> 5) Try it over, and over, and over, . . ., and over. Determination is the
> most important factor.
>
>
>As for getting your club going, I suggest you ride everywhere you can and take
>your uni wherever you go. Get a second uni if you don’t have one - that way
>you can keep riding and attracting attention while your prospective members
>get hooked.
>
> Don Christman
>
>JamiKate@aol.com wrote in message <1736a30f.35bf971b@aol.com>…
>>I have been trying to learn how to wheelwalk for almost months now. Its
>just
>>not working! Riding 1 footed and backwards came naturally to me so I
>thought
>>that wheelwalking would come to me natural too but boy was I wrong! Any
>tips
>>are highly appreciated.
>>
>>JamiKate ‘UniKate’
>>
>>ps. does anyone have any more tips on getting more people involved in a
>> unicycle club?
>
>

system · August 9, 1998, 11:01am

Re: wheel walking

JamiKate@aol.com wrote in message <1736a30f.35bf971b@aol.com>…
>I have been trying to learn how to wheelwalk for almost months now. Its
just
>not working! Riding 1 footed and backwards came naturally to me so I
thought
>that wheelwalking would come to me natural too but boy was I wrong! Any
tips
>are highly appreciated.
>

I finally had a wheel-walking breakthrough the other night. I’ve been starting
from a wall or fence on my right side, but a few days ago when I was
practicing my usual fence and wall were taken. I tried it with a wall on my
left side, but it didn’t feel right. After a while I gave up on the wall and
started wheel walking from an idle. Within 5 minutes I had 2 record rides, and
I’ve nearly doubled my record in the 3 days since. Also, my average ride has
increased a lot.

What I do is idle slowly with small arcs, sitting up straight. I move the wheel
forward, then stop and put my first foot on the wheel. Since I’m stopped, I’m
balanced correctly for the ride. I push forward with my first foot, bring up the
other one, and I’m on my way.

I’m not sure when the best time to give up on the wall is. I could do 3 steps in
the open a couple of years ago, but only found a few days ago that I could cover
some distance. I had stagnated at the point where my long runs were about 16-24
steps, with a lot of shorter ones. Since I started mounting in the open, my
record has gone up to 44 steps, and I expect it to increase rapidly. I’m now to
the point where I can think about things like posture and footing, although I’m
still balancing a lot with my upper body, so I’d definitely get some points off
in standard skill.

BTW, the points that others have made, like leaning back also helped a lot, and
I’m finally understanding the benefits of following through with your push and
going slowly.

Beirne

system · August 10, 1998, 3:23am

Re: wheel walking

beirne@neo.lrun.com wrote:
> What I do is idle slowly with small arcs, sitting up straight. I move the
> wheel forward, then stop and put my first foot on the wheel. Since I’m
> stopped, I’m balanced correctly for the ride. I push forward with my first
> foot, bring up the other one, and I’m on my way.

This sounds very similar to the way I learnt to wheelwalk. I would idle
one-footed and use my left foot (on the frame) to grip the wheel and make the
first push as I brought my right foot off the pedal for the second push.

Regards, Mark.