You will find with the more you wheel walk the less pressure you will put on the
tyre, hence it comes less tiring. In fact it get to the stage where you don’t
bother to touch the tyre at for some steps.
Roger
The UK's Unicycle Source <a href="http://www.unicycle.uk.com/">http://www.unicycle.uk.com/</a>
----- Original Message ----- From: “Nicholas Price” <NPRICE@rsbs.anu.edu.au> To:
<unicycling@winternet.com> Sent: Monday, October 09, 2000 3:50 AM Subject:
Wheelwalking - unusually tiring
> Sorry to steal the previous subject line > > This weekend I decided to work seriously on my wheelwalking. I can comfortably > go 10 m and remount about 75% of the time. However, I notice that my thighs > are really tense, and I need to apply a lot of downward pressure on the tyre > to prevent the wheel from slipping and to maintain my balance and control. A > lot of the time when I fall now, it’s because I get so tense in my legs that I > can’t maintain control any longer - I can’t imagine that this is good or > normal. I’ve never actually seen anybody else wheelwalk, so i don’t know what > a ‘long’ wheel-walking distance is. > > Is it simply a matter of practising and trying to maintain control with a more > relaxed posture? Or is there something that I can focus on that will make it > less tiring. > > Ta Nic
This weekend I decided to work seriously on my wheelwalking. I can comfortably
go 10 m and remount about 75% of the time. However, I notice that my thighs are
really tense, and I need to apply a lot of downward pressure on the tyre to
prevent the wheel from slipping and to maintain my balance and control. A lot of
the time when I fall now, it’s because I get so tense in my legs that I can’t
maintain control any longer - I can’t imagine that this is good or normal. I’ve
never actually seen anybody else wheelwalk, so i don’t know what a ‘long’
wheel-walking distance is.
Is it simply a matter of practising and trying to maintain control with a more
relaxed posture? Or is there something that I can focus on that will make it
less tiring.
> so tense in my legs that I can’t maintain control any longer - I can’t imagine > that this is good or normal. I’ve never actually seen anybody else wheelwalk, > so i don’t know what a ‘long’ wheel-walking distance is.
I recommend the ‘One Wheel - No Limit’ video. There is no better teacher, if you
don’t have live people to watch, than a video of live people doing the skills.
A long distance is a mile, which Peter Rosendahl stubbornly did at UNICON I,
even though the “wheel walk endurance contest” had already ended at 15 minutes
(won by somebody who went further in that amount of time; maybe me but I don’t
remember).
> Is it simply a matter of practising and trying to maintain control with a more > relaxed posture?
I think so. Like any new skill, there is a tendency to over-muscle it at first.
As you get smoother you will be able to remove all the excess muscle activity.
But to wheel walk you still have to hold your knees up, so even if you’re all
relaxed you will be working your upper quads pretty good.
