So. On this forum there seems to be lots of people learning to ride unicycles
And lots of people who are doing 100 mile rides, 1080 body varials and fifth flips ( whatever the hell those are).
I really like unicycling
I like unicycle hockey
I like really easy simple off road uni ( I’m deliberately not calling it muni cause its like a road without Tarmac)
I like road uni too
I want to get better tried to learn some trials, some simple flat stuff but more than riding I find extremely difficult. I fear after learning young I’m all old dog now
So to all the mediocre unicyclists out there.
And to all experts. What should I be doing or trying to get better? I feel like I’m in a bit of a rut
Whenever I have uni time I want to ride hockey game, road ride or beach ride (closest thing I have to muni) but I dont feel I progress at all. Barely can ride anything worse than Pavement, and can barely mount my 36
…
Sorry if this is just a semi drunken, frustrated forum rant but I really want to improve my skillset
I think you have to figure out what you want to improve on specifically to get results. If you want to start to ride muni than you can practice riding on lawns and mounting while on an incline.
If you want to do trials than start with stationary hops and then work on hopping control by drawing lines in a parking lot with chalk and try to hop to them, over them, ride on them until you have the confidence to tackle some real obstacles.
As with other sporting endeavors short focused training sessions yield good results.
Figure out what you want to be good at and come up with clever ways to work up to your goals.
Hope that helps,
Mark
Ride more and try only one thing at a time. In this context, you may find that riding a 36 is one thing, and riding muni is another thing! The most tiring thing in learning to ride muni is the constant remounting on uneven ground. On a 36, that is even more the case.
In my early days, I tried to ride what I somehow thought I “ought to be able to ride” and as a result I often exhausted myself, aspiring to what I imagined to be “a typical standard of muni ability.”
Later I learned that the way to progress is to ride easy stuff, then take every opportunity to divert onto short patches of difficult stuff. The easy stuff builds up your rhythm and stamina; the difficult stuff builds up your competence.
At first, it’s things like cutting across corners, or diverting to go over a patch of exposed tree roots, or riding down the side of a flood bank. Eventually, these things become assimilated into your concept of “easy stuff” and you then go looking for harder and harder short sections to ride - or longer sections of the same.
Other tricks are to ride your usual routes on shorter cranks or a bigger wheel. When you come back to them on your normal wheel and cranks, they will be easier.
The main thing is to enjoy doing it. It’s a hobby, not an exam.
Practice, and finding a motivator. I am getting a BRAND NEW KH 20" trials in a few weeks… so i will be practicing a ton!
Things that help motivate me:
-Working out at the gym! feeling good makes me want to do more
-making small youtube videos, makes me try really hard to nail a new trick, so i have a new video to make
-being apart of notsoyoungones learning journal, being apart of a large group of unicyclists of all skill levels that are all working on on improvement, encouraging people, being encouraged, having people (even if there being polite) telling you your riding is looking great make me want to go out.
-people to ride with, if no one you know rides, teach them, it helps you get out on the unicycle, grows friendships, and if all else fails you have the learning journal.
-New gear, sometimes picking up a nice helmet, new gloves, shin pads, new unicycle parts that you have had your eye on, or in my case upgrading an entire unicycle to a really fine machine helps you get out.
-good quality headphones, some people may not see the point, but my $200 cnd monster turbine in ear buds… make it feel like i am at a love show… put that quality with a good track… makes the heart pump stronger, your focus narrow, and progress happen.
Your like a child in a sweet shop. You want everything.Yet time seems an issue, so
you need to decide what you want most.The most accessible style might be flatland since you can practise it anywhere and can therefore fit it into your daily routine.Learn one trick at a time starting off.Make out a list of tricks to learn starting with easiest.Keep a diary as this will help to keep you focussed. If you have the space you could try freestyle which is my favourite.But make a decision,set a target and gooooo for it.