About a month ago, my wife told me that her boss was taking unicycling lessons. I told her I thought that was great, and that I’d wanted to learn how to ride a unicycle for as long as I could remember. Lo and behold, I received a unicycle for Christmas! Woohoo!
Now, four days later, I have the following:
Scuff marks on my walls (note to self: consider learning new sports outside).
A bruise on my left shin that’s mysteriously in the shape of the left pedal of my unicycle (note to self: shop for shin guards).
A bruise on my left thigh that’s mysteriously in the shape of my cell phone (note to self: leave the cell phone inside when learning something that might entail falling).
Very sore palms (note to self: consider learning new sports that might entail falling on soft surfaces).
Someone who’s more prone to giving up might find all of the above too much. But not me. I’m one of the most determined (read: stubborn) people around, so I have no intention of giving up.
I’ve cut the stem down so that I can reach the ground with my toe when the unicycle is more or less straight (I figure if I get better and want the additional height, I’ll just buy a new stem). I’ve moved from inside the hallway to outside with a chair on one side. I started experimenting with two lengths of PVC pipe as poles this afternoon, and was able to successfully complete one full crank revolution (before watching my unicycle go flying out in front of me onto the lawn). I’ve also joined the Unicycling Society of America, and registered here.
I’m determined. But I’m also a beginner, with no friends that I can turn to for advice. So any advice would be appreciated. As would any words of encouragement. And recommendations. What the hell, a good joke wouldn’t hurt either.
As a beginner, start using the search function on the RSU forum to find threads about learning to ride. Philosophies differ somewhat. Mine is this:
I think your seat is too low. Adjust your seat just like you would for a bicycle. With the down pedal all the way down your leg should be fully extended with your heel on the pedal. That way, when you put the ball of your foot on the pedal your knee will be slightly bent. To learn maybe lower the seat an additional inch or so, but no more.
Keep your weight on the seat at all times. Think about it constantly. Remind yourself constantly.
Focus into the distance slightly, don’t look at the wheel or the pedals.
Take off from some point and ride until you fall. Don’t ride until you think you’re going to fall because you’ll just get into the habit of stepping off. Ride until you actually fall and you will learn to correct more quickly. Try not to depend on walls, fences, crutches, or other supports besides your mount and launch point.
Pedal with round, smooth strokes.
KEEP YOUR WEIGHT ON THE SEAT!!!
You have what it takes. Unicycling is not about balance, it’s about determination.
Edit: This post could have been put in RSU rather than Just Conversation.
Welcome to the fora.
Greg covered most of the basics in his post.
Seat height is pretty crucial. Make sure you’re not too low.
Oh, and keep your weight on the seat.
A couple of other points.
Consider buying gloves/wrist guards rather than learning on a soft surface. It's way harder to ride on the lawn than on the driveway.
Get yourself a pair of cycling shorts. It may be some time before you're able to spend enough time in the saddle to lead to any appreciable crotchetal numbness (now there's a band name just waiting for a genre of music to be invented), but in the meantime it will help keeping Frankie and the Twins from being sat upon - and incredibly stupid thing that happens to learning unicyclists with alarming frequency. I would advise that you get the 'bib-shorts' as they are just that much more comfortable.
Try n link up with other unicyclists in your area. There is nothing that beats the motivation of hanging out with people who can just pop up onto these things and ride away. Some 'hands on' tuition is also pretty helpfull.
Don't hold onto the front of the saddle. Wave your arms about to help with balance. To paraphrase Charly Dancy, it may not help but it will make you feel better. Seriously tho, let go the front of the seat. You may start grabbing it again when you start hopping.
Put and keep your weight on the seat. Like with horse-riding you will instinctively try n find some sense of stability on your feet. You won't find that on the unicycle. Your stability lies in keeping your weigh on the seat.
Thanks for the tips, all. I’ve also checked out the thread started by fellow newbie Kris in the RSU forum. And I’ve read a lot of the “journal” thread started by, er, the sock puppet guy; lots of great tips there!
I’ve got some cycling shorts, since I’ve been a cyclist for many years; I don’t get on my Trek 5200 nearly as often as I should, but I know how to ride it. That’s one of the things that’s a little frustrating about this unicycle experience: it’s easy enough to think, “well, I know it’ll be different than riding a bicycle, but it’s got a seat and a wheel and pedals and forks – how much different can it be?” But from my first time in the saddle it was clear that they’re only related in some seventh-degree-of-separation kind of way.
Anyway, I’m afraid that my UPD yesterday might keep me out for a couple of days. My thigh is killing me right where I landed on my cell phone and Swiss Army Knife, which were in my pocket. If it’s not raining too much later I’ll give it a shot to see if it feels better while riding (er, falling). And I’ll definitely get on it in the bike shorts, which have no pockets! If not, I’ll just take a day off, and get back on it tomorrow.
One thing I’ve tried a little bit inside is riding on my bicycle rollers. I’ve got a set of full-length rollers for indoor riding, and I set the back portion up in a doorway and “rode” for a little while. Has anyone else done this? Any thoughts on potential problems learning this way? One thing I’ll say for my experience on them so far is that it gave me a sense of the importance of putting my weight in the seat: although it does seem counter-intuitive sometimes, doing it while on the unicycle with the pedals rotating definitely felt different (and better).
One thing about reading the dude with one sock’s journal is that he is young. I am not young and it took me 6 weeks, not 2, to be able to ride at all. 6weeks of practicing for about half an hour every day. Older bods usually take a bit longer than younger bods to get it.
But don’t give up, the triumph of actually riding is all the sweeter for it taking longer. Practice and practice some more. It’s well worth it. It’s the closest you’ll ever get to flying until you grow wings and the feeling is terrific when you’ve got the knack.
I learned to ride last January/February and during the summer I regularly rode 6 miles along the prom. IF I can do it anyone can.
Tosh and piffle! You’re younger than I am, and loads younger than some of the others here. Your no’ but a bairn. In our off list PM discussions, we call you “Junior”.
richvoice, I am 53 and just learned this last August/September.
Like Cathwood, it also took me about 6 weeks to learn. I was hoping to learn in one month. I am out of shape and overweight, but I learned!
When I would wear myself out trying to learn, I would just sit on my uni while holding onto something. Practice, practice, practice, and then practice some more.
The first time on my uni was mounting it in a doorway here in my home. I did that for 3 days before getting the courage to move outside. Like you, I have nobody around here to talk to or watch or even to ask questions about my technique. The people here are great in helping and answering questions.
What type/size uni do you have? I firest bought a 24" and then my wife “suggested” I buy a 20". The 20" really helped get me going.
I think the others mentioned it but just to emphasize…practice and practice a lot
I have been off mine for 6 weeks now, but that is a different story.
Keep us posted.
Although on the one hand it’s discouraging to hear that it might (probably will) take 6 weeks – or maybe more – to learn how to ride this thing, it’s also encouraging in a way: I won’t be alone if it takes me longer than a few weeks! And although I’m a cynic, in certain cases I’m an optimistic cynic, and this is one of them. So I’m looking forward to learning, whether it takes 4 weeks or 4 months!
My wife bought my unicycle with the help of her brother, who works in a bike shop. It’s a Sun 24". Based on a quick Google search and what I know of bicycle prices, I’m guessing that it’s relatively low on the unicycle food chain. But that’s fine with me. Based on my experiences so far, I won’t be surprised if I have to swap everything out on it by the time I learn how to ride it just from the damage I inflict on it, and by that time I might be interested enough to buy a higher-end model.
Today it’s supposed to rain, but it hadn’t started yet by 9:30 or 10:00, so I geared up – bike shorts, knee pads (one down around my very bruised left shin), helmet, and leather gloves. I ended up spending more time than I’d thought I would, about an hour.
Disappointments:
The farthest I got was about one-and-a-half crank revolutions. And that only happened a couple of times, it was mostly pedal-pedal-splat, or pedal-pedal-whooosh as the unicycle sped out in front or behind me. Or sometimes just pedal-splat or pedal-whoosh. And an occasional just plain old splat.
Jeans, bike shorts, it doesn’t seem to matter: Frankie and The Twins just aren’t all that happy with this sport yet.
Freemounting now seems a little more like a nice dream than an actual achievable goal (don’t worry, I’m not actually trying to do it yet, and I won’t until I can actually ride; it’s just that the experience of getting on the thing has so far made the possibility of freemounting seem damn near impossible).
Encouragements:
When I started off today, I was spending 30-60 seconds (and sometimes longer) getting on, holding on, remembering to keep my weight in the seat, and getting “centered.” By the time I finished, I was able to accomplish that in usually 10-30 seconds.
I ended up spending longer outside than I’d planned to, without realizing it.
Having something to focus on seems to keep my spirits up, and that wonderful little ditty from the classic claymation Christmas special “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” “Just Put One Foot In Front Of The Other,” seemed to do the trick for me.
Nice messages from people here.
I’ll keep checking back here, and posting updates. Probably not like the sockpuppetguy’s journal (I’ll have to see if he’s posted his name before I refer to him again), but something. Or maybe I’ll start a blog. Or both.
Whenever I try to show people how to unicycle, I have them sit on the seat - with all of their weight - and hold on to something. I say “pretend it’s a chair and just sit there. find your balance.” It’s not terribly difficult and once you get the hang of it, it’s no harder than walking!
Just reach in there, grab 'em, and pull 'em up over the seat.
…and MOST importantly , if no-one else has already mentioned it: learn to fall off forwards, and hence to land on your feet. Its easier than learning to ride, and VERY important. Falling off in any other directions hurts, with or without the swiss army knife.
I went and bought a set of BoneShieldz wrist/knee/elbow pads today. I’m not sure how much I’ll need them, but I think I’ll be slightly less apprehensive about falling, which should help me “just do it.” I think Harper’s advice about “riding until you fall” is good: in other things that I’ve learned, I bailing out intentionally is a safety valve that just seems to delay attaining the goal.
Unfortunately, I’m still suffering the after-effects of the latest weather system here out west. It’s fairly unusual for us here in the San Francisco Bay Area to have so much continuous rain; yesterday I don’t think it stopped for more than a few minutes before starting in again.
Fortunately, it’s supposed to ease up today, then one more mild system, then it’s supposed to clear up for several days. Unfortuanately, weather forecasters are notoriously wrong.
In any case, I posted a pic to my blog that my wife took of me “riding” on my rollers in a doorway.
I’ve only spent a couple of hours outside trying to ride so far, so I’m not sure about all of the differences. But the one thing I’ve noticed that seems like the biggest difference so far is the huge differential in forward/backward momentum.
On the rollers, it takes very little force on the pedals to turn the wheel, and when the wheel does turn, my body stays in the same place, negating the need to work on balancing forward-to-back (well, I still need to work on it, or I wouldn’t have to hold onto the door jamb nearly so much, but it’s tiny adjustments).
Outside, I’ve only been able to complete one or one and a half crank revolutions so far, and the main reason seems to be balancing forward-to-back. It takes a lot more force on the pedals to move, and when I do, I suddenly have to compensate for where my body has been shifted to, relative to the unicycle; compensate too far forward and the unicycle shoots out behind me, compensate too little and the unicycle keeps going without me.
Still, I think the rollers are helpful in a small way on rainy days. Although I’m not having to balance as aggresively, it seems to me that every little bit of practice understanding the balancing dynamics is helpful. And when I let the wheel “walk” some side-to-side, it helps me get a feeling for the side-to-side balancing as well.
But here’s hoping for some clearing soon. I’m staying focused on Harper’s response to my initial post: “Unicycling is not about balance, it’s about determination.”
I’m definitely interested in hearing if anyone else has used rollers as a training aid as well!
