poor habits? ((Part 3 of Hopelessness Saga))

Well, everyone always says to 'let the unicycle fall' when you're
learning. So I think it would be worth it to just sit on the seat
without your hand on the front, and use that arm for balance.

--
James_Potter - Nil Desperandum
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Way back when I learned (30 years ago), I remember trashing the seat of
the crappy uni I learned on. It was such an inferior uni that when I
upgraded to my Schwinn, it was like riding on something with auto
pilot....just so much easier...but I digress.

If you are really worried about your saddle, maybe purchase a cheaper,
but not totally uncomfortable saddle, to put on your uni until your bail
outs are fewer and less dramatic. I think that maybe you'll have a
shorter learning curve if you're not worried about trashing a
seat.....just a thought.

Unidaddy.

--
unidaddy - waiting for the first face plant
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Put socks on your saddle. That will muffle the noise and protect the uni
seat.

--
oregonguy
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I went for the "let it fall" method when starting out, and the bumpers
on the seat got a bit chewed, but nothing drastic.

Now I'm still not brilliant, but find I can usually grab the seat to
hold the uni a split second before the fall. I't s sort of a reflex
action now, so I'm sure you'll get it.

--
s7ev0 - level 1 and proud of it

s7ev0

Where there's a wheel there's a way
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When I let my nephews learn by using my kids' unis, I put strips of duct
tape on the front and rear bumpers. Several layers thick. But we were
out on a pea gravel concrete driveway. Very rough on falling seats.
Later, just peeled it off.

--
Memphis Mud - Student of GrandMaster 2T

Mantra: Avoid Hitting Tailbone...Avoid Hitting Tailbone...

"do not think, just ride"...muniracer
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The saddle can take it but i totally understand on the lazy front. I
learnt with my hand off the saddle and its probli the best way because
you need the balance but now i ride with it on just because i CAN!
No,really i find it more comfortable mainly because i am a trials and
muni rider so i have it on there most of the time anyways. This more
then likely made little sense but i can hardly see the screen through my
hair as i got it straighten by a girl on campus.
Ben

--
thinuniking - U don't be playing me cracker!

I am heman with out the muscles or a cool sword
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The first thing I learned when trying to ride was how to fall off and
land on my feet while holding the saddle. My saddle is chewed up anyway
by now, but it would probably have broken months ago if I hadn't gotten
into the habit of catching it. In general therefore, it is better to
catch the saddle when falling of, provided you can do so safely. Don't
ride holding the saddle though, as it will greatly hamper your balance.

--
jsm - Freestyle Unicyclist

Jonathan Miersma - Unicyclist, Violinist, and Juggler
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When I was first learning, I was very self-conscious of people staring
at me--so I found a place where no one could see me during those first
few "uni-falldown" days. Perhaps you should find a place where you
wouldn't have to worry about making noise if you think the crashing uni
is too loud. If the noise bothers your own ears, why not get some
earplugs?
The more you uni, the less you crash. The more you crash, the more you
land on your feet. The more you land on your feet, the more you grab the
unicycle before she hits the ground.
Remember--unlike bikes, unicycles are meant to hit the ground--it is
normal for them. My own unicycle must have hit the pavement about a
billion times--the seat handles are scuffed up a bit, but she looks more
beautiful than ever.
So don't worry about your unicycle hitting the earth--just launch
yourself into the abyss with arms flailing wildly. We all go through
it--like young birds tossed from their mother's nest, we start to fly.
Gripping the saddles handle comes later--after your saddle has had
enough of hitting the ground, it happens naturally.
good luck!

--
dogbowl - Putting the F back in Freemounting

All I want out of life is to be able to ride the unicycle while smoking
a cigar at the same time. Is that too much to ask for?
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I took some of your advice and covered my seat in some of my dad's old
tube socks. It looks gusty, but I guess that's all okay.

I was mostly worried about the noise for two reasons:
1--So far, most of my uni-ing has been done at night (any time between 9
PM and 1 AM) in a small, tight-knit, quiet neighborhood. It's echo
city.
2--Everyone on my street has a dog. Specifically, a small-town dog that
isn't used to strangers making loud noises in the middle of the night.
Last night, I had every dog in a mile radius barking and howling at me
every time I dropped the damn thing. ((It's good aversion therapy,
though... it really made me focus on not dropping it nearly as much as I
might have.))

As for the laziness of picking it up, it's also painful. Pretty early
on, I took a good ass-plant into the pavement, and my right thigh
seriously objects to much downward motion, now. Again, great aversion
therapy.

However, I have been really concentrating on holding my right arm out
instead of strangling my saddle handle. I still have a hard time
breaking the instinct to grab it when I'm about to fall off, but at
least I'm not riding with my hand welded to the seat.

I still wish I had a longer runway. And I'm also worried about how much
I favor my left side over my right. ((I tend to keep the fence to my
left, mount with my left foot first somewhere around 5 oclock, cling to
the wall till slightly before 7 oclock, and use my bad right leg to
start pushing forward. Therefore, my right leg is in a lot of pain,
very tired, and I fall to the right and land with all my weight on the
right leg, making the pain worse.))

I don't know what to do. I'm doing pretty well with what I'm doing
(making the length of a pickup truck while only touching the fence a few
times) as long as I stick with the above method, but if I change this at
all, I'm fairly wobbly and unstable. I want to progress and work the
kinks out later, but I don't know if it's easier to just correct all my
errors now, or later, when I have more of the basic foundation down.

Ack. Muscle memory is not my forte.

Thanks again,
Chedd

--
zambonijones
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