Finally! It has taken me months to learn how to idle. For me it was perhaps three times harder than learning how to ride in a straight line.
Credit goes to my new 20" Nimbus. With the 24" I wasn't able to idle more than maximum 10 wobbly and badly controlled rocks. Learning to hop is also much simpler for me with the smaller wheel. The aim is of course to take my new skills back to the 24".
Congratulations! It's a great feeling for sure. that's what I like about unicycling, everytime I learn a new skill, I get that same feeling over and over again.
* now u need to learn to idle with your 'other' foot down... 😉 *
My thoughts also. Learn both feet immediately and it comes easier. I often learn both feet at the same time by taking turns working it out on each foot for a few tries. In the long run you will be a better rider for it.
*'not at all!' (http://tinyurl.com/6rmt6) 😎 now u need to learn to idle with your 'other' foot down... 😉 *
Thanks for good advice. I have already tried a few times to idle with my other foot and it doesn't seem impossible, though the leg feels quite untrained and sort of 'stiff'.
I noticed directly after idling with the 'bad' foot that my pedalling in straightforward riding became more even. Another reason to train both legs I suppose.
Right now I work on all those small transitions that have no name, like stop riding and start idling, going from idling to small hops, back to idling and then riding forward again ... in other words trying to gain full control over the uni. Really exhausting stuff for ol' me but at the moment this actually makes more fun than going on long tours. My aim is to begin muniing in a couple of months. I believe this is the form of unicycle riding that attracts me most.
Last winter I worked on freestyle a lot and it helped my trials and MUni riding a lot. All the freestyle skills have helped me get a better feel for the balance zone and also to be more comfortable outside of that zone and recovering from being there.
But there are some things that you just gotta do on the trail. Like riding a long rugged, rutted, rock and root infested downhill trail. I still fall alot, but I just love those gnarly downhills.
