Newbie Question

took me one month to reach level one(freemount, ride 50 meters,
dismount) and now i can ride until i just cant ride anymore...which is
a long ways

-Phil

--
one_man_one_wheel

When someone asks you, "wheres the other wheel?". You should promptly
respond with a witty and maybe funny remark like "Two wheels?!? Thats
twice as hard."

-Phil
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took me 30-45 min. a day for 3-4 weeks.

--
unijesse
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It was a long time ago, but I think it took me about a week or so of
half an hour to an hour each evening. Once you can ride a few yards,
it's just practice that you need. I can now ride for an hour at a time
without a dismount.

Each part of riding needs you to concentrate on it. I suggest in this
order:
Learn to ride from an assisted mount (e.g. leaning on a wall or post).
Learn to stop under control.
Learn to turn each way.
learn to freemount (mounting without the aid of support).
Learn to idle - that's the rocking backwards and forwards on the spot
thing.

Making due allowances for age, fitness, talent, and dedication, each of
these will require a few hours of practice. If you are super keen and
practise every day, you could be riding to that shop in a month or so.

In another month, you could be riding back. ;0)

--
Mikefule

So, do you ride with a club?

No, but I carry a heavy spanner.
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Three years.

But don't worry, you have several advantages over my situation.

1. I had access to nothing to read to help me learn (though I later
found out my local library had Jack Wiley's "The Unicycle Book"😉.
2. My unicycle was a Troxel, total P.O.S. Though I learned to ride it
in about six weeks, after giving up many times, when I could finally
start going over several revolutions, the unicycle gave up. Due to its
inferior design and tricycle technology, it could not cope with
actually being ridden by someone of my below-average eighth grade
weight.

I didn't cross the half-mile milestone until a neighbor bought himself
a Schwinn Giraffe and I learned on that.

--
johnfoss

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
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It took me 3 months, but I am a very slow uni learner.

--
kington99

Dave

- what a thoroughly post-modern subversion of the cycling genre -
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Second day, and I can do one revolution, and idle for about 4 seconds.

I am coming, Mum!

Simon

"johnfoss" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Three years.

But don't worry, you have several advantages over my situation.

1. I had access to nothing to read to help me learn (though I later
found out my local library had Jack Wiley's "The Unicycle Book"😉.
2. My unicycle was a Troxel, total P.O.S. Though I learned to ride it
in about six weeks, after giving up many times, when I could finally
start going over several revolutions, the unicycle gave up. Due to its
inferior design and tricycle technology, it could not cope with
actually being ridden by someone of my below-average eighth grade
weight.

I didn't cross the half-mile milestone until a neighbor bought himself
a Schwinn Giraffe and I learned on that.

--
johnfoss

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
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johnfoss said:

I didn't cross the half-mile milestone until a neighbor bought himself
a Schwinn Giraffe and I learned on that.

A 3 mile giraffe?:eek: Could you freemount it?

--
Mikefule

So, do you ride with a club?

No, but I carry a heavy spanner.
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I just started about a month ago. I can ride about a mile. i can
freemount. i can turn pretty good and I can't Idle at all, but i dont
think idleing is important right now. Just stick with it and don't even
think about how far your getting and before you know it you'll be doing
great.

--
bradygreenawalt
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Simon PADDON said:

HI! I am one day in to a rest of my life thing with unuicycling. I am
struggling, but will keep at it.

My question? Well, I have read on the internet it can take from one
hour to
learn on one site, right up to 30 on another site. My definition of
'riding'
is to be able to pop half mile to the local shops to get a paper
without
killing myself.

So how long did it take you to learn enough to be able to do this?

Cheers!

Simon
www.simonpaddon.com

This is the first of many posts, no doubt!

I learned by pushing all of the furniture aside in my apartment and
hurling myself from one wall to the other until I was able to make it
across. It took me about a week and a half or two weeks, an hour or two
per day, to be able to do this consistently. Then I started going
outside behind the building. It was another while before I could ride
over some little twig or something on the sidewalk without being thrown
off. This was long before I joined or had contact with the Twin Cities
Unicycle Club, and before there was any real internet. So I didn't know
what I was doing, and I had my saddle too low, and hunched myself
forward too much, and so on. With a bit of help and advice from other
riders, I probably would have learned a bit more quickly.

--
weeble

======================
To avoid danger of suffocation
keep away from babies
and small children
======================
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Simon PADDON said:

So how long did it take you to learn enough to be able to do this?

I can direct you to some research done on this very subject):

http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/agelearn_short.htm

The goal was 50 metres, not half a mile, but once you can ride 50
metres, you're basically there!

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
"Unicycling is like glue: you have to stick with it, and it's not to be sniffed at - Mikefule"

It took me 3 hours everynite for a week to be able to ride over a mile
and hopping up kerbs.=)

--
Rodgeriego
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I still stand by the notion that it only takes 5 hours of good practice.
But I do mean GOOD practice, not just messing around with the unicycle.
It took me about 3 years but in the first two I never really made the
effort I needed to. I then spent way too many hours in my basement
riding the same 20 feet, when I should have just gone outside where I
could ride 50 meters or a half mile.

Once you can ride 50 meters though you can ride a half mile, you may
just have a UPD every 50 meters or so, or everytime the sidewalk is a
little uneven.

Riding 1/2 mile in one go will take a little more time. Maybe 20 hours
or so of good practice. Depending on how much time you can dedicate
this could take 3 years or 3 days, that's up to you.

--
ThisGuyIKnow
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Simon PADDON said:

HI! I am one day in to a rest of my life thing with unuicycling. I am
struggling, but will keep at it.

My question? Well, I have read on the internet it can take from one
hour to
learn on one site, right up to 30 on another site. My definition of
'riding'
is to be able to pop half mile to the local shops to get a paper
without
killing myself.

So how long did it take you to learn enough to be able to do this?

Cheers!

Simon
www.simonpaddon.com

This is the first of many posts, no doubt![/QUOT

After riding for almost 2 years, I still haven't ridden to the local
shop and gotten a paper. That's what I have a paper boy for.

It took me about 7 -8 hours to pass level 1.

--
One on one

"However, like the jet pilot, if the Coker rider tries to turn too fast,
he/she could black out."
-Memphis Mud

I went further than I had planned and had a testicle break at about 25
ks
-onebyone
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I think it took me about 1 month, practicing about a half hour every
day. I really focused on it though. I would get up, go one
revolution, then fall off. I would repeat this and I thought I would
never get it, then I realized that there is a lot more stuff I can do
on my uni than just ride. But I wouldn't really focus on idling.

--
unign
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I'm a slow learner, so for me the answer was "many weeks" for a
half-mile journey (and back). Don't be surprised about two things...

1) Once you get good enough to ride the one mile round trip, it still
may be an endurance test depending on how efficiently you ride. Your
legs will probably get really tired, but this is a standard beginner
thing. It will get easier with practice. Also, sidewalks with cracks,
pedestrians, onlookers, honking cars, wind, and other forces of nature
will conspire to make you wobble, sweat, tense up, and UPD. Seek to
overcome and you shall.

2) The insignificant weight and wind drag of the newspaper may throw
off your balance. It will be no less of an accomplishment if you read
the paper there, rather than taking it home.

--
uni57

tim, catboy, james_potter, ____, and theo are my main man. but tyler is
my 'internet brother' (http://tinyurl.com/e2xt9). don't mess with my
little bro'.

vote for mossberg.

-
last edited by bytor on 2005-09-21 at 12:05 am-
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took me 4-5 hours a day for 2 weeks (ride and freemount)

--
spasmo
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It took me around 2 hours to be able to wobble stupidly around for 30
feet or so, but keep in mind I spent days upon days learning to
trackstand a bike, which evidently helped my balance tons. It would
have taken me much longer without that bike trials practice.

--
cegli

I like to unicycle.
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Thank you for all your thoughts.

Strength should not be a problem- I am a road cyclist anyhow, and used to 2
hours rides. Never been much good at wheelies though, so the balance thing
is new- though not doing too bad. 3rd day, did about 1 crank turn.

I downloaded that excel program, which reckons I should take about 9 days at
an hour a day. I also study NLP, which kind of ties it in with 'seeing'
yourself doing it, so you can time line it, and learn from the mistakes you
have yet to make. And that.

Speak to you all in about a month when I can do lots of stuff!

Simon

ThisGuyIKnow said:

I still stand by the notion that it only takes 5 hours of good practice.
But I do mean GOOD practice, not just messing around with the unicycle.
It took me about 3 years but in the first two I never really made the
effort I needed to. I then spent way too many hours in my basement
riding the same 20 feet, when I should have just gone outside where I
could ride 50 meters or a half mile.

Once you can ride 50 meters though you can ride a half mile, you may
just have a UPD every 50 meters or so, or everytime the sidewalk is a
little uneven.

Riding 1/2 mile in one go will take a little more time. Maybe 20 hours
or so of good practice. Depending on how much time you can dedicate
this could take 3 years or 3 days, that's up to you.

Excellent point!!!
Ive been trying to learn for a little over 2 weeks.
I can sucessfully ride 30 feet nearly every time.
30 feet is the EXACT distance from my curb to the
curb across the street. Now Ive developed a plateau
and I have to break that habbit! Get outside riding as
far as you can as soon as you can! Practicing distance
gives you distance. Practicing 20 feet gives you 20 feet.
See ya!🙄

--
Unizen
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