My fiance needs help learning to ride

...push her?

It'll sure force her to pedal to catch her balance.

Remember, its easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission 😉

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In article
<[email hidden]
m>,
duckaxe <[email hidden]> wrote:

: If she could just allow herself to fall forward, I'm sure that she
: could be riding 20+ feet in a couple of hours. She catches onto things
: pretty fast.

Try having her pedal backward instead?

Maybe if it's a big mental block, have her practice smoothly stepping off the
unicycle to the front, or even just get out in the middle of a nice soft grassy
field and deliberately fall off the front a few times to get over it.

You say using a fence didn't help? Have you tried getting her to claw her way
along the fence until she's basically up to speed, and get comfortable with the
basic mechanics of riding that way to make dealing with the falling forward part
easier?

More than anything just have her take her time, spend hours getting nowhere,
rack up the bruises until suddenly somewhere down the line it all clicks into
place. That's the way most people learned.

Cheers - Tony 'Nicoya' Mantler 🙂

--
Tony 'Nicoya' Mantler - Master of Code-fu
-- [email hidden] -- http://www.ubb.ca/ --

Try to get her to step off the front of the unicycle. It would help if
she could grab the back of the seat with her hand to keep it from
falling but no big deal. Just get her to move forward without riding if
you think that is the problem. Also it shows her that she can step off
of the unicycle without hurting herself.

When she tries to lean forward and pedal, does she actually fold at the
abdomen and stick her butt out backwards and her head out forward? This
gives the rider the sensation that they are leaning forward when
actually their center of gravity remains directly above the axle. Her
posture is important when trying to ride. Her back should be straight.
Then, when she leans she really leans.

Can't help anymore without seeing her. Anyone else ride in your area?

P.S. I wouldn't marry you if you couldn't teach me how to ride a
unicycle. What kind of husband would you be?

--
harper

-Greg Harper

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I taught my wife to ride, and one of her "conditions" was that she NEVER
fall. And I think we met her condition. The key was to ride together
holding hands. We began with a person on each side of her--holding her
arms, then gradually had less support. After 10 or 15 hours it was just
the two of us riding together. We could go for a mile or more. We
stayed at the hand-holding stage for a good month. After a month we
began to &&^% %$%(*( (##@ @%, and ^%. Suffice it to say, she rides
confidently now.

David

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"When caught between two evils I generally pick the one I've never tried
before." Mae West

David Maxfield
Mitchell, SD & Park City, UT
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Tony 'Nicoya' Mantler said:

Maybe if it's a big mental block, have her practice smoothly stepping
off the
unicycle to the front,

I'm with Tony on this.

Quoted message said:

or even just get out in the middle of a nice soft grassy
field

But not on this.

The first thing I always teach beginners is to get on the unicycle,
then fall off forwards and land on their feet. They have to get into
the habit of falling off forwards and landing on their feet before they
start trying to ride. I stress the importance of always falling off
forwards rather than riding an extra 1/2 revolution. As long as they
always fall off forwards, they're unlikely to hurt themselves. My kids
have got the hang of that, and they're not even big enough for me to
take the wooden blocks off their pedals yet.

When I started learning, I thought a nice soft grassy field was a good
idea too. I was soon disabused of that notion. Fields are bumpy. A
smooth surface is what you want, either a smooth (not carpeted) floor
or tarmac/concrete.

I wish I could get my wife to practice more. She can ride about 20
yards holding my hand, now she really needs to let go. Last time she
tried to ride was > 2 months ago. I'm buying her a unicycle of her
own for Christmas, which I hope will help.

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*disabused*(p): freed of a mistaken or misguided notion.

I learned a new word today! Thanks

--
Bondo
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In article
<[email hidden]
m>,
Danny Colyer <[email hidden]> wrote:

: When I started learning, I thought a nice soft grassy field was a good
: idea too. I was soon disabused of that notion. Fields are bumpy. A
: smooth surface is what you want, either a smooth (not carpeted) floor
: or tarmac/concrete.

I didn't mean to ride on the field, that would be quite difficult. Just mount
the unicycle and fall off a few times, to get over the fear of falling: Hit the
ground, find you're still in one piece, and realize that it's not so bad.

The first thing they teach you when you learn Judo isn't how to stay on your
feet, it's how to fall over.

Cheers - Tony 'Nicoya' Mantler 🙂

--
Tony 'Nicoya' Mantler - Master of Code-fu
-- [email hidden] -- http://www.ubb.ca/ --

Find a railing and a nice flat, hard surface. I used a wooden patio
behind a friend's house. Just have her ride alongside it while trying
to minimize dependence on the rail.

--
Iridemy29
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She just needs to keep at it.

It took me over 40 hours over two months to get the basics down, and
another 40ish hours over two more months before I could ride the 2.5
miles to my JC campus, and another two months before I could do it at
night on well lit sidewalks. I still can't freemount 😠 But I had
an awsome time doing technical MUni yesterday🙂

I used a long railing (about 4.5 ft high and 85 ft. long) in a smooth
parking lot at a local school. I was TERRIFIED of falling and decided
that if I fell w/o holding onto the railing I would likely break
something (and I probably would have). Through experimentation while
trying to learn to ride backwards I put on some 150 mm cranks on my
20". It was easier to ride but the big plus was it reduced my fear of
falling since I was closer to the ground and going slower.

I also think practicing falling forward and gracefully dismounting w/
uni in front would help reduce this fear. It did for me, but I didn't
practice that untill I could consistently ride the length of the
railing for a few weeks.

--
skilewis74

Ride everywhere and never just ride anywhere. If you can ride where you
are going within a hour, do it, and if you can do a trick 50-75% of the
time do it along the way.
Parafrasing a pro skater when asked for advise to kids who wanted to
get much better and maybee turn pro one day.
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Thanks a bunch guys. I'm liking the grassy fall idea. Her fear of
falling overpowers anything and everything that we've tried.

When I was learning how to freeride a mountain bike, my biggest fear of
dropping/jumping was crashing. After I crashed a few times and didn't
die or break bones, my paralyzing fear went away.

I'll post back with results after I get her to try it.

--
duckaxe

Free mounting made easy:

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I was another slow learner. What helped me was to ride alongside a
smooth wall, Sliding one hand along the wall as I rode gave me that
confidence, it was support but adjustable support which I could rely
on as much or as little as I needed.

Make sure she knows just how near the ground she actually is. Practice
"falling off" forwards. It is hard to fall off forwards with any
seriousness, your feet get in the way of a bad landing.

Nao

--
Naomi

The dress in which I unicycled was not THAT short, but in retrospect, I
think that maybe the blue one would have been more appropriate to the
terrain. Nao April 2007.
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Tony 'Nicoya' Mantler said:

I didn't mean to ride on the field, that would be quite difficult. Just
mount the unicycle and fall off a few times, to get over the fear of
falling: Hit the ground, find you're still in one piece, and realize
that it's not so bad.

The first thing they teach you when you learn Judo isn't how to stay on
your feet, it's how to fall over.

I take your point, but from a purely practical point of view I'm
inclined to disagree.

In judo you're learning to land safely when being slammed into the
floor at speed. There are obvious benefits to having a firm mat to
soften the impact. With unicycling the idea is to always land on your
feet, and to learn to do that before trying to ride. IMHO even if
grass ofters a /slightly/ softer landing than tarmac, you need to bear
in mind that the wheel won't roll as predictably on the grass as you
fall as it would on tarmac. I think that would offset any advantage.

(Once you start riding, it can be very helpful to have studied judo or
aikido beforehand).

All that said, the OP has told us that he likes the falling off on
grass idea, and he should know better than I what's likely to work for
his SO. If, as he tells us, the problem is psychological then the
expectation of a slightly softer landing on grass ought to help.

--
Danny Colyer

'http://www.redpedals.co.uk' (http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/)
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine
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Do you have any grocery carts near where you live? Her riding problems
seem that they could be helped by riding her uni while holding onto the
grocery cart handle.

--
One on one

"That's going to end up in somebody's sig." - rob.northcott

"one on one is happy, so am I!...." -CKCrowe
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If her fear of falling is a problem I recommend getting her to practice
dismounting forward a heap of times until she is confident that falling
off isn't going to result in a catastrophe.

Another thing that may help is getting her kitted out in protective
gear (helmet, gloves, wrist guards, knee pads or leg armour). Although
this gear is unnecessary it can be a confidence booster as it makes you
*feel* safer.

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peter.bier

-Peter Bier
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Well if she is nervous or similar. Might i recommend this 'circus bike'
(http://tinyurl.com/2lf5o) or the 'Qu-Ax Balance Bike.'
(http://tinyurl.com/tf2e8) Because it might be a fear of failing
possibly and this may build up her self confidence. Also you can
dismantle these when she has the strength and belief that she can
unicycle. 😄

--
Hazmat

I'M 1 WEIRD AND UNUSUAL GREEK
CYPRIOT AUSTRALIAN WHO
IS DESTINED TO BE DIFFERENT AND I WON'T STOP TILL I AM.

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(http://tinyurl.com/ytyaau)*

ivan said:

Its a wild ride, grabs me by the shoe-lace, and doesn't let go till I do
a face-plant.

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I just found a woman who already knew how to ride 😉

--
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Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total
obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and
through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see
its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will
remain.

* Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear.

I'm late for checkers with the Dalai Lama!

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grass does help with confidence but after working with several begginers
i have become in a habit of walking backwards in front of them letting
them hold both of my hands. I pull at them slightly in order to make
them lean foward and explain that they must pedal to keep up

--
sutton629

If at first you don't succeed... maybe skydiving isn't your sport
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The thing I liked about using a railing instead of a wall is that if I
was falling away from it I could pull myself towards the rail, or push
away, whereas with the wall I could only push away.

By the way make sure she practices both sides equally, still she may
end up veering to the left or right, or if she has 'leading arm
syndrom' 🙄. To counter this do lots of increasingly tighter
circles on the weak side ( I started w/ diameters of about 50 ft.).

One on one said:

Do you have any grocery carts near where you live? Her riding problems
seem that they could be helped by riding her uni while holding onto the
grocery cart handle.

I tried that. Although I didn't have as high as a fear of falling, I
had to bend over and lean way forward while on my 24" and it was a lot
harder than just riding.

--
skilewis74

Ride everywhere and never just ride anywhere. If you can ride where you
are going within a hour, do it, and if you can do a trick 50-75% of the
time do it along the way.
Parafrasing a pro skater when asked for advise to kids who wanted to
get much better and maybee turn pro one day.
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When I learned, I rode while holding on to stilts and using them as
crutches sort of. I then would ride like this, and have my brother
take one stilt away when I told him to and then the other one -

--
amyandblitzen
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