For riding "long" distances (longer than 62 m), what works for me:
-Riding someplace where it's smooth, like a street, as opposed to a
sidewalk or grass or something. While learning, the least little bump
could throw me off.
-Starting out, I needed the seat higher- so that my leg was almost
straight on the downstroke. Now it's not so critical, and you don't
want it like that for doing tricks and stuff, but it helped me in just
riding.
-Flail the arms about. This may be instinctive, but sometimes I'd
catch myself riding with my arms more or less at my sides. I can do
that okay now, but it does help to balance to keep arms up and out to
sides or front.
-Weight on the pedals- as I got better, I got where I could gradually
relax and apply less weight on the pedals. But, to go over bumps and
stuff, I need to apply more pedal force (to both pedals) for better
control. If your legs are getting tired, work on relaxing them as you
go. If you're falling off at bumps, working on keeping pressure on
both legs when you hit the bump.
-I don't see how the choice of unicyles could make much difference
unless something is just obviously wrong with one. But some people
have posted that they had old crappy unicycles and got new ones and all
the sudden their problems were solved. If you have a modern decent
unicyle, a different one probably won't help much. If you have an old
crappy one, see if you can borrow a better one and see if that makes
any difference.
-When I got to where I could put less pressure on the pedals, it also
let me adjust my foot position while riding, which made it easier to
freemount if my foot didn't land on the pedals right.
-I've got one unicyle with the spiky type pedals and it is irritating
for me to ride (I'm just riding, no tricks or jumping or anything). If
by chance you have that kind, consider trying the cheapo platform
pedals that cost $5 at Walmart and see if that helps any. I think this
would be more a matter of comfort rather than keeping you from riding,
though.
-That same unicycle has an air seat that is reasonably comfortable, but
it gives less control. It's more like a big old blob between your legs
and the regular Torker seat, though less comfortable, gives me a little
better control.
-I remember my wife telling about one of her friends that grew a whole
bunch in one summer and it messed up his sense of balance. I'm not
sure how common this is, but when you're 11, you're growing, and it
wouldn't be surprising if you were a lot better a year from now than
you are now, not from the practice, but just from your body changing up
as you go along.
People learn at different speeds, and I've read of people who learned a
whole lot faster than me. That's okay, I'll keep at it. I'm not even
trying to hop or ride up curbs right now, just working on going down
the roads and paved trails and make the ups and downs on the low water
crossing and that kind of thing.
--
StephenH
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