No Progress to report!

How fast do you go? I know lots of people in our club who
learn (on 20" unis) who go too slow when they've almost but
not quite got it sorted. I'm just thinking that on a coker
it might be very easy to go to slow, because a natural
riding speed would feel very fast. Just a thought.

John

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Keep at it, it has taken me months, but I am finally getting
it and if I can, you can. I am middle aged, over weight and
a slow learner. Just do not give up and it will come.

Jim

"Jayne ZA"
<[email hidden]> wrote in
message -"]news:[email hidden]-
yclist.com...

Quoted message said:

I am getting SO FRUSTRATED at my lack of progress. After
my breakthrough I haven't managed to get further than 4
pedal pushes, closer to 3 when I'm at home on the paving.
What bugs me most about the paving thing is that, when I
borrow a shoulder, I get the whole length smoothly and in
a fairly straight line. When I go solo I'm lucky to get up
to three pedal pushes and veer off to the left. I'm also
noticing a nasty tendency to roll to my pedalling side. I
KNOW this is nothing to do with my seat being too high as
this is not a problem when I ride with assistance.

After reading other posts about progress problems I have
lowered my seat just about as far as it will go without
changing the seatpost. This has helped with the rolling,
but I think I need to find a way to switch my brain off
before I go riding. I have moments when it feels right. I
am balanced, pedalling is smooth and easy, and most of my
weight is on the seat. Then my brain kicks in and starts
yelling "This is impossible" and tells my body to jump
off. Right now I feel like I am never going to get this
right. If only progress was linear, but what I can get
right one day often seems impossible the next.

I have decided that I can't take this ANYMORE! Tomorrow
there will be no jumping off. I will ride until I hit the
paving. I am wrapped up in protective stuff and shouldn't
get too badly hurt. I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY SOMETHING
WITH ONLY ONE WHEEL!

Jayne

--
Jayne ZA - Learning to ride on a Coker

Being a statistician means never having to say
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Jayne ZA said:

* I have moments when it feels right. I am balanced,
pedalling is smooth and easy, and most of my weight is
on the seat. Then my brain kicks in and starts yelling
"This is impossible" and tells my body to jump off. *

Sounds like this bird is ready to leave the nest.

I had a very similar 'problem' (tinyurl.com2b87hOpen ↗).
I don't know if you've ever seen the "buggs Bunny and
Roadrunner" cartoons, but the classic pattern is that Wiley
E. Coyote devises an elaborate trap to catch the RoadRunner
(a kind of bird common in the USA's southwestern deserts),
his plan fails completely and he is the one who gets
whacked. At least half the time he chases the roadrunner
off a cliff and tries to run in mid-air. He does well, too,
until he notices that he is in mid air. Then his grin
fades, he flashes a little sign that says "Help?" or
something, and drops like a stone. So in USA slang your
endurance problems are called "Wiley E. Coyote Moments" or
"WEC moments" for short.

What is happening is that you haven't yet figured out how to
balance laterally. With a shoulder or a perfectly vertical
position you do fine, because you've mastered the
longitudinal balance problem. The lateral problem is just as
hard and takes just as long, and like the longitudinal
problem, once you solve it you're not quite sure how you did
it so it's very hard to teach.

What you've got to do is to:

) have your back straight and your arms way out to the side,
1) detect the impending lateral fall (lets say it's to
the left),
2) SUSPEND DISBELIEF,
3) gracefully start your arms and shoulders swinging
to the left,
4) when your right pedal is just coming over the top
simultaneously a) swing your arms and shoulders hard to
the right, b) snap your hips and the unicycle to the
left (into the fall), and c) stomp hard on the right
pedal, then
5) relax and feel the contact patch roll back under you.
6) Repeat from (1) as necessary

The whole game at this point is to keep the unicycle wheel -
in particular, the contact patch - directly between you and
the center of the earth. Learning to turn is automatic after
you've mastered this basic skill.

At this point you've got 0 and 1 sussed, and are [censored]
enough to grit your way through 2. That's great! Now the
hard part is learning the windup (3) and the turn (4). If
you watch great unicyclists you'll see them doing this
faster than you can think about it, which is your problem at
the moment. They've got it hardwired in their systems and
probably don't even know what they are doing. You still need
to think about it.

I won't lie to you and say you'll get it the first session.
I didn't, and I was on a smaller wheel. Hardwiring those
reflexes takes time.

Cokers are notoriously resistant to the hip-snap turn I've
described, but they also move much faster so not as much of
a turn is needed. On the 20", at 2 to 4 mph I sometimes need
to turn the wheel 30 or 45 degrees to get the tire patch
back under me. On the Coker at 8 to 12 mph I only need 5 to
10 degree corrections. The body moves have the same
amplitude but on the Coker I can relax and take my time, so
other than the scary speed I find the Coker easier to ride.

Good luck,

Tim

PS: If you happened to be carrying a little sign that says
"Help?" and flashed it when you were about to fall that
would be VERY funny... 🙂

--
cyberbellum - Level 1.0 rider!

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4) WHEN YOUR RIGHT PEDAL IS JUST COMING OVER THE TOP
SIMULTANEOUSLY A) SWING YOUR ARMS AND SHOULDERS HARD TO
THE RIGHT, B) SNAP YOUR HIPS AND THE UNICYCLE TO THE
LEFT (INTO THE FALL), AND C) STOMP HARD ON THE RIGHT
PEDAL, THEN

Yes. I tried to describe this before for you. When I got to
the point you are at now, I figured that I would "force"
myself to fall. To do that, I would TURN sharply to the
left, and then turn sharply to the right for each stroke.

Press down hard on the right foot, and throw the LEFT
knee across to the right. Answer by pushing the left foot
down HARD, and throw the right knee to the left. IT will
cause you to zigzag violently, but it will keep you up.
From there, it is just a matter of smoothing it out. And,
you will see yourself do it again in the future when
trying to climb steep hills (so it isn't something you
won't use later).

--
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Drew Brown
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Oh. Another tip that may help. Find a large flat grassy
field. Expect to fall, don't expect it to hurt long.

--
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Drew Brown
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I like your attitude. DON'T let one wheel beat you. I can
totally relate to your feelings of frustration. I'm now
approaching the 40 hour mark and still can't ride at a level
1 (on a 20" wheel) but I am starting to post some 30 - 40
meter rides with some regularity. One thing that helped me
get some small breakthroughs when I felt like I wasn't
progessing very well (indeed at times I felt like I was
losing ground) was to mix things up a bit. I had this
comfort zone where I was always starting w/ my right foot
back and clinging to the fence with my right hand and just
not making progress. I decided to start w/ my left foot and
cling to the fence with my left hand. I felt VERY
uncomfortable for a couple of hours but then I suddenly
noticed a real improvement in ride distance and directional
control. Every time you try something different whether you
succeed or fall, your body (and brain) learns something more
about what to do and what not to do. I think it's all about
time in the saddle, the more the better. Good luck.

--
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Jayne,
Having just got back from riding my Coker and paying close attention
to what I was doing as I mounted, I believe the lack of speed may be
part of your problem. I noticed that if I don't get a sudden burst to
get the Coker rolling past that 3rd or 4th revolution, I tend to lose
all momentum and have to dismount. Since you are going to be practicing
"safe Cokering", try to acelerate a litle harder. Once that big whell
develops a little momentum, it is a WHOLE LOT easier to keep it going
straight. Good luck and don't let it beat you😄 😄

--
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If you ain't crashing, you ain't going fast enough!!!!!!!!!!!

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Jayne ZA said:

Well, that brings me up to 13 hours in the saddle. I keep
reassuring myself that I still have 7 hours to learn within
the "standard" 10-20 hours.

You can be even more assured. There is no "standard"
learning time on a Coker - you are the second in the world
to do it (afaik) so you set the standard yourself!

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
be sure to remove the saddle and simply sit on the seat
post. this is far more comfortable - tennisgh22 on the
comfort of Savage unis

Klaas Bil said:

Jayne ZA said:

Well, that brings me up to 13 hours in the saddle. I keep
reassuring myself that I still have 7 hours to learn
within the "standard" 10-20 hours.

You can be even more assured. There is no "standard"
learning time on a Coker - you are the second in the world
to do it (afaik) so you set the standard yourself!

Hell, to the extent that I set the standard, you're kicking
the standard's butt.

ChangingLINKS.com said:

* Yes. I tried to describe this before for you. When I got
to the point you are at now, I figured that I would
"force" myself to fall. *

Hi Drew,

Which "you" are you refering too? Jayne or me?

The exagerated zig-zag you describe is useful when you don't
know what else to do, but on a Coker it's a bit different.
It doesn't really respond like a 20" or 24" wheel. You CAN
get it to snap back and forth in a zig-zag but the amplitude
of the turns are too shallow to really correct much.

When I look back at the trail of my smaller unicycles when I
zig-zag the lateral moves are at least 30-40 and are spaced
about a meter or two apart. On the Coker the same frantic
zig-zaging results in wobbles about 10-20 cm wide but spaced
about three meters apart.

If Jayne is lucky she'll get it right every now and then and
make a single lateral correction before she UPDs. Eventually
she'll get two in a row, then three, and from there it's not
long before her legs and back are wired up properly and
she's doing effortless laps around the parking lot.

Jayne, in my very limited experience, riding the Coker is a
graceful, swooping process. If you are wearing your armor
the crashes aren't bad, so all you have to do is get past
step 2 so you can put in some time on steps 3 and 4.

Don't try for speed yet - you've got plenty as long as the
pedals are going around. Trying to "go faster" is good
advice for a 20" where you have to pedal frantically to
even reach walking speed. That big wheel is your friend -
hip-twist it into the fall, keep pedaling and it will take
care of you.

I know it feels like speed metal, but imagine that the Coker
is singing an old 'Gene Vincent'
(clubalibi.combebopalula.mp3Open ↗) song to you.
Bizzare? Yes, but it might help.

Quoted message said:

*BE-BOP-A-LULA* (Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis Duet,
long-play unicycle version)

Well be-bop-a-lula she's my baby, Be-bop-a-lula I don't
mean maybe. Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby Be-bop-a-lula I
don't mean maybe Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby love, My baby
love, my baby love.

Well she's the girlie with tight blue jeans. She's the
chickie with most everything. She's the girlie that shakes
that thing She aint got a diamond ring,

Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby, Be-bop-a-lula I don't mean
maybe. Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby Be-bop-a-lula I don't
mean maybe Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby love, My baby love,
my baby love.

Well she's the one that gots that beat. She's the one with
the flyin' feet. She's the one that rolls right out the
door. She's the one that gets more more more.

Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby, Be-bop-a-lula I don't mean
maybe. Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby Be-bop-a-lula I don't
mean maybe Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby love, My baby love,
my baby love.

She's the girlie that shakes that thing. She's the girlie
that knows everything. She's the chick that I love so, And
when the doctor gives it, well go, go, go, go

Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby, Be-bop-a-lula I don't mean
maybe. Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby, baby, baby, baby,
baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby.

Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby love, My baby love, my
baby love.

My 2 cents,

Tim

PS: I couldn't find a mp3 version of the Elvis and Lewis
duet, but here is Lewis's 'solo version with the
modified wording'
(dl.zvuki.ru15.mp3Open ↗).

--
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Krashin'Kenny said:

*Jayne, I noticed that if I don't get a sudden burst to
get the Coker rolling past that 3rd or 4th revolution, I
tend to lose all momentum and have to dismount. *

Kenny's right about the first couple of revs being the
hardest. You DO have to get the wheel rolling to ride it.

What I was tryin to say was that 40-60 RPM is about right
for a newbie learning to Coker. That's about 2-3 meters per
second, or 7-11 kph. It's easy to run out of a fall at that
speed and your brain can't go much faster anyway. Leave the
160 rpm speed demons runs for later

Elvis's version of Be Bop a Lula is real slow, around 50
beats per minute, so it's ideal for getting the pace right.
(Disclamer - I'm not much of a musician so I don't really
know how fast the Elvis tune is. It just feels right for
Cokering slow.)

Jayne, your brain needs something to distract it, so my
recommendation to mentally sing an Elvis tune while riding
is real. The worst thing you can do at this point is to let
your brain concentrate on your lower-body reflexes. It just
screws them up.

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cyberbellum said:

*4) when your right pedal is just coming over the top
simultaneously
a) swing your arms and shoulders hard to the right, b)
snap your hips and the unicycle to the left (into the
fall), and c) stomp hard on the right pedal, *

Hmmm... ChangingLinks may be right. Perhaps it's the LEFT
pedal that you have to stomp to go left? I'm not really
sure anymore. Time to go riding and observe what my legs
are doing.

Tim

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Hey I was riding my coker today too, it's pretty fun,
definately different than a 20 inch. I have trouble
sometimes keeping a smooth pedaling motion, kinda find
myself wanting to stop, but definately going smooth is
better.

Sometimes i've been able to stop myself from falling when I
thought I was gonna, it's harder to catch yourself cause you
gotta do whatever you need to do with more force than you
would need on a 20 incher.

Anyways, keep having fun coker riders, woo hoo!!

Andrew

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Hi Everybody I had a quick look at the replies this morning
(long enough to have Be-Bop-A-Lula going round in my head
ALL day) but have only gotten round to replying now. There
are far too many things to quote, but I'll try to cover just
about anything.

I spent my formative years in SA, not in a hole in the
ground. 😉 I have certainly heard of Wiley E Coyote and the
Roadrunner. Would it be as funny if I yelled "Beep-Beep" as
I was about to fall? It might be easier to manage than the
glowing sign.

I live in a city. All the nice, smooth, grassy fields are
locked up and cared for by people who wouldn't like somebody
on a coker riding over their carefully tended sportsfield.
Easily accessible grassy fields are usually rough and bumpy
or with a SERIOUS slope down to a lake.

I did try the whole arm swinging, knee throwing, hip
snapping thing (now called ASKTHST for short) when it was
first suggested. All it did was make me fall off. I tried it
again tonight and it still makes me fall off, just
backwards. :p

I tried singing Be-Bop-A-Lula at the top of my voice while
riding today. I also tried to do the whole ASKTHST as
mentioned above. They do really help to take one's mind off
the whole falling thing. I did gradually start to feel more
comfortable, and I seem to be getting the whole arm
swinging in direction of fall thing down pat. When you
thing about it it's actually quite instinctive to throw
your arms in the direction of your fall, as if you are
expecting some support on that side (eg a wall) it is
natural to bring your arms into a position where they can
break your fall. The knee throwing is sort of coming. It IS
something I have sort of been doing all along as it is
SOMETIMES possible for me to "pause" myself on the coker by
bracing my knee against the frame.

Well, that brings me up to 13 hours in the saddle. I keep
reassuring myself that I still have 7 hours to learn within
the "standard" 10-20 hours.

What I can't get over is just how tired I am. I feel like
I'm back at the beginning and starting to learn all over
again. Am I just a big fat unfit lump or is this common?

Jayne

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Jayne ZA said:

*What I can't get over is just how tired I am. I feel
like I'm back at the beginning and starting to learn all
over again. Am I just a big fat unfit lump or is this
common? Jayne *

Yes. Try stretching before and after the ride and at night
before sleep. Later, you will look for ways to use less
effort, but it doesn't matter yet. Also, try breathing
while you ride. I noticed that I still lose my breath more
than anyone else I ride with - that is because I hold my
breath when I am doing something difficult. Hopefully that
bad habit will work itself out, but I am making an effort
to breathe.

:eek: <-- holding breath.

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ChangingLINKS.com said:

*Yes. *

OK- this is an important question - is that "yes, this is
common" or "yes, Jayne, you are a big fat unfit lump" or
"yes, this is common, and yes, Jayne you are a big fat unfit
lump". The distinction is quite important, don't you think?

BTW, singing while riding has a dual purpose - it keeps your
brain distracted and it reminds you to breathe. 🙂

Jayne

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Jayne ZA said:

* OK- this is an important question - is that "yes, this
is common" or "yes, Jayne, you are a big fat unfit lump"
or "yes, this is common, and yes, Jayne you are a big fat
unfit lump". The distinction is quite important, don't you
think? *

Um yes this is common. You'll be very inefficient at first,
you are working your own legs against one another.
Essentially isometric exercise. Your legs are tiring each
other out. It will be a long time, years, though, before you
are really really efficient.

It's a good way to get "Quads of Steel" whatever they look
like now 😄

--
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Jayne, Remember, everybody else is riding those LITTLE
unicycles. It may take you a little longer on the Coker 😉

--
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Jayne ZA said:

* I tried singing Be-Bop-A-Lula at the top of my voice
while riding today. *

Cool.

(dons a black berret, puts on sunglasses and does the two-
handed beat-generation snap)

Way cool.

The next trick is to get the Coker to sing it. 🙂

Tim

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