Ankle support

I wear hiking boots and still get ankle strike pain when I
jump around with my foot too far back on the pedals. The
boots assists when I UPD and might try to sprain an ankle
with lateral torque. But landing a drop violently points my
toes up towards my knees.

Normal riding and speed riding, the pedal axis is under the
ball of my foot. When Jumping/dropping, I move the foot
forward so the arch is over the axis. This way I can land
with less stress on the ankle, more likely to keep my
foot/leg angle relationship constant throughout the landing.

I'm no expert, but this helps me.

--
Memphis Mud - Student of GrandMaster 2T

Mantra: Avoid Hitting Tailbone...Avoid Hitting Tailbone...
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If youve ever read any skatboard trick runover the last step
is always absorb the shock and ride away. It might be
thefact that your putting to much weight on your legs(which
is badfor you and your cranks) and that is probably what
causes the ankle pain. It happened to me a while back to
where i would limp so i went out and tried jumping seat out
so i could bend my knees more to lessen the stress on my
ankles. try to bend your knees more.

Oh and on the topic of shoes i would just go with converse
or some vans skate/b*ke shoes because theyre comfortable and
sturdy enough to last.

--
Catboy - I enjoy the taste of dirt!

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crapped a rainbow into my brain!"-Me just after beleiving that if you
put Burts Bees wax on your eyelids it will keep you awake.
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i also had that problem when going down steps. i fixed it
by fixing my technique, not shoes. the tendency is the grip
the pedals with your foot and try to control the rotation
of the wheel as it goes down. i was always worried about
how the cranks would line up. the solution is to approach
stairs as you would a hill. the trick is not to control the
speed of the wheel, but to let your feet naturally turn
with the wheel. this will be scary at first but the results
are great.

heres a quick story: i had been having your problem and
therefore had tried nothing more than a 4 set of stairs. i
had heard that you should take stairs as you would a hill
but i was still too worried about everything. what if my
tire pressure is too low? i dont want to go too fast. should
i line my pedals up? why should i bother riding down a 4 set
when i can easily hop it? and then one day, in the snow, i
just decided to go for it. i tried a 10 set and rode away
both on the uni and without pain. i proceeded to do more and
more sets until i was too tired to ride. the moral of this
story is do not think, just ride...

--
muniracer - Hell On Wheel

The Hell on Wheel Unicycle Gang owns you!!

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pete66 said:

*I get the "ankle strike" pain from doin stairs and other
stuff, can't stay off the unicycle long enough to heal.*

I think he is talking about what Bill Jenack and Jack Wiley
called "ankle clipping." This is from banging the sides of
your ankles against the side of the crank or axle, which can
especially be a problem on the cycles with the splined
straight cranks that protrude at the axle.

Many people clip their ankles in early riding, and depending
what you're learning, you can tend to do it some more. Most
of us eventually learn to keep our ankles out of harm's way,
but with extreme riding this can be harder to do. Especially
if you have the kind of cranks that protrude at the axle
(you'll know what I'm talking about if you do).

Wearing high-tops can help. Way back in the olden days, Bill
Jenack recommended putting pieces of a motorcycle innertube
around your ankle. I don't know if motorcycles still use
innertubes, but you can put other stuff on your ankles.
Padding up a pair of high-tops or hiking boots should work.

In time, hopefully your feet will learn to mostly stay away
from those clipping spots.

--
johnfoss - IUF Director

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

"I went to the Liberace Museum and the Elvis-A-Rama Museum on the same
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It's a bit of a combination of "ankle strike" and knocking
my ankles on the cranks. I have bruises and cuts on both
ankles (even on the outside of my ankles!??) but it's really
the "ankle strike" that worries me. I've found that using my
soccer shinpads that have ankle protection are great for
avoiding the knocking.

Thanks for the replies, I'll see what I can do about my
technique.

--
pete66 - Level 3 Unicyclist
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