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Getting used to gliding

Started by klaym · · Last activity · 14 posts · 361 views

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rec.sport.unicycling
Published
25 August 2004
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27 August 2004
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klaym
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  1. Howdy! I bought my 24" Torker in June and since then have been training
    a lot on riding and freestyle tricks, and now I can say I master
    one-foot pedaling, wheelwalking, backwards riding, idling, onefoot
    wheelwalking, seat-out-in-front and hopping.

    I've now been practicing on gliding for a couple of weeks, and I can do
    some ten meters. Sometimes I get it going nicely but maintaining the
    right pressure on the tire still needs a lot working on.

    I'd like to ask you gliding pros, how long did it take you to get it
    going in a natural and smooth way? Does it become so 'automatic' at some
    point, that you can just roll down hills whistling and watching the
    flowers as you go? At the point when I was still learning to ride, I had
    to keep all my concentration on riding and I thought I would always have
    to. Now after a few months of continuous riding it goes almost as easily
    as riding a bicycle. I wonder if this happens with gliding too? I'd also
    like to know what is your average speed when gliding?

    btw., I've found that a rather easy way of getting into glide is to
    transition to wheelwalk by slowing down and putting the non-dominant
    foot on the tire when the pedal comes up and after that setting the
    other foot on the tire too, then taking one step with both feet to get
    the non-dominant foot on the crown and the other one on the tire. Do you
    know of an easier tehnique?
    cheers!

    klaym

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    klaym
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  2. Sorry,I cant Glide.can barley even wheel walk,so i cant help you
    there.Do you mean to say that you learned how to unicycle in
    june??!!!!And now your gliding?If so WOW!

    I have noticed (with regular riding) how at first your concentrating and
    once you get better you just ride along automaticlly

    Sorry I cant help you.ive been trying to learn wheel walking,but im not
    trying to hard.Good Luck on gliding!!

    --
    forrestunifreak - Unicycle Rights Activist

    Good things come to those who wait.

    Great things come to those who get off their butt and go for it!!
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  3. Yes I received my Torker in june, and since then I've been uni'ing a
    lot, almost everyday. It has taken a lot of training to be able to
    wheelwalk, but it has definately been worth the effort! Looking at the
    unicycling levels list, I'm barely at level 3 now, since I haven't
    really practiced on the things that are needed to advance on the levels.
    I've concentrated on the skills that most appeal to me and practiced
    them day after day. I've noticed, though, that along with practicing the
    more advanced skills your ability to control the unicycle generally gets
    better too.

    Try dedicating one or two training days (almost) only for wheelwalking
    and I'm sure you'd get it right!
    Thanks !

    klaym

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    klaym
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  4. I would be level 6 if only i could wheel walk.I think maybe i will
    practice more.i can W.W one revolution of the wheel than get back on
    the pedals but thats about it.I've just done what i wanted to,instead of
    following the levels.I also MUni alot and trials.wish i could help you
    with gliding.

    uh,Cheers!

    --
    forrestunifreak - Unicycle Rights Activist

    Good things come to those who wait.

    Great things come to those who get off their butt and go for it!!
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  5. I pulled my first succesful landing on pedals from wheelwalk just two
    days ago. I had never really practiced that before, but it took many
    tries, wasn't that easy after all.

    I mUni and trials quite a lot too. Mainly I spend my uniing time
    practicing on the street skills though. How lame it is now when the
    school started. Not much time for uniing anymore 🙁 Actually, I should
    be making an essay of 'electric cars - the future of commuting?' (or
    something like that) right now.
    ------>

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    klaym - Cosmic Osmo
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  6. [quote="klaym"][B]I pulled my first succesful landing on pedals from wheelwalk just
    two days ago. I had never really practiced that before, but it took
    many tries, wasn't that easy after all./B][/quote]


    I'm at basically the same place, but my wheel walking is really erratic.
    Sometimes I can go 50 feet, and the next time, 10 feet. When I start
    sketching my feet start moving like Fred Flintstone and I quickly go out
    of control (way too fast). And just now my balance isn't good enough to
    go super slow with any consistancy. Practicing WWing is boring (for me),
    but I've got to get this consequent to learning to glide so I don't have
    to peddle down all the fire roads around here (Santa Monica Mountains)
    while MUning. Any hints on smoothly getting back to the pedles is most
    welcome.

    JL


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    vivalargo
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  7. I have heard of two ways of returning to the pedals from wheel walking.
    One way is to one foot wheel walk, then put the non-wheel walking foot
    on the corresponding pedal when it is near the top. Although this seems
    to work well for some people, I have never tried it. I usually return to
    the pedals by wheel walking normally and as smoothly as possible,
    waiting until the right pedal is between 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock. Then
    I place my right foot on it smoothly and firmly push it all the way
    down. Now the left pedal is at 12 o'clock and I place my left foot on it
    and ride off. The most important thing to remember is to wheel walk
    smoothly and fairly slowly.

    --
    jsm - unicyclist, violinist, and juggler

    "You did that hill easier than I could on a bicycle"- Some lady while
    passing me after an insignificant slope which I hardly noticed.
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  8. unicycling since june and you can 1 foot wheel walk? the only advice
    that can be given to you is keep practicing. i learned to glide last
    months after 7-ish months of hard (daily) riding.

    --
    TheBadger587 - HSG/DH MUni (Represent?)

    Gliding, finally.

    AIM:TheBadger587
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  9. I can glide well(110 revs down hill), or i used to be able to i am
    unsure now i have not done it in soooo long.There is no point where
    suddenly your just like gliding as well as you can ride. Though you
    notice you get faster and faster. Once your shoe is woren it becomes
    easier. Just stick at it find the best places to glide from in general i
    found the ball of your foot is quickest and th heel area more controling
    and slows you down. DO IT DOWN HILL best tip ever!
    Ben

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    thinuniking - U don't be playing me cracker!

    I am heman with out the muscles or a cool sword
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  10. Gliding is, in my experience, much easier when going down hill.
    Nevertheless, it is actually preferable to do it "flatland" since
    otherwise it doesn't count for the skill levels. Of course if you have
    no interest in the skill levels go ahead and do it any way you want. My
    best glide is only about six meters, so I don't really no for sure, but
    I suspect that there eventually comes a point at which gliding requires
    very little concentration. Certain people have glided farther than a
    mile or at speeds above 25mph. Anyone who can do this is probably also
    able to glide without thinking about it very much.

    --
    jsm - unicyclist, violinist, and juggler

    "You did that hill easier than I could on a bicycle"- Some lady while
    passing me after an insignificant slope which I hardly noticed.
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  11. The best way to get comfortable to glide is to have someone pull you.
    It's best if they are pulling you on a unicycle so you go at a nice
    speed but someone could walk/run and pull you to. This helps you get
    used to how much pressure you need to put on the tire. After doing this,
    it shouldn't take long to learn it by yourself. Good luck!

    Also, once you learn it well, it is like riding and is pretty easy where
    you can do it without thinking about it and enjoy the flowers along the
    way while whistling! Just have to watch the road for any bumps and watch
    your foot from starting on fire.

    --
    tuna6869 - Patriotic Unicycler

    Jamey Mossengren

    Smile! 🙂 It makes people wonder what you're up to!

    "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
    moments that take our breath away"

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  12. The best way to get comfortable to glide is to have someone pull you.
    It's best if they are pulling you on a unicycle so you go at a nice
    speed but someone could walk/run and pull you to. This helps you get
    used to how much pressure you need to put on the tire. After doing this,
    it shouldn't take long to learn it by yourself. Good luck!

    Also, once you learn it well, it is like riding and is pretty easy where
    you can do it without thinking about it and enjoy the flowers along the
    way while whistling! Just have to watch the road for any bumps and watch
    your foot from starting on fire.

    --
    tuna6869 - Patriotic Unicycler

    Jamey Mossengren

    Smile! 🙂 It makes people wonder what you're up to!

    "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
    moments that take our breath away"

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  13. tuna6869: I'll definately try out the pulling technique. It might come a
    bit frustrating for the person who's pulling you after tens and tens of
    UPD's though 😉.

    I'm training hard on gliding because my school (senior high) is just a
    100 meters away from my home, and it's all downhill. So it would be cool
    to come it down gliding every morning, wouldn't it!

    TheBadger587: I had practiced one foot wheelwalking for a few hours
    until I got a hang of it (something like 1 rev). Then I went for a hill.
    After many days of training I worked it out to about ten meters of
    gliding. After all the work on gliding, I realised I could one foot
    wheelwalk quite well too. It's nowhere near perfect though, I find
    myself lying flat-back on the ground very often (well especially when
    trying to glide)

    Thanks to you all for your replies, they've provided me and others lots
    of help!

    --
    klaym - Cosmic Osmo
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  14. go downhill! it is easy! I can't glide in flat ground. gliding on flat
    was hard and boring for me so I just kept to the downhill. Once you get
    good you can bump over small roots, off road is fun.

    Dan Heaton filmed me from his car gliding downhill for a following shot.
    He said that I got up to 17mph. It's not too fast, but it is enough to
    bend the crank when you crash.

    If you are only going to glide downhill raise your seat up as high as
    you can.

    mike

    --
    onetrack - street terrorist
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