Got My Unicycle Today!

Practice. Your own of way of learning is the best way.

--
leeman180 - i should be out riding

'My Gallery' (http://gallery.unicyclist.com/Lees-Uni-Stuff) - last
updated 5/20/05
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leeman180 said:

*Practice. Your own of way of learning is the best way. *

I agree and take a look at http://www.unicycle.2ya.com

look in basic riding you may find what you need to know

--
kapoute - Street/Trial unicyclist

« Don't try it, do it » - Yoda

Julien Renaud

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Congratulations on getting your first unicycle.

There's a definite progression to the skills that you've mentioned.

Riding in a straight line comes with practice. Learn to look some
distance ahead, rather than at the floor. Relax your shoulders, keep
your weight on the saddle (not on the pedals) and aim for a smooth
circular pedalling mothion. It will come with time.

Mounting without holding onto something is called "freemounting". The
difficulty with freemounting is not getting up there, but staying up
there long enough to get your balance and start riding forwards.

Therefore, you need to be confident riding, and riding at a fairly low
speed, even pausing for a moment now and again. If you can pause and
restart (without dismounting) then that is part of the skills package
you need to be able to learn to freemount.

Then the bit where you stay still on the same spot. This is called
"idling", or "rocking". What you actually do is move the unicycle
forwards and backwards under you, whilst you keep your body in more or
less the same place. It's a skill that takes lots of practice. You
need to be confident at freemounting, and confident at riding very
slowly, pausing, starting again. You need to find a smooth piece of
ground, pump the tyre up hard, and then practise practise practise.
Look a long way ahead at a fixed object.

The good thing is that idling leads naturally into riding backwards.
the two skills are closely linked.

If you are that way inclined, look up the list of Skills Levels, which
are fairly logically arranged in terms of difficulty.

For day to day riding, however, I'd suggest you set your sights to learn
the skills in approximately this order:
Ride straight for a reasonable distance.
Turn smoothly.
Stop and dismount neatly. (Unicycle in front.)
Figure eights.
Freemount.
Idle.
Reverse.
Double back somersault with a half pike.

OK, I lied about the last one.😉

--
Mikefule - The first cuckoo of unicycling

Sumer is icomen in, loud sing Mikefule!
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Hermit said:

*ok i got my unicycle today and i need some help.
so far i can ride forwards about the distance of 5 cars at a moderate
speed *

WOW! If you you rode that far on your first day you are doing great! It
took me three days (and I was trying for at least a couple hours per
day) before I could ride that far.

Quoted message said:

*can someone help me with the following:
how can i balance in one spot?
how can i mount the unicycle without holding something?
how can i ride in a straight line?
and anyother tips you can give to me *

Balancing in one spot: I have been unicycling for over a month now (at
least a little bit everyday) and I still cannot idle for more than a few
seconds.
Mounting without holding on: I am just getting this. In the last few
days actually, I have decided freemounting is my next big goal. I have
done it successfully a few times, but I still need a lot of practice to
do it everytime.
Ride in a straight line: This just happens. Maybe in a couple days or a
couple weeks, I'm sure it depends on the person.
My point: I have only been riding a short time myself and have enjoyed
every second of it! (ok, every second except that one really bad fall I
took when I was going really fast and not wearing gloves or knee pads,
OUCH!). Just enjoy the learning process and know you will get there. You
already seem well ahead of the learning curve.

Quoted message said:

*also can anyone tell me why this isnt as popular a sport as it should
be? its the greatest thing ive ever done! *

I hear that! I can't believe everyone does not have a unicycle! I wish
to hell I would have had an opportunity to try unicycling years ago!
Spread the word, brother, I have already got one friend interested
enough that he is ready to buy a uni for himself!

Also, everything Mikefule said in his reply in this thread is right on.
You should also do a lot of websearching and you will find many, many
good tips for beginners.

--
katch22 - complete newbie!
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Hermit said:

*
also can anyone tell me why this isnt as popular a sport as it should
be? its the greatest thing ive ever done! *

A very simple answer: our society demands instant gratification.

You can pick up a badminton raquet, golf club, baseball bat, football,
etc. and have a go immediately. You might not be very good,, but you
can have a go, and have fun. The same goes for 10 pin bowling, flying
kites, riding a bicycle (assuming you learned as a child) or even
paddling a canoe - almost every sport.

With unicycling, you need to invest time and effort just to be able to
ride for 3 metres. To be able to ride in any meaningful way (say a few
hundred metres, with controlled turns) takes most people weeks of
effort.

Therefore, most people wouldn't even consider unicycling. It will never
become hugely popular because it is not instantly accessible.

The secondary reason is the slight social stigma of it being connected
with eccentricity, circus skills and so on in the public perception.

--
Mikefule - The first cuckoo of unicycling

Sumer is icomen in, loud sing Mikefule!
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Mikefule said:

*A very simple answer: our society demands instant gratification.
[...]
The secondary reason is the slight social stigma of it being connected
with eccentricity, circus skills and so on in the public perception. *

Though I do agree on the instant gratification point, I might be more
inclined to argue that it is the unfortunate association with
"eccentricity, circus skills and so on in the public perception" that is
the primary, not secondary, cause of unicycling not being more popular
than it is.
For instance, skateboarding is very popular, at least among younger
people (in the states that is, I do not know how popular it is in other
locations around the world), and I think it requires a comparable amount
of practice to unicycling to do well. Because there are so many
skateboarders, good ones too, and so few unicyclists, it seems it must
have mostly to do with some weird -- negative -- association with
unicycling in the minds of most people.
Just a thought... What do some other people think?

--
katch22 - complete newbie!
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Actually, I think unicycling is in fact easier than skateboarding - I
know I can do some pretty neat things on my uni now, but most people who
try a skateboard barely get to grinding things. There are very few
people around here who can even grab air as it were at the skate park.

Surely all of them can't be that lazy 😉

--
flyer - Level 5 Unicyclist
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The difference is that many people perceive unicycling to be more
difficult, even bordering on the impossible. Even if these perceptions
are wrong, it still prevents people from trying it out with enough
effort to get good at it.

I personally find skateboarding more difficult than unicycling, but when
people on the street see one wheel instead of four they automatically
assume that the one wheel must be more difficult.

It's a psychological block.

--
LikeableRodent
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Quoted message said:

I might be more inclined to argue that it is the unfortunate
association with "eccentricity, circus skills and so on in the public
perception" that is the primary, not secondary, cause of unicycling
not being more popular than it is.

No way. MOst of the comments I get are regarding how difficult it looks,
not how eccentric I look. People just believe that since it is hard,
they wont be able to do it.
In general I think that people my age (i.e. not young) would consider it
a waste of time when they could be cleaning the house or doing something
much more worthwhile.
I believe that adults need to play more in order to cope with the
increasing stressfulness of life and to avoid that heart attack. I also
believe that I'm in a minority.
Ah,if only they knew how much fun it was, what good exercise and so
on.
Cathy

--
cathwood - Lunicyclist

A thought is just a thought.

http://www.chuckingandtwirling.co.uk
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Hermit said:

can someone help me with the following:
...

My page with tips for beginners is at
<http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/uni_beginners.htm>.

It includes a tutorial in Word format, and a link to a spreadsheet to
estimate how long it will take you to learn.

Have fun!

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
I ride like a princess. - john_childs

Hermit said:

can someone help me with the following:
...

My page with tips for beginners is at
<http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/uni_beginners.htm>.

It includes a tutorial in Word format, and a link to a spreadsheet to
estimate how long it will take you to learn.

Have fun!

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
I ride like a princess. - john_childs

Quoted message said:

I might be more inclined to argue that it is the unfortunate
association with "eccentricity, circus skills and so on in the public
perception" that is the primary, not secondary, cause of unicycling
not being more popular than it is.

I really never associated unicycling with the circus, until i started
riding that is (every second comment i get on the thing is a circus
referance?). Personally i don't really get where that comes from, I've
been to the circus twice and there were NO unicycles...😕
The only circus unicycle i've seen was on tv and i guy rode across a
tight rope, which i find much more impressive now that i've tried riding
a uni :p

--
Nimrod - lesson 1 - wear shoes

I'm the only the only unicyclist in the village!!
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Quoted message said:

I might be more inclined to argue that it is the unfortunate
association with "eccentricity, circus skills and so on in the public
perception" that is the primary, not secondary, cause of unicycling
not being more popular than it is.

I really never associated unicycling with the circus, until i started
riding that is (every second comment i get on the thing is a circus
referance?). Personally i don't really get where that comes from, I've
been to the circus twice and there were NO unicycles...😕
The only circus unicycle i've seen was on tv and i guy rode across a
tight rope, which i find much more impressive now that i've tried riding
a uni :p

--
Nimrod - lesson 1 - wear shoes

I'm the only the only unicyclist in the village!!
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Many people thinks unicycling is a impossible skill to learn for the
"ordinary" human beeing, and those who actually ride are gifted,
talented, has better balance and so on.
When they spot a unicyclist, it's like the thought of them actually
could do the same thing with a bit of practice is as proabable as if you
throw an egg off an airplane you'll hit a baseballbat..
It would never struck their mind!

--
lleberg - Can you ride that.. thing?

I <3 my unicycle!
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Many people thinks unicycling is a impossible skill to learn for the
"ordinary" human beeing, and those who actually ride are gifted,
talented, has better balance and so on.
When they spot a unicyclist, it's like the thought of them actually
could do the same thing with a bit of practice is as proabable as if you
throw an egg off an airplane you'll hit a baseballbat..
It would never struck their mind!

--
lleberg - Can you ride that.. thing?

I <3 my unicycle!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
lleberg's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/8272
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Many people thinks unicycling is a impossible skill to learn for the
"ordinary" human beeing, and those who actually ride are gifted,
talented, has better balance and so on.
When they spot a unicyclist, it's like the thought of them actually
could do the same thing with a bit of practice is as proabable as if you
throw an egg off an airplane you'll hit a baseballbat..
It would never struck their mind!

--
lleberg - Can you ride that.. thing?

I <3 my unicycle!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Many people thinks unicycling is a impossible skill to learn for the
"ordinary" human beeing, and those who actually ride are gifted,
talented, has better balance and so on.
When they spot a unicyclist, it's like the thought of them actually
could do the same thing with a bit of practice is as proabable as if you
throw an egg off an airplane you'll hit a baseballbat..
It would never struck their mind!

--
lleberg - Can you ride that.. thing?

I <3 my unicycle!
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sorry i barely understood what you just said but yea i know what you
mean...people are completely astonished when they see me on my unicycle,
makes me look like a complete attention seeker

--
Hermit
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sorry i barely understood what you just said but yea i know what you
mean...people are completely astonished when they see me on my unicycle,
makes me look like a complete attention seeker

--
Hermit
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