Is idling rather scary for newbies???

that's how i learnt to ride backwards, but not to idle, it does seem a
bit over the top, id; just mount holdng on to a wall and start idling,
then stop leaning on the wall and see how long you can hold it for.

--
kington99

Dave

- what a thoroughly post-modern subversion of the cycling genre -
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Even if you don't know how to do it, it's not scary at all. You're
stopped, and if you feel youself starting to fall off, you just step
down without even thinking, and all is well 🙂

I never really tried to learn how to idle... it just kind of happened
randomly one day that I was able to pedal backwards, forwards, then
backwards, then forwards, then fall off, and I said, hey, this is kind
of like idling!!

--
chuckaeronut

Cycling: It doesn't get easier; you just get faster.
Unicycling: It doesn't get easier; you just do tougher stuff.
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dont be a woman about it, just do it, learn to ride backwards and then
youll be fine

--
Spoonthumb

Triball said:

I learned everything I know from youtube.

\"it won't hurt if you land it\" -kevin mcmullin
2nd place )---hickflip-'o,
4th place*)--540 unispin-'o,*
uni for christ
'get lost' (www.lost.eu/6c7c7)
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Hi there,

Thanks for the help guys!

Thats all I needed, but by all means leave some more opinions if you
wish!

Many thanks

Mark Watson

--
markwatson

Magical Mark Watson - Christian magician, juggler, puppeteer, and
all-round entertainer!
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Every new skill is a challenge. Idling is awkward at first but every
time you try it, it gets a bit easier until eventually you think it is
very easy.

Remember how hard was learning to ride? Keep practicing, idling will
get easier.

--
Wheel Rider

A man can fail many times but he isn't a failure until he begins to
blame someone else. - Waite Phillips

The art of medicine consists of keeping the patient amused while nature
heals the disease. - Voltaire
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I learned to ride backwards before idling, and it wasn't scary learning
to go backwards.

--
Joe2005

nobody knows what happened to that boy after that.-Nutcracker

i know. he was kidnapped by aliens, learnt their ways, stole the
biggest ship he could, travelled back in time by mistake and crashed
the plane on the earth surface. he was the one who killed the
dinosaurs. -ivan
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Sometimes when I learn new things, I get people to yell at me and
ridicule me, helps me learn faster...

Just find something that helps you learn quicker.

--
Borgschulze

'deviantART'
(http://borgschulze.deviantart.com/)'Gravity'
(http://videos.observedtrials.net/Gravity.wmv) is -not- the
issue.
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There are many women with excellent unicycling skills. Your comment
implies otherwise, and many would find it offensive.

I recommend keeping blatently sexist comments off of public forums.

Spoonthumb said:

dont be a woman about it, just do it, learn to ride backwards and then
youll be fine

--
mscalisi

Quoted message said:

<> Unicycle for (reducing the) Buddha <><

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markwatson said:

I am reaching the stage in my basic unicycling career that I want to
start learning how to idle on my unicycle.

I am following Charlie Dancey's method for idling, where you pedal
forward like normal, take just one pedal back, and then carry on again
forwards.

My problem is that, for me at least, that backward pedal seems rather
daunting!

That's how I learnt. I don't remember it being scary (mind you, it
/was/ 13 years ago and time may have dimmed the memory). I /do/
remember that I tended to practice within grabbing distance of some
park railings. If you have some handy railings that you can ride near
then you may find that they boost your confidence. Just make sure the
tops are higher than head height, so that there's no risk of impaling
yourself if you fall on them!

--
Danny Colyer

'http://www.redpedals.co.uk' (http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/)
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine
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If the backward motion is scary, you might not be letting the lower
crank roll forward enough, like not leaning back far enough on the
forward stroke, limiting the amount of torque you can put into the
pedal to roll backwards again.

--
Borgschulze

'deviantART'
(http://borgschulze.deviantart.com/)'Gravity'
(http://videos.observedtrials.net/Gravity.wmv) is -not- the
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I was pretty freaked out when I first tried it. But if you just go for
it you will probable get the pedal back. Then it is like straight into
backwards ridin.
WAY FUN!!!! just go for it and have fun.

--
UniDudeDX

'My Youtube Profile!' (http://youtube.com/profile?user=unidudedx)

Naomi said:

trying to attach a picture of the tree, before it was circumsized.

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With my right foot down (lower). There is only 2 ways to idle, I learned
left foot down first, on a 19 ". I bet a skinny tired 20 " is easier or
the same. Then it gets harder as the wheels get bigger. The 24 isn't so
bad, but I have never gone reverse on the 36. Maybe I should buy a 29
LOL 🙂

I learned to idle watching movies. Wasn't scary at all, but then I hate
horror or gore, so I was laughing or crying instead.🙂

Consider learning on a small wheel while watching movies. Have a hand
hold nearby, so you don't have to remount every time you lose balance.
Just go for it. Try to keep your balance, while making up bs with the
lower foot on the pedal. Make it up as you go along. Can be a bit dull
and slow. So watching movies is the hot set up IMHO. It has taken many
more hours to get the basic idling feel, then it did to learn basic
straight riding, for me. I think I started to idle a few months ago,
watch a movie a day, and I get tired or lose my balance after a minute
or so. So it is much harder then riding forward, many times harder for
me, don't give up. It just gets better slowly.

I can ride 100 feet reverse before I start to get scared. I need to get
better at doing the 180 look back. I think I might wear a helmet before
I try this on the 36. It really is all just instinct to tighten up at a
certain point. I am pretty sure as my balance improves and I get better
at the snap back glance, riding backwards will seem normal.

Anyway, riding backwards, and idling are related skills. If you can
idle with either foot down, riding backwards will seem ok. It's the
same as changing your lower idle foot.

It is a weird tech though, more about time spent, then substance or
comprehension, I can't think of a single good tip. Pirate movies !LOL,
and put in your time on the seat, and it will work for you.🙂

--
feel the light
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Maybe try learning in a doorway. Just then you can hold either side and
as you get better just use less pressure on the door frame. Very
similar to learning to ride holding a wall or rail. That's how I would
start off learning (If I was allowed inside).

--
TattooedBandit

"What's the matter, kid? Don't ya like clowns?" - Captain Spaulding -
the devil's rejects
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I must say that it is probably better to learn how to ride backwards
first. Learning to ride backwards is much harder than learning to
unicycle forwards. You have probably never pedaled backwards before in
your life. I know that I have never ridden a bike backwards before.
Learning to ride backwards really increases your riding skill. I am
mostly a MUni rider and once I learned how to ride backwards I improved
my MUniing dramatically. Once you learn to ride backwards you will want
to change directions. I found it much easier to change from forward to
backward than from backward to forward. This changing of directions
will lead you into idling. I was riding and doind a half revolutions
backwards and then continuing to ride way before I could ride
backwards. It never developed into idling. Learning how to ride
backwards is a skill well worth learning.

Unicorn

--
Unicorn

Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the pedals, and you will
accomplish great feats!

'The Unicycling Commune' (http://tinyurl.com/3xkd8d)
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Quoted message said:

I am following Charlie Dancey's method for idling, where you pedal
forward like normal, take just one pedal back, and then carry on again
forwards.

I did not learn to idle using this method, tried but no luck.
Since I have two uni's, I started with my 20" by holding onto a wall to
mount and start the idle. Took me a while to learn, with lots of
practice. After I could idle back and forth longer than 1 min I moved
to practicing on my 29".
This was harder due to larger wheel size and rocking motion was a
differenet rythm.

Now I am practicing the combination of freemount and idling.
So far I can freemount 100% of the time and idle longer than a min on
both unicycles.

Moral of the story is practice, practice, practice.

--
legtod2
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I am still at the very beginning and althiugh I have read many tutorials
I have the feeling that I do not get anywhere with idling.

I guess I am missing an important part of the rocking motion. Everybody
says that you should move the lower foot/pedal. Bit intuitively my
upper foot tries to take control. I have the feeling that I can't
control anything with the lower foot.

Riding forward is no problem, and freemount (roll back method) works
20%

Tryiny to ride backwards is a real nightmare. It feels like I have to
learn again from scratch.

--
hugo

hugo
qu-ax luxus schwarz 20\"
no-name chrom 24\"
anfänger seit / beginner since 24. dec 2007
- wer schreibfehler findet, darf sie behalten -
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mscalisi said:

There are many women with excellent unicycling skills. Your comment
implies otherwise, and many would find it offensive.

I recommend keeping blatently sexist comments off of public forums.

give me a break dumbass you know what i meant, i know there are good
women riders i was just saying dont be a "BABY." Is that better? It
pisses me off that half the people on here just post replys just to
argue. Does it make you feel good? Arguing on the internet?
Obviously it does so it would be nice if you just posted your argument
bullsh*t over in jc. As for being sexist, yeah i guess i am i dont see
any decent female street riders, yes a few good female trials riders
but thats different.

--
Spoonthumb

Triball said:

I learned everything I know from youtube.

\"it won't hurt if you land it\" -kevin mcmullin
2nd place )---hickflip-'o,
4th place*)--540 unispin-'o,*
uni for christ
'get lost' (www.lost.eu/6c7c7)
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I am not a moderator but still I would recommend to stop this
immediately.

I do not have a problem with spoonthumbs original post, but there will
always be others who carefully search for comments that can make them
feel offended. It's a question of attitude.

So, if you use expressions which could potentially offend others, just
live with the fact that you may get negative feedback. But don't feel
offended by the feedback. Just ignore it and stay calm.

I recommend that there should be no more post about this. If you really
feel you need to comment, open a separate thread unter 'just
conversation'

My 2 €-cents.

--
hugo

hugo
qu-ax luxus schwarz / black 20\"
no-name chrome 24\"
anfänger seit / beginner since 24. dec 2007
- wer schreibfehler findet, darf sie behalten / if you find typos, just
keep them -
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legtod2 said:

I did not learn to idle using this method, tried but no luck.
Since I have two uni's, I started with my 20" by holding onto a wall to
mount and start the idle.

Idling is next on my list of skills to learn. I have a 24" and a 29",
but am thinking it would be easier to learn on a 20". Is it worth
getting a 20" if I have a 24" and 29"?

Are there any other skills that are better learned/enjoyed on a smaller
wheel?

thanks,
tom

--
tomkarches
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