New uni rider

Dorkus said:

Hi,

I am in my 50's and recently bought a nice Bedford 26" uni to learn to ride. I am trying to be careful and not break my neck, so I am learning by riding with protective gear and keeping one hand against a wall or high fence. That is going OK and I am progressing, but it will probably be months before I am comfortable to ride even a short distance unsupported. any ideas to speed things up?

I thnink you will be surprized how quickly you will pick it up. I started on a wall like you and spent about an hour doing that. Then I had someone walk with me resting my hand on there sholder. This helped a lot. I did this for about another hour on my second day. Then I started to push off from the wall unsuported. It took about another hour and I was able to ride nearly as far as I wanted. All and all it was 3 hours, 2 days. Granted I was 19 years old, I am still a carfull person. You will also get good at dismounting when you are in trouble untill eventually you won't wory about that.