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Transition to side ride?

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rec.sport.unicycling
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13 May 2005
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19 June 2005
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jsm
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  1. What exactly is the best (easiest) way to do the transition to side
    ride? In the videos I have watched, the most common method seems to be
    to ride seat on side, then jump one foot over the wheel and switch feet.
    The other methods I have seen are from crank idle (Ryan Woessner and Amy
    Shields) from stand-up hopping (Simon Wells) and from cross-footed
    hopping. (unidentified Japanese rider)

    I'm not very good at side ride yet, my best attempt being eight cycles
    of the wheel, but I think working on the transitions would be a good way
    to improve my side riding. Yesterday, I worked on the transition from
    side ride to hopping standing on the wheel, and I got it once after
    about fifteen minutes, so that part must not be too hard. It's the
    transition to side ride that really worrries me. I have tried the seat
    on side method, but since I ride a 24" wheel, it's very hard to jump my
    right foot over the wheel at all, let alone switch feet on the left
    pedal. I would try the crank idle method, but that would mean learning
    crank idle on the left, which would take a long time. (I can already do
    it on the right.) I'm very bad at stand-up hopping, and I don't think
    cross-footed hopping would be possible with a 24" wheel, so I'm
    considering trying it from normal hopping on the wheel. I spent a little
    time working on this a few weeks ago, and found it was fairly easy to
    get my right foot on the left pedal, but I didn't get beyond there.
    Could someone please give me advice on how to get into side ride, either
    from hopping on the wheel, or any other way? I find detailed
    descriptions very helpful.

    thanks in advance,
    Jonathan

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  2. I can side ride a little, but cannot do any of those transitions.
    However based on experiences with other tricks, I'd have to say that the
    eaisest one is likely the one you learn first. To know otherwise would
    be to learn them all, which would make it hard to tell because each
    subsequent one you learn would be built upon skills you gained from the
    earlier ones.

    In addition to that useless information, I'll add that it's probably
    easier to get into a side ride from someting where you're already moving
    than from a static position. Like any one-foot skill, that first "umph"
    of the pedal over the top is the hard part. This is generally even
    harder in side ride. So my vote would be for the transition from
    seat-on-side.

    Anything Ryan and Amy do I would expect to be an even-harder variation
    of something most other people can't do anyway.

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  3. The way I learned it is from crank idle. I can't say it's the easiest or
    hardest, just the way I learned it and passed level 10. I don't think
    it'd take you very long to learn crank idle on the other side,
    especially practicing to go into sideride-you get really really good at
    crank idle! Wish I could help you more but that's all I know. The other
    methods just seemed too impossible to me so I didn't even bother
    trying/learning. Good luck whatever way you decide!

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  4. Quoted message said:

    In addition to that useless information, I'll add that it's probably
    easier to get into a side ride from someting where you're already
    moving than from a static position. Like any one-foot skill, that
    first "umph" of the pedal over the top is the hard part. This is
    generally even harder in side ride. So my vote would be for the
    transition from seat-on-side.

    I would agree, except that when you learn side ride in the first place,
    you learn by mounting into it, so you're used to getting the pedal
    started from a still position. Because of this, I expect the transition
    from hopping on the wheel or crank idle would be a lot more like
    mounting into it, which is what you would be used to, unless you learned
    to mount into side ride by running along with the unicycle and jumping
    onto the pedal.

    I have two other questions:
    1. How about the transition from seat in front to seat ride? This is the
    only transition to side ride listed on the IUF skills list, but I've
    never seen or heard of anyone doing it.
    2. To do side ride properly for level ten, do you have to do it
    straight, or is a circle acceptable, as long as you go ten meters? It's
    lots easier to side ride in a circle, and all the other skills on the
    levels start out with the easiest variation. e.g. seat on side in a
    circle, ww 10m before ww in a circle. I know when I was tested through
    level seven, Irene didn't require that I do all the 10m skills in a
    completely straight line, since there wasn't enough room in the crowded
    gym.

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  5. You just have to do it 10 meters. Doesn't matter if you do it in a
    figure eight, circle or zigzag!

    Going from seat in front to sideride I think would be very hard. I
    believe I've seen it done but can't think of who it was....

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  6. yes, from crank idle is definately the easiest and the way most people
    do it.....
    i have seen a few do it right from riding with the seat on side, but i
    think it's harder
    lindsey

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  7. I'm pretty sure I managed the transition from hopping on the wheel to
    side ride a couple times this evening. It's been raining all day, so I
    was riding in my basement, and I didn't have enough room to say for sure
    if I actually did the transition properly, but I'm pretty sure that at
    least once, possibly several times, I would have been able to keep going
    more than two or so cycles of the wheel, had I not been forced to
    dismount to avoid hitting furniture. I'm really surprised at how easy it
    seems- I always thought the transition to side ride was the hardest
    thing on level ten. Perhaps the hopping on wheel method is actually
    easier than the crank idle method. Has anyone else done it this way?

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  8. jsm said:

    *I would agree, except that when you learn side ride in the first
    place, you learn by mounting into it, so you're used to getting the
    pedal started from a still position.*


    Actually, I used to do it by hopping along with one foot while pedaling
    with the other. Kind of an "albatross taking off" approach. 🙂

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  9. Anyone got any other tips on how to get started learning side ride? I'd
    like to learn this trick (and can crank idle already, if that helps).

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  10. I'm still really bad at side ride, but I'll try to give you some tips.
    For sake of convenience, I'll assume you're learning it on the left side
    with the right foot. If you're learning it on the right, reverse the
    directions.
    To start out, stand on the left side of the unicycle, and turn the left
    pedal so that it's up, in front, nearer vertical than horizontal. Now
    grasp the seat with both hands, your right hand near the middle of the
    seat and the left at the front. Rest the saddle tightly against your
    body. Now set your right foot on the left pedal, and step down on it. It
    may take a lot of practice to get the first cycle of the wheel. You
    should rest almost all your weight on the saddle and press your thigh
    right against it. Press down fairly hard on the first stroke, then as
    soon as the pedal is down, release all the pressure so that the pedal
    can come up again. With a lot of practice, you should be able to get the
    pedal to come up and over again.
    Once you can do this consistently focus on actually riding. Side ride
    goes naturally in a circle to the right. (Assuming you're doing it on
    the left.) Once you get good at circling to the right you can go
    straight, or even in a figure eight, but at first you should do a circle
    to the right. Lean very hard to the right, and do everything you can to
    get your weight over the wheel, rather than to one side of it. The
    placement of your free leg is also important; raise it forward, and as
    much to the right as possible. It might even help to try placing it
    directly above the wheel. Keep your foot pressure on the pedal light and
    put all your weight on the seat.

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  11. Last night I made a video clip of my new side ride transition method. I
    highly recommend it if you're looking for an easy way to get into side
    ride. 'Here' (http://tinyurl.com/9o5pp) is the clip.🙂

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  12. Cool! Good job!

    It's hard to tell, are you just doing regular hop on wheel or is the
    seat behind you? Anyhow, congrats and keep it up!

    --
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  13. I'm just doing it from regular hopping on the wheel. I actually now find
    this transition easier than the one out of side ride, which I haven't
    worked on much.

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  14. uniprincess said:

    *yes, from crank idle is definately the easiest and the way most
    people do it.....
    i have seen a few do it right from riding with the seat on side, but i
    think it's harder
    lindsey *

    Hey Lindsey, can you film that cranck-idle method and 'submit it'
    (http://www.unicyclist.org/cont/submit.cfm)?

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  15. jsm said:

    *1. How about the transition from seat in front to seat ride? This is
    the only transition to side ride listed on the IUF skills list, but
    I've never seen or heard of anyone doing it.*

    'Here's Sem Abrahams doing that one' (http://tinyurl.com/d6tc8)

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  16. Wow! That is an awkward looking transition. Does Sem usually side ride
    with the seat in front like that? The way I do it, and the way it's done
    in most of the other video clips I've seen is with the seat right
    against the body, not held forward aways.

    Am I right in guessing that the reason that's the only side ride
    transition on the IUF skills list is that that is Sem's usual method,
    and he did a lot of the work of compiling the list?

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  17. jsm said:

    *Am I right in guessing that the reason that's the only side ride
    transition on the IUF skills list is that that is Sem's usual method,
    and he did a lot of the work of compiling the list? *


    I'm sure that has something to do with it. When we made that list,
    unlike the skill levels, we wanted to include only things people had
    actually done. There were very few people riding into and out of
    side-ride at the time, so we used what was out there. We have only made
    changes to the list once or twice since then, so certain areas are
    fairly behind the times in terms of what people are doing today. After
    this next Unicon it will probably be time for an update...

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  18. Quoted message said:

    When we made that list, unlike the skill levels, we wanted to include
    only things people had actually done.

    That doesn't seem to make sense. I have a hard time believing all the
    skills on the standard skills list (backward or stand-up coast in a
    figure-8, for instance) had actually been done when the list was
    compiled. Also, which skills on the skill levels hadn't been done when
    the skill levels were compiled?

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  19. Yesterday I had a bad day, and my transitions (from seat next) would
    succeed. Normally when things go wrong AND improvement is desired I
    start eliminating errors, and logical when you make no errors things go
    right. Anyway; starting from seat next is easy because you can start
    putting all the weight on the seat before making the switch. So that
    your hang is allready OK. After that it's just focusing your attention
    on the foot that's on the pedal to be reach, and aim it's position
    together with the moment you "jump".

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