Yeow! I’m so excited by recent events in my quest to become a
unicyclist that I’ve got to tell somebody about it. Since no one
around here is interested in hearing me talk about unicycling, you all
are elected!
Four months after the surgery to repair the ankle that I broke on my
3rd day of trying to learn to ride, desire overcame prudence and I
cautiously climbed back onto the saddle again. Since my ankle was only
marginally operational, the muscles in my right leg were about as
strong as a bucket of veal, and I was truly terrified of falling and
re-injuring myself, I had to chart a careful course.
So I rigged up a pair of handrails in the shop, giving myself a 16’
long “safety track,” where I could hopefully develop some basic skills
without undue danger of traumatic damage. For weeks, practicing 30
minutes to an hour a day, the most common thought that ran through my
mind was, “Who do you think you’re fooling? Unless gravity decides to
take a holiday this is plainly impossible. How can anyone do this?”
Clinging to the hope that if I persisted long enough my body would
eventually develop the requisite reactions in spite of my mental
protestations, I soldiered on. After about 18 hours between the
handrails I was given a glimmer of hope when I actually rode the length
of my track without touching the rails. (I’ve been keeping a time
sheet so I can give Klass Bill some accurate figures for his chart.)
Naturally I was unable to repeat the feat the rest of that day. Since
then, however, with every passing day my ratio of “clean” runs to
“pinball passes” (wherein I ricochet off the rails and get splinters in
my hands from desperate saves) has improved.
Today I was practically riding the length of my track “at will” (well,
50% of the time anyway!), making little zigs to correct for lateral
imbalance, and deliberately slowing down before crashing into the drill
press at the west end of my course! If it wasn’t for the persistent
pain in my crotch I would have thought it was someone else perched up
there.
No matter how frisky I get to feeling, I’m determined to remain between
my handrails until the ankle has had six months to heal (that would be
July 10), and even then I’ll have a huge psychological barrier to
overcome before launching myself into the abyss. (I think Mikefule
calls it “situation specific anxiety!"😉
But doggonit, Gild, I’m on the way … I will be one of y’all!
--
Ronnie
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