Forums > Social Chat > unicycling

Posted: 6th Jan 2002
my tip is find 'circus in a suitcase' (i think thats what its called) by Reg Bolton.god-man *falls to the ground and worships reg*he can teach anyone to ride, and i think the book has useful tips.find a long hallway, where you can touch the walls on either side, hop on, and go for it is my advice (though i suck particularly at unicycling)

Posted: 6th Jan 2002
Charles is (alledgedly) good at unicycling. He even thinks it's an art form. Funny fellow.....

Meh

Posted: 6th Jan 2002
a unicycle thats heaps siic,i tried me riding one of them at some circus workshop once for the rainbow circus in sydney,and yea very difucult lol but how cool if ya perfected it??enuf bout that either check out a circus workshop,get the book like CLARE said or just get someone to spot ya.good luckcatcha

Posted: 7th Jan 2002
As someone who (please keep this to yourselves people!!!!) took six months to learn to ride, I've been given lots and lots of tips on how to learn and have come to the following conclusion.Fall off as much as possible...You're centre of gravity is in your waist, just as if you were walking so you will land on your feet most of the time.Overall though, IMHO, forget how many hours yu practice or how often a week your practice, the key is to TURN THE WHEEL AS MANY TIMES AS POSSIBLE.If you pedal one rev and fall off twenty times in a row, that is much better than getting your balance on it when the pedals aren't moving.Balancing while still is completely different to riding. Don'r worry about applying this but here is how you stay on while riding (it all becomes subconscious pretty quick).When you are falling forward you speed the wheel up so it comes underneath you. When you are falling backwards you slow the wheel down and your momentum carries you over the wheel again. This is why you need to get those pedals moving.Some poeple learn in a day or a week or a month, hardly anyone takes as long as i did coz I'm an unco little git ------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nz

HoP Posting Guidelines
* Is it the Truth?
* Is it Fair to all concerned?
* Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
* Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Posted: 7th Jan 2002
What a gret xmas pressie. How come all I ever get is socks?

Are we nearly there yet?

Posted: 7th Jan 2002
A friend of mine has one and he rode up and down his street no problems after only a few days of practice (not casting aspersions on your abilities Charles - I managed to ride for about .5 seconds!)Believe it or not try:www.unicyling.org (temporarily down?)Funny unicycle "incidents"(There is a website for eveything these days! Next people will make one for spinning sticks around their heads...)[This message has been edited by Bendy (edited 08 January 2002).]

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut

Posted: 7th Jan 2002
Unicycling poi people! WIKID!I, like you, got mine for christmas when I was 14.After 1 week I could go the legnth of our lounge, turn and come back. After 1 month i did 6 miles non-stop! WOOHOO!!!That only came through practise though!!To start with I spent most of C'mas day and boxing day watching the TV whilst sat on the uni and clutching on to the wall. Just 'rocking' backwards and forwards and getting a 'feel' for the thing. Every now and then I would try and pedal to the other side of the lounge - falling off at first but getting further each time till I went the whole way.After a few days I took the uni outside and did almost the same thing but clinging to a lampost. This is different cos you got no walls to reach for! Eventually I got the knack and could go round the block. Practise makes perfect!Try it - just spend a couple of nights sat on it while you watch TV like i did! It helped me heaps and its helped loads of my friends too!Another tip - dont look down! look at an object in the distance i.e. the next lamp post or the picture of aunty sally on the far wall of the lounge, focus on it and aim to get there by pedalling calmly and as smoothly as possible. This will reduce your chances of falling off (unless your path is blocked)Dont worry about turning either!!! Concentrate on going forwards!Have fun.Gruff.If you want any more help then post a request or email me. Though I say so myself Ive been riding for 7yrs+ so I think im pretty experienced and more than willing to share any advice i can give.

Posted: 7th Jan 2002
I broke into the local school fields at night. They had tarmac tennis courts with a fence, about 100 yards long. I'd try to ride a bit further every time I fell off. After about a week, I turned up, rode the length without having to cling to the fence and felt really chuffed. Ride it everywhere now, and no one whinges when you take it on the bus, train or into shops. Great pressie. Good luck learning.

Just ignore me. Everyone else does.

Posted: 7th Jan 2002
I suggest that you find a shearing shed....(yeh yeh, I know here come the kiwi/sheep jokes)umm the reason for this is that inside the shed (well our one anyway) there are rails to make pens for all the sheep. The rails were at just the right height to have a hand on while trying to ride the uni. I was able to learn in a very short while as I was able to ride along with my hand on the rail, and taking it off for short periods until I was riding without holding onto anything...was all good!!------------------fe fi foo fun

fe fi foo fun

Posted: 8th Jan 2002
I learned in my dorm hallway where I could touch both side walls... when I got the hang of just staying on and riding for a bit, I went to a large room where I could hang onto a pole while I got on then started going for the other wall... I did pretty well with that untill I ran out of space.One of the best tips I got was to look forward... Generally you will go where you look. If you look down, you will go down. If you look forward, you will (have a better chance) of going forward.Also if you feel yourself falling, dont try tooo hard to correct yourself, step off and try again. I broke a wrist by doing that with one of those big circus balancing balls.

Posted: 8th Jan 2002
I've been learning the uni myself, though the weather's awful for it here in Seattle-area.My tips:Get a pole (or two) to get up onto the thing, and get used to not being next to a wall. When you can get onto the uni with two poles, drop one. then, when you're comfy with it, lift the other pole up and hold it. Or just drop it also.There are "levels" of uni-riding, you can find links to them on a search engine. Try to follow those to get ideas as you progress.Keep your eyes on something distant. I found it's easier to ride in the day, 'cause you can see the immediate ground in your peripheral. Otherwise the ground is so dark it's a bit disorienting.Most of all, keep your weight -ON- the seat. Don't put it all into your legs, except for momentarily for balance. Your legs shouldn't work so hard they tire quickly. To first mount it, however, put all your weight in your legs until you're safely on the thing, then drop your butt onto the seat. As one guy said about mounting it, "make sure your in-between-the-legs are safely flat on the seat" or something similar.Get yourself to practice at least 10-15 minutes each day. If you can allocate 30 minutes-1 hour every day for one week, it'll help, but be careful 'cause the seat can chafe the sides of your legs with too much use... Good luck!!Hey--anybody successfully done poi on a uni? I've tried, but am not good enough at unicycling yet, so the weight of the poi throws my balance off.

rw

Posted: 8th Jan 2002
YES!Poi on uni is great fun!You are best trying it with tail-less poi as the tails tend to 'linger' in the air for a bit too long and you run the risk of riding over them and doing yourself a mischeif! Ive got long legs so it helps cos the poi are that little bit further off the ground.Club swinging (distant relative of poi swinging) is far easier as they are completely rigid and dont 'flop' in the way of the wheel too much. Also if you are turning then they will follow in the direction of your wrist due to their rigidity as opposed to the more flexible poi which will stay in their trajectory.If you can juggle and ride then you are already at an advantage. Try it on 'straight' runs first, or in VERY wide circles then when youre used to swinging and riding start doing tighter turns.With practise it is possible to do pirouette turns in your uni-poi routine lie doing the high or low turn and from fwd weave to bwd weave. Ive even managed under the leg moves but this took ages to get right.Uni and poi is GOOD FUN!! but be warned - falls and tangles are inevitable and they will hurt! (especially with fire)Have fun and enjoy - let us know how you find it,GruffP.S. Sorry if I sounded a bit like a textbook up there but Ive just finished writing a few thousand words for university assignments and i guess im still in that frame of mind!

Posted: 9th Jan 2002
Don't forget about staff as well!Staff and unicycling is probably the most fun thing I like to do at the moment, except it tires me out pretty quickly too.Go and practice!!! ------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nz

HoP Posting Guidelines
* Is it the Truth?
* Is it Fair to all concerned?
* Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
* Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Posted: 9th Jan 2002
It might not look pretty but make sure that you grab your balls and pull them out they way because that tiny bit of scrotum that you're sitting on is really gonna hurt.

Just ignore me. Everyone else does.

Posted: 9th Jan 2002
That's good advice Grynygogg. Tell me, was it general advice? Or solely aimed at the young lady who started the thread? Just curious.

Meh

Posted: 9th Jan 2002
ok, yeah......as Cantus kindly pointed out......being female I have no scrotum but thanks anyway I live right on a near-vertical main road so there's no riding round the block for me, but I've been practising along the seafront where it's flat and tarmac and there are railings! I can go straight without support for a good few minutes now. WAHAY!!! Thanx for all the help *shudders in admiration/envy at the thought of doing poi on a unicycle*

Geologists do it in the dirt................

Posted: 9th Jan 2002
WOOHOO!!Keep it up!!Please note:- Scrotum or no scrotum you will be in pain when you start learning to bunnyhop!!

Posted: 9th Jan 2002
It was general advice. No, really. It was. It's just that my gf came down to critisize me and so I had to cut it short. Bunny hops are bad and hurt.I've tried ridding backwards but if I look over my shoulder to see where I'm going, I start to turn. So I just don't bother looking. Thus, I never get far.

Just ignore me. Everyone else does.

Posted: 9th Jan 2002
Grynygog & others...Bunny hops hurt? Hmm, I guess you guys have a different style to me, coz I get sore more often from plain riding and offroad stuff instead of bunnyhopping.When i hop i have almost all of my weight on my feet, the seat there to help get the wheel off the ground.So i jump a little "off" the pedals, but by holding the seat with a hand the whole uni comes up into the air, and down again. I don't think I've ever actually been sitting the seat while hopping.Is this a different technique to what you guys do?Also, a good technique to look over your shoulder when riding backwards is to learn to ride backwards in circles, making the circles smaller as the difficulty gets less. When you can do a tight 3m circle in both directions, looking behind (infront???) will be a piece of cake.IMHO of course.------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nz[This message has been edited by Charles (edited 10 January 2002).]

HoP Posting Guidelines
* Is it the Truth?
* Is it Fair to all concerned?
* Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
* Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Posted: 10th Jan 2002
Bunnyhopping is not even an option in the forseable future - just focusing on straight lines on the ground!

Geologists do it in the dirt................

Posted: 10th Jan 2002
when I bunnyhop I dont hold on to the saddle, just a good firm grip with the thighs.This means my hands are free for either balance, juggling (a little tricky) or using a skipping rope.Also I try to get the pedals level and stand on the crankshafts. This means that you have more of a 'platform' to stand on and it kinda locks the wheels so they cant go anywhere and the uni cant run away from you.It hurts because I adopt a slightly standing postion for maximum grip which leaves them free and swinging and every now and then a collision is inevitable and BLOODY HURTS!!!Tips on riding backwards:Use a cursory check behind to check the coast is clear every few moments.Looking behind is good practice but only glance - riding looking over your shoulder can throw you off-balance.Happy pedallingGruff

Posted: 10th Jan 2002
Cheers for the advice, both in bunnyhops and backwards riding. Unicycles are good. I like them lots but I really hate getting a flat because the odds of that are really low.Anybody do the big 8 footer or there abouts? I'm too scared to give it a go.

Just ignore me. Everyone else does.

Posted: 10th Jan 2002
Ros, I think that the no-hands bunny hop does sound pretty tough, although my style of hopping is often easier than actually riding for most people, kinda like a pogo stick, which doesn't take much time at all to learn...------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nz

HoP Posting Guidelines
* Is it the Truth?
* Is it Fair to all concerned?
* Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
* Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Posted: 2nd Mar 2003
*bump* cos someone was looking for it in 'other toys'.

Geologists do it in the dirt................

Posted: 2nd Mar 2003
So I went to the Banff Film Fest and saw the COLLEST UniCycle Film!!!

It was called 'White Tracks' This guy was crusing down ski slopes!! Down Mogals, Over Clifs, Down Chutes of powder!! Rolling down things I wouldn't dreem of doing on a bike, let alone a uni-cycle!
The guy was amazing! Makes me want to get out and learn how to ride one wheel!
I don't know how I could get the tape, but it was part of the Banff Film Fest, and called 'White Tracks' You guys would really dig it.

~Fire Spirit

FIRE IS ALIVE!
IT LIVES AND BREATHS!
IT CONSUMES, AND DISTROYS!
BUT WE CONTROL IT,
AND DANCE WITH FIRE!!