Unicycle progression

I recently got my grubby little hands on a unicycle. Woo, except I'm rather rubbish. So far I have:

fallen off lots
fallen off lots more and worked out that if I grab the seat, the uni doesn't clatter to the ground
managed ride forward somewhat unsteadily, furthest being about 15 metres
managed twice to stop and ride backwards for a couple of revolutions before falling off
idle (more by luck than anything else) for a couple of seconds
bruised my shins lots trying to mount the damn thing
fallen off some more
learnt that a 2 x 1.5 metre patio isn't the ideal place to try to learn

Given the lack of space (meaning I can't really practice going forwards smoothly, as I run out of space before I get going), what is best to attempt to learn next? Idling or mounting?

J

Stopping falling off should be the next goal

Helpful as ever
I'll work on it.

My friend just got a unicycle.
He's having the same problems as you're describing ^.^'
And after trying it for a night my self I managed to have a good number as well (none of the good ones about being able to move forward etc... lol).
I think it's just about the practice you can put in. Just like everything in this kind of world (I call these kinds of things alternate performance arts, but that's just me), it takes alot of practice before you even get ok at it, then a lifetime to become great :P

find the right shoes for you, some thing that you can feel the pedals through.
get the seat hight in the right place, minimum of 1inch gap between you and the seat.
a good easy rolling flat surface, probably best with a rail or wall.
have lots of patience.
learn to ride before you learn to mount, some people find that easier... as you already have a feel for the motions of the wheel.
the more space that you have the better .
put the time in that you need to if you really want to learn... its a lot of fun when you can ride well enough.
same as always learn left side right side! mounts, one leg tricks etc..
when learning to ride, try clenching your ass cheeks together and the lower lumber region straight, another good method is to try and clentch youre inner stomach and back muscles but with relaxed breathing, you will find the right posture to then, not fall off the unicycle.
feel for the unicycle, it will become a part of you.

few more things that are important to learn once that you can mount and ride unaided.

roll up and down kerbs.
go up and down slopes and hills.
go for a distance ride.
ride on grass or other rought terrain.

that will teach you some of the basic nessesities that you need to be then able if you want to and that is the "skill tests" from the IUF ..depending if you have way more time on your hands than i do, you might be able to progress with the test fairly quickly.
I have been riding uni now for 3 years and currently on working in level 5. i dont have the time to ride very much so i just play around when ever i can.

Written by:

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Level 1
mount unicycle unassisted
ride 50 meters
dismount gracefully with unicycle in front

Level 2
mount with left foot
mount with right foot
ride 10 meters between two parallel lines 30 cm apart
ride a figure eight with circle diameters smaller than 3 meters
ride down a 15 cm vertical drop
make a 90 degree turn to the left inside a 1 meter circle
make a 90 degree turn to the right inside a 1 meter circle

Level 3
demonstrate 3 types of mounts
ride a figure eight with circle diameters smaller than 1.5 meters
come to a stop, pedal half a revolution backward and continue forward
ride with the stomach on the seat for 10 meters
make a 180 degree turn to the left within a 1 meter circle
make a 180 degree turn to the right within a 1 meter circle
hop 5 times
ride or hop over a 10 x 10 cm. obstacle

Level 4
demonstrate 4 types of mounts
ride backward for 10 meters
ride one footed for 10 meters
idle with left foot down 25 times
idle with right foot down 25 times
ride with seat out in front for 10 meters
ride with the seat out in back for 10 meters
make a 360 degree turn to the left inside a 1 meter circle
make a 360 degree turn to the right inside a 1 meter circle

Level 5
demonstrate 5 types of mounts
ride backward in a circle
ride one footed in a figure eight
idle one footed with the left foot 25 times
idle one footed with the right foot 25 times
ride with seat out in front in a circle
ride with the seat out in back in a circle
ride with the seat on the side in a circle
hop-twist 90 degrees to the left
hop-twist 90 degrees to the right
walk the wheel for 10 meters

Level 6
demonstrate 6 types of mounts
ride backward in a figure eight
ride with the seat out in front in a figure eight
ride with the seat out in back in a figure eight
ride backward with the seat out in front for 10 meters
hop standing on wheel 5 times
ride with the seat on the side in a circle to the left
ride with the seat on the side in a circle to the right
ride one footed with the left foot for 10 meters
ride one footed with the right foot for 10 meters
backspin
frontspin
spin

Level 7
demonstrate 7 types of mounts
ride backward with the seat out in front in a circle
ride one footed with the left foot in a circle
ride one footed with the right foot in a circle
walk the wheel in a circle
walk the wheel one footed for 10 meters
hop-twist 180 degrees to the left
hop-twist 180 degrees to the right
ride backward with the seat out in back for 10 meters
spin to the left
spin to the right

Level 8
demonstrate 8 types of mounts
ride one footed with the left foot in a figure eight
ride one footed with the right foot in a figure eight
walk the wheel in a figure eight
walk the wheel one footed in a circle
ride backward one footed for 10 meters
glide for 10 meters
hand wheel walk for 10 meters
pirouette
backward spin

Level 9
demonstrate 9 types of mounts
walk the wheel one footed in a figure eight
ride backward one footed in a circle
ride backward with the seat out in front in a figure eight
ride backward with the seat out in back in a circle
walk the wheel one footed with the left foot for 10 meters
walk the wheel one footed with the right foot for 10 meters
walk the wheel backward for 10 meters
drag seat in front for 10 meters
drag seat in back for 10 meters
ride backward one footed with the left foot for 10 meters
ride backward one footed with the right foot for 10 meters
one footed with the seat out in front for 10 meters
backward pirouette

Level 10
demonstrate 10 types of mounts
ride backward with the seat out in back in a figure eight
ride backward one footed in a figure eight
walk the wheel one footed with the left foot in a circle
walk the wheel one footed with the right foot in a circle
walk the wheel backward in a circle
180 uni spin
sideways wheel walk for 10 meters
coast for 10 meters
side ride for 10 meters
walk the wheel one footed backward for 10 meters

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you can also push your skills even further if you really want to get into unicycling.

also dont forget that there are different types of unicycles and unicycling.

freestyle [tricks and such as listed above]
trials [getting you and your uni around an obsicle course]
street [mixing it up how ever you want!!]
Muni [off road better witha slightly bigger wheel]
coker [pretty much any thing over a 29" wheel] not for beginers.
Rolling trials. [coker riding off road/ obstacle couses, similar to normal trials but just as hard]

so there are unicycles built for all of the above, i have an Onza 20" trials, has a splined hub, onza wheel set and a Kris Holme onza seat!... if you have money it is wise to invest in a decent uni that will last you, mine takes a battering but has seen out a year with only a scratch and a dent from riding along a 5 foot high wall.

also learn to maintain your uni too... if every thing is trued in than you will not have any problems when your out riding.

the more that you get used to riding you will be tweaking the way that you have your uni set up, you will feel things differently and feel that the uni becomes part of you.

Another easy trick to kick off your learning is if you know some one else that can already ride uni!...
last week i took fluffy napalm faerie on a ride, with me just holding one am uot to the side she could ride along side and use it for support when ever she felt a little wobbly.

when you can ride for more than 100 meters, you will find that it has work out some muscles in your body and legs that you didnt expect it too, it is also at times tiring, FNF found this out too, but asked me why im not knackard !.. cos im always tired from lack of sleeping that it doesnt faze me that im knackard. lol

it is about time we had some new uni riders on here! I think that the uni forums are full of arrogant kids.




hope that helps some one!.....




have fun with your uni!

Wow! Cheers for all the info. I'll have to give the posture thing a try, that's normally a good way to get things going. Clenched ass cheeks, here I come! Looks like it'll just be a question of many long hours of practice. There's never any sort cut to these things, is there?
Those skills scare me. I think I'll not even look at them for a good long while!

J

well poi doesnt interest me in the slightest for over a year now until i move again next month then i have to teach twirling to italians... joy! hehe

thos skills are a little scary yes/// if you look at level 10 i can already do the 180 uni spin i landed a 36 uni spin not so long back but i keep loosing it again!...

just spend the time with your new toy, the more that you do the easier it will become then it gets even more scary when you see a skill that you want to learn and it is like learning to uni all over again.

watch lots of uni videos too, i have over 5 hours of small videos clips i have downloaded, just to take inspiration from and learn from just the same as people do with the poi vids here.

when i can glide and stand up wheel walk im a happy man!.

give us a shout if you need any more advice.

yeah i have that one too dave, i was almost physically sick in awe!. i use the european forums a lot and saw it posted, i also saw that KH posted it too on uist forums.
That was some mad skilz.

oi pk.
make a video of your unicycling talent

and maybe some other stuff chucked in their aswell

go on.....you know you want to

OH! Perfect Timing!

Was about to do a search and there it was sitting at the top of Other toys!

Just got a Unicycle for my birthday so this is a much wicked thread!

Am off to fall off things now (mainly the unicycle I reckon)

hahaha nate i am saving my skills for another time i unfortunatly right now my firewire card has decided to have blown and i think that it is from when my computer blew up a few months ago!!! argh! and i have loads of ideas to get throught with some new video stuff that i was planning to get done not so long back, and maybe if i get another video done soon enough then i will maybe through in some poi and juggling that i have been working on for so long now that probably no one has ever seen me do as i seem to stay in the closet with my toys these days! hahah.

i especially wanna see the juggling and poi

i've hear good things about you and your poi pk.....good things

no rush as long as you get a video up eventually

my friend has just baught a unicylce from ebay so i'll be back here in no time

its all rumours i tell ya! i havnt done poi in a long time, it doesnt interest me but then i guess your going to ask me why i still hang around hop! hehe.
i still play, i have been teaching my good lady over in italy she got 3 beat and reverse 3 beat, corkscrew, butterflies and turns, low and high waves all in the space of 2 weeks of me showing her. so when i get there in 24days i will see where shes at since i last showed her some poi.

erm my juggling, no one sees me juggle, in fact i dont rellay recall any one getting to see me juggle for quite some time now, and i ride uni on my own, though i taught fluffy N Fairy to uni the other week when i went for a 3 day trip to birmingham which was fun, inface she has me doing poi on camera! maybe some juggling too i dont remember.

maybe i just play for a while and see if a new video will apear online at some point, i dont have a fire wire card any more so i cant even get any footage from my trips to italy onto my pc, and before mech jumps up and shouts post em to me i will do it.... no! theres erm... stuff on those tapes so dont ask! or volunteer.

i think tommorrow im gonna go ride my uni, i found some new skinny walls and ledges to ride and need to practice my 180 to crank grabs to 180 that i was nailing the other week... also nailed my longest one footed ride the other day, damn left foot just can not cut it though.

thats it from me for this thread for one night, 2.20am time for coffee and bed.
later nate.

shhhhhh! I saw PK juggle and spin poi and unicycle..........



My tips for unicycling:

Be prepared to be frustrated and knackered.
Be prepared to be laughed at in public places.
Go for it! Find a quiet path or industrial estate (lol) with a flat surface and just keep going. The more time you spend on your uni the more familiar the feelings associated with the correct balance will become.
Little and often - practice a bit every day if you can

PK - Rob's now better than me - we go out with 1 BMX and 1 Uni and play but guess who's hurtling about offroad on the uni now? grumble grumble mutter hmph....

But I met a nice boy who rides too - - so I don't want to get good cos then he might not help me any more

wow nice one ros, my hat is off to you for your persistance
im still gutted that in one week you learnt 3 balls cascade, tennis and mills mess! you suck! that took me so long, and on top of that in one day your uni skills got good!, im happy for you.

today i went on a 4 mile ride.. all the way to the train station and back, from my house there is a footpath through the feilds past the lake and brings you out ride at the station which is kewl, there was no one walking around so i just tried to ride the whole way one footed, today i really found that ballance point that i was lacking to keep me in motion but my uni shoes are knackard as hell from my pedals, that the spikes on the pedals have now ripped apart the soles of my trainers and if my foot is slightly out of possition it annoys me and i loose momentum.
I was finding it hard to get my foot placment right when trying to go back to riding two footed. this situation almost makes it impossible for riding backwards because if i need to take my foot off when out of ballance i actually cant do so with my left foot because the sole of my trainer gets caught up.

This is where i have said in my big post about having the right shoes for you when your riding.
Also get some protection too, you will need it, those UPD [unexpected dismounts] can some times hurt depending on what you do. Helmets to protect your head as concussion ius not a nice thing to suffer, gloves to protect your hands from getting grazed and also not to forget shin and knee pads.

It is always worth before going for a ride to warm up properly too, you will find yourself less knackard this way and also you will make you body supple that you will not cause yourself too much pain from riding and UPD's.

Last april i dropped a 6 foot drop to flat and snapped my left foot off of the pedal, it took 6 months before that recovered, and it hurt like hell for weeks to just walk on it, so dont go and do any thing silly that your not prepared for, today i did another drop off a train station platform, around a 4 foot drop to flat but i have the right unicycle that will take batterings like that.
I also managed to ride a few nice skinnies too which is fun.
To learn to ride skinnies is quite nerve racking, your sense of ballance goes right out of the window, you now have a drop to the sides of you, might not be a high drop but it feels almost like your having to learn to ride all over again, i tend to bail a lot of the time because i find it hard to cope with a drop to one side, the first skinny i ever road was a 7 inch wide wall around a boating pond, so the nerverousness lied in falling into the water with a cell phone and minidisc player in my pocket! haha could have just took them out but i then withing a month learnt to ride 5 inch skinnies with 4 foot drops either side, it took me a lot of practice but it worth doing, one day i dream at riding a handrail.

the thing that im finding most difficult in learning right now is squat hops onto benches, just to get the hight and possitioning with the wheel to land on the onsticle rather than doing a crank grab and hop from there, maybe the more i practice when i have the time to do so i will get better.
I only have 22 days left with my unicycle before it flies off to my new house then i have a month without her here to ride.so thats going to suck but then i have so much i need to do in that month that i may just not have the time to give her or myself.to ride and learn some more.
Over in viareggio there are endless ledges, skinnies, nice rolling tarmac to ride along the seafront im sure i will progress a lot further out there than where i am living right now which sucks, the only real nice place i can ride is the school next door which has an astroturf hockey pitch and an out door netball court, a couple of ledges to practice crank grabs, so im not really learning much here. No decent off road like there was back in matlock, i used to love the trails over there is any one ever saw one of the last videos i made called systemovement, was a little messy on the eyes but just some thing that i wanted to put together, no fancy riding in there but just a general journey that i used to take most weeks.

to me there is just some thing about riding around on a uni that is satisfying to me, one that i can ride it, two it is so much fun and thirdly that there is actually so much that you can do on them when you think about it and it is some thing that has been popular for over a 100 years or more now, there is a lot of history that is traceable on the net if you know where to look, i spent an evening last month just looking at all of the different types of unicycles that people have made over the last 100 years, what people used to do with them, i have some very old videos from around 1930 of scout groups that built their own and used to go out in to the towns and ride. I think that unicycling intersts me more than poi ever did, im not that good as a rider as i have loads to learn but then what is the rush, not like all of the new poi kids that wanna learn airwraps and isolations before a 2 beat weave.. i find it in general more fun and satisfying to learn.

OWD was such an inspiration for my early riding i wish i was around other riders to bounce ideas and thoughts off in person rather than relaying things in text on the internet but then i have some really inspirational videos of people of all ages riding all of the different styles there are and the different types of unis available on the market these days.


ventidue giorni.

i had a go on my friends uni the other day

i whent about a metre after getting the posture right, that was holding onto the wall....but its a start

i'm definatly gunna buy one of these when i have some more money

pk have you tried juggling while riding?

yeah!... not as easy as it looks!

juggling 3 balls and riding is easy but not when your idling on the spot!

How do you know what size unicycle will be right for you? Do you measure your inside leg and do some complicated maths that then tell you what size you need or is there a Unicycles 'R' Us shop where you go and try them out for size? I'm guessing the shorter you are the smaller the wheel you can get away with...... or am I wrong?

Wheel size depends on what type of unicycling you want to do.

20" is the old standard uni size- good for stage shows (as it doesn't go far per wheel revolution); unicycle hockey, a good size to learn on (less distance to fall)

20" is also the best for unicycle trials (outdoor obstacle courses), hops and jumps- as long as it's fitted with the super fat trials tyres

20" is not good, for distance or any kind of communting where you want to get around reasonably quickly

24" with a fat (2.5" or 3") tyre is the best for muni (off road unicycle), is good to learn on, and good for moderate distance and general getting around on

26" is the old standard for muni (mountain bike size wheel)

28" is a distance machine (racing bike wheel size)- works much better when fitted with a fat tyre when it becomes known as a 29-er. Not for learning on

36" 'Coker'- massive wheel, far bigger than racing bike size. Specialist machine for ultimate distance riding. This is the unicycle used for going 100 km/day on the cross continental uni rides

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Your physical height/leg length is pretty much irrelevant when choosing a wheel size (unless you're unusually small, for example a child might use a 20" trials uni for muni while they're growing).

Check-

www.unicycle.uk.com for an excellent uk based online shop with some good FAQs on uni choice (if you're on a medium budget I can especially recomend the 'Nimbus' range)

and-

www.unicyclist.com for the unicycling equivalent of HOP board- loads of info about all aspects of uni