Desperate for Help

Don't panic. If you're frustrated with yourself and the uni right now,
take a break for a day or so and then get back to practicing. The most
important is not to give up entirely and best way to do that is to have
fun practicing.

--
Borges
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dudewithasock said:

Ok well I'm on my 4th day of practicing the unicycle, and I am having
virtually no luck.

I -still- can't ride more than, oh, 1-2 feet before I UPD.

During those 1-2 feet, I swerve like crazy.

Dude, That was me after 70 hours of practice. Just keep practicing.
Some of us just need to work a little harder at it than others. I'm
doing pretty good now. Started at the end of July and I'm up to a mile
of paved riding before a UPD and can complete a 5 mile loop before my
legs cry for mercy.

--
Trapper
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Make sure you're sitting up straight on the seat, too. If you're bent
too far forwards then you have extra weight pulling you forward, and
you have to compensate by pedalling faster; which results in a upd. Try
leaning a bit further backward. You'll find that if you are seated
properly, and focused on a static point (maybe a lamp in the distance),
you will be more steadily balanced and able to pedal forward without
-much- difficulty.

Everything became much easier once I started focusing on distant
objects.

*Remember to keep your head up - look where you want to go.*

--
burjzyntski

It's no good being Polish unless you prove it once a day.

\"every silver lining has a touch of gray.\"

\"drunk drivers run stop signs, stoned drivers wait for them to turn
green.\" -'SDASD' (http://cannabisculture.com/articles/4131.html)
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burjzyntski said:

Make sure you're sitting up straight on the seat, too. [/B]

And that reminds me, make sure the seat is straight. Repeated UPDs can
knock it off center and that can make riding it a bit more difficult.
Just check every now and then that the seat is still straight when
compared to the wheel.
If you have a quick-release clamp on your seatpost, it makes more sense
to loosen and correct than to force it back to being straight.

--
GILD

'three short gs and a long e-flat'
(http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/beethoven_sym5_1.wav) - 'map'
(http://www.frappr.com/unicycleworld)
'\\"freedom is just chaos, with better lighting.\\" entropy'
(http://tinyurl.com/77lom)
'harper' (http://tinyurl.com/c9epx)
'NAMASTE!' (http://tinyurl.com/4qcxw)
'Dave' (http://www.lyricsdir.com/d/deep-purple/child-in-time.php)
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Keep practising!

It took me a couple of months, doing an hour, five days a week before
it "clicked"!

I'm still very much a beginner, but after six months, I can go out with
my son on jaunts along the seafront and other places and it's fun!.

good luck,

Hooked

--
totally_hooked

"The banana is big, but its skin is even bigger." - George Orwell
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Keep trying. It took me about 80 hours over 8 months to do 50 meters.
One day it just 'clicked' and I could ride. No matter how long it
takes, don't give up. It caused me a lot of frustration but it has
been so worth it. This is so much fun.

--
underdog

'I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody
tell you different' - Kurt Vonnegut
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totally_hooked said:

Keep practising!

It took me a couple of months, doing an hour, five days a week before
it "clicked"!

I'm still very much a beginner, but after six months, I can go out with
my son on jaunts along the seafront and other places and it's fun!.

good luck,

Hooked

Just thought I'd add some more !!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙄

--
totally_hooked

"The banana is big, but its skin is even bigger." - George Orwell
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One thing that helped me out when I first was able to achieve a
carlength or two:
As soon as I was underway, I would pick a pebble or blade of grass at
the opposite end of my riding space, and lock eyes on it. By intently
staring at an object, often enough it would result in my head
travelling in a straight line while the uni swerved wildly below.
Keep at it, it takes a long time to perfect falling off! Once that's
done, riding comes easy.

--
wobblyjohn
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Keep it up, duderideswithsocks! It took me three weeks of daily
practice to be able to ride up and down the street... turning, well,
that's another chapter in my book. Don't worry too much about all the
advice you hear, except to endure the pain and keep on practicing!

You have the ability in you, your task is to find that ability. Keep
on truckin'!

--
maestro8

Those are my principles. If you don't like those, I have others. --
Groucho Marx
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maestro8 said:

Keep it up, duderideswithsocks! It took me three weeks of daily
practice to be able to ride up and down the street... turning, well,
that's another chapter in my book. Don't worry too much about all the
advice you hear, except to endure the pain and keep on practicing!

You have the ability in you, your task is to find that ability. Keep
on truckin'!

The Maestro is correct, it took me that long too; just keep at it and
don't give up!

--
U-Turn

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.
'LiveWire Unicycles' (http://www.livewireunicycles.com)
'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)
'29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)
'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)
-- Dave Stockton
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Klaas Bil said:

On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 17:11:03 -0600, dudewithasock wrote:

Go to
http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/agelearn_short.htm

ok am i the only one who noticed the website??? Thats really good klass
bil. How long did the spreadsheet take you??

Mike

--
swarbrim
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Keep trying. Don't compete against others, or against an imaginary
normal level of progress. For everyone ahead of you, there is someone
behind you.

Relax. It is a game. It can be hard work and frustrating, but
anything worthwhile demands effort.

Here's a common problem: trying to remain in control at every moment of
the ride.

Try this experiment: take a long handled broom, and balance it on your
finger, so that the broom head is in the air. Now, walk 5 metres.

There are two ways to do this. You can take a step, regain your
balance, take another step, regain your balance, take a step, regain
tyour balance...

Or you can let the broom start to fall, and then keep up with it, never
quite regaining your balance.

The second is the right way.

If you get on your unicycle and go: pedal, balance, pedal, balance...
you will tiure yourself out.

If you get on your unicycle, let it start to fall, then pedal smoothly
after it, it will be easier.

The only problem then is making sure you don't fall faster than you can
pedal smoothly.

Smooooooooooooooooooooooth

Good luck.

Remember Mr. and Mrs Vere, and their son, Percy.

--
Mikefule

Did you hear about the computer programmer conspiracy theorist who put
10 and 10 together and made 101?
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Believe you can do it. And one day you will.

It took me about 6 weeks of daily practice to ride 50yards. The more
difficult it is to learn the more of an achievement it is when you get
there. If I can do it (being totally balancly challenged) then anyone
can.

Cathy

--
cathwood

'Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its
victims may be the most oppressive - C.S.Lewis

http://www.chuckingandtwirling.co.uk
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GILD said:

And that reminds me, make sure the seat is straight. Repeated UPDs can
knock it off center and that can make riding it a bit more difficult.
Just check every now and then that the seat is still straight when
compared to the wheel.
If you have a quick-release clamp on your seatpost, it makes more sense
to loosen and correct than to force it back to being straight.

I actually find myself forced to do this pretty much every fall, but
luckily I have a quick release clamp like you mentioned, and can
straighten the seat out pretty easily.

Thanks again for all the support guys 🙂

--
dudewithasock

'My Unicycling Journal'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44950)

768
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sounds like ur doin fine to me...it took me a month to learn to ride and
a nother week to freemount. you will get it with time and practice

--
trials_uni

You can't get up and try it again if you don't fall first.
-Phil
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dudewithasock said:

I actually find myself forced to do this pretty much every fall, but
luckily I have a quick release clamp like you mentioned, and can
straighten the seat out pretty easily.

Maybe the quick release isn't tight enough. Many types of quick
release can be adjusted (sort of pre-tensioned) while they are undone,
by turning a nut or ring at the other side as where the lever is.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
"erectile function trumps public image - David Stone, commenting on the importance of seat comfort"

Klaas Bil said:

Maybe the quick release isn't tight enough. Many types of quick
release can be adjusted (sort of pre-tensioned) while they are undone,
by turning a nut or ring at the other side as where the lever is.

I've actually already discovered that, too, and have tightened it to
the point where I only need to restraighten the saddle post when I fall
victim to a particularly nasty fall. Luckily, those are becoming rare,
as I'm learning to control my falls and grab my uni fast enough as I
fall to minimize the damage.

--
dudewithasock

'My Unicycling Journal'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44950)

768
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Klaas does all this work as a service to the uni-community and I'm sure
he'll post a thread with a link to the new data when he gets around to
finalising it.
Asking him to PM you when it's ready might be a little presumptuous.
Just keep your eyes on the board.

--
GILD

'three short gs and a long e-flat'
(http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/beethoven_sym5_1.wav) - 'map'
(http://www.frappr.com/unicycleworld)
'\\"freedom is just chaos, with better lighting.\\" entropy'
(http://tinyurl.com/77lom)
'harper' (http://tinyurl.com/c9epx)
'NAMASTE!' (http://tinyurl.com/4qcxw)
'Dave' (http://www.lyricsdir.com/d/deep-purple/child-in-time.php)
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This may sounds odd but it actually helped me when i was learning to
ride. Flail your arms. Just stick them in the air and wave them round
erratically! not only do you look stupid, but its fun!

--
Nimrod

Mmm... Muni

Msn:[email hidden]
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IF your gonna fall to the side, try to turn your whole unicycle to the
side, so that you stay on top of it, never stop pedaling, until you are
at a 45 degree angle to the ground i think, but dont hurt yourself

--
habbywall

what who said your sig. is supposed to be funny?
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