Levels

I learned to

1. ride forward
2. freemount

At that time i didnt even know people rode off 4 foot drops and did
trials and MUni. About 6 months after i started riding i (i only rode a
couple times after freemount and riding forwards because i didnt you
there were anything else to do) looked on the internet and found the
skill levels, the unicon 12 videos, and some street videos. I got my
unicycle back out and learned some more stuff.

I can do much more now.I learned everything levels 1-4 and i learned to
wheel walk, hop on tire (with tranisitions), a small coast, one foot
riding with both feet, and one foot idling with both feet. I started
some trials stuff do and learned to ride off picnic tables, crank grabs,
prehops, and riding skinnies, and grinding.

I can idle almost forever now and my highest drop is about 3' 6".

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skate4flip - Between Level 4 and 5
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Yeah, pretting interesting. I have a friend who still can't idle but
goes off big drops. He says he sees no point in learning to idle. He
says all he needs to do is get up and go forwards. I've tried to
enlighten him but he's stubborn and won't learn. Go figure. I learned
to idle before I even dropped off a curb.

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I was jumping stair cases before I could idle, ^^! But yeah I can idle
now, both feet infact, I learned to idle one day at work, I was working
at a gass station then, and it was during an ice storm, so I just
practiced idling in the corner away from the cameras all day. (no cars)
I had it down fairily well by the end of they day.

after that I learned
one foot idle,
idle left foot
Ride backwards

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idling took me about a week to get down so i could do as long as i
wanted or till i got tired. I can only idle with my other foot down like
30 times or so.

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skate4flip - Between Level 4 and 5
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slamman said:

I was wondering how people progressed, because I could do a 4 foot drop
before I could idle, what order did other people progress?

Ride, Freemount, Idle, Backwards, 1ft Idle, 1ft Ride, Wheel Walk, 1ft
Wheel Walk, Glide.

I still can't "ride or hop over a 10x10cm obstacle" for my level 3.
Seriously.

Cheers,

Stu
--
:wq!

When I learned to idle, doing 4' drops was considered an extremely bad
idea to do with any unicycle on the market. You have learned to ride in
a different era, my friend!

WWUunicycler said:

*I have a friend who still can't idle but goes off big drops. He says
he sees no point in learning to idle.*

He's lazy. He'll figure it out eventually. By one measure, I don't
consider a person a "full" unicyclist until they can freemount, ride
forward and ride backward. Idling kind of comes along with riding
backward. Until your friend learns to find reverse, he's only half a
unicyclist!

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johnfoss said:

* Until your friend learns to find reverse, he's only half a
unicyclist! *

HEAR HEAR!

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I could glide before I ever hopped up a curb. I could coast, ride with
my hands, and wheel walk backward before I was really comfortable
hopping up curbs. I learned stand-up glide and side ride before I
learned to hop up steps. I still haven't ridden down more than three
steps at a time.

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I guess that's the difference between street/trials/muni riders and
freestyle riders: The former are big on obstacles and learn to do big
jumps way before anything techinical. Freestylers are the opposite, and
they pretty much follow the levels exactly. For instance, how is
"Hop-twist 180 degrees to the left" a level 7 skill and "Idle with
opposite foot down 25 times" as level 4 skill? I could do 180s, grind
ledges, jump down 3 sets, and hop up 15 sets way before i could even
idle with my strong foot down.

JSM, your progression seems weird and backwards to me, but i'm sure that
mine seems weird and backwards to you. It all depends on which style
you ride, that's all.

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WWUunicycler said:

*I have a friend who still can't idle but goes off big drops. He says
he sees no point in learning to idle.*

To be honest I agree with him. I learned to idle when I first started
riding but haven't done it for ages, so my idling is probably really
shonky now.

I just don't see a need for it when doing distance riding, muni-ing or
trials. A standstill with little correcting hops uses less energy than
idling, takes less space, leaves the pedals in a perfect position for
doing pretty much anything at any time, and leaves you in a more stable
position than wobbling back and forth.

Phil

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Since getting back on the uni about 18 months ago (I learned to ride as
a kid) I concentrated on Muni but fiddled with basic freestyle tricks as
well (WWing and so forth). Of all the skills I´ve worked on so far,
difficult rolling (Muni) down steep, rocky terrain has by far been the
hardest and slow to master, as well as the most difficult to stay
consistant and the one that´s given me the most injuries. Yeah, it´s
impossible to rate rolling on a skill level since every single track is
different, but when I see someone roll (as opposed to side hop down) one
of those bleak stretches up in Santa Barbara I gotta think I´m watching
a level 10 skill.

JL

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vivalargo said:

*but when I see someone roll (as opposed to side hop down) one of
those bleak stretches up in Santa Barbara I gotta think I´m watching a
level 10 skill. *

I caught myself nodding as i read that. 😄

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mango - unity - as 1 stand together

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jsm said:

*I could glide before I ever hopped up a curb. I could coast, ride
with my hands, and wheel walk backward before I was really comfortable
hopping up curbs. I learned stand-up glide and side ride before I
learned to hop up steps. *

Sounds like jsm did most of his riding in a gym. Riding only in a gym
also has disadvantages. You will not be very good at riding over even
small bumps, let alone curbs and serious bad pavement.

We each learn to ride according to our riding enviroment, and of course
according to our interests. If you got into unicycling because you saw a
clip of Kris Holm on TV, you might not ever consider idling, while
riding on ledges will be considered a mandatory skill.

vivalargo said:

*but when I see someone roll (as opposed to side hop down) one of
those bleak stretches up in Santa Barbara I gotta think I´m watching a
level 10 skill. *

I love rolling the hard stuff. Hopping is for stuff that can't be
rolled! And if it can't be rolled, try rolling it a few more times...

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phil said:

*I just don't see a need for it when doing distance riding, muni-ing
or trials. A standstill with little correcting hops uses less energy
than idling, takes less space, leaves the pedals in a perfect position
for doing pretty much anything at any time, and leaves you in a more
stable position than wobbling back and forth.

Phil *

ditto

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johnfoss wrote:I love rolling the hard stuff. Hopping

Quoted message said:

is for stuff that can't be rolled! And if it can't be rolled, try
rolling it a few more times... [/B]

Seems to be the prevailing ethic wherever hard Muni is done, and I´m
continually amazed by the gnarly terrain that can actually be rolled.
For me, the hardest part is often just deciding to go for it.

I´ve seen (and taken) dozens of spectacular steep rolling falls up in
Santa Barbara, including Hans catapaulting off a 20 foot cliff and on
Saddle Rock, Eyal flying through the air as though he´d been shot from a
cannon. For pure buzz and exhileration, steep rolling has gotta be right
up there with BASE jumping, big wave surfing and solo rockclimbing. I
drive 200 miles most evey weekend just to get that buzz.

JL

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I learned.. ride forward, freemount, turn, ride down a curb, idle, ride
SOIF, idle one footed, jump up a curb, ride one footed, ride backwards,
wheelwalk, ride stomach on seat, jump stairs (now my muni came into the
picture, meaning lots of time on the trails, not much new skills for a
month or so), ride down stairs, one footed wheelwalk, ride SOIB, jump up
on benches and so on, glide, ride one footed leg extended..

Right now, i'm practising SOIF hoping, SOIF/SOIB backwards and hop on
wheel (only the transition back to the pedals left!)

🙂

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What about needing to learn a new mount every skill level. I only know
2, static and rollback. I never saw the point to learning another type
of mount once I could freemount. How many mounts do most people know?

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i can do 9 mounts, and i'm really near acheaving level 5, very close to
do the ride seat out on side in a circle, and that's the last thing.. i
think the 1 mount per level is kind of weak! 😉

I can do.. Static mount, rollbackmount, reverse mount, sidemount,
jumpmount, suicide mount, rolling mount, static mount to one footed
idle, mount to wheelwalk, mount to one footed wheelwalk, static mount
seat out in front, jump mount seat out in front..

Oops! That's 12, but i don't know if all of them counts 😄😄

And i'm getting there on the hop on wheel mount!
Then it's the kickup mount to learn! 🙂

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vivalargo said:

*For pure buzz and exhileration, steep rolling has gotta be right up
there with BASE jumping, big wave surfing and solo rockclimbing. I
drive 200 miles most evey weekend just to get that buzz.*

That's got to be costing you in gas!

But when it comes to *steep* rolling, with catapulting riders and hard
falls, you might just see me chicken out on sections... :p

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John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
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