Turning Tips?

rob said:

On 1.5 meter or short radius turns does the rider bank the unicycle or
kind of snap twist it?

To effect any turn that involves a change of direction you must lean
the unicycle. For big radius turns, it is enough to lean your body in
the direction of the turn and let the wheel catch up. For tight turns
like those in the standard skills, you must initiate the lean quickly
by first steering opposite to the turning direction. At or just
before doing this, I also start leaning back to kill forward momentum.
A nice picture of the path of the wheel is shown here
[http://www.unicycling.org/usa/levels/].

Steering the wheel with a snap twist won't help you make a smooth
turn, and won't help you turn at all if you're not leaning (you'll
have to snap back to maintain balance, fall off, or perform a front or
back spin). I use quick motions like that to correct my balance when
pushing my balance (e.g. when idling or riding on rough terrain).

I didn't find it necessary to practice turning as a separate skill.
As I progressed at other askects of riding, I found my turning
naturally improved. Of course, like everything else in unicycling,
practice will sure improve your turning.

Ken

Thanks, that should help alot! I realize that one has to lean into all
turns..........I am trying to hone my skills and weed out bad habits
that I may have picked up watching others and to avoid picking up my own
bad habits trying to imitate them!

Nothing about the uni has come easily to me, other then the fun and
excitement! I am a middle aged geezer and have had to practice my butt
of on every skill that I have acquired!

Any resource that I can find that offers specifics in technical tips on
various skills is very valuable to me!

🙂

--
rob - Number of times over = Proficiency
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