Greetings,
Thanks for all of the great replies. I practiced this evening for only
30 minutes and I think it was better for my knees. This time I didn't
worry about trying to ride unassisted -- instead I practiced sitting all
the way down on the seat (I did raise the seat up slightly) and tried to
get the feel of pedaling along smoothly, using my husband for support as
little as possible. Although I feel like I "regressed" a little with
regards to my balance (I was actually having to rely on my husband's
hand for balance some of the time, and I *thought* I was past that
point), it didn't cause me pain in my knees and I was able to go in a
straighter line (rather than zig-zag all over the place). The only
times I came off were when I got down on my own or when I hit a big
enough bump/crack in the concrete that I lost my balance and came off
forwards. I was even able to pedal fairly smoothly around corners!
I still have trouble getting started smoothly, though. When I start
going, my pedaling is kind of a
"start-stop-start-stop-start-stop-pedal-pedal-pedal..." kind of motion.
Does anyone have any advice for this? I found that leaning forward
slightly when I start going seems to help some.
saskatchewanian;1166596 wrote:
He told me I had a muscle imbalance in my quads. He said that it was a
common imbalance for both cyclists and runners. I was unicycling
100-150km per week and running 10-20.
To correct it he told me to sit in a chair and just raise my foot
flexing the knee ten times in a row three times a day.
I think I will try this. I am a software engineer so I sit at a desk
all day. I can do these exercises while I'm at work.
munimutant;1166666 wrote:
the mental block, GET MAD! Tell yourself you WANT to do this. You
are GOING to do this. Look at a spot in the road 20 feet ahead and RIDE
to it with determination.
Well, the few times I have tried this, it resulted in a (I'm sure) very
amusing fiasco that ended up with me flying forward off the unicycle and
sliding on the concrete. I think, however, that once I get the hang of
pedaling more smoothly, it will help.
McNerdius;1166711 wrote:
As for the knee pain... an informative page is:
http://www.drpribut.com/sports/spknees.html
I will definitely check this out. Thanks.
Naomi;1166762 wrote:
Been said many times before but: In my experience many novices THINK
they have much of their weight on the seat. In reality they still have
a lot of weight on the pedals, meaning the right leg is constantly
fighting against the left. The workload on the legs can thus be many
times higher than that for an experienced rider.
You can tell the difference the first time you get the weight right.
It feels very different. Somehow "floaty". Effortless on smooth level
ground.
I did notice that things are much smoother when I just sit all the way
down on the seat. I guess I thought I had more of my weight on the seat
than I actually did.
wobbling bear;1166793 wrote:
One I noticed is too many "transversal" efforts to keep balance. So work
on "straight" pedaling and have someone spot and correct the alignment
of legs, knee, pedals .... try to pedal more quickly first (" ok the
death dive now!") and later slow down.
I agree that this is probably the cause of my knee pain. I think my
legs are fighting each other and it puts a lot of stress on my knees. I
did notice tonight that I wasn't having knee pain.
scott ttocs;1166943 wrote:
Do not hold hands, but rather put your hand or finger on your Husband's
wrist so that you can let go at any time.
This is pretty much what we've been doing; he will hold his hand out
flat and I will touch his hand with my fingers.
scott ttocs;1166943 wrote:
We used the same unicycle, and in my experience a comfortable riding
pace is a FAST walk, not a slow walk. You may be going too
slow--Unicycling is easier if you get up a little speed. A comfortable
pace for a 24" Nimbus with 125 mm cranks is a slow jog.
I did notice this evening that my husband was having to walk much more
quickly than usual, so perhaps I am on the right track here.
Unfortunately, I am kind of afraid of the speed. I know that one of my
problems when I try to ride unassisted is that I get afraid of falling
as soon as I pick up some speed and I end up hopping down off the
unicycle for no apparent reason before I even have a chance to think
about it.
scott ttocs;1166943 wrote:
Regarding your poor knees: have you ridden a bike recently?
Yes, and I don't have any pain from riding my bike.
scott ttocs;1166943 wrote:
Here are some (standard) suggestions: Relax and put your weight on the
seat. Try standing on the pedals and then settling into the seat and
lifting up your feet until they are barely touching the pedals to get a
sense of the difference. You will need to put force on the pedals, but
it is much less than you think.
I will continue working on this. I thought I was doing a good job of
not putting my weight on the pedals, but my practice tonight was proof
that I was wrong.
GearQueen;1166948 wrote:
I think women are a bit more cautious than men, and our brains want to
understand what is going to happen. We are more cautious about getting
hurt.
This is definitely the case for me.
GearQueen;1166948 wrote:
What I see, when I'm walking along side her, is that she is not doing a
very smooth pedal stroke, almost a stop and start.
This is the case for me, as well. I will continue working to correct
this -- I think this is the key to being able to ride on my own. Taking
my weight off the pedals help a lot.
olduniman;1166965 wrote:
Your practice sessions of one hour or more sound rather long for a
beginner. There is a lot of tension associated with unicycling at the
start so you just may be pushing too hard.
This is probably part of my problem. I'm going to try limiting my
practice sessions to about 1/2 hour and see if it helps.
olduniman;1166965 wrote:
I had a lot of trouble with knee pain early on, but raising the seat to
the proper height made a big difference. If you pedal standing up as
much as possible, (that is, no weight on the seat) and there is more
than an inch or two of "crotch clearance" your seat is probably too low.
Do you need a longer seat post?
No, I definitely don't need a longer seat post (I have a few inches
that I could still move it up). I did move my seat post up about 3/4 of
an inch tonight and, although it made mounting harder, I think it did
help me get more of my weight on the seat.
maestro8;1167037 wrote:
It still may be the case that your saddle isn't high enough... you might
need a longer seatpost.
I do think the saddle wasn't quite high enough (raising it about 3/4"
seemed to help). Luckily I still have several inches I could go up
without "outgrowing" my seat post.
maestro8;1167037 wrote:
Longer cranks would cause your knees to bend even more. Shorter cranks
would be the remedy here.
I think the pain is from my legs fighting each other, though -- not
from the bending itself. My understanding is that longer cranks would
be easier on the knees but more work on the leg muscles, and shorter
cranks would be easier on the leg muscles but would put more strain on
the knees. Is this not true?
Thanks again for all of the great responses!
--
natosha
------------------------------------------------------------------------
natosha's Profile:
http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/18827
View this thread:
http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/75379
Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com