First week learning, little progress

I'd never ridden a unicycle until this week. For the past six days I've
practiced about an hour a day. Day one was mostly spent learning how to
mount the unicycle. There's an old tennis court with a chainlink fence
nearby, so I tried doing "laps," holding on to the fence for support.

By the end of day 2, I felt daring enough to try launching myself away
from the fence, hands free. By the end of the day I was getting about
four pedal turns before crashing most of the time, and had one lucky run
of 8 turns of the wheel. I really felt like I was starting to get it.

Day three was a setback. Even mounting the unicycle seemed harder than
it had been on day 2. I had skipped a day, which may have had something
to do with it. Day four started just as poorly, though by the end I was
starting to get the hang of it again. I had several runs that were
hands-free for 4 or 5 seconds, just long enough to feel myself making
balance corrections and to think I could keep going. Have to admit,
those handful of good runs were a lot of fun, and I think I'm really
going to enjoy this, if I can figure it out.

Unfortunately, day five and day six (today) were setbacks again. I just
spent and hour and half barely getting 1 or 2 turns of the pedal before
crashing. No good runs at all. It's really discouraging to practice for
so long without seeing any progress, and to actually seem to be getting
worse. Has this happened to anyone else? Do you sometimes have to get
worse before you get better? For some reason I can't recapture whatever
it was I was doing right back on day 2.


--
twowheels
------------------------------------------------------------------------
twowheels's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/18025
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/73394


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

When I was learning, I had days like that. I couldn't do anything. But
keep at it, you'll just work through them and learn from them.
Discouraging, maybe, but it'll be worth it in the end.


--
Connahhh
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Connahhh's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/17786
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/73394


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

i always had days like that when i was just starting. unicycling will be
like that, even when you get into trials and MUni.


--
rookie rider

Originally Posted by warlord14
we need to build are numbers up then we can start on are way to
unicycle domination.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
rookie rider's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/17060
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/73394


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Try not-crashing. Instead of riding out into the open for a guaranteed
crash, stick with the fence and see how far you can get with minimal
holding-on. It's not as rewarding but it's a lot more intensive practice
since you're not spending 95% of the time off the unicycle.

Also. Make sure you're sitting down (weight on the seat) and that you
have the seat high enough. Have you already looked up that information?


--
johnfoss

John Foss
Email: "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
-----------------------------------------------

"False facts are frequently formed from figures fabricated from fear
fired fiction." -- Harper
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/73394


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Ditto what John said. I have also found that soon before I learn
something I seem to be worse than I ever was before. This means you
could be really close to riding or maybe you just need more practice.
Just keep going.


--
uniaddict

Any bay area riders up for a ride PM me!
'SixSixOne' (http://sixsixone.com/)
*85 foot coast!*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
uniaddict's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/14546
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/73394


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Thanks, everyone. I'll keep practicing and hope it clicks soon. I was on
a roll the first few days. It was fun, because I could see steady
progress. But again today and the previous two days, I couldn't pedal
hands-free more than twice before falling. I did switch back to riding
around the fence just to spend more time actually up on the unicycle.
Maybe that will help.

I've been taking long bicycle rides the same days I've been practicing
on the unicycle. Could that be throwing me off? (Different posture on a
bike.) I don't think I rode my bike the first few days on the unicycle,
and that's when I was doing best. Not sure if that's a coincidence or
not.


--
twowheels
------------------------------------------------------------------------
twowheels's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/18025
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/73394


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

The bicycle riding won't hold you back. Long pauses will do more to
erase your unicycle memory. I agree with John except for returning to
the fence. That's just a personal preference thing on my part. I think
you learn more if you force yourself to make corrections without
supports. On the other hand, frustration is a great destroyer of
learning.


--
harper

-Greg Harper

*jc is the only main man. there can be no other.*

"Natural logs are what you ride on a Mun'e'." - kevinalexandersmith
------------------------------------------------------------------------
harper's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/426
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/73394


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

I think you just need to keep practising. Somedays will be good, some
bad, but overall if you keep at it, you will continue to improve. Then
you will wonder what all the fuss was about and why you just couldn't
ride.


--
drac
------------------------------------------------------------------------
drac's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/11627
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/73394


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com