Rolling hop technique

When someone who has talent in the rolling hop area takes off it seems
as though their pedals are always in the correct position. I on the
otherhand very seldomly have my pedals in the right position, if ever.
Is there a technique to getting it to work out for you, or do you just
have to get a feel for it?

This question originally posten in the thread about Dan heatons rolling
hops by James_Potter, but i would like to know as well so i took the
liberty of starting a new thread.


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fluffinator007 - Expert UPD'ist

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When I got good at stationary hops I began to stop while riding and then
hop. Eventually I could go very fast, lock the pedals horizontally and
do a rolling hop. It's not hard to stop suddenly and hop in the
horizontal position because that is where you feel the power in your
legs and the tire because your feet are level. So, basically just keep
practicing and the timing will come to you.


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Rockey

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Rockey, that's how you do just a rolling hop. But if you're riding
towards something that you want to hop on to, then how can you get the
cranks horizontal right when you want to jump on to it?
What I always do is I do rolling sidehops. I ride a long side a big up,
and then hop when I want to. But it would be much more practical to be
able to do it more or less straight on.


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James_Potter - ***** ***** *****

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I found it was mostly just practice. I started doing rolling sidehops,
which are a lot less scary as it doesn't involve pedalling hell for
leather towards a solid concrete wall or something.

Gradually the line straightens as you work out where you need to jump,
how to curve slightly so you get to the right spot and where to start
going for the jump in the first place.

If I'm going for something that's higher than what I'm properly
confident with, I find a mark on the ground to start from. Then I ride
up to the object to work out where I need to start from relative to the
mark to make sure the cranks are in the right place when I need to
jump.

Phil


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phil - ex-studenty type

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I think the best way is just to "wind up" from where you want to hop.
Basically ride backwards from your "take-off" point, then mark your
place for future reference. You can't just roll your unicycle backwards
cause the wheel is compressed when you're on it. I think this is the
standard way to do it, though Nick from HoW (grinspoon) has a different
method that I don't understand. I can usually "eye-ball" one rotation,
which is convenient for dropping into ramps, but doesn't let me get
enough speed to hop onto things or clear stairs.


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hell-on-wheel - My karma ran over your dogma

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I place the uni about 6=10 inchis closer to the object than where I want
to hop from then roll the wheel back. if that doesnt work then I use
some trial and error and mark my spot and such.

so Fluff what happened the other day? I was really looking forward to
you comming... we'll have to try again some other time.


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Ender - member of the Hell on Wheel gang
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I know that it works to roll the wheel back from where you want it to
be, but I want to be able to do it spontaneously. Ya know?


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James_Potter - ***** ***** *****

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I guess the best thing for you is to get really familiar with pedal
rotation distances. By this I mean get to know how far one, two,
three... pedal rotations take you so that when you are riding toward
something you can zig zag a little to get it to line up. I started to
get the hang of that a while back but winter came and destroyed it
all...

john


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You could crankflip in the air so you land comfortably but thats pretty
tuff.


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uniextreme - Funkadelic Unicyclist

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its not the landing that gives me trouble with crank position, i could
care less...I need them to be in the right position for when i lock them
and take off.


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fluffinator007 - Expert UPD'ist

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