Training journal while learning to unicycle

So not much happened since the last post. I collected the new helmet and
wrist protectors today and they were really cool :-)

But it turned out that I had to order delivery of the BIG package from
UDC UK a day in advance, so no go on Friday and then I'll have to wait
until Monday evening. Problem is that next week I am really busy and
then I'm going away for the weekend. So it seems it will be a while
before I can really try it out. Anyway, I will of course unpack it and
try some very first moves on Monday evening if all goes well.

In other news I weighed in at only 85 kg this morning, that was really
a good feeling. It means that if I keep up the diet for a few more days
and lose 1 kg more, I should be able to stay below 90 kg when I start
eating again. And that would really be breaking a milestone :-)

I didn't go running today like I planned, so I'll do that tomorrow
instead. But I did take a walk for an hour or so, and went by the local
outdoor swimming pool. They're opening for the season on Monday, so I
plan to go there for morning swimming every day from then on. If I can
manage to put in 1-2km of swimming in the time between 0700 and 0830 AM
then I think that would be a major step towards getting in good shape.
I've been much too lazy over the past 10 years or so, since I "traded"
my old bike for a car in 1996...

So, no big news but big anticipation :-)


--
lillestrøm_uni

My 'training journal'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/sho...php?p=1025788).
My todo list (augustdreamt™): Assisted mount-ride-idle / Ride / PD /
Turn / Idle / Hops / Curbs / Uneven ground / 'Mount / Rolling mount /
Jump mount' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRW7ePkZ_8E) / Side mount /
Kick-up mount
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Finally !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was a good day for me. I got up at 6 AM, did my regular routine
of 50 push-ups and 600 crunches/situps, then jogged slowly to the
outdoor pool which opened for the season today (it's been more or less
warm for a couple of weeks, but on our National Day 17 May it was
snowing in the morning...).

Currently the weather is just lovely, so it was a warm morning and the
water didn't even feel cold when I jumped in, partly because I was
already breaking a little sweat, and partly because it was simply warm
weather (the water itself is probably the same temperature as
always...).

Anyway, I ran about 2,5km to get there, then I swam 2500 meters in 67
minutes, and then I walked back the 2,5km to my house. I got back about
a quarter to nine, two hours after I left (the morning swimming at the
pool is from 7 AM until 830 AM). Then I was rather exhausted so I took
it slowly getting a shower and so on. And then I had the first "meal"
of the day, drinking half a liter of the "diet juice" that I've
explained earlier. Exercising in the morning wiht just drinking lots of
water is hopefully helping me to burn lots of fat.

Then I went to work around 11 (lazy day, I know - but I expect to get
there sooner as the swimming becomes more of a routine). And since I
didn't get the famous UCD package on Friday, I called Tollpost Globe
again to double check that they got my internet order for the delivery
this afternoon. And of course they didn't get it, but they had a truck
going to where I live so they could deliver - but only in the
afternoon. So it was a short day at work, I got back at 330 PM to pick
up the package.

Of course I immediately set about to open it, but then I remembered
that I had another errand that I had to do first. I might tell you
about that later ;-)

I got back around 530 PM and then started to unpack and assemble my new
coker (the Nimbus Nightrider in case you didn't already read my
ramblings about it). I filmed the entire sequence and I have to say
that my first thought when I put the seatpost into the frame was "that
is HUGE, how will I manage to get on that..." and I was thinking that
perhaps I had made a mistake after all.

But that doesn't show on the film :-)

Then I was ready to get on for the first time around 730, or so I
thought. It quickly turned out that the seatpost was too long and had
to be cut. So I opened my new Qu-Ax toolkit and found the ingenious
toolpost cutter tool. After some work I had a shorter seatpost and then
it turned out that there was some small pieces from the cut, or
something like that, which made it almost impossible to get the
seatpost back into the frame. I finally succeeded and made a first few
attempts to get on the uni.

What I did was lean against the wall, climb onto the lowest pedal
(crank at 6 o'clock) with my right foot, and then swing my left foot
over the seat to sit down.

Already at that point the bonus of having a coker was clear - with my
height I was able to reach the ceiling of the basement room I had
chosen for my practice (ironically this is where the bikes are stored,
so I had to move them out of the way before I started) - and not only,
but also some pipes going conveniently across just where I was starting
my practice, so I had something nice to grab hold of.

Just after doing this first attempt I remembered that I wanted to put
some bubblewrap around the nice purple handlebar to protect it. So I
managed to scratch it up on my very first try...

But then I set about to fix that. Using the packaging bubble wrap from
the other items in the package, and liberal amounts of packing tape, I
securely fastened nice "pillows" around the front and back handlebar.

My original plan was to simply take off the handlebar while I was
practicing, but it turned out to be integrated with the seat/seatpost
attachment. Probably I could have bought a similar piece without an
attached handlebar. But I didn't.

And as it turned out, the handlebar made it much easier to learn, so I
would actually recommend it strongly.

With the handlebar properly wrapped, and also myself, I tried again to
get on and found that I had to cut down the seatpost even more. So I
realised that unicycling is a lot about patience, not only when you are
trying to ride, but even before you get that far...

With the second adjustment of the seat I felt much better about it.
Still getting "over the top" is of course very high on a coker. In the
beginning I could only try once or twice on each leg (I turned around
to alternate) because I got so tired in the other leg from trying to
jump up. I managed almost sometimes. Gradually I was getting better,
and the big breakthrough came when I realised that it was not about
jumping, but about standing and pushing down on the pedal. Of course
this is a basic principle that I have already read about many times,
but I didn't remember that when I was down there trying.

In between the mounting tries, I climbed up a couple of times to feel
the balance. I could use my arms and upper body strength to keep from
UPDs while holding on to the pipes and leaning against the wall, so I
was able to get a little feel of it. But I decided it was pretty
hopeless to climb up that way, and I couldn't even do it every time, so
I decided I simply had to learn how to mount in order to be able to get
on the bloody thing so I could actually start learning how to balance
and ride...

So I did "thousands" of mounting tries, and I got steadily better,
until I actially got to the top, but lost my balance immediately. Then
I was able to wobble about for 1/2 a second before UPDing so I was
making progress. Finally I was even brave enough to give full throttle
and go over the top to let the uni crash down between my legs. Actually
it didn't even do that many times, since I held it with my hand. Not
that it mattered, since it was nicely padded in all the right places.

And so was I :-)

I was wearing high basketball shoes with flexible soles and covering
the ancles, then the sixsixone leg armour up to the knees, a
suspensorium (I quickly learned that this was necessary, and remembered
the laments of other males in the How to learn Uniycling thread -
luckily I used to do karate so I had one lying around) under my shorts,
then rough leather work gloves that I got cheaply from a hardware store
to cover my fingertips, inside wrist protectors, with a long padding
covering my underarm up to the elbow pads. And of course a bike
helmet.

I'd say that the most useful safety equipment I used today was not
stuff I bought especially for the unicycle, but stuff I already had -
the helmet allowed me to rest my head against the ceiling posts and
pipes, the underarm padding was crucial as I could lean my entire
underarm against the wall rather than just the hand, and the leather
gloves protected my fingers.I realised when looking at the wrist
protectors that they didn't in any way protect the fingers, and I
remembered augustdreamt telling that the fingertips of her gloves were
worn away. Hence the tough work gloves. And, of course, the
suspensorium...

Now, this is not to say that it was not important with the new gear.
Especially the wrist protectors were very useful in addition to the
gloves, as I could lean on the metal bar of the wrist protectors to
take a lot of the weight. So my fingers were not touching the wall that
hard, more for adjustments, since I leaned my underarm and wrist for
most of the weight.

Also, being all padded up I was not afraid to fall down or hit
something, so I could just give it all I had and get up there. I'd
certainly say that this is the most important lesson to take away from
today's exercise.

So I was working on the mount. I decided that I would not call it quits
until I succeeded. I also realised that trying to get up on the coker
and stay there while just supporting myself on the wall would be more
than I had managed to do when already up on the coker, as I had tried a
couple of times to leave the safety of the pipes and go the 2 meters
over to the beam by just leaning on the wall, and immediately UPDing.
So I added 2+2 and decided it was time to try mounting next to the beam
or pipes, so I could grab hold of them when I got up. Of course this was
more difficult at first, since I was losing my focus on getting balanced
before trying to grab.

But it was also good, since I started looking up and forward instead of
down at the pedals and my feet.

And then I succeeded :-) First when mounting with my left foot on the
pedal and jumping with my right foot onto the other pedal - this was
easiest because I jumped with the foot closest to the wall (don't know
why but it just seemed obvious, perhaps I was leaning in a little), and
thus I was facing the pipes and had something easy to hold on to. I
could do this several times and almost got to the point where I could
say I had that one clinched.

The other way, jumping with my left foot with my right on the pedal was
harder - I tried many more times this way but finally I managed it -
just once - and leaned on the beam (there was nothing to hold on to,
but I could lean on it, supporting myself with the hand on something in
front rather than to the side, and thus stopping my self from falling
forwards (I would avoid falling backwards by leaning forwards enough to
"fall" that way).

The last thing I said before doing it was "this is NOT that difficult",
and I was very happy getting up there to stay, and then I said to the
camera that I felt like Neo and I quoted him by saying "There is no
spoon", immediately before UPDing again :-)

That is also when I discovered that this magic moment had not been
caught on tape (memory stick, that is), since the battery had run out.
So I headed up to my apartment to get the other battery, and then
happily started recording again. I didn't bother to ration the film,
since I had a new big memstick and enough battery to last the rest of
the training (or so I thought).

So the camera caught a lot of mounting tries, but not the more exciting
things that happened thereafter, as the second battery also died on me.

What happened was that I got tired of the mounting attempts going right
to the beam, and instead went up to the left and the pipes, since I was
able to do that fairly easy and regularly. From there, once I was up, I
was able to move around a little, holding on to the pipes and then
holding on to the wall and ceiling to go from the pipes to the post -
which I had not been able to do previously.

What I noticed was that the mounting tries - trying to find the point
of balance from jumping up (you could call it a standing or stationary
or basic mount, assisted by a wall) - helped my sense of balance so it
was easier to sit and feel the balance after that.

I remembered the advice from blot to BurnerDave about sitting down on
the seat, so I tried doing that instead of having the weight on my
legs. I also tried just sitting still, keeping my back straight, just
like you would do for balance training or yoga or something like that.
I actually had some practice on that earlier, since my friend bought a
Nintendo Wii Fitness board, where a lot of the action is about balance,
and you always have to start by standing completely still and trying to
get your center of mass exactly in the center, not forwards/backwards
or right/left.

All of this was just to get myself used to the concept of sitting up on
the coker. I didn't feel the height was a problem after getting up on it
- it was only a practical issue of the actual getting up...

I remembered also the advice that you just need time to get your
muscles used to the different sensations of balance and control that
you need on a uni. And then I tried moving around a little more. I
tried moving past the beam, into the wide open part of the basement
that I had never thought I would venture already on the first evening.
The ceiling was the same height, but there were no more beams or
pipes... The room was not that big, the "wide open spaces" were perhaps
3-4 meters to the far wall.

And on the second or third try I actually managed to reach that far
wall (!) by supporting myself on the wall (to my left) and the ceiling.
I also tried, briefly, in between, to support myself only on the
ceiling, figuring that if I could support myself less and less, I would
suddenly be freeriding. Also, using the ceiling has the big advantage
over the wall that you are actually sitting straight, not leaning
over.

First time I tried just the ceiling I fell forward almost immediately.
But the next time I was more careful and had more control, and I was
able to get back to the wall instead of stretching my limits too far.
But I got to the far wall a couple of times, and there was a window
sill and some more pipes (this was by the door outside, where I had
brought in my coker earlier, after assembling it), that helped me turn
around and head back. On the second or third try I managed to get all
the way there and back, and boy was I proud :-)

Even if I had had the camera rolling then, it wouldn't have recorded
that, since I had aimed it at the space between the pipes and the beam,
where I thought the main action would be (and it was, but the real
excitement was of course venturing outside that aread of safety).

After this I kept doing balance training in the "safe zone" and I
especially noticed that by holding on to the pipes I was able to
practice idling and rolling back and forth even longer than that,
keeping my head in the same place but leaning my upper body far back or
far forward in order to keep my hips and the seat above the wheel. In
other words, learning how to maintain balance even if the wheel is
running a little ahead or behind.

Here I was remembering the advice that you are not supposed to get
above the wheel, you are supposed to get the wheel under you, in order
to keep your balance. Of course, that requires being able to move the
wheel to where you want it...

But I really felt how my control over the wheel improved, and I felt
like I was more in control and "manhandling" the uni more than it
bossed me around.

Again, wearing full "body armour" made me feel very safe and thus able
to "jump into things" without holding back.

OK; I had to split my post in two parts.

To be continued; See the conclusions in the next part...


--
lillestrøm_uni

My 'training journal'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/sho...php?p=1025788).
My todo list (augustdreamt™): Assisted mount-ride-idle / Ride / PD /
Turn / Idle / Hops / Curbs / Uneven ground / 'Mount / Rolling mount /
Jump mount' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRW7ePkZ_8E) / Side mount /
Kick-up mount
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(Continued from previous post)

In the end I finished around 1130 PM and I was so tired I could hardly
walk. I managed to drink some water and tomato juice when I got back
up, but not before weighing myself :-) The scales showed a bare 83 kg,
which is just incredible. But that weight must be compared with what
boxers to when "weighing in" before a match. I was severely dehydrated,
to the point that at the end I felt the taste of sweat in my mouth, not
because I got sweat there but because my saliva had turned salty.

But still, the psychological effect of seeing 83 kg was really good.
And I will rest well tonight, assured that my body will keep burning
fat while I am sleeping :-)

In total I exercised more than 5 hours today, first about 40-45 minutes
jogging/walking (5 km), swimming 2500 m in 67 minutes and doing the
short strength routine for 5 minutes, and then walking back and forth
to the town center (15 mintues each way) for my other errand, about 2
hours to unpack and prepare the uni, and then 3 hours of training. I
was completely drenched afterwards, both from being all padded up in
the warm weather but mostly from using all of my body, especially my
upper body, to support myself from the walls and ceiling. Plus of
course the legs work hard too...


SO, TO SUMMARIZE:

1. I don't think it is complete madness to learn on a coker. The
benefits are that you can support yourself on the ceiling and other
stuff like pipes high up that would normally not be an option. I've
read about people using ropes and fences and all sorts of things, but
supporting yourself on the ceiling means you can stay completely
straight and not leaning over. This makes the transition to free riding
a lot easier, I think. Obviously, starting with a coker requires that
you are tall and not afraid of heights, as somebody pointed out.

But being close to the ceiling in a basement room doesn't strike me as
being that high, actually. I was almost more worried that I would be
too high up to fit under the ceiling, since then I wouldn't really know
where to go... At first I thought I could ride in the basement
corridors, but they have huge pipes running along the ceiling that take
at least half a meter off the height and then it is much to low there.

2. Using a suspensorium is an absolute must. I was putting most of my
weight on it when doing all those mount attempts. I don't see how it is
possible to do that without crushing your balls unless you have them
safely protected. After 3 hours my groin started hurting from the
pressure of the suspensorium cup, but that's just like any other pain
from using gear too long (e.g. slalom boots, or even the protective
padding I wore on my arms and legs).

3. Try to compensate for the fact that your dominant leg is stronger
than the other one. I was wondering for a long time if my seat was
tilted and not straight, and checked several times, since the leg
armour on my left leg kept touching the spokes (since I was not riding
much, it wasn't damaged in any way), and I realized that I was simply
tilting the entire uni a little to the right, presumably because I was
putting more weight on my right leg.

4. Wear as much padding as possible, this allows you to try more
"dangerous stunts" without fear of falling down. I never needed the leg
armour, but being safe that I would not hurt my shin in case I hit the
pedal made me not have to worry about it. The one time I did hit the
pedal it was with the low ancle of my basketball shoes. But being
protected the entire way made it very simple - I could focus on balance
and mounting, instead of avoiding injury.

5. Having leg strength and upper body strength allowed me to hold on
and support myself when I otherwise would have fallen down. I probably
reduced my UPDs to less than a third this way. Also, this made it a
really good exercise for the entire body, not just the legs (from what
I have been reading, some others had to stop practice due to fatigue in
their legs).

OK, I am sure there's more to say about this, but I've already written
too long, and it is too late in the evening. I was not sure if I should
have done this or gone straight to bed, because I knew I would be
sitting here writing a long story, while I really need the sleep. On
the other hand, I just needed to share my excitement :-)

Best wishes from the new unicycler in Lillestrøm :-)


--
lillestrøm_uni

My 'training journal'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/sho...php?p=1025788).
My todo list (augustdreamt™): Assisted mount-ride-idle / Ride / PD /
Turn / Idle / Hops / Curbs / Uneven ground / 'Mount / Rolling mount /
Jump mount' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRW7ePkZ_8E) / Side mount /
Kick-up mount
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Cool stuff. Good write-up. It's amazing you're learning all this on a
36".
Looking forward to the video.


--
BurnerDave

Dave

This is me, this is my video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=cz62gzgdGos
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Well, I've been totally wrapped up in work for the past two weeks, sad
to say. Also, I was so totally exhausted after both swimming and
unicycling and staying up late to write about it here on 2 June that I
pretty much didn't do much except the regular morning routine for the
rest of that week.

It should also be added that I finished my diet on 3 June, weighing in
at 83 kg in the morning. In the morning of 4 June I weighed in at 85 kg
after starting to eat again, and yesterday 15 June I also weighed in at
85 kg - so it seems I have been able to stabilize at my new weight (at
least so far).

And, importantly to explain the lack of training last weekend - I was
actually abroad visiting my girlfriend, so we went out biking (yes, I
know, but I'm not ready to pack my uni in the luggage just yet) for 4
hours last Saturday, that was nice.

Then, in the evening, I took her out for a nice dinner and after the
dessert I popped out a big bouquet of 12 red roses, waited for her to
find the artificial one and open it to find the diamond ring I had
bought for her, and asked her to marry me. She said yes on the spot
:-)

So, all in all, it was a pretty good weekend, even without unicycling.
Hmm did I also mention that I tried going over an obstacle course with
the MB I had rented and did an awesome UPD, going over the handlebars
and making a nice roll on the gravel and dirt, resulting in breaking
the part of the bike frame holding the gears so I had to kick the bike
back to the renting place and pay something like 25 Euro to the damage?
It goes without saying that I didn't really get a scratch. OK, one small
scratch.

In other words, I feel prepared for UPDs from my coker. I wasn't even
wearing a helmet or any other protection gear when I went overboard
from that MB (shame on me) :-)

Now, this weekend I was more active. On Friday 13 June I finally went
swimming again, and I managed 2500 meters without stopping and in a new
record time - 55 minutes. The good part about this is that I did the
first 500 meters in 10,5 minutes, and with an average of 11 minutes per
500 meters I must have spread out those "missing" 30 seconds over the
remaining 2000 meters - I checked the timer when I turned for each 500
meters and I saw I was "on schedule". So I feel that I am improving and
I also notice that I get less tired from running to the train (funny, I
am always a little late) or going up stairs. These small things that
make your day feel lighter and better :-)


--
lillestrøm_uni

My 'training journal'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/sho...php?p=1025788).
My todo list (augustdreamt™): Assisted mount-ride-idle / Ride / PD /
Turn / Idle / Hops / Curbs / Uneven ground / 'Mount / Rolling mount /
Jump mount' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRW7ePkZ_8E) / Side mount /
Kick-up mount
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Then, on Saturday 14 June I was finally ready for my second day of
unicycling!

I had all day for just relaxing, but after a really long meeting Friday
evening I didn't go to bed until way after midnight and ended up
sleeping until 12. Got up and didn't really do much sensible (some, but
not much) until the afternoon. My plan was to make dinner and then go
find the uni, and I did, but rather late.

I think it was around 22 (10 PM) when I finally got down in the
basement. Before I could start, after rigging the camera and while
putting on the protective gear, a neighbour came down and asked "what
the hell is going on here?!?!" - referring to the obvious fact that I'd
moved some of the bikes around to make space for my practice. He
sputtered that he'd been living there for 30 years and so on and so
on. I realize that seeing me in "full armour" with the bike helmet and
with the bikes moved, that must have really scared the old guy - as you
all know "what you don't know and understand scares you" - so I managed
to talk in a calm and soothing voice to him and explaining that I was
practicing to ride (I didn't mention the "small" uni which was standing
there like the elephant in the room that nobody notices), whereupon he
said "go do that somewhere else" and referred to another room in the
basement, to which I simply replied "well, the ceiling isn't high
enough there". He couldn't argue with that (I don't know what he
thought I would do that required such a high ceiling, but I never saw
him looking at the uni...).

When he was about to leave I introduced myself as a new next-door
neighbour and shook his hand and he was a bit embarrassed I think,
finally muttering something like "It's ok as long as you tidy up after
yourself". :-)

So, I was back in business. And as soon as I had my gear on and the
camera rolling, I went over to the wall with the trusted uni, stepped
onto the right pedal, kicked off with my left foot and PRESTO - I did a
successful mount on my very first try, only supporting myself sideways
to the wall with my left arm - something I was never able to do last
time on my first day, when I practiced 3 hours in a row. Well, I almost
got there in the end, but mostly I had to lean forward and grab the
pipes under the ceiling to avoid an immediate UPD.

I guess I just didn't have time to think about how difficult that
was...

And I got it on tape!

I proceeded to practice some (for me) important things:

- Sit down in the seat
- Get comfortable in the seat
- Keep my balance
- Try rocking a bit back and forth to get a feel for the balance
- Sit down in the seat again
- UPDing when not paying enough attention to my balance...

Upon UPDing I hit my balls rather hard, and I realized that I had to
put on the suspensorium after all. I was sore for almost a week after
the first session, not my balls (they had been protected well) but just
where the inner thighs end - that is where all the pressure from the
suspensorium comes. And there's a lot of pressure, since I was mounting
X number of times and each time I was pretty much putting all of my
weight (now down to 85, can't imagine how it would have been if I was
almost 100 like before) on it.

So I discovered that the suspensorium is not only good for ball
protection when mounting, but also when UPDing...

I haven't done a count yet but my feeling from this session, lasting
about 2 hours, was that I successfully mounted almost 50% of the time.
Upon watching the videos I made afterwards I realized it was more like
20%-25% successful mounts, but that' still simply awesome I think :-)

I will post the stats when I have had time to collect them...

So in short, I spent most of my time the first evening trying to mount,
and now on the second night I could spend more time in the saddle. And I
was really proud that I didn't have to resort to climbing up the uni
once, like I had to for the first hour of the first evening, and I also
didn't need to "fall into" and grab the pipes in order to stabilize
myself after mounting. Either I immediately UPD'd or I managed to stay
upright just supporting myself on the wall. I practiced mounting both
ways, to make sure I don't end up being able to do it only on one foot
and not the other.

And then I started moving around :-)

I started by just going back and forth between the pipes and the beam
(see description from day 1), just in front of the camera. I was
rocking back and forth a lot, feeling that this gave me a better sense
of the balance. Also trying to sit down in the seat and not standing on
the pedals...

I was supporting myself not so much on the wall next to me as on the
pipes, ceiling and beam. Like last time, this made it easier for me to
keep straight, as opposed to easily sitting and riding a bit slanted
when leaning into the supporting wall.

Then I gradually tried to reduce my support on the ceiling and cycle
the 2 meters between the pipes and the beam. I didn't really succeed
completely, but I felt I was getting confident enough to move on to the
next step - beyond the beam. So I went under it (bending down to get my
head past) and tried cycling from the beam to the far wall of the
basement room. That would be about 4-5 meters, perhaps 6. I did this
also last time, heavily supporting myself on the ceiling and wall.

And I did this time too. But with the difference that I tried a few
times to let go of the beam, "fall forward" and cycle freely. I could
only do it for less than one revolution of the wheel and I would UPD
some times, and other times I would break and grab the ceiling or wall
in order to support myself and keep from falling. I didn't really dare
to try going past the point of completing a revolution. One reason was
that I was a bit afraid of nosediving into the far wall in case of a
"fast forward UPD"...

In any case, I felt more and more confident, and on the way back I
decided to see how many (or few) times I had to touch the ceiling or
wall to support myself before reaching the other wall (just a meter
behind the pipes, making the length of the room something like 8-10
meters total). I know, I should put up a schematic drawing of this room
for you, like soccerdude did. Some other time...

I managed 7 touches on the first attempt and I didn't really manage to
even repeat that later on. I also noticed that while doing this I was
going quite fast so I figured timing myself from wall to wall would be
another cool thing to do.

And by this time I realized it was time to move the camera, since it
had been filming only perpendicularly to the wall, covering the area
between the pipes and the beam, where I had done all my "basic
training". Now I rigged it so it would cover the entire length of the
wall I was riding along, to catch me riding back and forth.

I didn't do as well on camera as I did before, of course. But I still
did decently. And I got on camera when I almost managed to ride a
revolution without supporting myself on the ceiling (or perhaps I did -
see for yourself one day) :-) At that moment I flashed my fingers to the
camera - shouting something like "and that's after just two days (two
fingers) and five hours (five fingers) of practice!!!".

I remember somebody posting that they managed to teach their friend to
ride in 7 hours. So of course that was/is my benchmark.

Now I have a couple of problems I have to resolve in order to develop
further.

- I need more space in order to feel comfortable really "falling
forward" and just going for it - trying to pedal for life and see if I
manage.

- I need the safety of supporting myself on the ceiling before starting
to ride

I think I'll solve this dilemma by staying in the basement a bit
longer, and training my balance more. On Saturday I even felt like I
was about to manage idling, but of course as soon as I noticed this and
tried commenting on camera I UPD'd....

In any case, what I notice is that by trying to go really slow while
supporting myself on the ceiling, I am gaining a lot of balance and
control over the uni, something I believe will help me once I start
freeriding. Also, I feel that I have made a lot of progress with regard
to mounting. I'm still far from being able to do anything unsupported,
but if I could manage to successfully mount with support pretty much
every time I try, then at least I could spend almost all my energy on
trying to ride.

So far, learning with a coker, I feel the biggest obstacle has been the
mounting - since it is so high, getting up there is a feat in itself,
but already on the second evening, after 3-4 hours of practice, I felt
that it wasn't all that bad after all :-)

Once I am able to get up, I feel things are moving nicely forward.

And I would like to say that the only thing that I feel is a challenge
with a coker compared to what I imagine other (smaller) unis would feel
like is that the wheel travels quite far on just half a revolution.
Also, I need to be very precise when mounting, with regard to where I
place the wheel and the angle of the pedal etc. due to this travel.
Also, this makes it hard to try idling, since it is not just a small
oscillation but a rather large one.

For this reason, so far I have tried idling mostly with horizontal
pedals as the equilibrium, not vertical as I've heard you are supposed
to do. But just "small-idling" this way gives me a good feeling for the
balance and movement of the uni so I think it is useful (and it allows
me to practice sitting down on the seat...).

Also, I see that I don't have a big problem with getting out of the
"dead" position of 12 o'clock 6 o'clock pedals. I have enough leg
strength to push myself a little forwards or backwards and then
oscillating out of it while supporting myself on the ceiling.

Another important improvement I've been making (gradually from quite
early on day 1) is that I am able to stop the uni from rolling away
under me resulting in a UPD by stepping on the pedals the right way. So
if it begins rolling, it will only go half a revolution or so before I
got my foot effectively blocking further rotation due to the position
of the pedals. And by supporting myself on the ceiling I am able to
avoid UPDing and then cycle the uni back under myself. I think I wrote
about this also in the day 1 report - basically I am not UPDing a lot
at all, for such a newbie as I am - all thanks to the ceiling and the
gloves and wrist protectors and elbow protectors and even underarm
protectors (from my old football gear) that basically pad my upper
appendices all the way up to above the elbow, allowing me to ram them
into walls or ceilings or beams or pipes when I need to in order to
support myself from falling (sorry, UPDing).

And, finally, I managed to avoid getting so sore from the suspensorium
on day 2. I think the main reason is I spent most of the time in the
saddle, not trying to mount. When in the saddle I can push it up so I
am not really sitting on top of it, and still it gives be protection in
case of UPDing. And I also discovered that I was able to mount while
keeping it a bit to the side of the seat, not directly in the center.
These things all contribute to putting less pressure on the
suspensorium, and thus, I hope, on my balls on the day I learn to mount
safely without protection :-)

What I still haven't figured out at all is how uni_geezer and others
manage to not only mount, but roll-mount and even jump-mount without
killing off all their potential offspring while at it. I guess I need
to study those videos again - there must be something with not sitting
down immediately but standing on the pedals and holding onto the seat,
and then settling down nice and easy once you get rolling.

Another complication with the Nightrider is of course the handlebar in
front and in the back. Doing a jump mount with that implies jumping on
top of not just the seat, but also over/across the back handle (not all
that long but it does mean you have to increase you jump a little bit).

Well, time to sleep. I meant to go swimming this morning, but I worked
until 1 AM last night and not it's already past midnight again. I
wanted to go to bed at 11 PM but I also felt I had to share this with
you guys before it got too old. I should have done it immediately on
Saturday evening of course, just like I wanted to write about the
swimming on Friday and about last weekend's experiences even earlier -
but I've been to tired from work and having to get up early... So then
I am writing it all up now and spending more than an hour at it... Oh
well.

Wishing you all a great day tomorrow and hope you all do more
unicycling than I've been able to the last days.

Lillestrøm_uni signing off.


--
lillestrøm_uni

My 'training journal'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/sho...php?p=1025788).
My todo list (augustdreamt™): Assisted mount-ride-idle / Ride / PD /
Turn / Idle / Hops / Curbs / Uneven ground / 'Mount / Rolling mount /
Jump mount' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRW7ePkZ_8E) / Side mount /
Kick-up mount
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Wow! How long is your workout every day? It sounds like you work
pretty hard.
I really found that it made a huge difference to me to have lots of
space to start pedaling even though I was using a support for mounting.
Have you tried to ride in a big open space?
Learning on a coker must be pretty challenging. Keep writing!


--
yUNIkoner
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Hi, thanks for reading and commenting!

I guess not too many do, since I am writing so much. Which is why I
wanted a separate thread, to avoid cluttering up the main "Learning"
thread with my ramblings (sort of the opposite logic of yours, but
since you write short and to-the-point-posts - as opposed to mine - I
agree that it makes sense for you to post there :-))

Anyway, so far I've found that learning on a coker has two main
differences from smaller unis:

1. Because of the height, it is harder to mount - simply getting up
there is a challenge. So I spent the first 2 hours just exercising the
mount (totally assisted, I am just talking about figuring out how to
use my legs to push myself that far up).

2. Because of the height, it is easier to feel that you are falling
down. Hence why people say you shouldn't learn on a coker - I can see
why they say that if you are not scared of heights, you might succeed.
And most people would feel scared to be on top of a coker and not have
much balance on it.

I don't feel too scared, but at the same time it is a lot of work
getting up on the thing, and if I find open spaces it will be hard to
find somewhere with the necessary supports for me to mount. So I think
I want to get more balance before I venture outside, for the following
reasons:

1. The more successful I am at mounting, the less I time I have to
spend on that.

2. The more controlled I am able to ride slowly inside, without
supporting myself, the more balanced and controlled I will be able to
ride outside.

Finally, since I am living in a rather populated area where there's not
that many open spaces not crowded with people, I guess I simply want to
avoid embarrassing myself with falling down all the time, or even not
being able to get up in the first place...

So my plan is to keep riding in the basement for 2-3 more sessions
(perhaps less, I am progressing faster than I thought I would be) and
then I will see what I do. I am considering going to a parking house
like BurnerDave did, that would probably be a good place to practice -
no people, large space, high ceiling (important for me on a coker) and
totally flat floor.

And as for my workouts, they are not that long - the first one was for
3 hours and the second one for almost 2 hours. I want to spend some
time when I am doing it. Since just clearing the basement room to make
space, putting the gear on and rigging the camera takes at least half
an hour, it doesn't make sense to go down and practice for just 30-60
minutes. Also, I am doing this to build strength and stamina, and then
I think 120 minutes is a good time. The first time I strained myself
too much (also it was the first time and I did some things wrong plus I
spent most of the time trying to mount).

As I wrote in one of the first posts here, there is a long straight
running path close to my house where I've been running 10km (5km back
and forth) and I just can't wait to get going on the coker there :-)

So the goal is to fairly proficient by the end of summer, and then I'm
going on vacation with my friends and I'm going to impress them all...
:-)

Perhaps by then I'll order a smaller Muni as well, one for doing more
tricks and for lending to people. I don't want the Nightrider to be
banged up, it's got a really nice finish on the handlebars (which take
most of the heat, instead of the seat as usual - and the handlebar is
not detachable as far as I can see - then I would need to buy another
seat mount I think. Will ask Roger about that.

So far I'm happy to have the handlebar and I feel it is useful for the
training. I have padded it well using the bubblewrap that came with the
uni in order to protect it while learning.

All right, time for work :-)

Good luck with your learning too!!!


--
lillestrøm_uni

My 'training journal'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/sho...php?p=1025788).
My todo list (augustdreamt™): Assisted mount-ride-idle / Ride / PD /
Turn / Idle / Hops / Curbs / Uneven ground / 'Mount / Rolling mount /
Jump mount' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRW7ePkZ_8E) / Side mount /
Kick-up mount
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Norwegian:

Wow, du begynner å bli god høres det ut som!! det er bra, men åssen har
du tenkt å ta 180 unispin på 36"?? Hvis det var det du mente?

English:

Wow, sounds like you're starting to get really good! thats awesome, but
how are you planing to do a 180 unispin on a 36"? If that's what you had
in mind?


--
sigve

*Mikey sier (10:51):
I imagined a sponsor sending you a new uni and a plastic penis

MyTrial Video: **-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oam57UuE43U-*
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