500th mile on my guni

I hit mile #500 on my odo this morning. Rah.

I haven't leared much since mile 200. Basically, once I had put in 200
miles, I guess I'd figured out most of what I needed to know.

I knew I'd hit that top of the learning curve when I was able to make
it up a very steep street in high gear. It wasn't about stength (tho
that's a factor) -- it was about learning how to lean and how to pedal
that thing uphill. I call it the "chicken walk."

To ride a big wheel up a steep hill, you lean a bit forward, pedal
mightily with the front foot (duh), and take off most of the pressure
from the rear foot. If done while walking, you'd look a bit fowl or as
tho you were limping with both feet. The point of this method is to
remove most of the natural (mild) backward pressure we exert on the
rear foot as we ride. I guess we do that partly for balance and partly
for control. Well, by NOT doing that, the uphills move a lot faster.

It's still a bit tricky to ride in high gear thru pedestrian traffic
(which I do quite slowly), but I've found that unless the crowd is too
thick, I'm better off staying in high gear than attempting to switch
back and forth. So now I basically leave it in high gear 99% of the
time.

My advice to anyone getting used to a new and much larger wheel size:
Give it time. Eventually, you'll figure out what it takes to ride more
slowly and precisely -- it just takes many miles of riding before you
get to that point.


--
David_Stone

Dictator for Life,
NYUC
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Great news! Now I think it's obvious where your learning needs to change
the focus to. You need to be able to shift on-the-fly.


--
jl0r
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That was quick. I think I only have about 600 miles on BlueShift. Others
bring the tally up to well over 1000 miles. I still struggle with the
twitchiness. Unlike others I find the 29" wheel more stable and
manageable than the 24" wheel was. I'm thinking that it was not that
hot an idea to try to minimize the weight. I found der UberCoker to be
much more stable than BlueShift and I attribute that to the massive 36"
Coker tire.


--
harper

-Greg Harper

B L U E S H I F T

*there is no main man other than jc.*

"One of my friends was trying to teach his friend to learn. He told him
"Lean foward and pedal" I know he must have got at least half of it
right, because he broke his nose. " - KcTheAcy on learning to unicycle

"Hopefully they kill themselves. That would be good." - Ontario
unicycle observers

This is still my nth post....AWESOME!!!
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On Thu, 6 Oct 2005 11:26:57 -0500, David_Stone wrote:

Give it time.

Ooowww, I'm giving it time. I am just waiting and waiting for my guni
to arrive. More than 7 months now.

Anyways thanks for the write-up.

And to jl0r : David can shift-on-the-fly like no other.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
"dit dit diddle diddle dit dit did-it, dit dit diddle diddle dit dit did-it, *dit* diddle dit dit *dit* diddle dit dit, diddle-diddle-diddle-diddle-dit dit diddle diddle dit dit did-it,... - Spudman"

Like no other you say? I don't know.... that's a pretty bold statement.
I saw Beau Hoover shifting every half revolution when we visited
Schlumpf's place.
(Yes, it was ridiculous)


--
jl0r
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I wish I could say that I'm the cat's meow when it comes to on-the-fly
shifting. I'm not, Klaas, tho I appreciate your vote of confidence.

I was shifting quite well, thank you, until the day I shifted into the
void -- I clicked the hub-shifter, and it didn't quite take hold, and I
simply coasted for a moment and then fell backward. It was the only
time in nearly 26 years of riding that I've actually used my helmet,
tho it was a pretty light tap. Still, it was scary as hell, and Florian
is working on a 2nd generation hub that will be even less problematic.
This hub is excellent, but the improved model will make me more likely
to shift when I need to.

Instead, when I come to a red light or stop sign, I either hold onto
something (parked car, sign, etc), hop off, or ride thru (if conditions
permit). Were I able to shift more easily (like Beau!) I'd downshift
into low gear and idle, like I did a few weeks ago.

Keep in mind that Beau was shifting back and forth on a smaller wheel
-- that would make a bit of difference, but his riding is excellent by
all accounts.


--
David_Stone

Dictator for Life,
NYUC
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how do you keep track of your mileage?


--
this end up

'dont click this' (www.ridetheunicycle.com)
'do click this' )
'click me' (www.unicyclist.com)

did you here about the guy who went crazy in the bronx, he thought he
was a pigeon. they found him in the park throwing bread crumbs at
himself.:d

one man, one country, one wheel.:-|

i offer a complete and utter retraction.
the imputation was totally without basis in fact, and was in no way
'fair comment' and was motivated purely by malice and i deeply regret
any distress that my comments may have caused you or your family...

...and i hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in
the future.
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Cycle computer. Any bike store has one.


--
David_Stone

Dictator for Life,
NYUC
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David_Stone wrote:
I hit mile #500 on my odo this morning.

When I read that, I stupidly thought (for an instant), "How do you
-know-? Don't you have to adjust the cycle computer depending on what
gear you are in?"

Duh. Of course not. The wheel circumference doesn't -actually- change
-- it's a virtual change. Again, duh to me! I guess we get so used to
thinking in terms of wheel sizes instead of gear ratios, that a silly
thought like that becomes possible.


--
uni57

tim, catboy, james_potter, ____, and theo are my main man. but tyler is
my 'internet brother' (http://tinyurl.com/e2xt9). don't mess with my
little bro'.

vote for mossberg.

-
last edited by snowdog on 2005-09-21 at 12:05 am-
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On Fri, 7 Oct 2005 10:16:44 -0500, David_Stone wrote:

I wish I could say that I'm the cat's meow when it comes to on-the-fly
shifting. I'm not, Klaas, tho I appreciate your vote of confidence.

OK I back down a bit. John can shift-on-the-fly like few others, OK?

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
"dit dit diddle diddle dit dit did-it, dit dit diddle diddle dit dit did-it, *dit* diddle dit dit *dit* diddle dit dit, diddle-diddle-diddle-diddle-dit dit diddle diddle dit dit did-it,... - Spudman"