Riding SIF for Distance

I was just wondering if anyone has ridden SIF for any major distance.
This kind of ties in with Ultimate Wheels that seem to be getting more
attention lately and also as a skill builder. I eventually want to get
or build and Ultimate wheel.

I often try to ride SIF for a maximum distance but my legs get so tired
after only about an eight of a mile. Do the legs actually work that hard
to keep you balanced when not sitting on the saddle? Keep in mind that I
am quite comfortable riding SIF and don't feel that I am fighting for
balance.

Unicorn


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Unicorn wrote:
I was just wondering if anyone has ridden SIF for any major distance.
This kind of ties in with Ultimate Wheels that seem to be getting more
attention lately and also as a skill builder. I eventually want to get
or build and Ultimate wheel.

I often try to ride SIF for a maximum distance but my legs get so tired
after only about an eight of a mile. Do the legs actually work that hard
to keep you balanced when not sitting on the saddle? Keep in mind that I
am quite comfortable riding SIF and don't feel that I am fighting for
balance.

Unicorn



Well, in the usual sort of combat situation I would argue it to be
unsafe to ride SIF for any length of time. What if you're being
attacked by a Lebanese soldier, armed with a pogo-stick? You will need
that extra bit of time to grab your MG, aim, and by the time you're
ready to shoot him with a grin on your face he triumphantly knocks you
off your muni with his pogo-stick... Oh, and going to war on an
ultimate wheel sounds like a pretty bad idea to me too.


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Unicorn wrote:
Do the legs actually work that hard to keep you balanced when not
sitting on the saddle?

No, they work that hard to hold you up while they're bent. That's what
wears them out so fast. Standing up taller and working on a more
efficient technique will help, but it'll always be a lot more work than
sitting down. Remember all that advice to put your weight on the seat
when learning? That's a great reminder of why!


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johnfoss wrote:
No, they work that hard to hold you up while they're bent. That's what
wears them out so fast. Standing up taller and working on a more
efficient technique will help, but it'll always be a lot more work than
sitting down. Remember all that advice to put your weight on the seat
when learning? That's a great reminder of why!


I thought that for a while too, but I think it's not as tiring to walk
a similar distance with your legs bent to the same average amount.
There must be another factor.


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The other factor is the pedals going around and around. I think walking
is less energy-intensive with bent legs because the walking surface is
constant. With pedals your legs are constantly going through the
rotations from a not-so-bent to a very-bent position. I think that
makes up the difference.


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It's probably the combination. Just feet going round is not tiring
either as light unicycling demonstrates. Going from not-so-bent to
very-bent and back -while under load -is probably what makes it
tiring.

It becomes clearer if two legs work simultaneously. Imagine standing a
few minutes with moderately bent legs. That may not be comfortable, but
it's totally doable. Now, while standing, go though a range of vertical
motion of about a foot (twice crank length) with a frequency of, say,
100 rpm (or whatever is your cadence on an UW or with SIF). More
tiring, right?

I think that insofar riding an UW or uni SIF is even more tiring than
that last exercise, it must be attributed to lack of skill on the UW or
riding SIF.


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I think doing that and/or just standing up is a good way of increasing
endurance and skill w/ a limited amount of time.

If you have a countdown timer on your watch set it for a couple of
minutes and each time it goes off ride 10 revolutions SIF. When that
gets easy, do 20, 30, 40, etc revs before sitting back down or reduce
the time interval.

johnfoss wrote:
With pedals your legs are constantly going through the rotations from a
not-so-bent to a very-bent position.


Also you are always applying force to the pedals. When walking your
legs get a nice break each time you pick up a foot.


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Interesting thoughts. It does seem as if your legs are always
"concentrating on reading the ground" much more when riding SIF. Maybe
trying to stand up straiter or concentrating on keeping your legs less
streched will help. How far has anyone ridden on an UW or SIF?

Unicorn


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Because of my trials saddle being super slim, I often ride SIF for brief
spells to get circulation going. I'm sure that distance riders on long
ride start to numb up (may take a lot longer than me), and a minute or
two in SIF can get things working again. I wouldn't ride SIF any
longer than that however because, as mentioned above, it takes more
effort to keep on going.


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Yesterday night I tried riding SIF while trying to keep my legs as
strait as possipleand my body as stretched out and tall as I could. This
is not easy on a tials unicycle with a low saddle! Anyway it helped out
quite a bit and I rode 30% farther than on any other attempt! However I
must say that riding SIF for any amount of distance is a real workout.

Unicorn


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