what am I doing wrong?

I've been riding for about a month now and, I can only go a hundred to
two hundred feet before my quads hurt too bad to continue. I'm
basically just overexerting myself and I don't know what I'm doing
wrong. After a few of hours of serious riding at the park, I start
getting sharp pains in the sides of my knees, also.

Some things that I thought it could be;
1.Riding with a knobby tire on rough pavement makes it harder to
control and I end up putting more energy than necessary into the
pedals, trying to force it around.
2. Foot placement. I ride with my boots on and so, the only part of my
foot that touches the pedals is the arch and front balls of my foot.
Maybe if I switched shoes, I could ride more on the center of my foot
instead of the front. My boots have a higher heel and it doesn't touch
the pedals at all so, all of the strain is on the front of my foot.
3. Seat height. I've adjusted it a bit and find that higher is much
better for comfort but, lower is easier to hop on. I also feel like I
have more control with a lowered seat.

Probably a combination of all of these things and some more that I
can't think of.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Rico

the most likely culprti is not keeping your weight on the seat. This is
caused by low seat hight, and the common urge for beginners to keep the
wieght on their feet. You really need to let all your weight rest on
the saddle, your feet should feel like they're putting just enough
force to turn the pedals and no more.


--
kington99

Dave

- what a thoroughly post-modern subversion of the cycling genre -
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Check 'Here' (http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/phlebitis). as it
might be a larger problem then riding technique for a short distance.


--
adjuggler

'When you get on a unicycle, your telling that voice inside your head...
\"no your balls can't get hurt, and that your shins are actually made
of metal plates\". (Youtube Page)'
(http://www.youtube.com/user/ADJuggler)
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All of us have had the same problem in the beginning. There is a
tendency to stand in the saddle rather then sitting fully in the seat.
So practice sitting in the seat. I can't emphasize this enough. You
need to put 98% of your weight in the saddle. The more you stand
instead of sitting, the more workout you give your legs.

You should be able to put in 3-5 miles easily without tiring out your
legs. Just practice.

Sitting fully in the seat is one of the primary skills you need to
address in most uni skills ......


Rob


--
rob
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I'm in the same situation. I need to keep my weight in the sit. I can
ride about a half mile, but then my legs are screaming. On the plus
side, it has helped me ignore the burn when I'm on a climbing on my
mountain bike and I stay closer to my "mountain goat" friend. It'll be
a great day when I can beat him to the top of a climb. I already leave
him in the dust on the downhill.

It reminds me of the days I use to run the 400 in high school and it
would feel like there was concrete in my legs for the last 50.


--
surfcolorado
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Reminds me of reading about a guy who would ride his 2.5 mi commute on
a 24" ultimate wheel (UW).He had to take a few short breaks.

Uni has definately improved my mtb handling skills.


- O.P.
Your leg burning is a result of too litle weight on the seat and/or too
low saddle (as you guessed).

The knee pain could be from too long of cranks, too low seat, or you
pushing your knees to the inside (I had that problem and I had to
conciously focus on keeping my knees over my feet at all times, for 2-3
weeks, no problems since).

I would forget about freemounting untill you can ride around your
neiborhood w/ few UPD's for an hour and w/o being exhausted. In the
meantime use telephone poles, cars, etc. for assisted mounts. (That
one took me a while, I think it was mostly from not enough weight in
the seat, but I also got stronger.)


--
skilewis74

Ride everywhere and never just ride anywhere. If you can ride where you
are going within a hour, do it, and if you can do a trick 50-75% of the
time do it along the way.- Bob Burnquist

What next? 'IUF skill levels'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/levels/)*'
Street'
(http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/The_Unicyclopedia/Street)*'unicycletips.com'
(http://unicycletips.com/)*'Trials class system'
(http://tinyurl.com/yqpvxk)*'Trials Building'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64235)
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Change your shoes. It's better to pedal with the middle of your foot
rather than the front of your foot. At least thats what I find.


--
TattooedBandit

^^^^^^^^^^^
That's a matter of prefference. Some like a flat sole, like Vans,
others like running shoes, or boots, w/ or w/o heals.


Foot position: you will prob preffer whatever you are used to, ie if
you mtb or road b*ke w/ clipless you'll likely have more controll w/
the ball of your foot on the pedal, and if you are used to riding
platform pedals, your arch will prob be better.

For climing hills your balls on the pedals will give you more potential
power, and for drops you want your arch over the pedal's axle or you
could tear your achilies tendon.

Try a bunch of different shoes and pedal positions and see what works
for you.


I preffer boots w/ heels and my arch over the pedal.


--
skilewis74

Ride everywhere and never just ride anywhere. If you can ride where you
are going within a hour, do it, and if you can do a trick 50-75% of the
time do it along the way.- Bob Burnquist

What next? 'IUF skill levels'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/levels/)*'
Street'
(http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/The_Unicyclopedia/Street)*'unicycletips.com'
(http://unicycletips.com/)*'Trials class system'
(http://tinyurl.com/yqpvxk)*'Trials Building'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64235)
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Just a point that may be causing you this pain. maybe go to a
chiropractor or someone like that. Maybe your back in out?


--
patsandy100

Unicycles... nothing better
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Yeah, I've got it now. I was putting too much pressure on my legs and
not putting my weight on the seat.

I'm thinking about switching out the seat now. It's a stock, Torker DX
so, the seat kinda sucks. It's kinda small and uncomfortable. It's
also hard to get back into a comfortable position after a freemount or
hop. I know that those things will change with time but, I've heard
several other people on the forums talking about the crappiness of
them.

What kind of seat would you guys recommend? What kind of seat will
fit? Will I have to switch out the seatpost also? I'm a very
large(6'5", 230lbs) guy and plan to learn some trials and flat tricks,
if that helps.

You guys are full of all kinds of helpful information. Thanks alot.

-Rico