Ankle support

I get the "ankle strike" pain from doin stairs and other stuff, can't
stay off the unicycle long enough to heal.

I know Rowan uses hiking boots, and I've been recommended Converse shoes
but I dunno, what do you guys recommend? What do Mr & Mrs Holm use?

Pete

PS I'm nearly there with 1 footed now, 4 full pedals in the rain today.
Need to put my pins back in my pedals.


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pete66 - Level 3 Unicyclist
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I wear hiking boots and still get ankle strike pain when I jump around
with my foot too far back on the pedals. The boots assists when I UPD
and might try to sprain an ankle with lateral torque. But landing a drop
violently points my toes up towards my knees.

Normal riding and speed riding, the pedal axis is under the ball of my
foot. When Jumping/dropping, I move the foot forward so the arch is over
the axis. This way I can land with less stress on the ankle, more likely
to keep my foot/leg angle relationship constant throughout the
landing.

I'm no expert, but this helps me.


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Memphis Mud - Student of GrandMaster 2T

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If youve ever read any skatboard trick runover the last step is always
absorb the shock and ride away. It might be thefact that your putting to
much weight on your legs(which is badfor you and your cranks) and that
is probably what causes the ankle pain. It happened to me a while back
to where i would limp so i went out and tried jumping seat out so i
could bend my knees more to lessen the stress on my ankles. try to bend
your knees more.

Oh and on the topic of shoes i would just go with converse or some vans
skate/b*ke shoes because theyre comfortable and sturdy enough to last.


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i also had that problem when going down steps. i fixed it by fixing my
technique, not shoes. the tendency is the grip the pedals with your
foot and try to control the rotation of the wheel as it goes down. i
was always worried about how the cranks would line up. the solution is
to approach stairs as you would a hill. the trick is not to control the
speed of the wheel, but to let your feet naturally turn with the wheel.
this will be scary at first but the results are great.

heres a quick story: i had been having your problem and therefore had
tried nothing more than a 4 set of stairs. i had heard that you should
take stairs as you would a hill but i was still too worried about
everything. what if my tire pressure is too low? i dont want to go too
fast. should i line my pedals up? why should i bother riding down a 4
set when i can easily hop it? and then one day, in the snow, i just
decided to go for it. i tried a 10 set and rode away both on the uni
and without pain. i proceeded to do more and more sets until i was too
tired to ride. the moral of this story is do not think, just ride...


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muniracer - Hell On Wheel

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pete66 wrote:
*I get the "ankle strike" pain from doin stairs and other stuff, can't
stay off the unicycle long enough to heal.*
I think he is talking about what Bill Jenack and Jack Wiley called
"ankle clipping." This is from banging the sides of your ankles against
the side of the crank or axle, which can especially be a problem on the
cycles with the splined straight cranks that protrude at the axle.

Many people clip their ankles in early riding, and depending what you're
learning, you can tend to do it some more. Most of us eventually learn
to keep our ankles out of harm's way, but with extreme riding this can
be harder to do. Especially if you have the kind of cranks that protrude
at the axle (you'll know what I'm talking about if you do).

Wearing high-tops can help. Way back in the olden days, Bill Jenack
recommended putting pieces of a motorcycle innertube around your ankle.
I don't know if motorcycles still use innertubes, but you can put other
stuff on your ankles. Padding up a pair of high-tops or hiking boots
should work.

In time, hopefully your feet will learn to mostly stay away from those
clipping spots.


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It's a bit of a combination of "ankle strike" and knocking my ankles on
the cranks. I have bruises and cuts on both ankles (even on the outside
of my ankles!??) but it's really the "ankle strike" that worries me.
I've found that using my soccer shinpads that have ankle protection are
great for avoiding the knocking.

Thanks for the replies, I'll see what I can do about my technique.


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pete66 - Level 3 Unicyclist
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