Training journal while learning to unicycle

So I put in a little over three hours tonight. After reading yUNIkoner's
advice I decided to move out of the basement sooner than I planned, and
enter the open spaces (scary). Also, it was due to impatience. I had
planned to train again on Monday evening (after Saturday), but I had
too much work so I got home too late and didn't have time to do
anything. I ended up staying up way past bedtime on Monday to write
about Saturday...

Then again I was too busy on Tuesday, and on Wednesday evening I stayed
up too late in order to get some training in, and then yesterday I got
home too late again...

Tonight is Friday and even if I got home a bit late (like yesterday), I
decided i would do it after dinner no matter what. And then I figured,
it's really light out here in Norway now, it's close the the brightest
time of year so it doesn't really get dark at night. So even if it was
after 10 PM I decided to go outside instead of in the basement.

I had already located a parking lot behind my office building which was
nice and calm and away from curious onlookers. There's a big hardware
store right next door to it though, so I would have to expect some
attention if I was there in the daytime.

In other words, going at night seemed a good idea.

So I went there and started out. There was a big container where I
could support myself while mounting. In the beginning I couldn't find
my balance and I just kept falling off immediately. I guess I wasted a
lot of film taping all that, but it might be fun to edit it in for the
video later.

Then, once I got better, the battery went out and/or it was too dark to
see much (typically it is not really dark for your eyes, but too dark
for the kind of compact camera I am using for the video recording).

Anyway, I managed a few good runs during that time. I think my record
was something like 8-10 meters, and that equals about 3 full
revolutions of the wheel (the circumference of a 36" coker wheel is a
little more than 9 feet or almost 3 meters). Most of the time I kept
UPD'ing after just half a revolution though (if I tried going straight
out from the wall), or I would do less than one revolution after
leaving the wall if I went along the wall of the container and then
continued.

One thing I noticed was that if I didn't get up to speed along the wall
of the container, but just went straight out from the wall, I would
always UPD after a half revolution in the case that I got my left leg
at the 12 o'clock "dead position" and couldn't keep moving, unless I
was focusing on the fact that this would happen due to my starting
position after mounting and work on avoiding the stop at that point (by
pushing harder to get initial speed).

However, I think that more than half the time I would simply lose
balance to the side and have to step off.

Some positive points:

1. I improved my success rate at mounting. I tried different versions,
I "discovered" the front handle on the seat (so far I had been holding
onto the T7 handlebar when mounting) and the fact that I had a lot more
control when mounting when I used that to grab the seat more directly.

2. I even attempted a few free mounts - and I was generally able to get
up and stand still for a few microseconds before having to step down
again.

3. About half the time I would be able to dismount almost properly when
UPD'ing, meaning I would step straight down and catch the uni with my
hand when I lost my balance. I also did this when I stepped down after
the attempts at freemounting.

4. I managed to ride fairly controlled the few times I got a ride of
more than 1 revolution. I had a few really good kicks when I rode 1-2
revolutions, then lost my balance and managed to recover by pedalling
hard forward, and several times I also stopped when I lost my balance
backwards, but I didn't just "fall backwards" and send the uni forward,
I actually stopped and stood for a few fractions of a second before I
had to dismount.

5. I spent a lot of time getting comfortable in the seat, idling a
little while supporting myself on the container, thinking about all
kinds of other stuff, and thus not being efficient and riding as much
as possible. I then devised a nice method for changing this: The
1-2-3-go method. I counted 1 as I put my behind on the seat and my leg
on the pedal, 2 when mounting and 3 when sitting down on the seat, and
then on "go" I would start riding. Mostly I didn't succeed at all in
riding that way, since I wasn't properly balanced or comfortable
(riding while halfway sitting on one of your balls is not recommended)
or my feet were not properly placed on the pedals. But it was very good
and important practice in "getting somewhere fast", as I know I will
need to just get up and ride when I start freemounting.

6. I was fairly good at sitting down on the seat. This is why I spent
much time before I started with the 1-2-3-go method to make sure I was
really well seated before trying to ride. So on the rides I did, I
wasn't standing on my feet on the pedal, at least not too much, I was
sitting down and trying to control the ride.

7. I even managed a few small turns (due to my wobbling side to side)
of up to 20-30 degrees while riding, in addition to the stopping and
fairly controlled dismounts (I also had a lot of the uncontrolled ones
where the uni went flying, and on one occasion I had to take a roll as
I couldn't keep my balance on my feet when I UPD'ed).

Some things I noted that I need to improve:

1. I hurt my balls badly a few times. Reminder that I need the
suspensorium for mounting practice. When I am going to practice riding
I shouldn't try working on mount as well, just get up there and ride...


2. My mounts very very variable. So I need to focus more on what I am
doing when I mount, and try to standardize them.

3. I also found that I shouldn't start the camera right away, as I have
enough footage of unsuccessful mounting attempts now. Rather I should
save battery and memory stick space for filing when I have "warmed up",
in order to catch the more interesting stuff. I am not actually sure if
I managed to catch a single one of the good rides tonight on video.

4. Today it really "hit home" about why people said it is crazy to
learn on a coker. I thought it was about the difficulty of mounting and
keeping your balance, but I found that easy in the basement. But it is
rather about the fear of falling and the fear of speed when you try to
actually ride it. I noticed this and I think a lot of my dismounts when
leaving the wall were simply due to mental block.

I said to myself at one point that I would not go home until I managed
to do it, and I felt really good after a couple of good runs - thinking
that now I was going to nail it. But I didn't and I got too tired to
keep going all night as I fantasized about at one point.

By now (4 AM, I went back around 2 AM) it is almost as bright as day
again (a dull winter or fall day that is), and I could really see how
it got brighter again after midnight, when I was training (I started
around 1030 PM I think, left home a little after 10).

So I think I made some good progress and I just cannot wait to get out
there again and see if I can ride a bit longer next time :-)

Good night y'all :-)


--
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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
lillestrøm_uni's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/17152
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/69883


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