Weekly Progress report

For those that DON'T have A.D.D. here's another longass McPost. I kinda
feel like i'm doing homework, but in another way, making these posts is
kind of like a visit to the shrink......


- Last weekend was mostly frustrating. I spent 3 hours, and nothing
satisfying came of it.
- On Wednesday, i spent 30 minutes going down a handicap access ramp,
with rails on both sides. It's a bit steep, maybe 10-15 degrees, but
whatever. It presents a different environment in which to practice. I
took the seat up a tad, and didn't mess with it at all since.
- Thursday, i spent a mere 20 minutes. This time i spent time going UP
the hill too. I find going UP the hill rather than DOWN does several
things for me. It forces me to lean, because for whatever reason, using
(and abusing) the rail as a support does to nothing to help me when i'm
going uphill. it does help maintiain side-to-side balance clearly, but
on flats and downhill i tend to abuse the rail as i approach the dead
zone. and it helps, and i abuse it. anyway, uphill forces me to learn
smoother pedaling. Another thing it does is helps me... not fear...
leaning forward. Yes, it forces me to lean, because i'll fall if i dont,
but... it's less "scary" because the ground seems closer and all. Yada
Yada. As far as i am concerned, Wednesday the 9th is when i started
making progress. Another note, my shoes broke, quite literally, and i
bought a replacement pair. No help with the pedal-slip problem though. I
also started experimenting with the position of my ass on the seat.
Farther forward helps me.
- Friday: 30 minutes up and down the hill. Forwards AND Backwards now.
Did fairly well, THE GODDAMN CRANKS KEEP HITTING MY HEELS. It's the
other way around no doubt, but plastic pedals on flat soled shoes means
i'm having a **** of a problem with crank-heel collisions. GRR.
- And Finally, TODAY, Thursday the 11th: Firstly i should mention that
i am doing nothing "unassisted." Even when i do 1,2,4 and sometimes 5
revs "solo" i am always next to railing, having gotten an assisted
start. While on a flat area i've found, after having done mostly ramp
practice for the last few days, i figured i'd compare my current skills
to last weekend. I'm increasingly comfortable with speed, but not
consistently capable of getting there... in the 10-15 feet i have to
work with. I'm also mounting 1 handed now. before i was using 1 or 2
hands... now i'm just using 1, and i'm comfortable with it too. I can
tell my leg strength/balance/comfort level is increasing alot. The
standing on the pedals horizontally thing i've been doing, well i can
stand on the pedals, without them being horizontal, without the wheel
moving with no problem. I actually did it several times without
realizing. Yada yada i'm a wussy i know. After doing the flat 10 foot
rail thing for 25 min i tried to do a SINGLE totally unassisted
revolution. I tried for 20 minutes. No luck. I can't get going. The
leaning, the momentum... my wussy fear, whatever. It's keeping me back.
I'll get there though. After those 20 mins, i went back to my hill. I've
developed a routine for the hill. I'm doing laps. Go down, turn around,
come up. When i get to 5 "UPD-in-motion" i will stop that, and check how
long it's been. today i did 20 minutes. THEN after normal laps, i will
do another thing... go down... then... BACK up. backwards. 5upds, check
the time. 10 minutes today.

SOOOOOO...... for the week..........
5.5 hours practice over 6 days. 0 unassisted revs [none that count].
BUT I AM NOW HAVING MORE FUN. I am developing confidence and a comfort
level.

TOTAL PRACTICE TIME: 8 hrs 50 min.


--
McNerdius
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have someone give you an unexpected push (not hard) from the waist while
you are leaning on someone...
and try to spend more time in one go, with a friend if possible.

get the pedal under the middle part of your shoe if there's anything
there.
stop being pidgeon toed on the unicycle. get your feet straight.
less weight in the pedals, more in the seat, you should be able to have
someone come hold the pedal and pull your foot off without too much
trouble if you are holding onto something.


--
skrobo

Unicycle For Christ
'MY VIDEOS' (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=skroboskim)
'World Record' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oig5IEq-v4Y)
"dude when i first got into this sport and saw one of you videos i
almost threw up it was so sick"
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no assistance available. at all.

i just today began putting the pedal under my mid-foot, rather than the
ball of my foot. Oddly enough, this is only occuring with my right
foot.

i haven't been able to spend more time in one go because of the
short-ness of my practice area. I could try a longer section, but that
would require practicing on grass. Or finding a different practice
area... This park is otherwise perfect though. I'm going to look
around at my apartment complex tho.


--
McNerdius
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I think you just HAVE to get away from railings, fences etc. Having
something solid to hold on to before you start is fine. I also think
that using a ramp, be it up or down, is going to create a whole new set
of problems for you in the future. The ramp totally throws off your
sense of how far to lean forward, even worse if you are going up AND
down a ramp using the railings.

You've said you get absolutely no forward progress without holding on
to something. Is there any chance you could post a couple bits of video
of exactly what happens when you try to ride away form a solid object
without any assistance from a fence or railing? That way we might be
able to spot something specific that is giving you grief. It seems to
me you are giving waaay too much power to the idea of the dreaded dead
spot.

Keep at it.

Kurt


--
zogola
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McNerdius,

If nothing else, I am encouraged by one statement you made:

"I'll get there though."

That one phrase will be enough to get you riding. As long as you keep
working at it, you definitely will get there.

So I salute your effort and appreciate your write ups which will help
future beginners work through their frustrations as well. Keep at it.
Rest assured, you are doing what it takes to learn to ride a unicycle.


--
Hugh

--
Hugh
MUC Member
"Uni"fied
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You're making progress - keep at it!

One thing that helped me kick a dependence on lateral support was a
practice area that allowed me to move in two dimensions, not just
linearly (for me, a parking lot).
Where previously I would start to overbalance sideways and use my
support, in the parking lot I was allowed to make the necessary
correction to stay on, even though it tended to involve, in the
beginning, a 45- to 90-degree change of direction.

You keep mentioning being afraid. What sort of safety gear are you
wearing?


--
Tak

"Unicycling goes against common sense." --maestro8
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