Teaching the wife

[DaveThomasPilot]

So, my wife has finally agreed to try to ride my KS14C.   She enjoys riding with me on her MiniPro, but its 10 mph speed limit sometimes seems a bit slow.

She's really afraid of it, after seeing me ding my shins several times when I first started learning.  I figure she'll punt if she even gets close to hurting herself.

I read that the fastest way to success (or at least encouragement) is for the learner to hold on to a helper riding beside them.  That way, they can use the support for balance until they get up a little speed, then experience what its like once they get rolling.

That sounds reasonable to me, except that it seems like the helper won't be steady himself, after just mounting.  So, when the learner will need the most help, the helper won't be able to provide much, without having to dismount himself.  On foot, the helper would need to run to have a speed high enough for the learner to have an easy, steady, ride.

So, I thought I'd try something a little different.  I remember a water ski boat teaching device that used a rigid pole extending out from the side.   Beginning skiers could hold onto the rigid pole instead of a ski rope and quickly learn how to get up on the ski(s)--the hardest part is just getting up.   

My "ski boat" is going to be our electric golf cart.  I'm going to horizontally mount a pool pole on the vertical roof poles, behind the seat of our golf cart.  I figure I'll mount it about waist high.  She  can ride behind the pole, several feet beside the golf cart, and use the pole for balance.  She can also instruct me to go faster/slower.

My goal would be to get her feeling comfortable going around 10 mph, then work on mounting using a wall.  Pool pole might not be strong enough.  If not, I could use a 2x4, with the end shaped to a cylinder for better hand gripping.

Thoughts?

[DaveThomasPilot]

Oh, and I'll use a rope between the wheel and the pole.  So, if she steps off  the wheel will be secured to the pole and continue with the cart, not at her.

[Keith]

1 hour ago, DaveThomasPilot said:

Oh, and I'll use a rope between the wheel and the pole.  So, if she steps off  the wheel will be secured to the pole and continue with the cart, not at her.

Perhaps I’m not imagining it correctly, but this last bit sounds like a terrible idea as the rope would have to be fairly tight to the pole or the EUC would flail about quite viciously I would have thought. If it was tight it I would think it might effect control of the EUC?

As to the rest of it, it certainly could work but my thought, at the beginning of the story was that you were going to suggest you helping her with you on the MiniPro as that would allow you to stand still, help her get her balance on the wheel and then move at the same speed as she is going without knackering yourself in the process. 

[LanghamP]

A pole on a golf cart won't work while a pole that you're holding with her will work. The reason the hold hand method works so well is because imbalances on her end are transmitted to you, and then you compensate by flopping the wheel back and forth. In other words, the helper being unsteady is what makes the hand holding method incredibly effective. 

My experience with new riders all seem  about the same. An initial heavy wobble for about thirty seconds or less, and then a "oh, that's how it work." 

However, I would prefer you try your method. I'm guessing after a few feet the pole gets jerked out of her hand and then she falls on her hip while still attempting to grasp the pole. Please film this. 

[LanghamP]

If you already have a mini Pro just use that for you to stand on... 

[meepmeepmayer]

This sounds way too complicated to be a good idea. And probably very counterproductive if anything goes not exactly as expected (aka "fuck this, I'm giving up" by your wife, she might be just waiting for an excuse). Which is likely, given the scary, convoluted setup. Bad idea.

I'd let her do the usual mount-and practice-while-using-a-wall-thing (see video) so she gets used to the wheel for 15 minutes. After that, she can mount (using the wall) and wait, and then you have all the time in the world to mount and take her free arm to pick her up into a wall-free pair ride where she holds on to you for balance.

Video (4:50 the wall holding details, both arms while getting on, then one arm on the wall and one free):

The general idea here is: get her into riding-while-holding-on-to-you as easily and quickly as possible. Once rolling, she'll learn fast. The getting-on step is the hard part, and you can make it easier for her to essentially skip that than if she had to learn by herself. YOUR idea is not easy

[DaveThomasPilot]

1 hour ago, Keith said:

Perhaps I’m not imagining it correctly, but this last bit sounds like a terrible idea as the rope would have to be fairly tight to the pole or the EUC would flail about quite viciously I would have thought. If it was tight it I would think it might effect control of the EUC?

As to the rest of it, it certainly could work but my thought, at the beginning of the story was that you were going to suggest you helping her with you on the MiniPro as that would allow you to stand still, help her get her balance on the wheel and then move at the same speed as she is going without knackering yourself in the process. 

You're probably right about trying to get the rope the correct length to prevent it from thrashing around.  That's what I used a strap for, but that means hands aren't available to help balance or hold a hand/pole.

I thought about rigging a kill switch that could shutdown the wheel immediately to prevent the dead chicken syndrome, but I'm not sure the wheel can be shut down quickly--I think the switch must be closed for a second or two before it shuts down.

[DaveThomasPilot]

We'll start with just me walking and holding her hand.  I've done that with others, but they quickly go faster than I can trot.  They surge ahead until they loose their balance, then the wheel goes where it decides to go.  It's the loose wheel that injured me several times, so that's what I want to avoid.

So, I'll discourage her from doing that, and if all goes well with me on foot, we can try the miniPro and/or golf cart.

Yes, I will film it.

[DaveThomasPilot]

24 minutes ago, meepmeepmayer said:

This sounds way too complicated to be a good idea. And probably very counterproductive if anything goes not exactly as expected (aka "fuck this, I'm giving up" by your wife, she might be just waiting for an excuse). Which is likely, given the concoluted setup. Bad idea.

I'd let her do the usual mount-and practice-while-using-a-wall-thing (see video) so she gets used to the wheel for 15 minutes. After that, she can mount (using the wall) and wait, and then you have all the time in the world to mount and take her free arm to pick her up into a wall-free pair ride where she holds on to you for balance.

Video (4:50 the wall holding details, both arms while getting on, then one arm on the wall and one free):

 

Nice video!

That's pretty much the way I learned, except I spent a LOT of time trying to mount.  I could have been riding and having fun sooner by "cheating" and using something to help with the mounting.

I'll have her watch your video,  but I want to have her riding a few feet with help before trying to mount without something to help get on.  At least, that's where every injury that I've had happened--I've never fallen off once I got rolling.  And, I didn't actually "fall", but rather the wheel go me.

[meepmeepmayer]

Not my video.

And cheating is the point of having someone else to learn with who can already ride. You'll learn quicker, as @LanghamP often says.

The video was posted only to show how she can start with the wall into a position where you can take her arm and you two can go, without her having to learn to mount, just a basic feeling for the EUC necessary. The mounting will come later and be much easier (+ bigger motivation) when she can already ride.

[DaveThomasPilot]

Well, that didn't work at all!

She was actually doing fine against the wall, but she kept saying how unstable she felt versus her MiniPro.   She also said she wondered why I was trying to kill her!

She tried stepping off the wheel a couple of times, but it really scared her when the wheel tilted and started beeping.

After less than five minutes, she'd had enough.

I think you really have to understand the psychology of who you are trying to teach.  I wanted her to have a sense of success by riding while holding on to something, but we never got that far.  But, she doesn't have much desire to move beyond her two wheeler.

Oh well, riding with her on the MiniPro isn't so bad.

 

[meepmeepmayer]

Hmm... too bad. Thanks for posting your results, interesting to hear.

Just keep talking about how much fun EUCing is. Tell her you don't want her to quit before she at least felt some of that (just like you say about the sense of success, tell her that, not just us!). Maybe it's not yet too late.

[The Fat Unicyclist]

Do you have a larger wheel? 

Smaller diameter wheels are a lot more agile (ie. squirrelly to learn on). A 16" wheel, with slightly lower tyre pressure, would be easier to get the feel for the balance... 

[DaveThomasPilot]

No, just the 14C.

And, Jason is out of stock for both 16" Tesla and KS-16s until next year.

But thanks for the tip!

[Mono]

4 hours ago, DaveThomasPilot said:

But, she doesn't have much desire to move beyond her two wheeler.

That's kind-of key. Without solid motivation it's hard to see anybody learning to ride an EUC.

[novazeus]

6 hours ago, DaveThomasPilot said:

Well, that didn't work at all!

She was actually doing fine against the wall, but she kept saying how unstable she felt versus her MiniPro.   She also said she wondered why I was trying to kill her!

She tried stepping off the wheel a couple of times, but it really scared her when the wheel tilted and started beeping.

After less than five minutes, she'd had enough.

I think you really have to understand the psychology of who you are trying to teach.  I wanted her to have a sense of success by riding while holding on to something, but we never got that far.  But, she doesn't have much desire to move beyond her two wheeler.

Oh well, riding with her on the MiniPro isn't so bad.

 

aah, now u understand. i’m learning myself and i’m trying to come up with a non injurious or failure learning method. just two little sessions in, added ballast ro the sawhorses, but i could see my gfs being able to get a taste and actually learn this way. time will tell. what i like about it, all i gotta do is kick off my flip flops and put on my high tops and get in the rails. kinda boring but completely safe. not easy to mount and go back and forth 14’ without touching. no injuries and i haven’t dropped the wheels either.

[LanghamP]

4 hours ago, DaveThomasPilot said:

No, just the 14C.

And, Jason is out of stock for both 16" Tesla and KS-16s until next year.

But thanks for the tip!

Beauty has a certain motivation all of its own, that is, the KS14c is not a beautiful wheel but the Ninebot S2, ips zero, and Inmotions have a certain sleek iPhone look that makes women want to ride them. 

[Gimlet]

The way my wife learnt was with the help of two friends that ran along either side of her holding her outstretched hands, 3 lengths of the seaside prom like that and she was moaning that they were running too slowly so I cruised in on my euc and took over one hand and she let go the other. We did a further 3 lengths like that with very wide turns either end, then she was fine. 

It was a very quick process but despite being able, she still won't ride with me as she's worred about damaging her ceramic hip in a fall.

[Rehab1]

23 hours ago, DaveThomasPilot said:

She's really afraid of it, after seeing me ding my shins several times when I first started learning.  I figure she'll punt if she even gets close to hurting herself.

I wish you luck teaching your wife. My wife gave up learning to ride the KS 16S as she was afraid of injuries. My son’s mother in law attempted to ride a hoverboard a few months back and broke her wrist. That tragic event quickly diminished my wife’s enthusiasm. 

[Bob Eisenman]

On 12/16/2017 at 8:41 AM, DaveThomasPilot said:

She enjoys riding with me on her MiniPro,

Why force additional risk into a happy relationship?

Buy another MiniPro and ride it yourself.....and enjoy a perfect speed match. 

---------------rambling story--------

My experience with mis-matched speed and ability attitudes (recreational vs racing) in skiing where the slower skier tries to keep up with the faster skier (who is less empathetic to the slower) become injurious and life changing.

As a kid I remember looking behind me while snow plow skiing and seeing the smiling face of my father. 

Asked by the sports director at a school to create a race team with a liaison coach (experienced) my focus on speed and technique changed my experience from those when I skied with my Dad. Following an injury a former significant other 'left' for a different school in a different state focusing more on her career interests.

Now my skis are in the closet, my Dad is in his grave, decades have passed since racing on skis , my former wife (with wounded knee and thumb) instructs kayaking at the YMCA, her very influential Dad has passed on, a childless marriage has been 'dissolved' and life goes on along separate paths of interest.

It doesn't all go wrong because of mis-matched speeds but.......be careful in what you choose to do together.

 

[LanghamP]

This isn't high level skiing, this is more akin to making a slight modification to your bicycle and adjusting to it within an hour or less. Since we already know how effective the hold hand technique is, it follows people who give up immediately are dismissive instead of unable. If you know how to ride a bicycle then you already can ride an EUC after a minor adjustment period.

Your wife wasn't going to learn; she put in a few token minutes as a favor to you.