Designated_david Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 I contributed a couple of posts to hot chargers, and created a topic here that involved me taking a little spill off my wheel hurting my foot. I thought I'd update you all, as I'm excited about my progress. Never let it be said that I don't respect those that are better than I at this hobby. So, about 10 days ago, I was riding my wheel around my parking lot on a Sunday afternoon while the laundry was going, and it would have been the third day of riding, and for the first time, I had a major "click" moment, allowing me to ride for much longer distances (relatively speaking) around my parking lot. This equates to minutes at a time, instead of mere seconds. I was working on figuring out what I need to do to make a smooth turn, had a few stumbles, and what not, but nothing serious. It started to rain a little bit, so I figured I'd take the thing upstairs, check on the laundry, and monitor the weather. If things were still relatively dry (which they were), I might approach the wheel for more. So I did. I thought I did so well, and I was craving some more. Well, I was on the pavement, trying to mount the wheel for the third successive time, and was moving forward, but had a terrible balance. I didn't want to go down on the pavement, you know, because pavement, plastic, and skin don't mix. I was aiming for a grass patch, but didn't quite make it. I had an unfortunate dismount, banged up my trolley handle a bit, scraped my knee, and I have no idea what I did to my foot, but it hurt worse than the road rash. I don't think anything was broken, but the ball of my left foot was a fair bit swollen. It had been hard to walk with for the past week, and is just now becoming manageable. I've been off the wheel ever since. But, I'm happy to report, that my foot was feeling pretty OK today, so I decided to make a test run to see how well it would hold up after a minor injury. Imagine my excitement when I see that I basically picked up where I left off as far as progress goes, but with a bit of shaking. I had ordered some cheap safety gear in the interim. I'm sure I'll tear it up anyway, knowing me. I put the knee pads on, wrist guards, and cruised around my parking lot, rode the beeps for a few moments, made a few laps, and got my sea legs back. I went back upstairs, uninjured, with my pride in tact today, and decided to quit for the day while I still had my dignity, and while I was ahead. I'll be back at it tomorrow, barring miserable humidity. But, if this is a TL:DR post for you, all is well, and with about 6 hours of riding, I've got the basics pretty well down. Next step is to ride with the skills I've got around my apartments, use the skills I've already acquired to get comfortable, and then to tighten up my turns. My next milestone of progress is to master the 90-degree turn on a skinny sidewalk. Beyond that, sharp turns, and 180's/360's. My focus is on low-speed maneuverability at the moment. I'm quite pleased with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fat Unicyclist Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 On 6/7/2018 at 12:24 PM, Designated_david said: My next milestone of progress is to master the 90-degree turn on a skinny sidewalk. Beyond that, sharp turns, and 180's/360's. My focus is on low-speed maneuverability at the moment. I'm quite pleased with this. Your progress sounds good and your plan is a good one - add in emergency stops and you should have the foundation for competent riding. Remember some safety gear and don't forget to just have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circuitmage Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Yes. It takes some time. And, once you get going don't get too overconfident. Safety gear is golden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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