Experienced riders falling/almost falling.

[Citi Wheel]

So I thought it would be important to list some of the circumstances that would causes even an experienced rider, we should all be wary off.

 

1) Not paying attentions to where you're going: I was making a video to post, and using my cellphone instead of a go-pro/mounted camera. I hit a 5 inch high concrete divider at probably 10 mph and went flying off. Not enough can be said about being hyper-vigulent EUs and always surveying the road in front of you.

 

2) Not seeing the road in front of you: Kinda related to number 1 expect here you are paying attention. Although, nothings happened to me, I could see a circumstance where you're riding behind a car which obstructs you view of a pot hole. This would be disastrous to hit at top speed, in traffic. I could see something getting hitting run over by a car in this circumstance.

 

3)   Hitting a bump while turning: The 16" 9bot can goes over some serious bumps in the road with no problem. However, there was one time where I was doing a slalom motion on the wheel at top speed. I hit a bump that the wheel would've handled fine if I wasn't turn. I was able to regain control and didn't fall but it very unstable for a second.

 

4) Hitting a bump while braking hard: When you hit a bump there is an upward force exerted on the EU which is then transferred to you. If you're going on a constant speed and the EU is level, its not a big deal since you can down it the same place you started. If you're braking hard and you body is leaning back and the EU is tilting, when you hit a bump, you're going backward. This was another circumstance that caused me to almost fall off.

 

5) Going into a crack at low speeds: Although this circumstance is not dangerous, it still doesn't inspire confidence if other people see you falling off. If you are going very slow into a small pothole and don't have enough momentum/speed to come out of it, you might fall off.

 

6) Braking or accelerating too hard: This one should be obvious to everyone, but I feel as we get more experienced,  we feel we know the limits of the wheel, and push them. However, no system works perfectly, all the time. The worst most painful fall I had was when braking hard (not even for any reason) and the EU gave out slightly, and I went backwards. 

 

Let me know what you think and please add your own experiences!

 

 

[dmethvin]

Not paying attention is definitely more dangerous to your body than in a car, bicycle, or motorcycle.

When riding on sidewalks I'm really annoyed by low-hanging branches and pushed-up sidewalk segments. My biggest crash came from hitting a down-bump on a sidewalk while accelerating, I fell forward and couldn't recover. Streets and bike lanes are safer when they're not filled with too many cars and bikes to avoid, because they tend to be smoother.

I've had a few close calls at intersections when I almost catch the pedals on the curb instead of going smoothly up the curb cuts. 

I've had some other close calls on busy trails with oncoming bikes, but actually managed to swerve out of their way. It even surprised me that I was able to keep my balance!

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[RidingInTheRain]

1) Not paying attentions to where you're going: […]

I find that this is general my largest problem. My most violent involuntary dismount so far was due to a depression in the pavement into which I drove at full speed of my Q3. My attention was unwisely somewhere else at that moment, which caused me to totally loose balance, sending the Q3 shooting out from under me. Luckily nothing happened beyond some new scratches on my poor machine.

I find reading the road to be a hard to learn skill, but necessary for safe riding. Good thing I can practice with something slower until I upgrade (the Kingsong 16" is looking mighty good I think). I believe however that if my unicycle had more power I would have actually managed to retain my balance.

[zentype]

This is a very helpful post logos22, thanks. Especially since I'm expecting my first 14 inch wheel in a ks 800 soon. I'll have to familiarize myself with the more twitchy / agile nature compared to the nb1.

One of the most enjoyable things about riding EUCs is the active nature of the whole experience. You are always adjusting your body to the changes in the terrain.  Even so it's easy to kind of zone out so to speak once you really become "one with the wheel". So it's good to share what we've learned through all our flight hours on the wheel. Afterall, one small mistep is all it takes to get thrown off and go running like a madman like "catch up and stay up" or go tumbling to the ground.

-Definitely being overconfident and letting myself be distracted by doing things like checking my phone to look at speed, mileage or .....texts Just like driving, it's when we're too confident in our skills that we lapse and let ourselves get overly comfortable and get caught off guard.

 

 

[noisycarlos]

Another thing that I find dangerous, is riding fast on the sidewalk too close to the buildings.

Once or twice I've almost hit someone coming out of a building as I was passing by at 10mph.

Now I actually try to stay closer to the street and/or slow down when I'm passing a zone with a lot of shops and such.

[MarkoMarjamaa]

This one is not about bumps but people. When riding through people you learn to avoid certain type of "patterns". One pattern is two groups of people in front of you. You make your plan to bypass them and when you get pass the first group, they say something like "Look, what is that, wow" or they can also be part of the second group and saying these things to them. The result is, the second group suddenly stops and turns around and you have to be prepared for that.

Another, there's someone walking from left to right or vice versa and you have already made a plan to go pass him from the rear, but then he sees you and suddenly stops, but you have already started your turn and he sees it and with a delay backs a bit, but you are already turning more that way more so he will be backing more and so on...

[dmethvin]

On a lot of the mixed trails in my area, they have signs telling you to call out a pass, "on your left" or whatever, to avoid having someone make a sudden move and walk into you. I'll see if I can get a photo soon.

Also it's good to hand-signal a pass in case there is a cyclist coming up behind you. I wear a rear-view mirror so I can check.