Another Foot Position Thread

[seage]

5 hours ago, Rywokast said:

just got tripped up.. doesnt look to be in peak physical condition lol so im assuming he just couldnt keep up the speed on his feet and tumbled down

True. I mean, i knew he was going down, i just wasnt expecting his head to also. I thought he'd slide with his head up, but it just shot into the rocks like he was searching for gold. 

3 hours ago, Heyzeus said:

Ouch @ that video, just a further reminder of why I need to keep saving up for my full face helm

I already ordered mine. Should be here on monday. Ive been using a regular helmet and as much as its comfortable, theres something nice about knowing when i go down during my practice, my jaw wont split on the concrete <3 Also it will cover more of my head than my current helmet that kinda sits on top of my hair.... I need a haircut...

3 hours ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

And an EUC Bodyguard...   

Lmao. #shamelessplug

I appreciate the hustle, haha! 

[Rywokast]

18 hours ago, Heyzeus said:

Ouch @ that video, just a further reminder of why I need to keep saving up for my full face helm

aha yes i always advocate for full gear, though do it very hypocritically

Edited February 24, 2019 by Rywokast

[pico]

Well, well,  It seems Simon has seen the light! ... 

He revised his video.

 

Edited March 1, 2019 by pico
corr

[Scatcat]

On 2/24/2019 at 6:23 AM, The Fat Unicyclist said:

That's the thing with wrist guards (particularly on hard surfaces or gravel), they slide more than skin does... So with momentum and the downward load your arms can slide out, allowing a much closer inspection of the ground in between.

That is why you hit the ground with the hands close together and the elbows out. The risk of the slide forcing your arms apart enough for your face to kiss the ground is less that way.

[seage]

1 hour ago, Scatcat said:

That is why you hit the ground with the hands close together and the elbows out. The risk of the slide forcing your arms apart enough for your face to kiss the ground is less that way.

Ah yeah. I remember learning that in karate when I was a kid. 

[pico]

@seage

My post was not meant to offend you.

The "revised" video just poped up in my youtube feed this morning so I tought I would give a heads up, because Simon explained it better than I could.

[Scatcat]

8 hours ago, seage said:

Ah yeah. I remember learning that in karate when I was a kid. 

Yup, karate, judo, ju jutsu all have that "seal" drop, when you're unable to roll. With a fall straight forward jack-knife style, getting into a roll may be impossible and trying to force it may even be dangerous. So if you do a modified "seal" fall, with your hands slightly more forward, so that your arms becomes like a cradle for your head, you will slide on the wrist protection you hopefully invested in, and the elbow pads you hopefully wear...

If you're smart enough to wear knee-pads too. You may even stand up without a scratch, with a little luck.

Edited March 1, 2019 by Scatcat

[seage]

On 3/1/2019 at 11:27 AM, pico said:

@seage

My post was not meant to offend you.

The "revised" video just poped up in my youtube feed this morning so I tought I would give a heads up, because Simon explained it better than I could.

Oh, no, sorry. I watched the video and totally forgot to respond to it correctly! I was not offended. And i like watching his videos. Helped a lot with my training! I was trying to ride like this and it hasnt been good, haha! Im about to post a little video from my phone showing what i'm talking about 

[seage]

On 3/1/2019 at 6:15 PM, Scatcat said:

Yup, karate, judo, ju jutsu all have that "seal" drop, when you're unable to roll. With a fall straight forward jack-knife style, getting into a roll may be impossible and trying to force it may even be dangerous. So if you do a modified "seal" fall, with your hands slightly more forward, so that your arms becomes like a cradle for your head, you will slide on the wrist protection you hopefully invested in, and the elbow pads you hopefully wear...

If you're smart enough to wear knee-pads too. You may even stand up without a scratch, with a little luck.

Lmao. I like this comment. Yes, I've never ridden outside without wrist guards. Triple eight right now, with flexmeters in the mail (hopefully they get here soon). I also wear my kneepads when i go further than my mailbox. And elbowpads under my leather jacket. Also rocking a full face helmet now, just to be cool XD. Im all protected, haha. 

[seage]

So I took a little video of my practice session today. Its a bit all over there place as my phone was trying to stabilize and its wack. But in it you can see my foot position. My right foot is pretty off the pedal. It feels comfortable when I ride, but I do get a bit nervous of coming off. It gives me room to not totally hug the wheel, but i feel like  bending my legs more will also do that. I still worry a little bump will bounce me off the wheel, but im happy i have the XL pedals, wheew. 

Sorry for the vertical video. Wasnt planning on posting it XD. But i figured it would be nice to be looked over!

 

 

[pico]

You are doing fine! Your legs and feet will get stronger. You will wake up muscles you never thought you had. 

[The Fat Unicyclist]

22 minutes ago, seage said:

But in it you can see my foot position. My right foot is pretty off the pedal. It feels comfortable when I ride, but I do get a bit nervous of coming off. It gives me room to not totally hug the wheel, but i feel like  bending my legs more will also do that. I still worry a little bump will bounce me off the wheel, but im happy i have the XL pedals, wheew.

As you say... "Not bad. Not bad!"

I do see your point about your right foot though, and when you are riding with a bit more experience you may find that a tight right turn will catch on your shoe.

For now though, I wouldn't worry too much - just get comfortable on the wheel to the point that your foot position doesn't matter - and then you can move it inward a little.   

[seage]

16 minutes ago, pico said:

You are doing fine! Your legs and feet will get stronger. You will wake up muscles you never thought you had. 

Ive been suffering from some leg issues for a while. But when riding, it works other muscles and doesnt hurt my legs at all. At the end of a ride, my legs no longer ache at all. And i can feel them and my core getting stronger! Its quite a nice feeling. I rode 18km on friday and was pretty okay. But i didnt do too many harder turns. So i didnt ache as much. But i also felt off balanced for a lot of it, haha. 

[seage]

4 minutes ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

I do see your point about your right foot though, and when you are riding with a bit more experience you may find that a tight right turn will catch on your shoe.

Yes sir. Ive been able to scrape my pedals, and touch my toe. Although Im usually aware of it and so the touch doesnt throw me off. But this could get in the way!

6 minutes ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

For now though, I wouldn't worry too much - just get comfortable on the wheel to the point that your foot position doesn't matter - and then you can move it inward a little.   

Okay! I HAVE been moving my feet around a bit. And its getting easier to just ride no matter how i land on the pedal, but its always usually kinda wide. Actually... part of me wonders if its how i mount....like, stepping up before the wheel is up straight - so its on a bit of an angle, making the top of the euc stop my right foot from tucking closer onto the pedal, and then i naturally got used to the feeling.

[tenofnine]

I'll give some personal tips that have helped me -

1. I like riding with my heels almost right where the back of the pedals start. I get far less foot fatigue (almost none) b/c this essentially makes accelerating effortless and braking (which you do far less of) is only a little bit more difficult. But you get used to it and you can brake as fast you want whenever you want.

2. From time to time shift your weight on your feet to the outsides only, most foot pain comes from having to make constant micro adjustments using your instep and you inside arch.

3. Bounce when you ride from time to time as well. This is so crucial for me and it makes for a more stylish looking ride. It also in a weird way increases my confidence and control, this is also a great way to re-position your feet if you don't like how you got on.

4. Bend your knees slightly, relax your feet, and lean instead of putting pressure on feet.

I was watching that video Michael did where he was teaching someone to ride. Really liked the analogy "Your body is the joystick, then once it becomes second nature the wheel/pedals becomes with joystick"

[pico]

@seage

 

First of all, I have to thank you to have the guts to publish your videos for us to see.

 

Videos are invaluable to evaluate our postures. My GF and I we video each other a lot to correct things. I found for example that I was cocking(bending) my right arm slightly to be ready in the event of a fall. This resulted in an incorrect posture or lack of symmetry. I had to consciously learn to relax that arm.

 

I think the right foot open,  close to the edge is a preemptive bail out posture. It got acquired while learning to free mount. I have watched videos of experienced rider that still have that posture. They kept it forever because it gets comfortable. As soon as you learn to mount and dismount on the other foot that tendency tends to slowly disappear.

 

I could be wrong but most of us learn with the "strong" foot on the wheel and the "fast" foot on the ground.

 

Edited March 4, 2019 by pico
corr

[seage]

6 hours ago, tenofnine said:

1. I like riding with my heels almost right where the back of the pedals start. I get far less foot fatigue (almost none) b/c this essentially makes accelerating effortless and braking (which you do far less of) is only a little bit more difficult. But you get used to it and you can brake as fast you want whenever you want.

Im pretty far forward on the left pedal, i think. Cant say for the right, haha. But i do tend to have more weight over the front. I kinda get more power from my right leg anyways and breaking initiates with the left then right. The foot fatigue was mainly from the hard turning practice. Riding back home normally didnt ache anymore. I think it might be more because of my inexperience and lack of balance doing it.

6 hours ago, tenofnine said:

. From time to time shift your weight on your feet to the outsides only, most foot pain comes from having to make constant micro adjustments using your instep and you inside arch.

Ahh, i'll try that. I mainly do a heel and toe type thing. But not the outside so much. Pray i dont fall off the pedals, lol.

6 hours ago, tenofnine said:

Bounce when you ride from time to time as well. This is so crucial for me and it makes for a more stylish looking ride. It also in a weird way increases my confidence and control, this is also a great way to re-position your feet if you don't like how you got on.

Im SLOWLY starting to bounce. I do this sometimes. It scares me. But ive found, after practicing going over speedbumps and potholes and stuff that forces me to bounce, i feel more in control and confident. Which is weird, but hey, if it works....

6 hours ago, tenofnine said:

Bend your knees slightly, relax your feet, and lean instead of putting pressure on feet.

Im kinda back and forth with this. I sometimes forget to bend more, and straighten up a bit. Sometimes i stay locked up with tight feet, and then use my toes to go. But other times like yesterday i kinda threw my body weight around. A little bit of a mix. 

 

6 hours ago, tenofnine said:

I was watching that video Michael did where he was teaching someone to ride. Really liked the analogy "Your body is the joystick, then once it becomes second nature the wheel/pedals becomes with joystick"

I watched that video on my first day, and I had nooo idea what that meant. I'm understanding a little more each day, haha! Im slow, what can i say. 

[seage]

49 minutes ago, pico said:

First of all, I have to thank you to have the guts to publish your videos for us to see.

Thank you! I've always been the type that would rather shamelessly show my struggles and get invaluable feedback from people better than me, than hide and feel embarrassed or ashamed, but then take 5x as long to get down something a more advanced rider could have pointed out on day 1. The feedback i get is amazing and has made riding go from this scary thing that I was almost regretting, to freeing and fun. Even in the freezing cold! 

51 minutes ago, pico said:

Videos are invaluable to evaluate our postures. My GF and I we video each other a lot to correct things. I found for example that I was cocking(bending) my right arm slightly to be ready in the event of a fall. This resulted in an incorrect posture or lack of symmetry. I had to consciously learn to relax that arm.

I need to set up my tripod again soon and get some videos from another perspective. And actually....the arm thing...okay, so when I ride, i tend to lean over to the left a bit, when going straight. With my left arm infront. But yesterday i noticed it and i straightened up, and threw my arms back (like a swinging motion) and leaned forward and all the wobblyness and kinda awkward feeling just disappeared in that moment...do you think its because i was holding myself in this position for too long? I do notice some better riders that lean to a side. But i also noticed their lower bodies are usually not as affected as mine was. Probably due to doing it right, and then learning how to throw their weight around. Haha. Im gonna try to not lead with that arm for a while.

55 minutes ago, pico said:

I think the right foot open,  close to the edge is a preemptive bail out posture. It got acquired while learning to free mount. I have watched videos of experienced rider that still have that posture. They kept it forever because it gets comfortable. As soon as you learn to mount and dismount on the other foot that tendency tends to slowly disappear.

I have to agree. I think the position on the pedal is the tilting, and the twist and angle is for bailing. When i was learning, i was stepping down like mad, and losing balance. It kinda makes sense for your body to adjust to prepare for that motion. And i see... Actually yeah, i was thinking about that. If i had to mount with my right foot on the pedal first, theres no way i would start with it out like that. I wouldnt feel secure. I'm going to TRY to work on that. Do a bunch of uncomfortable rides and see if i can mount tighter and get my foot more on the pedal and ride a bit, haha. 

58 minutes ago, pico said:

I could be wrong but most of us learn with the "strong" foot on the wheel and the "fast" foot on the ground.

Thats how I learned. My left is my strong foot. 

[pico]

In my book you are learning really fast.

Most of us took months before free mounting...

If you have a school yard nearby just have fun with the squares. Technique will come later.

Edited March 4, 2019 by pico
corr

[seage]

2 hours ago, pico said:

In my book you are learning really fast.

Most of us took months before free mounting...

If you have a school yard nearby just have fun with the squares. Technique will come later.

I guess that was the advantage of the storms and my addiction LOL. I just rode in my basement, and there was no getting speed down there. SO i was like "What else can i do???" Oh, and thank you! At first I felt like I was taking forever. I was trying so hard and it just wasnt coming to me, haha. The schoolyard near by me has no markings at all, its weird. But theres another school about 2km away. I can zip down there and check it out on the weekend. 

By the way, just went out and tried some of the things we talked about! You were right. Stopped twisting my body, immediate comfort. Let the wheel straighten more before more calmly stepping up on it, i didnt quickly jump. And my foot tucked in much tight. Suddenly my turns and control were suppppppppper easy! Also riding with the 25km/h cross wind wasnt throwing my balance as heavily as before. Was also far more stable and comfortable at speed. I noticed that i was locking my right leg and bending the left. So even though my left was closer to the boody, it didnt feel trapped, but the right did because it was straight so it was tight. As soon as i bent my legs, i gained that stability back. Also placing that foot a bit more forward (with the heel almost flush with the back of the pedal) almost the same as my left leg, at first felt scary, but after a while, carving and accelerating felt easier. And i was able to pedal scrape turning both left and right, on purpose. Rode up and down some sidewalks, and rode over to the grocery store to ride over the speed bumps slowly and then with a little speed, and even with the bounce, didnt feel like i was gonna come off the pedal. With a little more practice, i think this will be far more stable and comfortable than my previous stance. 

Its -10 out there right now though, so i came in after just 30 mins.

Edited March 5, 2019 by seage

[tenofnine]

Months to free mount? Holy moly!

I must either be a savant or that's a bit exaggerated.

My progress went like this - 

Literally the minute I walk out to the small lit parking lot by my place 2 drunk guys walking to their car see me about to start learning and he stares at me for a minute as I boot it up and roll it around. I'm waiting for them to leave before I actually bust my ass getting on for the first time. Then he asks me what it is (He said "Is that an eBike or something?!"), I told him and he said "Whoa that's nuts,  That's some Alien shit right there. Hey Bill this guys an alien" and they left *Phew* Could have been worse.

- Learning begin -

5 minutes in - "Wow this is impossible I think I may have just wasted my money" *feels like he just ran a marathon, back aches, shin hurts, instep throbbing*
10 minutes - free mounting and riding in a straight line, bailing when I try and turn "Wow I might be able to do this" *Stokage begins rising*

Then at the 15 minute mark I gave up cause I hurt too much, I feel bad I got a few scratches on the pedals....I didn't bother padding anything since I thought I'd get it right away.

Day 2

I totally forgot the playground in my apt complex park has this amazing hard rubber surface and it's right next to a basketball court.....AMAZING learning place.
20 minutes in - I can do big wide figure 8's around the swing set then the slide portion, can duck under the low monkey bars while riding.
30 minutes in - rode off road and back and down the 150 yrd winding concrete trail

Unwanted crowd starts forming...2 dogs are present so I'm cool with it.

45 minutes in - Everything started clicking and I could Mount and dismount with both my strong side and weak leg. Could be 180s  fast 90s and tiny donuts. *Feels good man*
1hr - could bounce over speed bumps and up curbs. Can go slower than walking speed with no problem balancing or turning into the fall
1h15 min - Trying to learn backwards riding, very hard on the V5F. I think it's too high and my tire is at 55 PSI, so balancing backwards is extra. Learned 3 point turns for safety reasons but that's it.

At this point learning to ride the EU was hands down the most rewarding and exhilarating experience for me. I've Skateboarded 16 years, Long-boarded 6 years, Snowboarded/Skiied 2 years, Mountain Biked 6 years, taught myself Guitar and Piano, etc....all no contest. Being on the Wheel is like being on the front row of your favorite coaster that you control. I'm shocked more people don't know about these, they have been around since 2009 and 2011.

I'm still waiting for nicer weather. It's 10 degree right now with a strong wind. Next week is supposed to be as bad.

[pico]

3 hours ago, tenofnine said:

 I've Skateboarded 16 years, Long-boarded 6 years, Snowboarded/Skiied 2 years, Mountain Biked 6 years

That helps.

A 15 year old unicyclist kid I know, was self balancing on my V5F in less than 3 minutes.

Looking forward to see you doing the reverse Thompson going backward soon...

Edited March 5, 2019 by pico
corr

[pico]

4 hours ago, tenofnine said:

I must either be a savant or that's a bit exaggerated

You choose! There are four possible answers.

Edited March 5, 2019 by pico
corr

[Issah]

On 2/23/2019 at 10:42 AM, The Fat Unicyclist said:

 

Personally, I am more bow legged, so my feed tend to angle out a little - though I try to minimise that as shoe leather grips the asphalt better than pedals do in tight turns - sometimes making them VERY tight turns!      

This is the case for me too. My feet wants to point outwards at a near 45* angle, though I turn them inwards to tuck into the shell most times. I'm transitioning to using my new MSX as a daily driver, but my faithful Ks16c developed me, and on the point of shoe leather, yes. I've had so many pivot turns now, that is basically me standing on my toes, lifting the whole wheel off the ground for a split second or so. If I wasn't so scared of looking silly, like falling off with my wheel clattering around beeping, I might actually develop this into a new "spin on a dime" turn, but would rather not.

[pico]

Kingsong professional rider foot position...