EUC Progression the Long Road

[Wazi Bat]

For me there has been a long development process in my progression of learning to ride an ECU. I’m presently about to pass the 300km mark on my first wheel (9BotE+), and I find myself still acquiring new skills with every ride.  My personal experience of learning has been very different from that of many of the boasts I’ve read in forums (1 hour and I was bored of my slow wheel). Granted, I did take those with a grain of salt, armored up and put in the time to learn the wheels.  Developing the skills necessary to ride an EUC has been truly rewarding, and now I can’t imagine life without one; I would be a bird without wings. For those learning, I thought I’d put together a list of keystones in my progress.  For the old hands among us I curious how your progression differed.

First 2.5 hours – Clinging to handrails/walls, holy smokes, is this even possible!

Next 1.5 hours – A small window of hope – I started to ride 5 to 10m without a handrail.

By 3km – I was able to ride around a soccer pitch, reacting but with little control.

By 6m – I was riding a dirt running track, staying in lanes.

By 10km – I was able to complete wide purposefully turns (right was easier than left)

By 15km – I was riding the quieter streets of the neighborhood.

By 20km – I was started doing longer rides – 10km+ on trails/bike paths.

By 40km – I started riding busier 40kph streets. Steeper slopes, rough terrain less intimidating. 

By 90km – Started commuting to work, negotiating cross walks, bike lanes and heavier traffic.

By 120km – Traffic awareness greatly increased. Queuing in on sound, looking back and over shoulder. Foot fatigue becomes less of an issue.  

By 200km – More confident in traffic. Tight turns, stops and takeoffs are becoming second nature.

By 300km – Riding has become mostly effortless. It’s now easy to zone out and become too comfortable, perhaps this is the most dangerous phase of the learning curve.

Still working on:  Good foot placement each time on takeoff, reverse still difficult, balancing on one leg, still not a confident nighttime road rider, takeoff in difficult surface conditions, balancing at a full stop (for stop signs).

I felt I had initially outgrown my 9BotE+ at around 80km, though now I’m glad I didn’t upgrade.  220km latter and I’m still learning a lot on my original wheel, largely control and awareness.  After many spills and being dropkicked by a dog @ 15 kph the poor little wheel has taken a beating but still runs great! I’ve worn ankle, wrist, knee, elbow guards and full-face helmet from the beginning and have come out relatively unscathed.

So much of riding an EUC is building strength and muscle memory.  It’s a true satori experience, with dramatic realizations of growth.  I find these moments exhilarating.  What’s your experience?      

Edited February 4, 2020 by Wazi Bat
spelling

[atdlzpae]

@Wazi Bat Be careful - you're right on top of the overconfidence curve.

My two worst accidents happened around 1000km and 3000km mark.

29 minutes ago, Wazi Bat said:

What’s your experience?

I just love going somewhere. 5 years ago I was walking very far (often > 20km in one day).
2 years ago I started to drive a car. Often randomly - I'd just get in and drive for 50km without any purpose.
6 months ago I started to ride a unicycle. Algorithm is the same, just the means are different.

3 centuries ago I'd probably love riding a horse. And in a 300 years, spaceships.

Edited February 3, 2020 by atdlzpae

[Dzlchef]

I'll agree with the over confidence timing. You will gain more confidence and skills but still need some real life scenarios and time to fully develop your abilities. This will be especially true when you upgrade your wheel. Take care and have fun but be vigilant. I dislocated my thumb around the 1500km mark so please do better than me!

 

[Wazi Bat]

Nothing like Dunning and Kurguer for a good humbling! Experiencing novel situations and time on the wheel seem like the best teachers; however it's difficult to train for those Ohh no! moments. For me unpainted speed bumps at night, cars pulling out in front of you and people blowing through stop signs have been my biggest clean out the shorts!! moments. Improving my situational awareness to minimize these situations is a necessity, but I don't think they can be totally mitigated.

 

1 hour ago, atdlzpae said:

My two worst accidents happened around 1000km and 3000km mark.

Just curious what got you at 1000 and 3000K? Did it change the way you ride? 

 

[Wazi Bat]

10 minutes ago, Dzlchef said:

I dislocated my thumb around the 1500km mark

Really the same question for you.  What got you at 1500km? Road condition, mechanical or a unique scenario? Did it change the way you ride?  

[Mortal Coil]

Great run down. I'm at a similar point. Starting stopping is still something that I can't do with any great degree of elegance. I need to put in some more hours on the basics of one legged riding.

I had a very similar experience when I was first attempting controlled turns, except for me it was left turning easier than right. My theory was I could throw my dominant (right) leg to the left more easily than I could my non-dominant left leg to the right. Which is your dominant leg?

I solved this by finding a basketball court and zigzagging my way up and down the court, attempting the tightest turns that I could.

[Dzlchef]

There are just situations that you need to experience to understand. I've been very lucky many times hitting dips in the road and such and surviving. Now, I still face the same issues but my awareness and the way I ride helps to minimize issues. You still will fall at some point, just be geared up and prepared. 

[Wazi Bat]

1 hour ago, Mortal Coil said:

Great run down. I'm at a similar point. Starting stopping is still something that I can't do with any great degree of elegance. I need to put in some more hours on the basics of one legged riding.

I had a very similar experience when I was first attempting controlled turns, except for me it was left turning easier than right. My theory was I could throw my dominant (right) leg to the left more easily than I could my non-dominant left leg to the right. Which is your dominant leg?

I solved this by finding a basketball court and zigzagging my way up and down the court, attempting the tightest turns that I could.

 

Wow, that interesting I'm definitely right leg dominant, and even now I still find it easier to turn hard right than hard left.  I assumed it had to do with leg dominance.  Both directions are coming more natural now, but I spent a lot of time practicing turns in a parking lot too. 

A lot of our streets have gutters and a steep rise onto the the road pavement.  It's embarrassing, but I inevitably false start at cross walks then wobble my way across. I have a 9BotE+ and I wonder if a bit more powerful wheel would make starting easier.  Stopping is slow too so I'm always giving myself room.  

[tenofnine]

3 hours ago, Wazi Bat said:

 

Wow, that interesting I'm definitely right leg dominant, and even now I still find it easier to turn hard right than hard left.  I assumed it had to do with leg dominance.  Both directions are coming more natural now, but I spent a lot of time practicing turns in a parking lot too. 

A lot of our streets have gutters and a steep rise onto the the road pavement.  It's embarrassing, but I inevitably false start at cross walks then wobble my way across. I have a 9BotE+ and I wonder if a bit more powerful wheel would make starting easier.  Stopping is slow too so I'm always giving myself room.  

I personally can't stand the 9bot1's pedals, they are not ideal at all for learning. Even when they aren't wet they are so easy to slip and false start on, and they fold up so easily that you can easily collapse them when trying to mount. The turning also feels really dodgy to me (compared to every other wheel I own), but it is a pretty smooth ride for it's low price.

Once you get a wheel with good pedals and grip tape it will blow your mind. Also be really careful with the 9bot1 it's severely under-powered for an adult, not enough watts for such a heavy 16 inch wheel. Honestly it's max load should have been advertised as 140-150 lbs.

Edited February 4, 2020 by tenofnine

[Wazi Bat]

26 minutes ago, tenofnine said:

Once you get a wheel with good pedals and grip tape it will blow your mind.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss! However your words do give me great hope. If I can learn and have a ridiculous amount of fun on the 9bot1, a more advanced wheel is going to be a pretty profound experience. I'm saving up now, so there will be a new wheel in my future.  I'm super interested to see if Inmotion reveals an 18" wheel.  It will also have to pass the wife test... sigh...  She is the sensible one in the relationship.  

But I have to agree the pedals are not great. 

[tenofnine]

9 minutes ago, Wazi Bat said:

Sometimes ignorance is bliss! However your words do give me great hope. If I can learn and have a ridiculous amount of fun on the 9bot1, a more advanced wheel is going to be a pretty profound experience. I'm saving up now, so there will be a new wheel in my future.  I'm super interested to see if Inmotion reveals an 18" wheel.  It will also have to pass the wife test... sigh...  She is the sensible one in the relationship.  

But I have to agree the pedals are not great. 

I don't know if Inmotion will ever release an 18" wheel. The V10/V10F with it's very chunky tire is pretty much equivalent to an 18", and it seems like people who have ridden A LOT of wheels say the V10 is the most comfortable and smoothest EUC they've ridden (even more than the MSX and 18XL). I know Ian at Speedy Feet and his employees seem to share this sentiment at least.

If they took the V10 and gave it increased range / top speed and a retractable trolley I think it would be THE killer wheel.

[atdlzpae]

9 hours ago, Wazi Bat said:

Just curious what got you at 1000 and 3000K? Did it change the way you ride?

Overall, I had like 10 faceplants. More serious of them:

Around 1000km

I had KS16S with one battery and an external 2kWh battery in the backpack. A combination I can do 115km with. After 70km the external battery failed (my shoddy soldering broke loose). I didn't know it failed. And KS16S doesn't like when you have only one battery discharged to 50%. It expects two for tiltbacks to work correctly.

And so I overpowered it. At 27km/h. On a completely straight road. With a total mass of 140kg (120kg me + 20kg battery in the backpack).

And I wasn't wearing knee nor elbow pads. Results: A scar on right elbow (sunscreen :-/), a scar on right knee and a way deeper scar on left knee + 5cm^2 loss of touch sensation on the skin.

Overall 1/10, would not recommend.

What did I change: I started riding KS16S way slower. Started to check the battery status more often to guard against external battery failure. And ordered a second battery.

Around 3000km

What did I change: I slow down if I ride over poodles and grass. Slow enough to run off if need be.

[tenofnine]

28 minutes ago, atdlzpae said:

 

Around 3000km

What did I change: I slow down if I ride over poodles and grass. Slow enough to run off if need be.

I'm sorry I know it's just a simple wrong word, but riding over poodles gave me a good chuckle.

I went for a ride a few hours ago and almost ran over a possum then a squirrel and bunny darted across my path as I was going 15-16 mph....I swear that is the biggest hazard I face day to day. The possum did not give a crap about almost getting steamrolled by me, he stopped right in my path looked up at me with those scary beady eyes as I was blazing toward him and I swore I saw him shrug like "what you gonna do?"

Edited February 4, 2020 by tenofnine

[atdlzpae]

@tenofnine Well, I was attacked by a dog once. Not a poodle unfortunately.

[mike_bike_kite]

6 hours ago, atdlzpae said:

I slow down if I ride over poodles and grass.

I think I can manage a chihuahua but anything larger than a terrier and I'd probably have to go round them. I guess it's just practise, practice, practice

[Wazi Bat]

11 hours ago, tenofnine said:

V10 is the most comfortable and smoothest EUC they've ridden

The V10 is such a beautiful wheel.  It's almost everything I want.  It's fast enough for me; I would like a little more range but it's adequate, plus it charges fast. What I worry about is Susceptibility to Controller Overheating on Sustained Hill Climbs. I live at the base of the Sierra, with the Pine Nut, and Sweat Water mountain out my back door.  The mountainous forest service road riding here is nearly unlimited.  I MTB them now but it sure would be fun to cruise!     

[Wazi Bat]

7 hours ago, atdlzpae said:

if I ride over poodles

My first major face plant was because of a dog.  I was just getting comfortable at the top speed of the 9Bot1 (granted not that fast).  I was ridding around a dirt running track when I saw this grey hound like dog come sprinting up beside me.  It wasn't acting aggressive, but I slowed worried about hurting the animal.  It then jumped up and leaped off my chest. Essentially it dropkick me and I went flying.  I heard the owner scream in the background as she ran over to me.  I was fully armored so no damage at all (First real test of the gear! It works!).  However I was laughing so hard I nearly pissed myself.  The owner was revealed I wasn't irate or hurt. But it was her first time see an EUC, or a padded up adult who thought getting his butt kicked by a dog was funny. Yep she didn't put a lot of cred in my sanity.            

[Wazi Bat]

7 hours ago, atdlzpae said:

so I overpowered it. At 27km/h. On a completely straight road. With a total mass of 140kg (120kg me + 20kg battery in the backpack).

I've learned a long time ago you have to trust your gear, whether it's caving, climbing, biking or ECU. But it's hard to be prepared for that electronic failure, especially when it often happen while the wheel is being pushed.  I'll just stay armored up.          

[Wazi Bat]

7 hours ago, tenofnine said:

The possum did not give a crap about almost getting steamrolled by me

In NV it's the suicidal California Ground Squirrel.  The little kamikazes love to dive into bicycle spokes sending the rider flying.  Lucky that's less of an issue on an EUC, more of just a little speed bump. Still even though they are supper dumb, it always makes me sad to hit one.         

[atdlzpae]

2 hours ago, Wazi Bat said:

Still even though they are supper dumb, it always makes me sad to hit one.

You shouldn't be. Every time you mow one down you remove that idiot from the gene pool.
Do that enough and we'll be doomed...