Slow progress on MCM5?

[Marcho]

I've been learning to ride a Gotway MCM5 unaided for more than two months now, managing about half an hour on most days. I've got to the stage when I can just about step on the machine and set off, though it's wobbly at first and sometimes I still fall off immediately. I can just about lean back and stop the thing, but it usually swerves before it comes to a halt and I have to jump off.

Once on the move, I can more or less straighten up and ride along a flat bit of road, but it's a tense business. If I dare to relax and let my concentration lapse for even a second, the machine swerves off and I lose control. I've fallen flat on my face a few times that way.  Or I jump off and the thing goes skidaddling off down the road and beeping and I'm left nursing a bruised shin.

I don't want to give up, but seem to be making slow progress. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

[null]

AFAIK you just need more time riding. Muscle memory will form and it will get easier. Try not thinking about it, don’t look at the wheel. Do some distance going somewhere. If you feel unsafe gear up if you haven’t already. 
If anything you should not have to concentrate on riding.

[AtlasP]

While one does get better just by riding, think about the amount of practice you get at each particular skill when you go for a ride. For example if you go ride for 30 minutes, you might get 25 minutes of practice riding & turning, but only a few attempts at starting/stopping.

Once you can ride comfortably for many minutes at a time with little trouble, most related skills will continue improving just by riding, but I would argue one could still benefit from practicing just starting/stopping over and over again in those first weeks since that will likely be your weakest skill--and the difference between practicing it or just letting it get better naturally could be the difference between mastery in a few weeks versus in a few months.

I highly recommend this particular exercise--https://youtu.be/XZQsEJ88Dj4?t=415 (particular timestamp)--for several minutes each time you go riding and your starts/stops will get better much faster. 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by AtlasP

[rolekl]

As always, you get better at what you do, and not much better at all at those things you don't do. To progress beyond riding in a straight line you have to practice other things. Ride slowly, do tight manoeuvres, ride a bit of gravel or off road, i.e. varied riding. For me, it was start-stopping that was the most difficult. Still is, I take off nicely 95% of the time, but not always. So I try to get a few extra start-stop every ride I do. It's amazing though how the muscle memory works.

[Skecys]

I'm a firm believer that situational awareness is THE most important skill on a EUC in traffic. As long as your awareness is in line with your skill at the time, you should have no issues. Every time I had to dismount at speed so far (in over 1500km), was caused by me taking a risk. Like one time a car backed out of a driveway in front of me, she did not see me, I had time to stop but didn't, Somehow I figured it would be better to jump off the curb and drive around her. This worked but then my mind was like yeah now jump back on the curb and continue... That did not work . I have no clue why I "decided" to do that at the time but hey, maybe after a couple more times I will finally be able to jump...

I also find myself reluctant to step off my wheel at lights. I tend to look for something to hold on to while waiting so I don't have to dismount. This tendency made learning to dismount and remount (smoothly) take way longer. I still regularly look at my feet for positioning after mounting. Better to force yourself through the discomfort in order to learn faster.

[Marcho]

Thanks Null, AtlasP, Rolekl and all, those are all helpful tips. I don't mind learning slowly, but there are times when I feel I'm regressing. Perhaps it's partly down to a good night's sleep.

[meepmeepmayer]

(I moved the new posts into their own topic. It is appreciated that you looked for a topic to post in, but it was from 2016, I think it won't hurt to make a new one)

On topic, how fast are you riding when you're going and it works well? Maybe you're simply too slow, that would be a common beginner mistake. Riding slow is hard, riding fast(er) is easy. Don't be afraid to accelerate to 15-20kph right away and brake equally quickly.

[Unventor]

I can add to this how it works for me. I had huge difficulties in the beginning as I couldn't stand on one leg so the step up to ride was hard. 

Then I started to ride, but there is a point about 300-500km that people this they got it get a little over confident and then a accident happens.

Yes, I did it too, when practicing emergency braking in a closed area.  I can then say that the next real benchmark were around 2500km when I hit a "natural"speed bump. Normally I could have not been able to swallow the bump as the force I fit it around 25kmh would be too huge or I would be too stiff in posture. But this time I actually made it. 

Nor the other week I went off-roading to a point where I lost a train/pathway. That challenged my skills a lot. In the end it is about making small things from time to time that challenge you and be prepared to handle it. In this regard off road works fine as it is normally away from traffic. I have 3 things I like to do, non-dominant leg start/stop, reverse riding and seated riding. 

I doubt I make it all this summer but I will be working on it.