Practicing without a EU

[Makoben]

 I've been trying to buy a wheel for months. I ordered several of them from dealers on Aliexpress only to find out they were frauds.  Aliexpress was great in rooting them out and refunding my money. I read so much and watched tons of Youtube videos on how to ride and how hard it was to get the skills. There was no one in my area (Space Coast Florida) to learn from so I decided I would make a simulator. First I made a balance board from a 2 X 8 X 24" board and a 4" PVC pipe. These are sold as Bongo Boards and Endo Boards. These are not easy to use and you must hang on to something or wear lots of protection. You can start on carpet and it will slow the action down and then progress up to a smooth floor. When you fall off you will send the board flying to your right or left, make sure there is nothing there important(kids, wife, car). 

I then made a analogue of a EU by getting specifications online of a generic EU. This was made out of 2 X 8's so the pedal height and width and the battery box location matched the generic EU. At first I left the 2 X 8 on the bottom flat so that it was easier to balance fore and aft so I could concentrate on side to side balance. After using it for a while I rounded the bottom to more mimic an actual tire. With this device, you can learn to balance side, develope mucles for twisting, stretch your legs by pushing your toes down and your heels back, learn how to jump on and lastly make the inside of your legs hurt.  These two items cost me about ten U.S. Dollars to make.

http://youtu.be/_6UGmwmCS_k

Http://youtu.be/Ckvv9xpAPGQ

I practiced for two months at least five times a week. I ordered my wheel from Banggood, it is a TG-F3 with a 264 battery that only charges to 2 lights, so it is less than 132. Here is a video of me riding within the first 5 minutes in my backyard. Notice all of the safety gear. I have boots knee, thigh, butt, back, elbow pads, wrist guards, motocross gloves and a full face helmet. I weigh a little less than 100 kilos and I am 67 years old, so I don't want break anything. I figured what we call grass would be softer than pavement. The only problem with my backyard is there is some grass, a lot of sand and roots. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, As I am getting a lot of practice in running off of the wheel. Turns out EU's don't like soft dry sand, they bog down and stop immediately, this seems like it is good training for cheap wheel cutoff.

My first session lasted about ten minutes because I was exhausted, by the third session I was starting off without holding on to anything. I have about ten sessions under my belt now and I can make laps around my yard when I can avoid the sand. My next step is try pavement.

I have run off of my wheel a couple of hundred times but one time my feet got caught and my conscience mind said "you are going for a face plant". As I was watching this happen, sub conscience mind went into auto mode and said no way we want 100kgs to go splat. Sub mind commanded right arm to cross over to the left side starting a roll to the left, then made my head tuck into chest. I hit on my right shoulder with a good roll going on quickly going onto my back and then ending up on my hands and knees. I popped up to my feet with nothing more than some sand on my back and shoulder. My conscience mind said "where the f...k did that come from?" I started going through my history to figure out where this reflex action came from, it took awhile. I went back a half a century to high school and taking trampoline and wrestling. I could not find any other physical activity that would explain this particular reflex. I am just glad this reflex was hard wired in my brain and to think I can not remember what I had for lunch yesterday.

My IPad won't let me embed the videos, if anyone knows how, please let me know or better yet, post it

Mike

[Vanquiz]

Congrats on the new EUC, I like the wood homemade board you made. It certainly helps with what you can achieve in 5 mins, is what I got in hours.

The second link of your video is broken, so I post it here. you can post the youtube.com url link, press enter and it will embed itself, not the youtu.be url.

 

 

[ThatCharlieDude]

Welcome! I love the balance board you built. I may have to build one for my son to practice on. 

[Makoben]

Thank you for posting the videos

mike

[SirGeraint]

After I got my first 9B1 I found out that my balance wasn't very good so I built a balance board (similar to yours but cruder) about the same pedal width as the 9B1. I definitely think it helped and recommend it for those that need to improve their balance and to strengthen their balancing muscles.

[Makoben]

I have gotten about three solid hours of practice in ten minute blocks because of a battery problem now corrected. I have spent all of that time in my backyard (lot of dry white sand, roots and some grass). I have had about five hundred run offs and two falls which consisted of a barrel roll each time rolling onto my right shoulder, over my back and onto my knees or feet. As I have said, I am a fat old man and my biggest fear was trying to get my feet moving fast enough to runoff when the wheel stops. Riding on such a bad surface forced me to face this right off at a very slow speed. Every time I started to go faster I would hit a root or a soft spot in the sand, both would cause the wheel to stop abruptly and my 100kg mass to keep going. This is where the scientific term "feet don't fail me now!" comes from. The two falls I had came from my feet getting tangled in the wheel. Neither fall was a problem because I had on all of my safety equipment. It has been cooler here in Florida so I have been wearing my motorcycle jacket with shoulder, back, elbow and forearm armor. The second roll I wasn't as scared and figured out what happened. I usually run off with my right leg leading, when my right foot got tangled up, my body was expecting my right foot to be there and it wasn't. This caused my body to start rotating towards the right, starting the roll and disapating the energy. The only negative was getting some dirt on my right shoulder and the top of my back. 

So this is my take on my training period, all of my training aids helped me get going quickly on my wheel. Riding off road will force you to make mistakes and how to correct them and learn how to save yourself. It is very easy on the wheel, I have have no EU  scratches from run offs or falling.

I decided it was time to ride on pavement, so I suited up, fired up the wheel and jumped on. I rode for ten minutes without stopping over cracked concrete and pavement, it was so easy compared to my backyard. Now I have to develop my skills on pavement. I have had the luxury of time, I don't have to use this for commuting, or have friends that I trying to get to their level, I just want to be a good and safe EU rider. The other thing that has made this safe and easy is this forum, although this is a young sport, it is great to already have experts that are willing to share with new bees like me.

Mike

[DS]

On 1/27/2016 at 10:15 PM, Makoben said:

although this is a young sport

Hey @Makoben, EU cycling is a new activity which I believe is for everybody willing to practice it. You and me & the other 45+ old guys are the proof

I admire your dedicated and consistent way of learning, even without EUC and after got it,  the harder one choice - first on an uneven ground.

What is your current riding development, have you started more and more rounds in your neighborhood? Have you enjoyed people's reactions?

Did they call you with funny names

[Makoben]

I am riding on pavement and again Imhave a training program. I am concentrating on slow speed handeling and I am looking for a double handrail walkway that I can safely practice going backwards. I am up to 1/2 hour rides before my feet give out. I am a machinist so I will probably make extensions for the front of the pedals if my feet don't improve. I have ridden past a few people who were completely flabbergasted as to what it is. I explain how it is deferent from hover boards. Everyone says they would wear as much protection as I do. I have avoided riding where children are playing, I don't need moving chicanes. I am trying to act as a good ambassador for the EU community. So far no one has called me any names.

Mike

[DS]

Hey @Makoben, good for you

"a double handrail walkway that I can safely practice going backwards"

One tip here, that I got from a forum member. Try to ride only backwards up to your limit time. Riding backward skill requires your mind&body to make up another set of connections. After getting confident only backward move, the next step is to play ahead and back. This tip worked for me as a charm.

9 hours ago, Makoben said:

I am up to 1/2 hour rides before my feet give out.

That's OK, half an hour riding is not less at all. The good point is that you will improve both your endurance and balance more and more. You know

the balance for many people 60+ is starting to diminish, so you found a good way to turn it back and raise it to higher levels.

Another good point is that the passion to get better on EUC riding will make you think more how to be body fit. One member here @Cloud, even started to lose weight for many benefits that will have of it

9 hours ago, Makoben said:

I don't need moving chicanes.

Yeah, you are right, once I crashed because of running kids along with me. One boy just pushed me unintentionally, I lost balance and needed to step off leaving the EUC to tumble.

[Makoben]

So I had my first high speed run off today. I was riding at two beeps(11mph, 17kph) just for a second or two and for some reason leaned forward a little and then I was a runner. I have been wondering if I could run that fast and yes, a 67 year old fat man can run that fast. I think the only reason that I could do it, was of all my training off road first. I must of run off about 500 times at lower speeds and that repetition builds reflexes. I had been riding for about 30 minutes and the battery was down to two lights. I don't know if it was a shut down or not. I was not trying to push it so I wasn't expecting it to shut off and there wasn't any pre warning (tilt back, three beeps) just no wheel under my feet. It also took me about 20 feet/6meter to be able to stop running(a lot of mass to slow down). 

I did have on knee, hip, thigh, back, shoulder, elbow pads and wrist guards along with a skate board helmet. I am glad to report that I have not used them yet on pavement.

Mike

[DS]

1 hour ago, Makoben said:

I must of run off about 500 times at lower speeds and that repetition builds reflexes.

Smart training

1 hour ago, Makoben said:

I was not trying to push it so I wasn't expecting it to shut off and there wasn't any pre warning (tilt back, three beeps) just no wheel under my feet.

That's really dangerous. If you did not overlean the unit and it just shut off....I would not trust this EUC anymore and would drive it exreeeemly careful.

1 hour ago, Makoben said:

I am glad to report that I have not used them yet on pavement.

You still have time

[Makoben]

 I had a fall yesterday.  I was riding off road and hit a bump and stepped off, no problem. If you're in Florida off-road means very flat ground, lots of sand and something they call grass. In between the grass is patches of white sand, usually I avoid these areas.  When I got back on my EU, I had placed it on a patch of soft dry sand(think of a million micro sized ball bearings) about the size of the EU tire footprint. Since I thought I was on grass, I jumped up and leaned forward quickly to overcome the resistance of the imagined grass. The EU spun, didn't move a centimeter, but my mind was ready to go and I fell forward. I wasn't thinking I could fall at zero speed, so my reaction time was a little slower and I took the brunt of my weight on my right hand before doing a roll to the right. I had on my protective gear so I actually used my wrist protector. I could feel the strain on my wrist as I hit and I am sure it would have broken or been strained if I had not had the wrist protectors on.

my advice to new riders is wear lots of protection and embrace the negative, falling, walk offs and run offs. Learn how to ride off road and enjoy your new founds skills of falling, walk offs and run offs with out getting hurt.