Can YOU start riding from either foot on the pedal?

[Mantraguy]

When each of us learned to ride an UEC, most of us found we had a fairly obvious preference as to which foot would start on the pedal and which would push off from the ground. What I want to know is, did you stick with that preference or did you teach yourself to start from either foot?

For example, I start with my left foot on the pedal and my right foot on the ground. If I try to switch that, I barely have the ability to keep the unicycle upright; pivoting around is very difficult, and there's no way I can start push off with my left foot, with my right on the pedal. To that end, if I find myself riding a technical section very slowly (or up a steep hill etc.) and have to stop quickly, I have to put my right foot down - if I'm falling over to the left, it's a very clumsy dismount if I remain upright at all.

I'm going to try to learn the other way, but thought I'd ask how many others are able to do this comfortably.

Side note: I've found that, after almost 10,000 miles and 2 years of riding, I really don't have many skills other than the absolute basics of riding. There aren't many other EUCs here so I ride exclusively solo, and tend to do long rides rather than spend time improving my skills. I've decided to change that. We'll see if it actually happens. ;-)

 

[Cerbera]

58 minutes ago, Mantraguy said:

What I want to know is, did you stick with that preference or did you teach yourself to start from either foot?

Stuck with first preference, and didn't bother getting up any other way !

 

[360rumors]

I use my preferred foot 99% of the time.  However, if the need arises, I can start with my other foot, albeit a bit awkwardly.

Re learning skills, have you tried the MTen3 or MTen4?  I found that my skills improved significantly after riding the MTen3.  In particular, I had been dependent on my knees to control the wheel.  MTen3 helped me learn much more refined foot control.  This in turn helped me ride seated better than before.  I also learned to ride backward on the MTen3.

[Spaghetteh]

I definitely prefer using my right leg to control the wheel and left foot to kick off but being able to do it proficiently the other way around is IMO a critical skill; especially if you ride in the road with traffic or on moderately-populated bike paths/lanes. There are times when I'll have to catch my balance using my right foot due to uneven roads, sudden stops, or simply just the space available and occasionally I wont have the time to safely reorient to my desired kick-off stance before I need to get going again due to a car or bike approaching behind me. It's certainly not comfortable compared to my preferred way but when I need to do it I'm glad (and always a little surprised with myself) that I can do it confidently.

[rcgldr]

I'm not sure which foot is my dominant foot, but since I used to ride skateboards, I mount with left foot on the EUC and step with the right foot. As for mounting with the "other" foot, I've done it a few times, but don't feel comfortable doing it. I am able to dismount with either foot, although it feels a bit awkward when dismounting with the "other" foot. Seems like being able to dismount with either foot would help when learning slow speed tight turns if a rider had to step off. 

[atdlzpae]

On 9/14/2022 at 7:25 PM, Mantraguy said:

Side note: I've found that, after almost 10,000 miles and 2 years of riding, I really don't have many skills other than the absolute basics of riding. There aren't many other EUCs here so I ride exclusively solo, and tend to do long rides rather than spend time improving my skills. I've decided to change that. We'll see if it actually happens. ;-)

Same. After 10k km I'm really good at basics, but stuff I don't do daily (ex. riding backwards) wouldn't end well. I'm also in the "can start from only one foot" camp.

Every time I decide to change that I give up after 5 minutes. My brain rebels against learning a non-practical skills.

On 9/14/2022 at 10:27 PM, Spaghetteh said:

I definitely prefer using my right leg to control the wheel and left foot to kick off but being able to do it proficiently the other way around is IMO a critical skill; especially if you ride in the road with traffic or on moderately-populated bike paths/lanes. There are times when I'll have to catch my balance using my right foot due to uneven roads, sudden stops, or simply just the space available and occasionally I wont have the time to safely reorient to my desired kick-off stance before I need to get going again due to a car or bike approaching behind me.

I find that to not be true. I'm never in a situation where I don't have space to use my main foot to stop. If I stop it means that the road ahead is blocked, so a car or a bike behind will just have to stop as well.

Overall if I "don't have time" I simply didn't ride safely. Cutting corners when riding isn't a greatest idea in any vehicle, cars included.

Edited September 18, 2022 by atdlzpae

[The Brahan Seer]

On 9/14/2022 at 6:25 PM, Mantraguy said:

What I want to know is, did you stick with that preference or did you teach yourself to start from either foot?

When I first started I wanted to see if dominant leg was a real thing, or something we learned. So I spent the same amount of time learning to mount and dismount using both legs. Turns out despite this I certainly do have a dominant leg still.  I can mount and dismount on either but I do prefer one side over the other. 

[atdlzpae]

25 minutes ago, The Brahan Seer said:

When I first started I wanted to see if dominant leg was a real thing, or something we learned. So I spent the same amount of time learning to mount and dismount using both legs. Turns out despite this I certainly do have a dominant leg still.

I'm pretty sure I have a dominant eye. Riding with only left eye is much harder (especially distance recognition) than with only right eye.

[Tawpie]

When off road it's handy to be able to mount with either leg so I force myself to practice... I can do it reasonably well but unless I think about it I'm always starting with my right foot on the pedal. So I think about it and try at least a couple non-dominant mounts per outing. If the mount is going to be sketch (steep up/down or a cliff etc.) I go with dominant leg.

[Begodecrashtestdummy]

Yesterday this kid that lives near me got his first euc a kingsong 18xl with a nice neoprene cover and hardly any miles on it from Facebook marketplace for 800$ ..I know lucky little bastard 🤣 He had been riding hoverboards and such around before seeing me on a wheel and wanting one.so he buys the wheel and hops on it and rides down the road instantly and then starts riding sitting down at like 20 mph 🤣 I hate kids they learn so fast 

[atdlzpae]

1 hour ago, Dosingpsychedelics said:

so he buys the wheel and hops on it and rides down the road instantly and then starts riding sitting down at like 20 mph 🤣 I hate kids they learn so fast

This usually means experience with classical unicycle. SpeedyFeet also started riding instantly.
It would be interesting to see if OneWheel also translates to EUC in a similar way...

Edited September 18, 2022 by atdlzpae

[Constantine]

When I learned to ride, I specifically made myself learn how to start on either of the legs, but I start with my dominant leg on the wheel 95% of the time, other 5% being left leg practice starts to flesh out the muscle memory.

[plentora]

49 minutes ago, atdlzpae said:

This usually means experience with classical unicycle. SpeedyFeet also started riding instantly.
It would be interesting to see if OneWheel also translates to EUC in a similar way...

Riding OneWheel is very easy compared to EUC. Much more easier to learn. I think it took me 2-3 minutes to get riding, EUC took 50 minutes from 0 to riding without support.

To original question: yes, I can start on both feet.  It is pretty fast to learn.

But .. can you do backwards piruette (one foot on ground) on non-dominant leg?

[360rumors]

On 9/18/2022 at 10:13 AM, atdlzpae said:

It would be interesting to see if OneWheel also translates to EUC in a similar way...

No unfortunately. I had been riding Onewheel for 2 yrs when I got my first EUC. I was able to ride Onewheel immediately thanks to my experience with caster boards and similar devices. But those experiences did nothing to help me learn EUC. Took me 3 days to learn EUC.

[mozart]

I have practiced departure and stop on both legs, I do both, but sometimes I will think about which side I stop, then I fall when I can't get the decision before the bike has stopped.

[gon2fast]

Hard no.

[Funky]

Stopping i can do with both feet. Getting on with my other feet is quit a challenge. (If i do it really quickly - i can. But need to fix the feet position, as more or less i "hop" on the wheel.)

Only thing that i can't yet do is riding backwards.. Also i didn't try to "sit" on my 18xl.  It's way too low.. And i'm way too big..

 

Best skill i learned was one leg riding. You can move your feet around pedals and "ghost walk" in place, when you start feeling feet cramps, or pains. Also while mounting you don't need to look at the EUC. As if you misplace the feet (Because you weren't looking at euc.. doh..) You can move it around.

~850km and still learning. Each time i reverse my riding from forwards to starting going backwards - i lose balance.. (Haven't really "tried" it hard enough. Each time i try 3-6 times and give up.) Hey at least it's starting to move backwards. Before i stopped in place and lost balance.  Now it moves 1-2 feet backwards.  

Edited November 15, 2022 by Funky

[Mantraguy]

18 hours ago, Funky said:

Each time i reverse my riding from forwards to starting going backwards - i lose balance.. (Haven't really "tried" it hard enough. Each time i try 3-6 times and give up.) Hey at least it's starting to move backwards. Before i stopped in place and lost balance.  Now it moves 1-2 feet backwards.  

I haven't practised backwards riding much but I found that the easiest way was to start upright and lean against a fence or similar with both feet on the pedals. Get comfortable with riding backwards in a straight line first. Once you're proficient with that, try transitioning from backwards to forwards or forwards to backwards without taking your feet off the pedals. That's where I'm at now - but braking quite hard and accelerating firmly in the opposite direction is easiest, as it minimizes the stopped or low speed time and therefore allows you to maintain balance easier. Just my observations thus far. I have yet to master starting backwards from standing on the ground.

[gon2fast]

I have no issue starting/stopping with either foot/leg while riding seated. If I try to launch from my unnatural foot while standing me and/or the wheel are going to hit the floor.

[PurpleRiderUSA]

I had to start using my left leg more to mount because constantly using my right side was exacerbating knee issues from hard riding a 17 inch tire w/ no suspension. It took some time to get used to, but it's certainly worth it. 

[mr_guns]

On 9/18/2022 at 1:13 PM, atdlzpae said:

It would be interesting to see if OneWheel also translates to EUC in a similar way...

I actually was opposite. I tried the onewheel first and was really struggling. I got a EUC and day two I was riding up and down my street so went back and tried the onewheel and it just clicked. I still feel more confident on the EUC, but glad I can now ride them both.

[bpong]

On 9/14/2022 at 1:25 PM, Mantraguy said:

When each of us learned to ride an UEC, most of us found we had a fairly obvious preference as to which foot would start on the pedal and which would push off from the ground. What I want to know is, did you stick with that preference or did you teach yourself to start from either foot?

hahaha, !!! thats a good topic !!!

when i first learned how to ride on the grassy soccer field,  i forced myself to start and stop on either foot;  and i was good at either.  but now,  same as others pointed out,  i use my left foot on the pedal, and the push off is on the right foot.  but these days, after a couple of riding seasons, im trying to do the opposite and its totally foreign for the time being.  it will happen again, i just have to do it more often... great topic,  thanx for posting !