Can YOU start riding from either foot on the pedal?

[greekanadian]

I got a wheel last week, the begode falcon, and I am still learning. the wheel is at 70km.

It first felt most natural to start with my right leg on the wheel, so that's what I did first.

Then once I felt pretty good about that, being able to free mount 99% of the time without falling or being too wobbly. on asphalt, dirt, grass etc I then tried from my left leg.

At first it was a huge fail. I couldn't even hold the wheel upright/steady with my left leg at all. I spent some more time with it just holding the wheel up, moving it around slowly until I got the feel for how it felt with my left leg.

then I leaned on a wall and just stepped up with my left leg, then stepped up and down with my right leg without moving just using the wall as a brace. I did that 5 or so times.

then just went for it trying to free mount like normal. I failed badly the first few times unable to maintain balance at all when stepping up.

then it just kind of clicked and I was able to do it almost as good as with my right leg and it actually improved my free mounting in general. I'm able to sorta ride the wheel with it at what seems like a pretty steep sideways angle, slowly, while stepping up with my other foot relatively slowly.

it was harder to dismount with the left leg maintaining control. the wheel kept wanting to rotate forward and away from me. so i just need to work on that strength with my left leg a bit I think to keep the wheel stable when dismounting in the same way I can with my right leg.

I was at one of the nearby schools learning this in some very short grass/dirt so I wasn't worried about dropping the wheel. after I could mount with the left I went to a narrow-ish walkway between the grass fields. less than 1m wide and I just went back and forth up and down this walkway mounting and dismounting alternating between each leg repeatedly for maybe 20 minutes straight just back and forth back and forth with it. I got much better with both legs.

after learning this I think this is an absolutely mandatory skill to learn. you're not always 100% of the time going to be able to dismount with the same leg in all circumstances. what if something weird happens? what if you're unbalanced to dismount properly with your dominant leg? being forced to dismount on your 'other' leg that you haven't trained on could make you lose balance, fall, or lose control of the wheel and it could damage something or someone depending on your surroundings.

I think all new riders must absolutely learn how to confidently mount and dismount with both legs.

I don't know how this plays into things but while riding it find it easier to turn left than right, and I'd say my right leg is my 'dominant' one and the one I started mounting with. idk if that's typical or normal shrug

[Skampster]

Me, no. 

[on one]

This is absolutely mandatory, to be able to handle my Z10, and to save my bulging disc in my back, to be able to use either leg as dominant.

[Robse]

Time and many miles will do the job.  I dont know of any dominant leg.  Only dominant wife.

[Demargon]

Yes but not in the same automated way. It needs more attention on what I doing.

[bpong]

On 9/18/2022 at 11:41 AM, Begodecrashtestdummy 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 

regardless, you should take the kid out to dairy queen and get him a treat or something to celebrate the fact that he is young and enjoying every damn minute of it !!!!

[Scubadragonsan]

On 9/14/2022 at 10:25 AM, Mantraguy said:

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

I didn't stick only with mounting from one side, I have gone beyond that by learning all the tricks I can possible do on my KS16S. I found riding from point A to B becomes kind of boring. So I decide to get more exciting by learning various maneuvers on the wheel by becoming ambi-dexterous. Now I can ride on either leg forward and backward, spinning clockwise and counter-clockwise, 180 degree quick turn around, switch from forward riding to reverse riding..etc. Through this learning process, I've discovered that I've built up some muscles that I never knew that were there. A technicality development has slowly become a dancing art on the wheel. Now I am learning to ride on one side of the wheel using the opposite leg, e.g. riding on the right paddle using the left leg going forward and backward, very challenging! More skills to learn and develop...

Edited August 19 by Scubadragonsan

[Jayzao]

On 9/14/2022 at 11:25 AM, 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?

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. ;-)

 

I am a couple of months into the exciting world of EUCs and "try" to spend a few hours a week not riding but practicing mounting, braking, and balancing.
As a right-handed person, I start with my right leg tightly on the wheel and then push off slightly to get rolling. However, one of the practice drills I found helpful was to start with the right leg and just stand up, mounting and dismounting without moving or moving very little.
There are many 'how-to' and skills-building videos out there. Pick one you like and work on the key exercises.
Keep it fun, and I am sure you, too, will see the benefits.

[Funky]

2 hours ago, Jayzao said:

I am a couple of months into the exciting world of EUCs and "try" to spend a few hours a week not riding but practicing mounting, braking, and balancing.
As a right-handed person, I start with my right leg tightly on the wheel and then push off slightly to get rolling. However, one of the practice drills I found helpful was to start with the right leg and just stand up, mounting and dismounting without moving or moving very little.
There are many 'how-to' and skills-building videos out there. Pick one you like and work on the key exercises.
Keep it fun, and I am sure you, too, will see the benefits.

Huh - i learned all that in first month or two of riding. (True daily commuting. Real world environment/dangers.)

 

Can't speak much about balancing - it never gave me problems. Compared to free mounting right from start. Took me 4 days to finally do it. I literally was standing in place with both feet on pedals.  (If i tried riding first. I would have done it much faster probably.. My problem was - i wasn't leaning.. So naturally wheel din't move forwards.)

What practice is needed for mounting? You learn it and forget about it. You push off like with skateboard. (Where one feet is on pedal and you push off the ground, for split second or two riding one legged as you place second feet on pedal.) Or do that fast step on pedals, like going up ONE stairs step. Where wheel doesn't move forwards, but both feet are already on pedals. Then you start going. (Can be done with both feet, same for one legged riding. Yes your main leg feels much stronger/better, but it's doable with both.)

Emergency braking was the first thing i literally learned - where your ass almost touches the ground while braking. (Only thing i actually tried to learn.)

Bend over and touch ground while riding. Helps a lot when you need to go under low tree branches. 

Slow riding almost like walking at old granny speeds. Helps a lot when you exit train and need to keep up with pedestrian walking speeds. Ofc going left/right around them. Much easier than old fashion bicycle. Euc is very small right under you. Where with bicycle doing the same was way harder.

Swaying around some object. Where you know you don't have enough time for braking...... That one gave me a heart attack. (Has happened to me 2 times) I actually was surprised it worked.. I don't even know how i did it in first place. I would recommend learning this one for sure! Put on ground something like plastic cup and try swaying around it at very close distance almost hitting it.

Only thing that somewhat gives me problems are backwards riding. But i never do that. Over 4 years i have maybe tried 7 times? I go backwards little bit and lose balance pretty fast. Probably if i actually tried learning it - i could learn it. Just don't wanna. (I only use EUC for commutes, don't even go on "fun" rides anymore ..)

I only learned skills that are useful while riding. (If you can call that learning? By doing it without much trying in first place. Daily riding - you needed to do that. Like slow riding.. Ducking.. Rarely Braking..)

 

Edited September 6 by Funky

[Clem604]

I always mounted with my left leg on first and it feels weird to do it with the other leg. I have to pay way more attention to what I'm doing when trying the right leg mount.

[Cerbera]

I am right handed, but always start with left leg on wheel, and totally can't do it the other way round, nor have ever felt the need to ! There's never a time when you can't choose which leg to start from, so can't see the disadvantage of only learning it from one side.