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Newbie no.2's first day on the wheel


Imperator

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Phew! Fuck me it's difficult LOL. I haven't even ridden a bike for years so my balance is awful. I was wobbling all over the place. The good news is that I haven't fallen over or anything. My record is going about two feet so far but that was while swerving off to the left. So I'm not sure it counts. I think I'm being too cautious and afraid to lean forward very much, hence I'm not actually attaining the momentum needed to balance in the first place. I'll try it again tonight after work. I can't now because I'm shattered. I'm surprised how much of a work out that gave me. The wheel itself fell over quite a bit and there are scuffs on it but I wasn't in the least bit worried. The thing is built like a bloody tank.

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Ok just had another quick go. My new record is 6 feet. I'm still very unstable so that 6 feet was a snake line. But it was a definite improvement, and so soon after my first try. I credit the progress mostly with the fact that I leaned forward more this time and got some momentum. But I need to learn how to overcome my natural reaction of leaning back when I pick up speed. It's difficult to get a symmetrical footing with my second foot too. That maybe partly to do with the instability. But I want to avoid looking at my feet. It'll just take more practice. In any event. Improvement already.

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Just keep trying, you'll get there :)  After I got moving, my first tries without the training wheels were pretty wobbly too, as my feet were very uneven. It takes some practice to get them correct, and in my case, also took a lot of practice to learn moving my feet on the pedals when riding (still not that good at it, but getting better, I can now ride for kilometers on end without the need to stop and remount to get my feet in better position).

 

I'd expect that you should be able to get farther and farther fairly quickly after you get the mounting-part to go right. Once you get your balance sorted, you'll notice that you can control the acceleration and braking of the wheel with very slight shifts of your center of gravity (or larger ones, if you want to accelerate/brake harder). Although this probably is a bit different with different wheels (some might be more or less sensitive).

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A huge part of it all is mind over matter.

If you manage to get going, but lose balance, you're probably going too slow - lean slightly further forward.

If you fall off forwards, you're leaning too far & thus going too fast.

Pick something in the distance to look at & aim to get there.

Look for the flattest surface you can find - you can do without unexpected bumps at this stage!

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Hi, here's something that might help! I struggled for weeks not even making 6 feet because I could not spend at least 30 minutes per session, and then there's that fear of leaning forward that you're talking about because you start accelerating more. Don't worry Its not you, it's the pavement it makes the unit go fast. Here's the secret. Go to a park, yeah GRASS... As in soccer field that's fairly flat. But first you need to learn to "mount" the unit. For that, my best suggestion is to go to www.speedyfeet.uk and look at their "60 second short on mounting". That's how I learned, mind you in 27 minutes I was riding till my ankles/calves hurt. I remember being so frustrated because it has been 5 weeks and I couldn't even glide 6 feet. Until I chanced upon a video of Ian's( speedyfeet's Techi guy) 6 year old son learning on grass! That's right ...the grass slows the machine. You can lean all you want and even fall if you like. You won't scuff your machine either. Good Luck!

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Grass does give you softer landings and less wheel damage but to be honest I think it is harder because of the slower speed and it is also more difficult to turn because the wheel sinks ever so slightly into the surface rather than pirouetting on top of it.

As like a bike you need to steer into any off balance leans and speed up a little rather than slow down in order for the turning force to push you back upright I think learning on grass, whilst being slightly safer, is likely to take much longer.

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I've already thought of grass. Unfortunately I need to wait for it to dry a bit. I'll try it and see if it helps. It's probably one of those things where it helps some but not others. Even if the grass were dry though I probably couldn't get there. I've strained my lower back quite a bit carrying it to practice places. I'm going to invest in a trolley soon, I think.

At the moment I've decided to stop trying without a support. I'm now using the alley down the side of my house which has walls on both sides. It's been useful in getting used to the power and speed and how to shift my weight. I realise now that a lot of my problems are due to me straightening and stiffening my legs once I start moving. I'm trying to resist that urge. When I have resisted that urge I've managed to go the whole length of the alley without touching a wall. I've done that three times so far.

Mounting without a support is definitely a problem so I'm going to take a look at that video wheelindoc

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Grass does give you softer landings and less wheel damage but to be honest I think it is harder because of the slower speed and it is also more difficult to turn because the wheel sinks ever so slightly into the surface rather than pirouetting on top of it.

As like a bike you need to steer into any off balance leans and speed up a little rather than slow down in order for the turning force to push you back upright I think learning on grass, whilst being slightly safer, is likely to take much longer.

What do you mean by steering into off balance leans?

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What do you mean by steering into off balance leans?

The wheel balances for you front to back, you only lose balance side to side and just like a bike if you feel yourself leaning left and losing your balance you need to steer left and accelerate a little in order to put yourself back upright and balanced.

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The wheel balances for you front to back, you only lose balance side to side and just like a bike if you feel yourself leaning left and losing your balance you need to steer left and accelerate a little in order to put yourself back upright and balanced.

I always just leaned in the opposite direction on a bik lol. But I'll give that a try. Thanks.

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The surface you learn on definitely makes a difference. While learning I liked having the tire a bit soft because it added some more friction. Even now, surfaces like finely crushed stone make me nervous because there is almost no friction at all. When you're on a solid surface like concrete or asphalt you can lean into a curve and take it at some speed, I love that feeling.

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Hi imperator, from the sounds of it your making some good progress! I hope my suggestion helped. but, I also hope I did not confuse you with the 3rd to the last line in my suggestion (i.e. "...you can lean all you want and even fall if you like). I actually meant more of "leaning side to side" than of forward! I didn't mean for you to land on your face. I meant like...same as everyone when first learning the "Wheel" or bike for that matter, your main fear is falling side to side. For as soon as you mount the wheel/bike, your goal to go a certain forward distance is a given and you don't think about it. As soon as you mount isn't it that right away you're concerned about falling left or right. It is that "fear to lean/fall which I was alluding to. ...On grass when you start to fall/lean( left or right ) the wheel is slow(... "Sinks a bit ever so slightly", according to Gimlet )and you can really feel the wheel pivoting/turning(pirouetting according to Gimlet) giving you the time and later the confidence to consciously lean into the turn to gain more traction and momentum to stay erect and to finally straighten up and go forward. Until you get that confidence all you'll be doing is " to mount and roll forward a bit at a time and as soon as you feel you're falling/leaning you jump off. Then start again. On pavement all this happens too fast, and sure hurts( if you fall )! ... I guess, you might accomplish this on pavement by really deflating your tire, but it still hurts and you sustain more wheel damage if you fall. ..... But then this is just me, different strokes for....

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Hi imperator, from the sounds of it your making some good progress! I hope my suggestion helped. but, I also hope I did not confuse you with the 3rd to the last line in my suggestion (i.e. "...you can lean all you want and even fall if you like). I actually meant more of "leaning side to side" than of forward! I didn't mean for you to land on your face. I meant like...same as everyone when first learning the "Wheel" or bike for that matter, your main fear is falling side to side. For as soon as you mount the wheel/bike, your goal to go a certain forward distance is a given and you don't think about it. As soon as you mount isn't it that right away you're concerned about falling left or right. It is that "fear to lean/fall which I was alluding to. ...On grass when you start to fall/lean( left or right ) the wheel is slow(... "Sinks a bit ever so slightly", according to Gimlet )and you can really feel the wheel pivoting/turning(pirouetting according to Gimlet) giving you the time and later the confidence to consciously lean into the turn to gain more traction and momentum to stay erect and to finally straighten up and go forward. Until you get that confidence all you'll be doing is " to mount and roll forward a bit at a time and as soon as you feel you're falling/leaning you jump off. Then start again. On pavement all this happens too fast, and sure hurts( if you fall )! ... I guess, you might accomplish this on pavement by really deflating your tire, but it still hurts and you sustain more wheel damage if you fall. ..... But then this is just me, different strokes for....

Ah I see lol.

Well at the moment I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to stay in the alley with the walls for a couple of weeks before I venture to try for distance again.

Even ten minutes of practice in the alley makes my heart race and my muscles sore. This tells me that frankly I'm just ridiculously unfit and I'm not likely to be able to maintain balance until my lower body muscles have been conditioned some more.

So that's the plan for now. I'll just have to fight my impatience.

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Was able to do a quarter of an hour practice just now. Couldn't do too much more because my muscles need more conditioning. They started shivering (not sure if that's the best word, but you know what I mean, when the muscle is buckling under strain) lol and it's not a good idea to go on with leg muscles that are doing that. But it was considerably less painful than last time. 

I made good progress in that short time though. Firstly I learned that I'm having much more success at mounting with trainers (sneakers for americans) on instead of my hiking boots. I've been using my hiking boots because they cover my ankles. But it looks like the best way forward is to use my trainers in conjunction with dedicated ankle guards. The chunky rigid soles of the hiking boots seem to impede finer control. I can now mount successfully without support 7 times put of ten. 

I can now go the short length of my alley without support 6 times out of ten. This is because I leaned more than I've leaned before. I pushed the speed and acceleration quicker than I've ever done. As a result I've built up the momentum needed for balance. See now I already knew this was what was needed. But there's knowing it in your head and there's knowing it in your body. I had to push the limits of my body and against the grain of my instinct and accept that I'm going to crash into my garden gate. 

I was expecting to have to practice for another couple of weeks in that little alley, but this, only my fourth session which lasted a quarter of an hour has been such a success, that I feel I have outgrown this alley already. 

I'm ready to move on to the field behind the area where I live. Unfortunately the weather has been a pain in the arse lately so I'll probably have to wait for the weekend in any event. In the meantime, I'll continue with the alley for the next few days just to consolidate what I've learned and burn it into muscle memory. 

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Sounds like you're getting the hang of it! My sides and legs ached a bit in the first few days after riding (using muscles I don't usually need), but it passed fairly quickly. Stretching a bit before and after riding could also help. You'll get there, just keep practicing at your own pace, your muscles get the workout and strengthen, and your balance improves all the time.

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