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Feeling Dejected


EDL

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So I went to a demo today and everyone was riding in about 30 minutes...except for me.  I rented an Airwheel and when I got home practiced for another 45 minutes, and the best I can do is get a few meters before I lose balance.  I did try out one with a dual wheel at the demo and I did much better on that one.  I was up and moving on the dual wheel in about 5 minutes.  But now I'm at least 1:15 into practice and I'm basically nowhere.  Any suggestions? 

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Although I intended learning faster, work commitments etc. meant it took me one hour each week for three weeks before I felt I had mastered it.
And then I found there was still more experience needed!

So, compared with me, you still have 1 hour 45 minutes to go!
I ended each session feeling demoralised as I felt I wasn't getting anywhere but the next time I did it, I felt I had actually got somewhere.

A lot of it though, is that your mind is working against your body's capabilities - I mean, how could anyone ride a single wheel without falling off...?!!

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I have noticed that the thing that makes your learning curve steeper when starting out is the fear of falling.  There will come a point when you will be so frustrated and angry with yourself for going no where, that's when you will get it.  You see anger is a more powerful emotion than fear and once that has gone your abilities in learning to ride the EU will accelerate.

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Well, day 2 I only had about 45 minutes of practice.  Mostly I just worked on getting on and getting off...after an "upgrade" of additional padding to protect my ankles which are banged up like crazy.  A bit more confidence now.  I can get on and get moving most of the time and can get a few more meters before I start going too fast and wobble off.  Sometimes I even turn in the direction I want to!  (But not often.)

Is there a way to keep your balance and still go slow?  I don't yet have the confidence for the higher speeds which seem necessary to stay upright.

And thanks for the replies and for this forum existing!

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Don't give up EDL! It took me a while before I could ride too. Just keep practicing. That's the best way I've found to get better. I ride every day now, except when my unicycles are broken or the weather is too wet.

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Well, day 2 I only had about 45 minutes of practice.  Mostly I just worked on getting on and getting off...after an "upgrade" of additional padding to protect my ankles which are banged up like crazy.  A bit more confidence now.  I can get on and get moving most of the time and can get a few more meters before I start going too fast and wobble off.  Sometimes I even turn in the direction I want to!  (But not often.)

Is there a way to keep your balance and still go slow?  I don't yet have the confidence for the higher speeds which seem necessary to stay upright.

And thanks for the replies and for this forum existing!

​Some people have gone to their local supermarket car park after hours and ride around holding onto a trolly.

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There are always many phases in learning new things.

1. you find new muscles. It takes some time for them to get strength. They will not grow in the first hour.

2. you don't master the wheel yet so you have to use more muscles than normally. So it's 2x the point 1.

3. Learning happens in muscle memory and your balance etc. First you have to think what you are doing just to get going but eventually you don't think about riding. This will not happen in 1-2 hours. Your conscious brain is not actually fast enough to steer the wheel, it has to come from deeper. That's why also mental practice helps.

4. Because of 1,2,3, practice practice practice. It took me two evenings, two hours both before I could ride and make some kind of turns. And I've been kitesurfing about 8 years.

5. Learning is fun. You have to take it as a childhood of a child. Enjoy it, it will soon be over.

 

BTW , last year when I was bored in commuting (walking) I started to walk on the edge stones of the road.

I think that has also helped to practice my balance. 

 

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Day 3, another 1hr 15...I can change speeds!  Granted, my speeds are "slow" and "falling off", but I can change them!  Also, I can successfully get on and started more than I can't.  I can even turn a turn a little.  Instead of hitting the first obstacle I can almost always avoid it and hit the second.  :)

Progress!

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Day 3, another 1hr 15...I can change speeds!  Granted, my speeds are "slow" and "falling off", but I can change them!  Also, I can successfully get on and started more than I can't.  I can even turn a turn a little.  Instead of hitting the first obstacle I can almost always avoid it and hit the second.  :)

Progress!

​Bravo!

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You'll get there in your own pace, it just takes more or less time. Like MarkoMarjamaa said, the key is just to keep practicing, after the initial learning curve, you'll probably notice that your balance and control starts to get better more rapidly than at the beginning and you need to pay less attention to what you're doing and can focus more on what's going around you (which is very important before you head out to roads with pedestrian and/or bicycle traffic).

My thoughts after trying the wheel for the very first time without training wheels were "how the hell can anyone get going or balance on this" :D  Even when during practicing I didn't notice it, but the next day everything was a little bit easier, little better at turning, little better control... In my case, it took 2 days with 2+ hours practicing per day (so maybe around 5 hours in total?)  before I felt confident I could get rid of the strap and it wasn't until after that the around 5-meter diameter turning place at the end of the street was large enough for me to turn on it...

Fast forward to today, tomorrow I've been riding three whole weeks (so not that long really, but in total I'd guess around 250+km), and I've gotten to the point where I have no problem with mounting, steep/almost in place turning, slalom, curb jumping, skate park ramps, riding at full speed in hiking paths while avoiding humps, bumps & rocks, climbing and descending very steep hills (up to the steepness where the wheel only just crawls at far less than walking speed, yet I don't need to jump off)... currently been practicing riding backwards for some time (now that's difficult).

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I have definitely made improvement.  I'm mostly stable, I can handle hills (although only very shallow ones).  And on the hills I always seem to end up gaining speed, up or down.  I know I must be leaning forward, but it feels like I'm leaning back.  Anyone else experience this?  Is it all in my head?

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I'm current teaching my wife to ride and she's had around 2 hours over 3 weeks. 

 

Without a doubt your muscles play a big part, you start of with aches and bruises. After a while these fade and you acquire a sixth senses, and balancing becomes as if it's on auto pilot. 

 

My two points of wisdom is though. Stand up straight and relax everything then you make all the slight changes in balance distribution much smoother. 

Dont lean forward, tip forward as your keep body straighter, if you lean you have a tendency to arch you back sticking your bum out. This changes centre point of your balance meaning it's much harder to actually move forward. 

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I agree. I have started to tell people to push their toes down to move forward, that seems to be better than "lean forward" where they try to stay balanced above the wheel by sticking their butt back.

Once I actually learned it is difficult to tell someone how to do it themselves, because it feels so natural to me now. I tell people it's like trying to describe riding a bicycle, which is also tough. You just have to do it enough to get the hang of it.

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I agree. I have started to tell people to push their toes down to move forward, that seems to be better than "lean forward" where they try to stay balanced above the wheel by sticking their butt back.

Once I actually learned it is difficult to tell someone how to do it themselves, because it feels so natural to me now. I tell people it's like trying to describe riding a bicycle, which is also tough. You just have to do it enough to get the hang of it.

​My advice is just to put feet a little more forward, more toes out when learning. That way at first EU naturally starts accelerating and you don't have to think about accelerating. But then you have to think about braking :)

But you learn more when you actually can get going after mounting the EU.

 

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I don't seem to be getting the "tilt my toes" concept.  Maybe I'm thinking about it too much.  When I try it I don't notice any effect, but when I focus on leaning I see results.  Maybe I just need more practice for finer control.

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I'm gaining confidence.  I tried turning at speed yesterday and didn't fall or scare myself too much.  Maybe next week I'll be brave enough to try small curbs.  Lost the wheel out from under me once and got it dinged up a bit.  Time for more padding!

The crazy thing is I've barely gone 10km total since I've had it.  It seems so little, but I put half of that on in one day, and the first half took me over a week.

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