RenaissanceMan Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 When I first rode my bike next to a live unicyclist I was fascinated, completely mesmerized and the thought struck me that no matter what it would take and even if it would be my last accomplishment, I wanted to learn riding an electric unicycle. Since I was really determined I kept a diary of my progress. And here it is. Nothing particularly special about my training compared to other reports, except that it took me a bit longer than what most other people say. And this is just the reason why I finally decided to upload it to this forum. Even if you are 50+ - and with all the physical handicaps that may materialize by this age - you can do it. Day one. After patiently waiting for almost two months for my KS16 to arrive in Hanover, Germany the tension and anticipation grew almost to unbearable dimension. Waiting the last few days was far worse than the sixty or so days before that. But finally, as the delivery service’s website correctly predicted a van appeared at midday and the driver lifted a big box out of the trunk. By that time I was at the doorstep of our house and thus saved him two floors with a 21kg load and me another precious 5 minutes before I finally could embrace my new toy. Regrettably, it could have arrived two weeks earlier if ScooterHelden in Berlin had ordered another batch of batteries and BMCs in time for the delivery of the new batch of KS16s from China. But so I had to wait for the upgrade to the 828 Wh version and was slightly miffed about that avoidable additional delay. Apart from that the service of ScooterHelden was really good, friendly and competent. Since I had an appointment with my horse the unboxing had to wait until that evening. The parcel showed several dents and ruptures but seemingly nothing that had damaged the contents which are a manual, the charger, and of course "IT", my brand-new 17kg KS16 monster. Luckily they designed that handlebar so I have to carry it only the two floors up to my apartment which is enough weight lifting exercise for me. It was late but I decided to nevertheless give it the first try that same evening. Since you are probably all aware of the unresolved legal - or better illegal - situation on EUCs in Germany, a few days ago I was looking for a suitable training ground in Hanover and found one at the Expo 2000 fair grounds at the southern outskirts of the city. Since I don’t know any fellow riders around here, actually none anywhere else, I had decided I had to learn riding by myself. So I found this parking lot with an approximately 80 meter straight fence with a mostly smooth railing and tried the first meters holding onto the railing step by step to get a first feeling for the pedal action of the KS16. At the end I would turn around and reverse the path clinging to the railing with the other hand. Since no support wheels were provided I did not get to use those. I think the KS16 even lacks the possibility to attach auxiliary wheels at all but since you read everywhere in this forum that these wheels should not be used longer than half an hour I did not miss them really. So that first night I only managed to slowly roll meter by meter and became slightly doubtful whether I ever would be able to master this challenge. However, I was and still am resolved that this is what I want, no matter how long or how much practice required. Day two. I returned to my railing the next day and continued crawling up and down the parking lot. For the first time, I managed to break contact with the railing and "float" for 1 to 2 meters before I grabbed the railing again. Balancing the wheel is really challenging, of course at slow speed the more so. Stop and go over and over. From the beginning it was easier to have the railing on my left side but I was convinced I had to practice both sides so I continued up and down the railing. I recharged the KS16 that night but only one of nine bars had gone. It seems, the 828 Wh battery is a really nice energy buffer. It should suffice for all the riding one 85kg person intends to do in one day. Day three. Continued along the straight fence up and down trying to extend the moments without support from touching the railing. Developed a good feeling for slowing down by bending backwards, heels down. Used the Bluetooth music streaming device feature. It is fun and makes time fly. By pressing the "Auxiliary Button" one can ride with or without music respectively Bluetooth. Changed to another section of the parking lot/railing which was previously not accessible due to parking cars. But since that Thursday was a public holiday in Germany, no cars that day and also for the rest of the prolonged weekend that followed. Day four. Set third speed limit to 10kmh to avoid accidents with the fence, speed limits 1 and 2 are deactivated. By the way: what is "Ollie speed limit" in the Kingsong Android App? Is that Pidgin English for "trolley speed limit"? Managed to extend hands free runs to approximately 10 meters and also to slightly increase speed (to about 10 km/h). When I went to my fitness studio later that day after four days of EUC practice I was surprised how easy all the exercises felt that day. Learning to ride an EUC seems to be a good workout. Day five. Sometimes I was able to ride on my good side approximately 20 meters straight without railing support. Once attempted a down slope path but quickly abandoned it, not near enough control. I found that mental barriers can spoil a good run, like when I expected one of the two cracks in the railing going down on my (bad) right hand side. Riding the other way those cracks could not be felt as much but going down I became more and more afraid of hurting my fingers or even getting stuck. That fear alone made me increasingly unsecure and helped to spoil the ride. Day six. Became frustrated since going up with the railing on my left hand side improved significantly but at the same time going down the other direction with the railing on my right side the ride actually worsened! I kept bumping my precious KS16 into the railing, simply because my right arm and hand were slower to grab the railing, as I realized later. Started to attempt correcting an erroneous deviation from the path to the right by counter steering to the left rather than reaching for the railing. Was really happy the first time it worked. A small sign of progress. Day seven. Changed to another part of the park, with the possibility to ride continuously with the railing on my (good) left hand side. Part of that path is paved, the rest is made of seasoned (build around 2000) wooden planks, some of them loose and others protruding, so that riding across them is a little bumpy and make a dangerously cracking sound almost like breaking wood. However, I actually got to more riding the wheel since I didn’t have to ride on my bad, right hand side. Also riding (and turning) on the wooden planks was a little bit easier since the surface was smoother and the wheel thus easier to turn. For the first time I was able continuously ride the whole length of the two sections of the path (wooden or asphalt, each about 40 meters). Day eight. Left glove became entirely torn, need another one. I ride with skating helmet, hard wrist protectors and protectors for elbows and knees. Improved to correct course deviation to the right by counter steering to the left, back to the railing and safety. Day nine. Got more confident and proficient in riding more often longer stretches without railing support and also a few times riding a small distance away from and back to the railing. Stopped riding on the wooden path a) for fear of meanwhile protruding screws and since space for riding curves is limited. Initiating the ride became easier and quicker but still I need railing support to take off. Had to strengthen my gloves with heavy ductape, especially the left hand side one. Was able to better concentrate on the "wobbling" i.e. trying to stabilize a straight path by actively balancing and tilting the wheel and shifting the centre of gravity from one foot to the other in a circular motion way similar to the pedaling of a bicycle but with much smaller radius. Started to actively and consciously let the safety belt loose while riding and only using it to catch the wheel when I had to jump off. By the way, so far I've made only twice unintended contact with mother Earth, leaving only a bruised ankle and a sore bum. I read on the web that people recommend not to use the safety belt for an extended period. For me, however, it is still really helpful since I can avoid almost any crashes, save the environment (parking cars!) from an EUC going berserk and can quickly resume riding. Day ten. In general, so far there has been slight but noticeable progress from day to day. Today I had for the first time an aching back the first half an hour of exercising. Good sign or bad? Lesser pull on the safety belt. I tell myself to "release the brakes and wobble / enjoy the equilibrium!" Yesterday I did a firmware update from KS16B v1.13 to version v1.18 with no noticeable changes (perhaps the odometer does work now?). I also set the speed limits "3" and "Ollie" to 15 km/h today since I got annoyed by the frequent warnings at around 10 km/h. For the first time riding the wheel I entered a different part of the park connecting the two railing gates (about 40 meters apart) and got ahead two thirds of the way through plain open "sea" before I eventually had to jump off the wheel. Without any support in reach on either left or right hand side, just by balancing. Some take-off speed is needed at the beginning so starting from a full stop at one of the gates didn’t work. The feeling of entering into "unguarded" territory with no support on either side was like plunging into a diver's pool from the height of 10m with no safety net. But repeatedly and gradually the surprising feeling materialized that the wheel actually can make you float 12cm above that sea of stones. That's the miracle of EUCs. Like a magic carpet! I was able to ride more often small turns away from and back near to the railing. Felt great! If I had to describe the feeling of riding an electric unicycle to a novice, I'd say it is like flying a magic carpet. Day eleven. Got my car TÜVed today, almost no serious defects. Not bad for a car of 15 years ... But I digress. Managed today four (4 !) times to cross the entire "open sea" just by balancing, no support, all in one go. Though I had the feeling of tilting way too much forward but nevertheless I got across safely. Also "wobbling" gets better, especially when consciously "releasing the brakes" first. Called ScooterHelden today: "Ollie" is the tilt back speed limit. That figures. Seems they had a recent problem with a KS16 firmware upgrade. It might have been interrupted through Bluetooth blackout, which in my experience can happen easily if you block the straight line of Bluetooth rays between mobile and KS16. As a consequence, a technically fine motherboard had to be replaced since it could not be turned off anymore and once the power was totally cut, it turned the wheel into a brick. Lucky my upgrade to v1.18 went smoothly the other day. However, I was extremely careful not to cause any interruption and to make sure enough power was on the wheel and on the smartphone. ScooterHelden suggested I turn to a bicycle shop for a tube extension to check the pressure, since it is so tightly fixed that I cannot get an ordinary car pressure valve attached to it. The positioning of the feet on the pedals is critical and in my case slightly asymmetric. The suggestion from ScooterHelden to learning to take off with a KS16 is to practice riding on one leg only. Sounds difficult but at least it can be learned by myself with one hand at the railing. Day twelve. Knees hurt, unused to the task of a shock absorber. Most often managed to cross the "open sea". For the first time managed to take off freely without railing support. Riding feels awfully forward bent, also seems the pedals are dipping forward. Suspect too far forward posture. New calibration of pedals? Tire pressure? Later turned out to be correlated with feet positioned too far forward, backward or asymmetrically. Looking for new, closer training areas. Want to check trim/calibration and riding styles some time soon. Day thirteen. No riding today: weather was cold and wet, right knee hurts considerably (apply cooling, IBU and relaxing on the couch). Visited an art exhibition instead and a Schoenberg concert later that evening. Day fourteen. More confidence during riding. Succeeded more often in crossing the "open sea", that patch without railing on either side. This actually feels like plunging from an airplane in 10.000 feet: scaring and exhilarating at the same time. Managed free take-off a couple of more times. Worked on a symphony (or merely a playlist) for the unicycle. Difficulties in steering, very shaky. First self video recording. Many accidental jump offs. Later nicely piloted an Aquila 210 over the city and my training grounds. Day fifthteen. Kept feet aligned strictly in parallel (even though the right foot and knee hurt some); up to now I had mostly allowed my right foot to point slightly outward but the parallel alignment gave better stability and less wobbling. Attempted free take-off and riding circles. Little success at the price of one week's riding break because of badly hurting right knee; even had to see a doctor. Fortunately, the ligaments are still intact but the right knee was significantly swollen, hot and fiercely hurting from the distress of jumping off the wheel. - one week forced break - I used quark poultice with good results: the swelling and pain subsided, only the whole flat smells like a cheese factory after a few days. Retterspitz poultice also works well and has a more pleasant smell. Day sixteen. Switched from light, stable, padded hiking boots to my everyday sneakers (actually high performance super comfy running shoes). This allowed better contact to the wheel but at the same time put more pressure on the ankles. Used 2 x IBU to stifle the pain in the right knee. Again succeeded in crossing the "open sea" but most of the time did not leave the inner rectangular course. Day seventeen. Managed to ride upright instead of leaning forward. Fixed the wheel between my ankles which stabilized the ride by steering from the feet but was also gradually hurting the ankles. Practiced controlled free breaking and full-stop. Day eighteen. 2 x 500m straight continuous rides! Pain in the ankles and the right knee but often managed a stable ride. What is missing of course: free take-off and landing as well as riding curves. Day nineteen. More stable, effortless ride for brief moments. Practiced soft full-stop and slight meanders. Sang with all my might today in my choir's rehearsal and am very much looking forward to the concert at the weekend. Day twenty. Noticeable (bad) wobbling. Only little pain in right knee and foot. Briefly riding in light rain, pedals become slippery, must apply grip tape. Other causes for wobbling include feet placed too much forward or placed asymmetrically or unaligned. Day twenty-one. Tried new paths in the park. Two accidents resulting in more scars on the faithful KS16. Slight pain in the right knee. In general rode at slightly higher speed with more often speed warning beeps. More wobbling with the right hand side, had had a bad night's sleep. Day twenty-two. Previous two days lot's of rain. Both knees hurt but also some more relaxed riding episodes. Practiced slowing down and full-stop. Bought a new heavy duty adjustable belt for 2€ at Obi's (just had to re-sew the cord after repositioning the buckle). It can be made continuously adjustable around the waist and also around the handle bar of the KS16 with a single click. It can really easily be unfastened and hidden beneath a shirt. It almost does not spoil the "cool impression" of an e-wheel rider but works really well to stop the wheel from going berserk after an accidental dismount. And as long as our German politicians fail to grasp the beauty and ingenuity of electrical unicycles and we are illegal before the law riding an EUC, I'm sure going to continue wearing that belt and, of course, safety equipment. I also bought a cheap heavy duty pair of DIY gloves to wear under the wrist protectors. Very useful during training along railings covered with bird droppings. Day twenty-three. Almost no progress; right hand side riding remains critical, repeatedly bumping into the fence. Exercising free take-off only with the help of 2 x IBU that day. Also rode my horse today and had a heavy fight with her when she got scared by a trailer with most probably intoxicated persons on it. Luckily I stayed on top of her and in the saddle. Day twenty-four. Rode the wheel for about three hours, at first rather shakily but towards the end almost effortlessly! Some good moments mounting and dismounting the wheel freely (puts stress on both knees). A little bit of slalom instead of plain straight riding. IBU silenced the knees. Also need to devise a method of directly choosing a particular sound on the mobile with clumsy gloves on. Day twenty-five. Almost no knee pain even without IBU. After 45 min riding for the first time established a "flow" with stable and effortless riding. The reason: I rode upright with the knees bent significantly and pressing the ankles against each other which enabled direct, fast steering from the foot on upwards without the upper torso. Also practiced braking to a full-stop. This must become second nature if I ever want to ride through traffic. Also had some controlled and fluent free take-offs. First right turn inside another part of the park! Only a few 10's of meters but it's a beginning. Really need grip tape since right foot seems to change position especially after free take-off. Day twenty-six. Bought grip tape in a skateboard shop and affixed it to the pedals. Just placed it onto the rubber and started riding. It really gets heavily glued to the pedal, does not move a millimeter. Not really beautiful but sticks to the pedals and effectively inhibits feet sliding across the pedal. Nevertheless I had too high expectations starting today’s ride, wanted to immediately "flow" along on my KS16 with the effect that riding on the right side did not work almost at all. After one hour it improved somewhat with more upright, knee bent position. A few good free take-offs. Right ankle got sore and bleeding. It did hurt quite some but I know I just have to practice, practice, and again practice. May be turns tomorrow? Or free riding? At the end both knees were hurting again, but I did not take IBU. Day twenty-seven. One IBU and it took less time than yesterday to arrive at a relaxed driving style. Right ankle sore and bleeding, hurts a lot. I try to get beyond the pain. Later applied anti-inflammation and disinfecting gel to the ankle and a Retterspitz poultice to the right knee. Finally I had the courage to enter the inner paths of the park, with no railing. Was not too successful, but managed one left- and one right-hand circle with many aborts but also a few longer stretches. The next day I skipped riding because of the severe pain in the right ankle and went to the fitness studio and sauna instead. Day twenty-eight. Small breakthrough today. Started with one IBU and had no pain at all even with a sore, bleeding ankle at the right foot and knees slightly complaining from the workout at the fitness studio yesterday. I couldn't ride yesterday because of the ankle hurting intensely. I bought soothing, disinfecting gel, poultice and pads and applied those today before riding. Together with the IBU I almost felt no pain at all and was consequently becoming more and more relaxed until I had the wheel comfortable fixed between my shins and was balancing mainly by the lower extremities, even doing a few slight small slalom movements. A couple of times I was just riding longer stretches (100m or so) and also often exercising slowing down and coming to a full stop both sides of the railing. I still need to use the hand rails since they helped me avoiding stress on the knees through repeated stop and go, mount and dismount. Riding really started feeling effortless and pleasurable. I also did a few free starts, about half of them were good. The wheel has always been and is still running smoothly, now set into the so-called “cycling mode”, the stiffness medium grade. After two sessions of riding the app showed 58 Volts, so I am going to recharge it tonight. I ride at about 3.2 bar tire pressure, which with my now 83kg gives a solid, not too hard feeling of the surface structure, a compromise of being easy on my knees and having low friction. Contrary to my initial worries adjusting the tire pressure works nicely with the proper compressor valve at the car gas station, even without the tube extension that was mentioned in the KS manual. Speaking of which: the title line of my manual reads KS16A whereas before and after the firmware upgrade from 1.13 to 1.18 the app says KS16B. So the A, B identifier is firmware specific? Anyway, I don't feel the need to upgrade again soon especially since there are reports of resetting the odometer status and a seemingly non-negligible risk of bricking the wheel by another firmware upgrade. Will be doing some distance and velocity measurements of the Kingsong android app hopefully soon as my driving becomes more stable. Got out my exoskeleton from rehab after surgery of my right knee a few years ago and tried it on again but at the end decided to ride without it and just be very careful with the right knee and its ligaments. Day twenty-nine. Just had one hour's time riding before our choir concert. Used it to exercise stop 'n' go, acc- and decelerating and a few free take-offs. After the concert when riding my bike back home through the city of Hanover I was tempted to get my KS16 out again and enjoy the warm summer evening but instead decided to relax at home and nurture knees and ankles. Day thirty. Again only one hour's riding time before I surrendered to the on-setting rain. Just took it leisurely like yesterday, exercising stop 'n' go, acc- and decelerating and free take-offs. Later went listening to today’s choir concert Solomon by Handel (4 hours!). Again at night after the concert I thought about riding some more but again refrained from it, mostly because of the bad ankle and doubts about my riding capabilities. Weather is supposed to be changing to the worse over the next days, so I will probably have to take a break from EUC riding and instead go to the gym. Day thirty-one. Started with the usual loop along the railing and sooner than before was nicely balancing between the feet and knees, even doing minimal slalom. Wobbling significantly at the beginning. Later managed to stand stably with toes stretched out and contact from feet to ground. No pain at the ankle (small poultice) nor at the knees even though no IBU taken. Power break practices went relatively well. Also practiced almost-fullstop 'n' go, quite ok on either side of the fence. Did not venture into the new photo exhibition section inside the park. Maybe next time. Then after approx. 1 1/2 hours and a short break I went back to the large parking lot without fences or railing. It is difficult to step onto the unicycle precisely symmetrically without support. Managed to (wobbly) ride full circles either side but had to take an IBU and Retterspitz poultice afterwards. Last time I tried this, it was pain for a week with no euc riding. This time I hope to be fit for riding tomorrow again (except maybe for bad weather). Day thirty-two. Medium sized breakthrough :-) First, even with yesterday's attempts of free riding and circling almost no pain in the right knee. The last time I tried that I had one week of serious pain, consultation of a physician and total unicycle riding abstinence. Thanks to IBU, Retterspitz and disciplined practicing this time I avoided that fate. Second, today for about 15 minutes towards the end I reached the point where riding straight became automatic, almost involuntarily, without thinking about it as if done all by itself, relaxed and just enjoying the breeze and environment (again with the help of one IBU in advance and Retterspitz poultice after while writing this). If my knees were both healthy and durable I should have switched to free riding from riding along hand railings long ago. But this way I am spending much more time riding (including practicing start, accelerating, decelerating, straight power break and full stop) rather than stepping on and off the unicycle thereby minimizing the stress on my knees while learning to ride. As another improvement I learned not to place the right ankle so tight against the KS16 any more thereby reducing the friction and pain considerably. Today, one layer of band-aid was enough to keep the skin from getting sore or bleeding. I also increased the speed limit to 20 km/h. By the way, there is a new sound emitted by my KS16 starting at about 15km/h (my previous speed limit). A whining sound almost as if something was causing additional friction but with no malfunction recognizable. For the first time I ran the batteries down to 57V, 40% or five bars out of nine left on the LED power indicator after two days of exercising (what was the recommendation for a safe voltage lower bound again?). Anyway, that feeling of riding in a straight, erect posture with minimally bent knees, both feet grounded, stably and easily as if the wheel was driving all by itself was just exhilarating. Also felt the conscious experience of turning by bending the outer knee and extending the inner leg. After today's exercise I felt agile, relaxed and pliable, this time without too much sweat. I hope I'll be able to recreate that style. Unfortunately over the next few days weather is supposed to change to heavy raining with some thunder and lightning thrown in (and a short business trip right after that), so regrettably before getting again onto my beloved KS16 there will be ample opportunity for my old bones to get a recreational break. Also repeatedly practiced free take-offs. Looking at the right foot while stepping onto the pedal helped to increase the accuracy of positioning the foot on that pedal. So far I had just looked ahead where I wanted to go and stepped on blindly. Because of the grip tape on my pedals repositioning a foot after stepping on is not easily done: you'd have to shift all weight to the other foot again, essentially riding one-legged to be able to lift the opposite foot in search of a better stand. Also improved the timing of free take-offs: without haste, almost as if in slow motion and very controlled. If the position of both feet is too asymmetrical then just stop riding right away and try mounting again rather than fighting subsequent wobbling instead. Again also practiced straight deceleration up to a full-stop, nicely controlled on either side of the fence. Experimented with stationary idling but with no success. Day thirty-three. Again started with high expectations since the previous exercise went so well. And indeed it did take only about one half of an hour until I was riding well balanced, not by itself like the last time but rather comfortably. However, still always close to the hand railing, either side. As soon as I digressed too far from the fence I became insecure and unstable (except conquering the "open sea" for approx. 40 meters). The difference is entirely psychological since neither the wheel nor ground did change. That's why I finally decided to ride on an open stretch, an almost deserted bicycle lane. Did not go as well as I had hoped for. I was not able to recreate the smooth, erect riding style from earlier this week. Must practice more out in the open. Hopefully right knee won't fail (1 x IBU before and Retterspitz poultice after). Also got another scar at the inner right foot from a freely spinning KS16 after an emergency step-off. Produced an instrumental version of Seal Lullaby and another version of "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen" replacing the guitar part with a saxophone. Since my horse had lost a horseshoe we couldn't go riding. After some fine spaghetti according to my favorite recipe and subsequent nap I felt eager for another euc exercise. I must leave the railing. As has been said many times in this euc forum, one should practice without walls, railings etc. This is what counts and prepares for the real adventure. So I took the plunge. Searching for a suitable spot at the Schützenplatz in the middle of Hanover I discovered a deserted parking lot at the KFZ Zulassungsstelle - how appropriately. This is where you ideally would collect your permit for the euc, the certificate of street worthiness and operator's license for piloting the wheel on public grounds. But not so tonight or any time soon for that matter, thanks to German law and policy makers. Those are more tuned into promoting electrical cars with huge sale's benefits as if they'd be the 21st century's ecological saviors of the environment. - With these benefits they could have donated two KS16 to me! Anyway, I took the plunge - as said before - and practiced more free take-offs and riding. Boy, that Kingsong KS16 is really built to last. Today I had my series of involuntarily jump-offs with subsequent crashes of the wheel. It took the beating with dignity and numerous bruises to witness. Although the number of scratches rose constantly the wheel still seems fully operational. I even managed to reach erect equilibrium for a few seconds a couple of times. Definitely need to practice free riding more. Day thirty-four. Went for a brief training at the KFZ parking lot before heading for the train to a supercomputing conference. Just went up and down without riding turns but dis- and remounting at each end. Felt wobbly most of the time. Had an unequal, unbalanced stand: all the weight most of the time on the left foot. Day thirty-five. Major progress. After three uneventful days on that supercomputing conference I was seriously missing my wheel when I rolled home from the station on my purely mechanical scooter just in time to grab the wheel and go for a late evening exercise at the KFZ parking lot before it gets dark (1 x prophylactic IBU and Retterspitz afterwards, possibly the reason for a smoother, less wobbling, more stable ride). Although I had a three day break my right knee felt sore. However, for the first time rode two consecutive laps on either side, all with free take-offs and the necessary turns. Had watched a couple of euc videos last night and remembered that one guy stressed the fact that after take-off one should immediately reach for an upright posture. Exactly what I wanted to concentrate on and it worked just as well as steering from the feet/ankles but without clamping the wheel. Was able to slowly and smoothly ride along. Did not use a second pair of thick socks nor poultice and did not miss either. Was many times able to step onto the wheel symmetrically or alternatively to abort with a controlled power break. Definitely progress compared to the last time even with that three day break. I can (barely) ride. I should be more confident about this after those long hours riding along the railings in the Expo Park. Think about the flow before take-off and don't jump on in a haste. Don't look too long at your feet after take-off but into the direction where you want to go, especially in turns. Day thirty-six. Major setback, frustration set in. Struggled half an hour before I could ride more than five meters. Cramps in the left upper hip. Ok, although already 6 pm it was still 30°C in the shade outside which felt like 50°C with the helmet on. I was sweating profoundly and the sun was low and blinding. I had spectators (had to share the track with a motorcycle driving school with one teacher and student), was somewhat exhausted from the day's work at the office, haven't by far gotten enough sleep last night and haven't eaten properly and so on and so on. After one hour I finally once managed one contiguous round on the right hand side and two rounds on the left hand side. At the beginning, I did not have the will, trust nor focus to stand erect right after mounting and that's probably why I repeatedly failed. Did a number of uncontrolled, tight swerves whereas I instinctively but without significant success tried to steer by shifting the weight of the arms and upper torso instead of using the legs from the knees downwards. Also did not consequently stop and remount when my feet were positioned too asymmetrically, which of course led to more wobbling and more aborts. Yesterday I was much more concentrating. Too high expectations today from the start as well. No IBU but Retterspitz poultice after. Right knee is swollen but not very painfully so. At least I came off without any injuries after another even less successful series of attempts after a short break (didn't wear extra protection around the feet and ankles this time). Day thirty-seven. This afternoon I was able to reconnect to some extent to the success of the day before yesterday. What a relief. It took me some 30 minutes before I felt sufficiently stable and confident with free take-offs and to be able to ride about 100m on my new, open track for today at the Expo grounds without railing or fence. Was there already in the morning but thunder, lightning and heavy showers forced me to abort. In the afternoon the air was still hot and humid and I sweat a lot. But I was many times able to smoothly take off entirely without support and also managed several controlled stops plus a few random and mostly unsuccessful attempts to turn around by 180°. All in all today's riding for me counts as proper riding and that's why I'm happy about it. After a short break I set up the video camera. The footage - literally and figuratively - is ok, most often I ride with a near erect posture. Also a few nicely controlled full-stops can be seen. It felt almost as good as it looked. But again I was not entirely equally balanced and had difficulties to put equal load on either foot. Next time maybe I should start with some stationary balancing exercises on the wheel, just to get a better feeling for equal support and load distribution. - Also need to think about practicing turns. My mantra of a successful ride so far therefore has become this: 0) Don't mount unless and before you are absolutely certain of what is going to happen next: where you are going; what actions are planned next; which escape maneuvers are available. - Actually, this is much like singing according to written music; if you are able to mentally anticipate what comes next, the sound will come out right. Don't step onto the wheel in a haste, under internal or external psychological pressure or against fear. Your take-off will fail. 1) In case of an asymmetrical mount or otherwise unbalanced feet immediately initiate a (power) break to a full-stop and try re-mounting the wheel again (without haste - just take a deep breath). 2) After (re-)mounting from a full-stop get into an erect posture as soon as possible and stabilize your posture by immediately leaning slightly forward to accelerate to at least a leisure walking speed of about 6km/h. 3) Feel the connection of your feet to the pedals (and from there to Mother Earth) and of the ankles and lower legs to the wheel (leaning against but not clamped); this contact is an essential prerequisite to be subsequently able to steer the unicycle. 4) Although you can steer by movements of the torso and/or upper extremities (like many beginners as myself still do) but only up to a certain degree and precision. Proper steering should originate at either side of the hip and subsequently be executed by the knees, lower legs and feet, just like ballroom dancing or motor biking. - No need to violently spin the whole upper torso around, which often would be too slowly reacting and subsequently causing loss of equilibrium. A small twist or tilt with the feet is almost effortless and sufficient to change direction. With higher speeds you can lean more into the turn. 5) Know when and where to stop. This is absolutely necessary. Fast decisions are vital in traffic. Without a proper plan to come to a halt you challenge your feet, shins, knees, ligaments etc up to the point of breakage or rupture. That risk is serious, no matter what age you are. Decide where to stop, gradually reduce speed by leaning straight backward and step off the unicycle only after you have come to a full-stop. It is vitally important to dissipate the kinetic energy of a (potentially very fast) ride before you step off the wheel (e.g. by leaning backward and possibly turning) because otherwise that energy would have to find its way through less stable parts of your body and/or the wheel and potentially cause serious damage. Day thirty-eight. I slept very little and felt quite exhausted and therefore was almost reluctant to go riding for the first time. But nonetheless made up my mind and drove to the KFZ parking lot, wondering with whom I might compete for space today. The Segways? The motorcycle driving school? Or other folks? - This time it was an old big, blue US car with the son on the driver's seat and the dad (presumably) outside. Are they seriously taking driving lessons here? Anyway, not anymore after I arrived, for heaven's sake. My right knee hurt a little from yesterday's workout and since I'm out of Retterspitz and cream cheese I used one IBU which kept the pain down but still there is a noticeable swelling. Anyway, I was resolved to do at least a little exercise on the wheel. At first, it was hard to take off, but sooner than previously I managed to ride shorter distances. After the big blue US car and its two drivers left, I attempted full rounds on the parking lot, starting with the left hand side. And low and behold - I was going on and on, round after round even loosing count of the number of rounds (probably around ten or so). :-) That was a first, and significant progress over previous attempts. Was equally balanced on both feet, did not have to work hard to achieve balance, and even the turns felt nicely controlled the longer I was riding. And later I was even able to do the same on the right hand side (although fewer rounds than on the other side), which was more difficult since the space for turning was at one point somewhat narrow and I had to fall back on upper torso movements instead of turns initiated by the feet to manage the turn. Both times I failed to dismount properly with active breaking but no harm done. Decided to call it quits for the day, let the right knee recover and go home after such nice progress. Again I was feeling very tired. I have never before rode such distances in one go even and without railing and including turns: 8.5km total distance with avg. speed of 9.7 km/h within 52 minutes. Top speed was 17kph, mileage is now 428 km, deduct the 85 km the odometer showed when I powered the wheel on for the first time, I'm at 343 km total. So only after training for about 350km I learned to ride free for longer distances. Day thirty-nine. Entirely useless, today's attempt. After only one hour’s sleep last night, a shitty day at the office, my voice almost unrecognizable, I took a brief nap and after that decided to go riding again. The weather report predicted rain for tonight but I was determined to ride for as long as possible. When I drove to the KFZ parking lot the first rain drops where already on my windscreen. When I started rolling, more rain drops appeared. Remembering lessons from my motorcycle driving school I was afraid of slippery conditions on wet grounds especially at the onset of rain and here I had only one wheel to balance rather than two. The Kingsong manual was also explicit to avoid wet road conditions. So all in all, I was under time pressure to immediately start riding, afraid of the continuously worsening road conditions, and altogether in not so good shape. Of course, in violation of my own rules (see above) that resulted in aborted take-offs, jerky balancing efforts and only very short riding distances. It would have been better to skip the whole session, next time I know better. I just hope that one IBU in the morning, one tonight and a new Retterspitz poultice will be enough to sooth the right knee. Maybe take a break for another day or two, since weather isn't supposed to improve much anyway. Day forty. Started at 6:30pm, when the Segways where already on tour and the motorcycle driving school was luckily only doing talking near a stationary bike, actually not riding at all. Anyway, after 15 minutes or so I was again riding in circles, left hand side significantly better than right. Later the Segways returned and I paused until they stopped zooming across the parking lot. Then I had the courage to mount again for the first time with spectators watching and I rode round after round (of course on my better side). Was quite happy about being able to repeat that progress of a few days ago and soon drove happily home (by car of course). Day forty-one. Had to present my horse to the vet for vaccination, which went ok except that while riding the horse before that her left front horseshoe has nearly come off. Luckily I found a smith to fix it the next day. Since I had the wheel in the car I was thinking about a suitable space in the vicinity to ride a bit. The near-by airport has smoothly paved roads around it which are not heavily frequented by cars (although I met a big tractor and a fast passing motorcycle; enough excitement for the day). Anyway, I rode for about an hour and after that had an average of slightly more than 10km/h on the app, that's including the time for short breaks. Another record as well as the maximum velocity of just over 18km/h. About one in four attempts of mounting the wheel was successful so that I could ride a longer stretch. Because of the grip tape it is almost impossible to even slightly correct the position of the right foot on the pedal after stepping on. Slightly scratched the right ankle again from repeated mounting attempts. Forgot to run the metering app. Sometimes the wheel wobbled a bit, sometimes I was riding really smoothly. Also paid attention to practice controlled full-stops, which worked more often than not. Once I met a guard on a quad riding along the inner perimeter of the airfield who was probably sent to check me out. He seemed calmed about my presence and realized I was not a threat to airport security since he just rode on and did not return. I'm making slowly progress since it took me again a shorter time and fewer attempts to actually get rolling. My right knee was complacent since I had one IBU in the morning and am now wearing the Retterspitz poultice again. Not sure whether I'll be riding again tonight, e.g. on the KFZ parking lot with some curve exercises, but must not overdo it. Day forty-two. Progress: the second attempt to mount the wheel at the airport succeeded. I reached over 20km/h for the first time and improved slightly with power breaking by tilting back with both feet instead of mainly the left one. However, I was riding slightly stiff with more weight on the left foot and the left arm forward, not relaxed nor equally balanced. Must practice more relaxed, balanced stance - and also turning. Right knee hurts with no IBU so far, only poultice and cooling after. Used (horseback) short riding boots and chaps which was nice for the ankles but bad for the knee (more direct vibrations) and also more thickly padded, which changed the mounting position a bit and gave less room for wiggling. After about half an hour several cars appeared so I decided to call it quits. Day forty-three. As announced the KFZ parking lot was closed by the Red Cross, at least half of it so riding in circles was not possible any more. The other half was in hot demand by motorized visitors of the Schützenfest so for the next few weeks no practicing here. I therefore drove to the Expo grounds to the big parking lot without fences. It was almost empty but very windy. I started with standing balancing exercises and managed to ride a few oval circles, left hand side better than right, but also swerved often uncontrollably and a few times violently jumped off the wheel, which my right knee soon started complaining about (although I had the second IBU for the day and am currently wearing the poultice and cooling). Really amazing what beating the KS16 can take without failing. So far many scratches but it still keeps rolling. I took a short break but when I tried to start again I couldn't, the pain in the knee was too strong. So I drove home slightly frustrated. It seems my right knee is the limiting factor in this game. Otherwise I'd be more practicing free riding and curves and probably making better progress. Day forty-four. After resting my knee yesterday all day I was really keen on getting back onto the wheel. I even thought of riding at work during lunch break but did not feel proficient nor courageous enough to ride on a busy public bicycle lane, even if that was going absolutely straight for 2kms. Some other time, maybe. I searched Google Earth for another suitable spot where I could practice start, stop and riding circles. Found a hopefully unguarded school yard 10 minutes by car from home. Only myself with the wheel and a guy practicing basket ball. It took me about 10 minutes before I managed to the stay on the wheel for a couple of rounds. I was practicing circles (left hand side is still the better one) and later even for the first time smaller circles and figure eights. Was quite happy about the success. No more pain at the ankles with only two pair of socks and one band-aid. Also mounting became noticeably easier each time. Most of the time when it failed I was afraid of something, a bump, the basket ball player, not being able to enter the curve in time etc. Had one IBU before I took off and a poultice and cooling now right after. Maybe next time again with music which I had turned off since I have been riding without railing support for better concentration. By the way, the KS16 stores some data of the current session by itself which can be read out with the app even by connecting only at the end of the session. The mobile phone does not have to stay connected all the time. Since about two weeks the app does not connect properly when started for the first time but only after exiting and starting again, don't know why. Had asked Scooterhelden today about the type of battery in my wheel but they have not yet responded. I would like to understand the discharging behavior of my wheel and when and at which voltage it does become unsafe for riding. Day forty-five. Right knee critical, took two IBU today and one poultice. First video with circles and figure eights and the first buttplant, painful but nothing serious. I was for a moment unfocussed and not sure which direction to ride. Apparently no lasting damage done to rider nor wheel. Just when a few guys turned up to play basket ball, perfect timing. Edited the video and put some of my own music under it. Did not ride smoothly today, was shaky on the right side. Had to tighten my muscles to remain in a stable state and of course it neither looked nor felt relaxed this way. However, circles and figure eights were ok, as yesterday. Day forty-six. Rode twice today, the first time on video (no music added to this one) and screen recording of the Kingsong app v3.0 with voltage, current and power readings (had to revert some setting under the phone’s developer options to get it working again). Unfortunately I picked too low a screen resolution and did not turn off adaptive screen orientation with the result that although I could read the numbers while watching the recording but optical character recognition with ffmpeg -vp fps=5 and tesseract was not able to extract most of the values correctly. I'll try again some other time. On the second run, I recorded the screen of the Kingsong app v4.0 from Milbay with nice graphics as in the Kingsong Apple app. Both screen recordings show a wild fluctuation of the current between 0 and over 20A and the v3.0 (actually v1.2) app also showed the corresponding power variation between 0 and close to 2000W. 20A is quite something and there were also peaks as high as 40A. Riding was almost as before with a few joyful moments of relaxed riding, stability in curves and also for the first time riding smaller curves (about 6m diameter) and experimenting with steering by rotating around the vertical axis and not tilting the wheel to ride a curve. Right hand side turns continue to be more difficult. All in all small progress and yes, again, a hurting right knee (one IBU, poultice). Next time, I want to try the stiffest riding mode, especially in turns and getting to ride more relaxed. I did some research into battery chemistry to figure out the best/safest point to get off the wheel based on its discharge curve. The batteries are either 64 x INR18650-35E Samsung or NCR18650GA Sanyo, Scooterhelden did not remember exactly which of those two. They'd have to reopen the case to check and make sure. Also read about motor technology, battery physics and drive control issues. I want to understand at which residual voltage the wheel becomes susceptible to BMS or main board cut-out due to lack of power and when I should quit driving considering environment, wind, geography, inclination as well as my weight and driving skills. I read that Kingsong KS16 starts to tilt at or below 54V which should be very much on the safe side. Anyway, I was surprised to see those enormous and instantaneous fluctuations in current and power probably due to accelerating, breaking or bumps. All that must be quite demanding on the batteries and the control board. No wonder wheels with less powerful batteries cut out "out of the blue" when there is simply not enough juice left to do anything else. I read that with an KS14 800W motor and an 680Wh battery Kingsong only allows about 500 Wh to be spent before they tilt back to announce the end of the comfort safety zone. Someone reported 1.5hours of riding time at about 28km/h with that configuration before the tilt. If the limit is actually set to be 3.37V for a single cell then there should be still a comfy safety margin. Thinking about all these specifics and risks of a modern unicycle it becomes understandable that German legislation with its urge to perfection and control stalls under that challenge. Anyway, I predict that should these vehicle one day be allowed to operate legally on German roads apart from insurance etc one precondition will be that they must be attached by a strap to their rider to reduce the risk of an abandoned wheel going berserk. Day forty-seven. Problems mounting the wheel. It took more attempts to get riding than before. I guess I was a little scared and not really confident. Rode alternating left and right hand side for many rounds but almost no figure eights, those where really difficult today. Did a screen recording of the Kingsong v3.0 app voltage, current power screen and actually was able to extract the data by ocr and into a spreadsheet. Got some nice graphics which show the rapidly changing current. Tried to map that onto the video footage but somehow the video editor did not get the two movies into one, probably because of different resolution and frame rate etc. Knees quite ok but with the help of IBU and Retterspitz. Day forty-eight. About the same as yesterday, riding for about one hour at the school yard. Mounting was difficult, mostly it took around five attempts before I could ride. Again did several rounds in one direction before I changed, only one or two figure eight's. Oh yes, and rode around the container building once. Videotaped the ride and recorded the Kingsong v4.0 meter screen. Hope to be able to merge those into one movie this time. Tried the stiffest mode but reverted to the medium setting, it felt softer and more comfortable. Day forty-nine. I still not completely understand what has happened today but it felt like a major breakthrough :-) My first short - only 15km all in all - unconfined discovery cruising tour along the perimeter of HAJ. Rode a few times back and forth and, what should I say, did not have once to dismount the wheel unintentionally, rode stably and comfortably with both feet connected to the wheel and to the ground, upright posture, slightly bent knees, mastering the turns some shakily but others smoothly. Was riding nicely at about 18km/h, heard the 19km warning a couple of times. Slowly mounting the wheel also went better than e.g. yesterday even though I had only a short night's sleep. Breaking worked and also accelerating and decelerating. No pain anywhere and without IBU (but one poultice after just to prevent swelling). Experimented with several gadgets: both v.3 an v.4 Kingsong apps, music, one new Android data logger app I found in the EUC forum (works really nicely and saves wheel data to a csv file, about 2 Mb for an hour; below there are two diagrams of today's rides). Ulysses speed measuring app didn't work properly probably because of missing satellite connection. Also tried S-Health cycling fitness recording app (when it first talked to me over the KS speaker via Bluetooth I immediately came to a controlled full-stop since I did not understand the message clearly the first time and was worried that the KS16 itself was talking to me possibly with a warning about an imminent engine failure; it turned out it was only an utterly harmless announcement about time, velocity etc after each kilometer). I think I may quit this diary hereafter since from now on it is more like riding the wheel, not just practicing. Maybe if something special happens I might return to the pages. Today I completed my unicycle riding equipment: 1. One Kingsong KS16B :-) 828Wh shipped to my door (1850€). 2. One mountain bike helmet; my motorcycle helmet was too heavy, too warm, with bad visual to either sides and bad hearing; also, my inline skater helmet does not have chin protection; so I bought an integral bicycle helmet with open visor cut widely to the left and right hand side and with an adjustable sun screen on top (150€). 3. An rear mirror attachable to that helmet, so I know when to dive for shelter when that tractor monster, mad motor biker etc approaches (12€). 4. A set of hard wrist, elbow and knee protectors originally for inline skating (about 30€). 5. A pair of thick socks to protect your ankles while learning (5€). 6. A pair of DIY gloves to be worn beneath wrist protectors to protect the skin of your hands while training along railings (2€). 7. I ride in my running shoes, they are firm, comfortable, stable and absorb minor vibrations which is good for your knees (130€ but not bought for unicycling). 8. Some medicine to suppress pain in ankles and knees while learning (50€). 9. A small bicycle bell with adjustable strap to wear on your index finger to alert others (2€). 10. The strap. One end is hanging loosely from and around the hip (continuously adjustable) and the other end has a loop with a buckle to be wrapped around the KS16 handle bar; this does not affect balance, keeps both of your hands free and saves "precious" hitting hard ground or other sensitive and expensive objects like cars or people in case of emergency dismount. No need to tie or untie knots. A must (3€ and a little stitching). 11. Adhesive sandpaper to avoid slipping on the pedals (skater shop, 5€). 12. A suitable training area (railings, no traffic, 0€). 13. Numerous pieces of software and information useful for a techno-affine e-wheeler (0€ so far). 14. Good music collection for your mobile beat box (€ varies). 15. Healthiness, fitness, time, determinacy and patience (priceless, unfortunately cannot be bought). 16. Liability insurance if and when it becomes available (maybe around 50€/a). 17. Registration as motorized vehicle suitable for public traffic, also if and when it becomes available (30€?). 18. Electrical charging costs (50€/a). 19. Mobile phone (Android or Apple) to configure and communicate with your wheel (?€, you probably have one already, don't you?!). Day fifty. Rode 15km today - Kingsong says 19,6km but as has been said in EUC forum, Kingsong apparently does not calculate the distance properly, always about 25% inflated. I compared to Runtastic Pro which has collected the whole trip even from within my pants pocket. So my current total mileage is about 357km not 552km as the Kingsong app shows (and deducting the initial odometer setting of 85km). Again no accident or inadvertent dismount. I went pretty far into the forest on a gravel road, actually one of my previous horseback riding trails. Everything went fine, got even used to the uneven surface. The rear mirror in the helmet is not yet in the optimal position, will have to adjust it once again. Need to practice more turns on the school yard. Went inline skating afterwards in spite of the humid 30°C. No IBU, no poultice, no pain :-) On a slightly defeatist side note, it occurred to me that riding a unicycle will probably not be my preferred mode of transportation for e.g. sightseeing in nature: a (not electric) bike has longer range, is more stable, more comfortable and provides convenient exercise from moderate to sportive. The position on a unicycle is less comfortable because less movement of different body parts is required plus you have to stand all the time as opposed to sitting on a bike. The ideal mode of transportation in the woods for me is still on horseback: you get exercise, have company, are traveling most ecologically, again do not need electricity and are in intimate contact with a living being. Ok, there may be also disadvantages which I leave the gentle reader to fill in according to his personal preferences. If I want to enjoy speed a motorcycle beats the uniwheel all the time and also has a much greater range. Inline skating is about as fast as unicycling and can look as elegantly but does not need an electric battery (and is therefore much cheaper). It also has a larger fitness value and like bicycles is much easier to defend legally. I should draw up a matrix of the various modes of transportation and their benefits, disadvantages and total cost per kilometer travelled. Anyway, unicycling is mainly suited - where it is legalized - for urban short to medium distances and in good weather, for short range pleasure cruises or just - or perhaps mainly? - for showing off. I have a nagging suspicion that the latter point may be one of the, if not the key "driving" factor for an eWheel, but that's ok with me :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEC Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Great read @RenaissanceMan! It in many points mirrors my own learning experience ... Congratulations on your persisentce and final results. If I may have one question - which android loging application you've managed to get work with KS16? Looks like you've become master of both riding the EUC as well as using numerous software tools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cloud Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 this is awesome @RenaissanceMan! I just looked up the word " Persistence" in the dictionary and there is a picture of you right next to it. 50 shades ( days ) of Gray-t! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaissanceMan Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 Thank you very much for your kind words, @HEC and @Cloud ! Spoken by seasoned veterans of this forum I already feel at home :-) Here is a list of software applications that I found useful. All screenshots taken from my Samsung S5, Android 6.0.1. by sweeping the hand over the screen (http://www.androidcentral.com/how-take-screenshot-samsung-galaxy-s5). At http://www.milbay.com.au/sbv/app KS V3 unicycle mobile Beta App for Android Click Here - Version 3.0.0 April 2016 http://mediasvcqkmt1zv6sbs2r.blob.core.windows.net/service/MotouniCode/KS3.0.apk At http://www.milbay.com.au/sbv/app V2 MotoUni mobile App for for Android KS V2 for 800W motor models http://www.milbay.com.au/Files/apps/KingSong Android4.0.apk At http://forum.electricunicycle.org/topic/4280-pebble-app-and-data-logger-for-king-song-rc1 https://github.com/JumpMaster/WheelLogAndroid/releases/tag/0.2 Logging also works without a Pebble watch! At Google Play Store Runtastic Pro At Google Play S-Health At Google Play Screen Recorder Enables to record the screen while displaying the Kingsong app. So you get a movie of the riding parameters parallel to a video recording e.g. via Go Pro. You can then merge those two movies into one using your favorite video editing software. I actually recorded the voltage/current/power screen of the KingSong app v2.0 this way and then used "ffmpeg -vp fps=5" and after that "tesseract" to extract the numerical values from the screen recording and made a graph of those in libreoffice. That was before I discovered JumpMasters app (see above) which simplifies this process greatly. And yes, all Kingsong mileage data is inflated by about 25%! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEC Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 @RenaissanceMan Thank you for the compilation of all the usefull apps in one place. I'm just about to take off for my weekend leisure ride around the coast so I'll add Logger now to my camera and Strava / Relive colection. Will try to post video and some log results of the ride. Funny thing is that I knew about the Pebble app but was unaware of it being usefull without watch as well. Thanks for bringing that to our attention Safe riding and hopefully more joy than pain for you from now on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaissanceMan Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 14 minutes ago, HEC said: @RenaissanceMan Thank you for the compilation of all the usefull apps in one place. I'm just about to take off for my weekend leisure ride around the coast so I'll add Logger now to my camera and Strava / Relive colection. Will try to post video and some log results of the ride. Funny thing is that I knew about the Pebble app but was unaware of it being usefull without watch as well. Thanks for bringing that to our attention Safe riding and hopefully more joy than pain for you from now on! Glad you found something useful in that list :-) And finally some video footage here: Background music by myself. Just mute the speaker if your ears are hurting ;-) And yes, I am looking forward to another scenic ride today through Hanover's central park with much more pleasure than pain! Wish you a relaxing weekend and a joyful, safe ride! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 congrats! steady progress....perhaps it might help to tell you, that the day will come, where you even do not think about what you are doing.... it goes into blood....like driving a car or a bycycle! some need some more time, but it will come! And as you have taken the most important step ( driving without holding to something)... so from now on...it will only get better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve454 Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 You found the perfect fence for learning. You had a lot of wobbles at first but those started going away. Good technique getting the ground foot up on the wheel. Also having the app overlayed on the video was interesting, it showed real time current usage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingouin Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 The longer the effort, the greater the reward, no matter how long it takes...it's no fun to be able to to domething on the very first try, and you are an example of perseverance, I had a few that were desperate in a few hours. On day 37, that's a great example ! You must feel good now ! As for the range, you must be someone who practices sports when you say that a normal bike has longer range, what kind of range do you get out of your KS16 ? Because I'm getting 60km with my euc, not sure that with my normal bike I would get more, but I'm not a physically strong person. For the false distance, maybe use a bike odometer and calculate with the wheel size, then you have a precise speed and distance. As for sport, well there is a way, it's learning tricks, like one foot, then you'll find yourself doing some ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaissanceMan Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 3 hours ago, KingSong69 said: congrats! steady progress....perhaps it might help to tell you, that the day will come, where you even do not think about what you are doing.... it goes into blood....like driving a car or a bycycle! some need some more time, but it will come! And as you have taken the most important step ( driving without holding to something)... so from now on...it will only get better! @KingSong69, thank you very much for your kind encouragement! 3 hours ago, steve454 said: You found the perfect fence for learning. You had a lot of wobbles at first but those started going away. Good technique getting the ground foot up on the wheel. Also having the app overlayed on the video was interesting, it showed real time current usage. @steve454 thanks for your kind assessment! 2 hours ago, Pingouin said: The longer the effort, the greater the reward, no matter how long it takes...it's no fun to be able to to domething on the very first try, and you are an example of perseverance, I had a few that were desperate in a few hours. On day 37, that's a great example ! You must feel good now ! As for the range, you must be someone who practices sports when you say that a normal bike has longer range, what kind of range do you get out of your KS16 ? Because I'm getting 60km with my euc, not sure that with my normal bike I would get more, but I'm not a physically strong person. For the false distance, maybe use a bike odometer and calculate with the wheel size, then you have a precise speed and distance. As for sport, well there is a way, it's learning tricks, like one foot, then you'll find yourself doing some ^^ @PingouinI do feel very good now :-) especially after another nice ride through the park this morning. I just hope to evade meeting the "terminators" (traffic police) for as long as it will take eucs to be legalized in Germany. Yes, day 37 was memorable; for the first time, I had a complete strategy from take off to full-stop. And you are right, riding my bicycle for more than 50km is also a rare exception for me. With respect to learning tricks, I'm currrently studying tight turns and slow riding - probably for quite a while :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingouin Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 I live near Kehl, so I often jump from France to Germany, when I come back by the main bridge, I often cross the polizei (as well as the french police), but they never said a word, without knowing if I'm french or german, but stil on german soil. I don't think they really care regardless of the law. It was a pleasure reading your stories I don't know what kind of range you can expect with your weight, but I guess at least 60km on flat terrain at 16kph average. The fun thing with EUC, is also that you can always progress, whatever your skill level is, even if you're an advanced rider who can go backwards on one foot and do eight figures at the same time, you can always improve, thing that is frustrating with bikes (except for downhill) is that I feel like I have no more to learn except for pure physical endurance (after wheelies, sharp turns, riding backwards, lifting back wheel...), and you seem to love horse riding, I have done that for ten years until I had a bad fall, I feel like even though there is some progress to make, it not only depends on you, but also on your horse, and the margin seems slight compared to EUC. Only my opinion btw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaissanceMan Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 1 hour ago, Pingouin said: I live near Kehl, so I often jump from France to Germany, when I come back by the main bridge, I often cross the polizei (as well as the french police), but they never said a word, without knowing if I'm french or german, but stil on german soil. I don't think they really care regardless of the law. It was a pleasure reading your stories I don't know what kind of range you can expect with your weight, but I guess at least 60km on flat terrain at 16kph average. The fun thing with EUC, is also that you can always progress, whatever your skill level is, even if you're an advanced rider who can go backwards on one foot and do eight figures at the same time, you can always improve, thing that is frustrating with bikes (except for downhill) is that I feel like I have no more to learn except for pure physical endurance (after wheelies, sharp turns, riding backwards, lifting back wheel...), and you seem to love horse riding, I have done that for ten years until I had a bad fall, I feel like even though there is some progress to make, it not only depends on you, but also on your horse, and the margin seems slight compared to EUC. Only my opinion btw @PingouinYou are certainly right about the openended possibilities using eucs, and I must think of "Full Gyroscopic wheel act HD - Damien Gaumet" on YT and the video thread here. However, my ambitions are much more down to earth. My long-term goal is to safely ride my KS16 to work and back right through the city traffic of Hanover. That goal will keep me busy for at least another couple of weeks. Four years ago I also had to take an emergency exit from my horse which at that time was instantly crazy about something that had stung her badly. She was utterly out of control and out of her mind. Before a sharp turn frightened to get caught under a falling horse I decided to jump off and since I did judo in my younger years I fell and could roll off without any broken bones - at about 50km/h (of course I wear protective gear!). One week later some ligaments in the right knee gave in and I had to undergo surgery to be able to walk again. But since then the right knee is (one of) my weaker spots. Other than that I still enjoy the company of my horse. But speaking of eucs: here are records of my ride today (using Runtastic Pro and JumpMaster's logging app). I corrected the mileage given by KS16 to its correct values displayed on the second, right-hand side Y-axis. I am still puzzled about the high peak values for the current (A). Can they be true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingouin Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 At first my goal was only to ride straight, for cruising around, enjoying the sceneries, going to the doctor etc And now, I learned some tricks, I see other wheelers, I want to go further...starting with little goals and growing great amitions ^^ Yes I'm very scared by horses now, because I was at an obstacle course, but the horse decided to stop very hard just before the jump, so I went flying for a few meters above the barrier, and landed on the head, had a broken shoulder, broken skull, sever injuries and blood haemorrhage. I've recoverd, with physical disabilities, that's why I first got into EUC at first. Reading your graph, is that 12km ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaissanceMan Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 1 hour ago, Pingouin said: At first my goal was only to ride straight, for cruising around, enjoying the sceneries, going to the doctor etc And now, I learned some tricks, I see other wheelers, I want to go further...starting with little goals and growing great amitions ^^ Yes I'm very scared by horses now, because I was at an obstacle course, but the horse decided to stop very hard just before the jump, so I went flying for a few meters above the barrier, and landed on the head, had a broken shoulder, broken skull, sever injuries and blood haemorrhage. I've recoverd, with physical disabilities, that's why I first got into EUC at first. Reading your graph, is that 12km ? Yes, 12km. I can feel with you about the jumping accident and I'm really glad you survived and recovered. It's a small miracle that that led you to EUCs. But then thinking about it, EUCs, especially while learning - and as you say, that learning phase is open ended - are quite an effective therapeutic measure. Constantly training your sense of equilibrium is a challenge to body and brain, muscle and neurons even if it does not burn lot's of calories. I heard someone say, that especially when growing older this frequent challenge of maintaining equilibrium is particularly beneficial to your general physical and mental health. - As I said in my diary, during my EUC training - with the exception of my right knee - I felt a significant increase in fitness while working out at the gym. - Mentally, well, so far no breathtakingly ingeneous inventions or unheard-of philosophical insights ... must keep on riding the wheel ... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingouin Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 12km is a good distance, you'll see, if you ride it up to 40km, you'll surely start to feel a little exhausted. The biggest issue with EUC was the price, when I was still at "school", but now it's fine. Plus it replaces the car sometimes ^^ I think it's harder to get your brain used to the stability of the EUC when you get older, I am still young so it was quite fast (I was at your level in about 3h of training) but like I said earlier it's a greater reward if you had to train hard. I don't know it the equilibrium is good for health, but EUC is good for the mood and it's an original thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DS Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 On 7/23/2016 at 0:37 PM, RenaissanceMan said: And finally some video footage here: Really good compilation of your learning process It's funny to see that hands waving, the stage that I already forget. Just practice and after time you'll be able not only to ride with hands in pockets (not recommended, safety reasons!), but also to do other things with them, e.g. drinking and eating. But the stage of hands waving will return again when eventually you decide to learn backward, which is a completely new skill. With your determination and consistent approach no doubt you will reach the new horizons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaissanceMan Posted July 24, 2016 Author Share Posted July 24, 2016 6 hours ago, DS said: Really good compilation of your learning process It's funny to see that hands waving, the stage that I already forget. Just practice and after time you'll be able not only to ride with hands in pockets (not recommended, safety reasons!), but also to do other things with them, e.g. drinking and eating. But the stage of hands waving will return again when eventually you decide to learn backward, which is a completely new skill. With your determination and consistent approach no doubt you will reach the new horizons. Thank you, @DS, glad you enjoyed my "euc saga" ;-) Today I rode 21km through Hanover's central park and part of it felt really well. I could let my arms hang down relaxed and was comfortably steering from the hip, knees and feet. No pain anywhere. I also for the first time I tackled short steep slopes up and down some bridges and that also went quite well. It's really fun to glide up the slope past hard working bicyclists. However, going down on the wheel is more tricky. - I can also scratch my nose while riding without risking an accident (to chase away bugs or flies) :-) I hope to end the stage of "waving hands" some time soon. So far I have not set my mind on mastering reverse riding, but that might change in some distant future... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingouin Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Hands waving is just a matter of stress I think For backwards riding, it took me more time than riding forward, and it's giving sore neck sometimes if you look backwards for a long time, and it's true that our hands are useful again when going backwards ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Trust me the waving of hands thing never ends even after you get used to riding. You end up waving for different reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxLinux Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 On 7/23/2016 at 3:39 PM, Pingouin said: Plus it replaces the car sometimes I like to ride to the grocery store on my EUC. I usually make 2 trips per week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingouin Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Waving hands to salute people ? ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaissanceMan Posted September 30, 2016 Author Share Posted September 30, 2016 A few days ago I wanted to take another video of me riding, just as a visual feedback for training purposes. Out of vanity I decided to drop my otherwise omnipresent safety belt since I was setting off just for a couple of rounds on that mostly deserted parking lot, so nothing dramatic should be happening, right? I thought. I did a few circles and passes by the camera and finally I was getting tired. I just had not quite decided to come to a stop and my subconsciousness got ahead of me. I lost balance and had to jump off the wheel, nothing hurt. But since I did not have my belt on, my KS16 was set free to go anywhere it pleased. It actually ran almost straight for 2 meters until it hit a curb - not to stop but to jump about at least half a meter straight up into the air and - naturally - back to the ground right after that. Thank God it got to a halt there. Since that happened just outside the perimeter of the camera I have no footage of the flying KS16 itself just the flimsy image of its shadow appearing where it should not. A quick check revealed nothing disturbing and after three more days very careful riding I still cannot find anything unusual, it just keeps on rolling. Magnificient peace of technology, and built like a tank. My compliments to the engineers of KS16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotmotion2016 Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 I reaced that " magical " 50 also, and had the same feeling of wanting tolearn to ride a unicycle. First saw a hooverboard with some young kid on it in my hometown. But it tricked me, what is the speed?, how far can they ride?, is it differcult tot learn?, and more. I'm am lucky that it is 2016, and we have you tube, and can find a lot of information on the internet. After a few minutes of searching for electric 2 wheeler and stuff, i find out that it is called a hooverboard. By searching further on google, i get the answer i was looking for, max speed 15km, range about 10 km, not that differcult tot learn. I lost interest, mostly for the speed and the range, because i was thinking of ussing it for work instead of the bike some days. But also to use it for fun, to ride trough the forrest and such, the hooverboard is not a good transportation device for that stuff in my opinion. I was lucky that by looking further on you tube, i saw accidentally the first unicycle, an airwheel and monowheel. Never saw one in real life, but i get facinated by these things also, and wanted to learn to ride one. I find out that the prices for a wheel are from low till sky high, so that was a bit off a barrier to buy one. I find out a brand off unicycles with very good comments, a bit lster a find an offer with good discount for a V5D. Just took on my " naughty " shoes, and ordered the inmotion, 8 days later he arrived at my door with the postal service. In the mean time a looked all kind off instruction video's, how to begin, how to balance etc. A a kid a ride on a skate board, and as an adult i ride inline skates to, so i though that makes a difference with learning to ride this unicycle. When i packes out the box, try the wheel in the doorway, and in the evening in the basement of the appartment . Within 10 minutes i tride it outside, inside was not enough space, and it felt good to practice outside. After 15 minutes holding tot the fence behind the house i get the feeling and started to ride a few meters. Within about 30 minutes i ride amoung the appartment complex, a bit wobbely, but with convedince. A locked my door to ride behind my house in the forrest, and make certain nobody wil she me in my learning stage. Now 4 months further i use the wheel for work, for commuting to other places, for fun, and feel confident on it. Can ride with hands in the pocked, backwords, quick turn, jump on a ( not to high )sidewalk, ride meters on one feet. But most off all i enjoy riding the wheel, it gets like riding a bike, just don't think that anymore how to ride the unicycle, you just do it. And every time i ride the wheel i im glad for the investment off bying such transportation, it fun, it's relaxing, it's different and in my area it's rare. Find out after about 6 weeks there is living one rider near my erea, 2 times wheel together which was fun. And now i thinking of bying a faster wheel, whith a higher distance possibilty, just thinking..... . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagtenor Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 @RenaissanceMan Thank you for sharing your adventure in learning to ride the electric wheel. I have been keeping my own journal since starting also (I have had the Ninebot One C+ for nearly 2wks now, but have only been learning/practicing since Dec 25. I can really relate to your first day where you felt riding the wheel seems impossible - I too had that horrible feeling initially. I can also relate to the sore ankles (especially the right ankle for me). I looked for pictures of the wheel you learned on (KS16) - and sure enough it's design is somewhat similar to the Ninebot with big pad on both sides. The bottom of that pad really agitates the ankles. Hope you are still enjoying the electric wheel. Thanks again for sharing your experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Westland Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 I really enjoyed reading the "blow-by-blow" details of your experience @RenaissanceMan. I would say that my timeline and experiences were not too different. I'm a bit skeptical of riders who claim 1 hour training times, so you certainly should not feel shy about a more protracted learning curve (especially at ... like ... 50+ ... or 60+ ... maybe 65+). I'm sure there are plenty of people, particularly younger skiers and skateboarders who can master an EUC in an hour, but I'm also guessing that we hear some exaggeration too. The KS16 was a wheel I had considered (though I recently went with the Inmotion V8 for a 16" wheel) and I'm happy that you shared your experiences with the unit. I wish Inmotion also made it possible to report the Power/Votage/Amperage consumption, as I would like to see a performance chart such as you have. I'm possibly going to acquire the Eagle Tree data logger that @Jason McNeil has used to try to get a picture of the V8 performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.