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From the box to riding in under 20 minutes :)


rdalcanto

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That's very impressive. It took me weeks to ride that well but I still couldn't hold a camera.  Makes me feel  a bit inadequate ?  Nah. I'm over it.  Good job anyway. Don't get tempted to leave out the protection, these thing can bite hard, and fast. You won't know what hit you.  Eh, well, actually you will.  It would be the ground. ?

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Thanks Smoother!  Learning to ride a Sky Ski (hydrofoil) on water is much harder.  I attribute our fast learning curve to that, and the great learning videos on Youtube.  The tip I saw the day before I received my EUC, about twisting the wheel left and right instead of leaning in order to balance was the key!

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7 minutes ago, rdalcanto said:

.  The tip I saw the day before I received my EUC, about twisting the wheel left and right instead of leaning in order to balance was the key!

Funny that. Me and several others here found that absolutely useless in the beginning.  I can do it at will now, but in the beginning, pfff forgeddaboudit!! Everyone seems to learn differently.  But we get to the same place eventually, for the most part.  

Hydrofoil, yeah I've seen them spit people out of the water and slap the side of their face so hard against the water, they probably burst an ear drum. A wet face plant, if you like. A face splat.  Looked painful.

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I went out again before dark, and jumped off some curbs.  Scary as hell the first time.  Chickened out a bunch before I finally did it.  Not hard.  Toughest part is keeping your feet from coming off the pedals when you bounce on landing.

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:clap3:  I think someone's caught the EUC riding bug!  Good job on the learning curve.  Grab some mitts, helmet, elbow and knee pads, and go for a longer run around when you get a chance.  The attention, comments and looks you get in addition to the fun you're having is a blast!   You'll always run into someone new who has never seen one of these and are just amazed...

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8 hours ago, rdalcanto said:

I went out again before dark, and jumped off some curbs.  Scary as hell the first time.  Chickened out a bunch before I finally did it.  Not hard.  Toughest part is keeping your feet from coming off the pedals when you bounce on landing.

When you've learned how to jump up curbs ( tomorrow) post a "how to " so I can watch it and....say, "nah, I'll never be able to do that " ?

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I also just got a EUC (a Segway S1) a few days ago, and also learned to ride it in just a couple of minutes. I have been riding regular unicycles on and off for close to 50 years, and regularly mountain bike on a unicycle. I basically held on to something the first few feet, and then took right off. I was a little shaky at first, but I was able to ride it and turn with no problems. I guess all that unicycle experience makes it easy to pick it up. I still have to learn how to get on and off smoothly, but I'm having a blast just riding it up and down the local bike paths. I actually thought it was going to be a lot harder to learn to ride it, especially after watching all the videos of other people learning. But I guess having unicycle riding experience makes a huge difference. I encourage everybody to give pedal unicycling a try. Mountain Unicycling is a lot of fun, and it's a lot easier than it looks.

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On 18/12/2016 at 3:33 AM, rdalcanto said:

The key is really understanding that to balance left and right you rotate the wheel left and right, you don't lean it in order to catch your balance, and you can't be a frozen statue.  You have to actively rotate the wheel to catch your balance.

Exactly!

On 18/12/2016 at 4:03 AM, rdalcanto said:

 

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47 minutes ago, Paddylaz said:

making micro-changes in your weight distribution.

How do I do "micro-changes in my weight distribution"?

50 minutes ago, Paddylaz said:

drink some alcohol

I also think that works, though it lacks some political correctness and was quite a tell that you haven't been nurtured through US American culture, or is that just my prejudice?

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10 minutes ago, Mono said:

How do I do "micro-changes in my weight distribution"?

Extremely small shifts of weight from leg to leg. I suppose maybe I phrased it pretentiously......but I was saving words.
 

Re: alcohol - Yeah that's why I made it an 'unofficial' tip lol. People are too sensitive....especially in the States. I have a friend from LA who often comes over to London.  She always says she likes it here because she can drink in a pub during the day and 'no-one judges you.' 

Edited by Paddylaz
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1 minute ago, Mono said:

...which reminds me: shouldn't weed be about as effective? It definitely has fewer adverse health effects.

Haha yes probably! Although I've never smoked it.

I had a 'space-cake' once in Amsterdam but unhappy to report the only real 'feeling' I got was the feeling I'd just wasted 10 euros ?

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12 minutes ago, Mono said:

yeah, that seems to be a strange thing about cannabis, one often doesn't get any effect when trying for the first time(s).

Oh really?

Ok....might give it a second go.

I'm heading back to the 'dam for a friend's stag in March...........I will conduct the appropriate scientific investigation.

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39 minutes ago, Paddylaz said:

Extremely small shifts of weight from leg to leg.

Maybe this is a different way to initiate micro rotations which are effective in balancing the wheel. 

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9 minutes ago, Mono said:

Maybe this is a different way to initiate micro rotations which are effective in balancing the wheel. 

Leg to leg weight shift is about direction; heel to toe weight shift is speed and braking. What is equally important is keeping legs 'taught' enough to transfer your body's CoG effectively to the pedals, yet relaxed enough to absorb bumps and ridges without discomfiting shocks. 

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2 hours ago, Cerbera said:

Leg to leg weight shift is about direction

right, and changing direction is another possible way to keep left-right balance which is what beginners are mainly concerned about. In fact, changing direction also means rotating the wheel around the vertical axis, just a little less fiercely or immediately.

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