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First ride


Catlord17

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Alright... so I finally have time to write more than "Click."

Yesterday, after a 7 mile hike in the woods, I went with my friend Cameron to the parking lot behind the grocery store to practice the wheel.  My goal: One time around the meridian between the parking spaces, or about 400 feet.

After a number of failed attempts, I managed to do it - and it felt amazing.  Like I really felt comfortable riding the wheel.  I was able to relax, stand up straight, and handle the wheel smoothly.  I made that loop, even through a patch of rough pavement, and then in my excitement, fell off.

But I did it so quickly in the practice session that I wasn't ready to stop, so I set myself a new goal: twice around, without falling off.  And then... I did that too!  Third goal, go around the other direction.  Boom, did it.  I managed to make a number of intentional turns under control, and once I even managed to mount, ride smoothly through the entire circuit I had chosen, and then return to my starting point, slow down, and intentionally dismount.  To say I was pleased, proud, thrilled or amazed would have been an understatement.

I have a lot of practice left to achieve this consistently and with better control mounting, turning, dismounting, stopping... but I can ride my electric unicycle now.  Now the goal is to outgrow the strap, and not fall off because it gets caught in my knee pads.  Soon I will be riding my wheel for miles at a time under complete control, can't wait.  

There is nothing that feels like this... it's amazing.  I am so glad I decided to do this!

By the way, second practice session I had sheriffs pass me several times without slowing down, talking to me, anything.  I was all geared up and on the sidewalk heading south from the South Jetty in Fort Pierce.  So hopefully that means they won't care if I ride there in the future.

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Laws vary by state but I know where I live they passed a law stating that self-balancing vehicles like hoverboards and EUC are legal in pedestrian areas such as a sidewalk as long as you do not exceed pedestrian speeds (12.5 mph is the standard in most places as far as I know). So as long as you aren't speeding on the sidewalk at 20mph you shouldn't get too much grief. I'm not sure what the law is in Florida though but that rule was made for Segways specifically which is why their top speed is always around 12.5mph in the US.

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2 hours ago, electricpen said:

Laws vary by state but I know where I live they passed a law stating that self-balancing vehicles like hoverboards and EUC are legal in pedestrian areas such as a sidewalk as long as you do not exceed pedestrian speeds (12.5 mph is the standard in most places as far as I know). So as long as you aren't speeding on the sidewalk at 20mph you shouldn't get too much grief. I'm not sure what the law is in Florida though but that rule was made for Segways specifically which is why their top speed is always around 12.5mph in the US.

Thanks for the info.  That would explain the top speed of the Ryno too.  That reminds me...

I set the tilt back speed at 9 kph while I was learning yesterday, and I quickly reached it.  Then 12, then 15.  During the second training session I was cruising at 15 kph and I could feel that I wanted to go faster, but I decided that that will wait for a day when I am more easily, repeatably and consistently able to mount, ride and dismount without riding off the sidewalk.  

So now I know what tiltback feels like, and it's actually quite well executed in the MSuper V3s+ I think.  Quite gentle and subtle on mine... you simply find it is very difficult to accelerate further.

12.5 mph is 20.1 kph.  That is as fat as I know, the top speed of my old hover board as well... hopefully I'll be able to ride it faster than that around town in the bike lanes and such.

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35 minutes ago, Catlord17 said:

Thanks for the info.  That would explain the top speed of the Ryno too.  That reminds me...

I set the tilt back speed at 9 kph while I was learning yesterday, and I quickly reached it.  Then 12, then 15.  During the second training session I was cruising at 15 kph and I could feel that I wanted to go faster, but I decided that that will wait for a day when I am more easily, repeatably and consistently able to mount, ride and dismount without riding off the sidewalk.  

So now I know what tiltback feels like, and it's actually quite well executed in the MSuper V3s+ I think.  Quite gentle and subtle on mine... you simply find it is very difficult to accelerate further.

12.5 mph is 20.1 kph.  That is as fat as I know, the top speed of my old hover board as well... hopefully I'll be able to ride it faster than that around town in the bike lanes and such.

The MSuper V3s+ is very comfortable for me at 35kph. It can go much faster, but I find that 95% of my time is spent riding below 35.

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1 minute ago, Marty Backe said:

The MSuper V3s+ is very comfortable for me at 35kph. It can go much faster, but I find that 95% of my time is spent riding below 35.

It should be very interesting to see where I find my natural comfort zone.  How quickly did you find that was your comfort zone?

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15 minutes ago, Catlord17 said:

It should be very interesting to see where I find my natural comfort zone.  How quickly did you find that was your comfort zone?

That's hard to say. I know (log book) that it took me about 10 hours before I felt fully competent (which does not mean I was finished improving - far from it) and as a consequence starting pushing the speeds.

I will say that I'm a little slower now than I was 6 months ago. What changed? Accidents and injuries. When you've experience cutouts or accidents from hitting something when going too fast, you become slightly more gun-shy. Age plays apart too. I have no doubt that I'd be zooming around 25mph if I was in my 20's. At 57 health is a little more precious.

But realistically, ~20mph on a wheel feels pretty damn fast and generally exhilarating. I enjoy having wheels that can go 28+mph for the safety buffer, and every once-in-awhile for the thrill :D

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2 hours ago, Catlord17 said:

Thanks for the info.  That would explain the top speed of the Ryno too.  That reminds me...

I set the tilt back speed at 9 kph while I was learning yesterday, and I quickly reached it.  Then 12, then 15.  During the second training session I was cruising at 15 kph and I could feel that I wanted to go faster, but I decided that that will wait for a day when I am more easily, repeatably and consistently able to mount, ride and dismount without riding off the sidewalk.  

So now I know what tiltback feels like, and it's actually quite well executed in the MSuper V3s+ I think.  Quite gentle and subtle on mine... you simply find it is very difficult to accelerate further.

12.5 mph is 20.1 kph.  That is as fat as I know, the top speed of my old hover board as well... hopefully I'll be able to ride it faster than that around town in the bike lanes and such.

There is of course no speed limit in the bike lanes 

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1 hour ago, Marty Backe said:

That's hard to say. I know (log book) that it took me about 10 hours before I felt fully competent (which does not mean I was finished improving - far from it) and as a consequence starting pushing the speeds.

I will say that I'm a little slower now than I was 6 months ago. What changed? Accidents and injuries. When you've experience cutouts or accidents from hitting something when going too fast, you become slightly more gun-shy. Age plays apart too. I have no doubt that I'd be zooming around 25mph if I was in my 20's. At 57 health is a little more precious.

But realistically, ~20mph on a wheel feels pretty damn fast and generally exhilarating. I enjoy having wheels that can go 28+mph for the safety buffer, and every once-in-awhile for the thrill :D

Given what I'm planning to use my wheel for primarily, I really don't see myself doing 30 mph much, but it'll be fun to be able to.  I'm mainly using it for transport to save miles on my car.  (Although after yesterday's 7 mile hike in the woods, I might use it there too, to save my feet!) 20 mph is plenty fast for most such purposes in the city. I'm not sure where I would be able to go faster than that... I got the MSuper V3s+ because it will fit all my needs, plus all my growth, and then goes beyond where I expect to end up being happy to give me that same buffer and optional thrill you were talking about.  Until they come out with a machine that has redundant internals, or suspension, or maybe a key to start... I think this machine is going to be the best overall all around machine that GotWay offers.  I'll probably end up with a Monster and a KS-18 whatever also, but I don't see myself ever really needing more than the MSuper V3s+ has to offer by comparison.

38 minutes ago, electricpen said:

There is of course no speed limit in the bike lanes 

I was wondering about that.  Good, so when I can safely stay IN the bike lane... I'll use that.

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@Catlord17 just letting you know you are in with the 'wrong crowd' in this thread.  You are a newbie congregating with the 'bad boys' of EUCs.  Wouldn't be proper of me not to let you know. :) 

I've been riding for 3 years, and have over 3200 Miles on my Ninebot alone.  Now I have a Kingsong KS16S for about 2 weeks.  I'm a perfectly advanced rider.  I've never gone over 17mph in my LIFE.  Yer in with a tough crowd of ruffians.   You're new.  You can decide in time how fast you feel you need to go.

For now, for the love of all things good, don't worry about going so fast.  It's not natural. ;)

 

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4 hours ago, dpong said:

@Catlord17 just letting you know you are in with the 'wrong crowd' in this thread.  You are a newbie congregating with the 'bad boys' of EUCs.  Wouldn't be proper of me not to let you know. :) 

I've been riding for 3 years, and have over 3200 Miles on my Ninebot alone.  Now I have a Kingsong KS16S for about 2 weeks.  I'm a perfectly advanced rider.  I've never gone over 17mph in my LIFE.  Yer in with a tough crowd of ruffians.   You're new.  You can decide in time how fast you feel you need to go.

For now, for the love of all things good, don't worry about going so fast.  It's not natural. ;)

 

I'm really not worried about going fast.  I'm concerned with mastering the machine and making it useful for what I bought it for, which is transportation in my city and within the surrounding cities.  That's why I have the tiltback set to 15 kph, even though I know I could go faster.  I prefer safe to sorry.  

That said... some day I'm gonna see what my wheel can do.  But the goal is getting around in the area I usually drive in, and almost all of that is not going to be safe at higher speeds.  I'll worry about high speed when I've mastered the wheel, and then I'll do high speeds when it's called for, and safe.

In other words... almost never, lol

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Today I managed a record once again for longest distance traveled at a time, with 550 meters.  If my math is right, that's about a third of a mile, or about 1800 feet.  Very pleased.  Obviously still need work on mounting and remembering to relax.  Had to stop earlier than I wanted to because my foot muscles were too sore.  Maybe I need a day or two to rest them.  Still... very pleased.

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14 hours ago, Catlord17 said:

I'm really not worried about going fast.  I'm concerned with mastering the machine and making it useful for what I bought it for, which is transportation in my city and within the surrounding cities.  That's why I have the tiltback set to 15 kph, even though I know I could go faster.  I prefer safe to sorry.  

That said... some day I'm gonna see what my wheel can do.  But the goal is getting around in the area I usually drive in, and almost all of that is not going to be safe at higher speeds.  I'll worry about high speed when I've mastered the wheel, and then I'll do high speeds when it's called for, and safe.

In other words... almost never, lol

Have you encountered tilt-back yet?

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Just now, LanghamP said:

Have you encountered tilt-back yet?

Yes.  To get familiar with it, I set it to I think it was 5 kph.  Then when I found it and explored it, I raised that to 7, then 9, then 12, and now it's at 15.  Cameron actually had me lower it today because he wasn't ready for that, so it's at I think it was 7 again.  But I'm getting familiar with it and using it to prevent overspeed before I am at the sufficient level of skill.

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19 minutes ago, Catlord17 said:

Yes.  To get familiar with it, I set it to I think it was 5 kph.  Then when I found it and explored it, I raised that to 7, then 9, then 12, and now it's at 15.  Cameron actually had me lower it today because he wasn't ready for that, so it's at I think it was 7 again.  But I'm getting familiar with it and using it to prevent overspeed before I am at the sufficient level of skill.

This bring tears to my eyes, with joy at your prudence.

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8 minutes ago, LanghamP said:

This bring tears to my eyes, with joy at your prudence.

Well I am in my 40's.  I should have developed a little wisdom by now.  lol

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4 hours ago, Catlord17 said:

Well I am in my 40's.  I should have developed a little wisdom by now.  lol

Oh man in that case I hope I am a late bloomer on the wisdom front. Usually I just let the pain from the last fall remind me that I should be more careful.

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Last night, at around 4 am, I was at a local 24 hour restaurant (International House of Pancakes) and the server is a friend of mine who I thought I would share news of my EUC with.  I ended up bringing it into the restaurant for him to see.  At the same time, there were two police officers on their lunch break for night shift and we got to talking.  They told me that in my area it is legal to ride motorized vehicles (motorscooters included) on the sidewalk, because it is safer for those vehicles to be on the sidewalk than in the road.  They encouraged me to ride on the sidewalk instead of the bike lane or the road, whenever possible.  Of course at a reasonable speed for that location, and wearing protective and reflective gear.  While I don't agree with riding a motorscooter on the sidewalk (bike lane seems better for those), an EUC seems reasonable to me, and I'm glad it's legal.

I'm glad I also got a chance to introduce the local police to what an EUC is, in a positive way!  That made me very happy.

I also told them where I practice, and they told me they hang out there some times, so it may be that I become friends with at least those two officers, who seemed to be very positive through the conversation.  That would definitely be a good thing also.  I further discovered (more realized) that the area behind that IHOP is also ideal for practice in the early morning hours.

Hoping to have time to practice today, yesterday it was just too windy.

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37 minutes ago, Catlord17 said:

Last night, at around 4 am, I was at a local 24 hour restaurant (International House of Pancakes) and the server is a friend of mine who I thought I would share news of my EUC with.  I ended up bringing it into the restaurant for him to see.  At the same time, there were two police officers on their lunch break for night shift and we got to talking.  They told me that in my area it is legal to ride motorized vehicles (motorscooters included) on the sidewalk, because it is safer for those vehicles to be on the sidewalk than in the road.  They encouraged me to ride on the sidewalk instead of the bike lane or the road, whenever possible.  Of course at a reasonable speed for that location, and wearing protective and reflective gear.  While I don't agree with riding a motorscooter on the sidewalk (bike lane seems better for those), an EUC seems reasonable to me, and I'm glad it's legal.

I'm glad I also got a chance to introduce the local police to what an EUC is, in a positive way!  That made me very happy.

I also told them where I practice, and they told me they hang out there some times, so it may be that I become friends with at least those two officers, who seemed to be very positive through the conversation.  That would definitely be a good thing also.  I further discovered (more realized) that the area behind that IHOP is also ideal for practice in the early morning hours.

Hoping to have time to practice today, yesterday it was just too windy.

Well done for being such a great EUC ambassador. Did they say if it was FL law or county/city law that permits this?

MMmmmm IHOP. Got me hungry now for a "Sampler"!

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1 hour ago, WARPed1701D said:

Well done for being such a great EUC ambassador. Did they say if it was FL law or county/city law that permits this?

MMmmmm IHOP. Got me hungry now for a "Sampler"!

It is true for the Jensen Beach area as well, as verified by my girlfriend with the sheriff, so it must be that it is a county law at least, for St. Lucie county.

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14 hours ago, Catlord17 said:

It is true for the Jensen Beach area as well, as verified by my girlfriend with the sheriff, so it must be that it is a county law at least, for St. Lucie county.

OK Thanks. I was buzzing around my apartment parking lot the other day while an officer was there (dealing with another issue I believe although a few live in my community). He didn't look at me twice as I buzzed about although of course it is technically private property and I'm sure he had something more important to deal with at the time.

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Just got back from my practice session, the first in a few days.  I managed 4 laps around the parking lot without stepping off, and then I went home and drove my wheel 567 meters from my house to the sidewalk and back.  On the way there I had tiltback set to 15 kph, and on the way back, 21 kph.  Did not reach 21 kph, but I did go faster than 15 kph.  Did not fall off at all during this trip, even when I was faced with an oncoming vehicle.  I did slow down while interacting with the car, but I did not stop or fall off.  Total of 1.5 km driven today's practice session.  

Oddly, even when I was doing the 567 meter rides, each way, and I was completely comfortable with riding my wheel, my feet were cramping.  Not sure why yet, but I'm hoping I get over this soon.  GotWay app registers my longest single time ride as 1124 meters, but I think that's got to be my trip to and from the sidewalk, during which I did stop to rest in the middle.

Later today, when and if I have time, I am going to attempt a 6 mile ride around the section of the city that the local sidewalk encloses.

Cannot tell you how happy my progress makes me.  Right now it's approaching conscious competence, so I'm still too consciously involved to fully relax and enjoy it, but doing what I just did, getting to and from the sidewalk, makes me feel damned good.

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Congratulations. This weekend I'm trying out my commute for the first time. A trial run with less traffic so to speak. 5 miles each way. Its exciting to take the first big adventure. I've done 70km on my V8 now. I think 60 of them just in my apartment parking lot! :lol: The remaining 10 have been on streets right next to my home.

I think there comes a point where practicing in controlled environments reaches its limit of utility. Time to get out in the real world. Shame there a cars out there! :o

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10 hours ago, WARPed1701D said:

Congratulations. This weekend I'm trying out my commute for the first time. A trial run with less traffic so to speak. 5 miles each way. Its exciting to take the first big adventure. I've done 70km on my V8 now. I think 60 of them just in my apartment parking lot! :lol: The remaining 10 have been on streets right next to my home.

I think there comes a point where practicing in controlled environments reaches its limit of utility. Time to get out in the real world. Shame there a cars out there! :o

Congratulations to you!  I only have 14.7 km on my wheel.  Mostly not got the right circumstances to ride it.  Rain, 95 degree heat, work, birthdays, family obligations, and somewhere in there I have to eat, sleep and shower.

But I'm planning to try, later tonight, to ride on the sidewalk.  Earlier I found that I could not with cars going by on the adjacent road, so that will have to wait for late at night to practice.  And then I'll commute to IHOP!  :lol:

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