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Riding skills related to safety


Mono

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4 hours ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

Ha ha... You obviously haven't seen my wheels. 

Covered with "the touch of experience!" 

Well put!  My wheels have touches of experience written all over them. Dumping a wheel with resulting scratches is a code of.honor. Once done the anxiety level diminishes and you can better focus on improving your riding skills.

Getting a scratch or dent (or drowning) a new car/ truck is totally different. I’m bummed for days.  :crying:

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On 12/22/2017 at 4:45 AM, Rehab1 said:

You can easily learn to ride backwards but don’t feel pressured into it. If you don’t want to scratch up your wheel and be bummed just wrap a belt around the handle and shove the other end into your pocket. Then you can grab the belt quickly before you dump the wheel ( yes you will dump it).  If you prefer the battle ground look then forget the belt.

I haven't really been dumping my wheel when learning to ride backwards. Just stopped and/or stepped off in a controlled way when I started to lose direction. Running off is much more complicated backwards, I noticed :P. That's why I keep backwards speed quite low, in particular I did in the beginning.

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13 hours ago, Mono said:

haven't really been dumping my wheel when learning to ride backwards.

I can’t say that has been the case for me recently. I’m attempting to drawing something on my Mten 3 that is Christmas related. Challenging to say the least. When I loose my balance on backward ‘brush strokes’ the Mten always goes into it’s stupid little dance. So annoying! 

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Going backwards... Do others share my experience that there are a few different key skills in learning to go backwards?  1. Being able to balance while going (fairly straight) backwards; 2. Being able to look/see behind you (so you can see where you're going); 3. Being comfortable turning while riding backwards; 4. Misc skills: (dis)mounting backwards, direction change (front-back), etc.

Also I find backwards uniquely scary for fear of falling: forward (at non-high speed) I know I'll nearly always catch myself. Whereas backwards any faster than walking speed I feel I could easily _not catch myself; landing _hard on buttocks, back, elbows, wrists, and/or skull.

 

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20 minutes ago, duaner said:

Going backwards... Do others share my experience that there are a few different key skills in learning to go backwards?  1. Being able to balance while going (fairly straight) backwards; 2. Being able to look/see behind you (so you can see where you're going); 3. Being comfortable turning while riding backwards; 4. Misc skills: (dis)mounting backwards, direction change (front-back), etc.

Also I find backwards uniquely scary for fear of falling: forward (at non-high speed) I know I'll nearly always catch myself. Whereas backwards any faster than walking speed I feel I could easily _not catch myself; landing _hard on buttocks, back, elbows, wrists, and/or skull.

 

Riding backwards takes a whole new skill set and it takes a long time to get comfortable. Doing 180's backward still feels risky, but I practice my backward riding skills every time  I ride and I continue to improve. Practice, practice, and practice more :)

I should post a compendium video of my backward falls :D

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3 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

Riding backwards takes a whole new skill set and it takes a long time to get comfortable. Doing 180's backward still feels risky, but I practice my backward riding skills every time  I ride and I continue to improve. Practice, practice, and practice more :)

I should post a compendium video of my backward falls :D

If you had not started your backward video series...for sure i wouldnt have tried again. But that series motivated me to get starting again :-)

So thanx for that!

So i am still wobbly on riding backwards, but at least i can do it now :-) As long as i want to, and yes, i also keep practising on every ride to get better.

Next will be sharp  turns and "eights"...

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A few backward 180ºs, the unpaved ground makes it quite a bit easier :) and also more fun.

What I found surprising is that knowing how to ride forward didn't help a lot (if at all) to learn how to ride backwards. I had to relearn all the same skills over again, just "the other way around". As mentioned by others, the need to watch where to go and the diminished speed where running off would work make it even a little harder.

The last three times I went down was when riding backwards and failing to analyze the surface precisely enough. I overlooked a somewhat hidden bough of wood, a bump at the end of a steep incline and a slippery spot on an off road incline letting the wheel spin out. Going forward I am pretty sure I would have either spotted them or be able to ride through them or run them off.

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On 12/21/2017 at 2:52 AM, Smoother said:

I think most people prefer one side.  Some suggest that learning both is an advantage.  I can't see how, to tell the truth.

The generic answer is that any basic skill at your disposal could be beneficial in an unexpected driving situation. Specifically, two situations come immediately in my mind. You don't need to switch when you happened to dismount with the other leg for some reason. Driving a turn right after mounting is easier and safer while using the outer leg for mounting.

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5 hours ago, KingSong69 said:

If you had not started your backward video series...for sure i wouldnt have tried again. But that series motivated me to get starting again :-)

So thanx for that!

So i am still wobbly on riding backwards, but at least i can do it now :-) As long as i want to, and yes, i also keep practising on every ride to get better.

Next will be sharp  turns and "eights"...

Hey, I'm happy to hear that you were successful in learning to ride backwards. It's been a long time since we talked about it and I didn't want to nag you by asking how it was going (you were having a rough time the last time we talked about it). As long as you do a little every time you ride you're get better and better.

If you really want to improve, buy an Mten3. I have independent confirmation that riding backwards on the Mten3 is much easier than other wheels and the skill does translate into your other wheels. Just pretend that you're buying another KingSong ;)

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4 hours ago, Mono said:

A few backward 180ºs, the unpaved ground makes it quite a bit easier :) and also more fun.

What I found surprising is that knowing how to ride forward didn't help a lot (if at all) to learn how to ride backwards. I had to relearn all the same skills over again, just "the other way around". As mentioned by others, the need to watch where to go and the diminished speed where running off would work make it even a little harder.

The last three times I went down was when riding backwards and failing to analyze the surface precisely enough. I missed a somewhat hidden bough of wood, a bump at the end of a steep incline and a slippery spot on an off road incline. Going forward I am pretty sure I would have either spotted them or be able to ride through them or run them off.

That's great. I have a hard time doing those twisting turns on my bigger wheels. I need to practice, practice, practice ...

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37 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

That's great. I have a hard time doing those twisting turns on my bigger wheels. I need to practice, practice, practice ...

What can make it much harder, depending on the wheel, is the forward tilt of some wheels in turns, combined with limited pedal clearance. The V8 has virtually no dipping and high clearance, so while it's a 16"er it works much better for this exercise than my 14" MCM2s.

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21 minutes ago, Mono said:

What can make it much harder, depending on the wheel, is the forward tilt of some wheels in turns, combined with limited pedal clearance. The V8 has virtually no dipping and high clearance, so while it's a 16"er it works much better for this exercise than my 14" MCM2s.

I think you're correct. I should practice with my Tesla since it has zero pedal dip also.

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On 12/23/2017 at 12:52 AM, duaner said:

Going backwards... Do others share my experience that there are a few different key skills in learning to go backwards?  1. Being able to balance while going (fairly straight) backwards; 2. Being able to look/see behind you (so you can see where you're going); 3. Being comfortable turning while riding backwards; 4. Misc skills: (dis)mounting backwards, direction change (front-back), etc.

Also I find backwards uniquely scary for fear of falling: forward (at non-high speed) I know I'll nearly always catch myself. Whereas backwards any faster than walking speed I feel I could easily _not catch myself; landing _hard on buttocks, back, elbows, wrists, and/or skull.

I don't like going backwards, especially in a straight line, because I cannot easily see behind. Therefore I favor S turns, looking over the inside shoulder. 

I would think going backwards is a skill you pick up just by riding a lot, because don't most of us idle (back and forth over the same spot)  whenever we can? Riding backwards feels like idling. 

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