Friday, February 20, 2009

Unicycling Day 1

Well, that was very good exercise. Climbing onto the unicycle in a standard mount is just not remotely possible. So what I do is 1. stand on a curb with one foot while climbing onto the seat and putting my other foot on the pedal (preferred method) or 2. grip the seat with the tops of my legs while i cling to/climb up a post or pole until the unicycle is under me, and then drop my feet onto the pedals. The second way is exhausting as I have to do it about every time i fall off (40 times an hour, or so.)

I feel like my unicycle is too tall for me, because I can sit on my bike's seat and have my toes on the ground but I can't on the unicycle. I know a 24" unicycle is my size because in shoes I have a 30" inseam. I have put the seatpost all the way down but it has about a 10" stem on the seat which fits into the 5" stem above the wheel, which means I am still 10" above the part where the stem is attached to the wheel holding arms.* In lieu of making sense, here is a picture:
I found a nice area with a curb, flat ground, and a non abrasive fence and had a good time dragging myself along with my arms while twitching my feet shakily back and forth. Every few feet I would let go of the fence, pedal halfway then let my foot slip off the petal and the unicycle would fall away. Eventually I progressed to peddling for a bit while holding the wall with only one arm.

*I (for once) read the manual while I waited for inspiration about how to assemble the unicycle without tools, but the names of parts were insufficiently descriptive (they sound pretend.) so I did not learn what anything is called. There were words like "sprocket" (I GISed SPROCKET AND Fun Fact!, THERE WAS NO SPROCKET IN MY UNICYCLE KIT! I think it was the generic manual they must send out with unicycles with and without sprockets.) I assumed it would be shipped with an allen wrench but it was not. Luckily about ten minutes into looking at the manual my roommate came home and lent me his auto maintenance kit, and of course it didn't matter that I didn't know what the instructions meant because a unicycle has about 7 pieces that definitely only assemble in one way.

1 comment:

Joedelta said...

Oddly, taller unicycles are easier to ride than short ones -- it's like balancing a broom on your finger, rather than a pencil.

Of course, the fall is scarier...