Unicycling - First Steps, First Tricks E-Book

Andreas Anders-Wilkens

• Herausgeber: Meyer & Meyer Sport (UK) Ltd.
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Seitenzahl: 161

Beschreibung

This book is written for beginners in the first place, but it also offers some good information to those looking for a further challenge. With the help of detailed descriptions, illustrated by more than a hundred pictures, the beginner learns how to get started and how to avoid mistakes.The book also includes chapters about advanced techniques like riding backwards, iding, bunny hopping, and Mountain Unicycling (MUni) for beginners, as well as many games for the unicycle.

Leseprobe

In this book, we have roughly rated the difficulty of the tricks and skills in order to show you if you have to expect more or less difficulties when you try to learn it.

Next to the chapter headings you will find one to three icons to show you the skill level.

“The more icons are next to the chapter headings the higher the difficulty.”

Unicycling

First Steps – First Tricks

Andreas Anders-Wilkens & Robert Mager

Meyer & Meyer Sport

Original title: Einrad fahren – Basics und erste Tricks

© 2006 by Meyer & Meyer Verlag, Germany

Translated by Andreas Anders-Wilkensand Dr. Mark Berninger

British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Unicycling – First Steps, First Tricks

Maidenhead: Meyer & Meyer Sport (UK) Ltd., 2007

All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, no part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means now known or hereafter invented without the prior written permission of the publisher.

© 2007 by Meyer & Meyer Sport (UK) Ltd.

2nd Edition 2011

Auckland, Beirut, Budapest, Cairo, Cape Town, Dubai, Indianapolis,Kindberg, Maidenhead, Sydney, Olten, Singapore, Tehran, Toronto

Member of the World

Sports Publishers' Association (WSPA)

www.w-s-p-a.org

eISBN: 9781841267722

E-Mail: [email protected]

www.m-m-sports.com

CONTENTS

Preface

A Learning to Ride a Unicycle: From Basics to Proficient Riding

1 How to Ride Forward

a) The Training Ground

b) Support and Assistants

c) Getting Started after All: Mounting Your Unicycle

d) Free Riding

e) Controlling Your Speed

f) Turns: Driving into the Direction You Want

g) Free Mount

2 First Obstacles

a) Steps

b) Narrow Paths

c) Bumpy Ground

3 Picking Things Up from the Floor

B First Tricks and Artistic Skills

1 Riding Backwards

2 Idling

3 Idling with One Leg

4 Idling on One Side or Crank Idling

5 Riding while Standing and Pullingthe Seat Away from the Body

6 Stomach on the Airplane Trick

7 Preparation for Riding the Ultimate Wheel –Drag Seat

8 Spinning

9 Riding with One Leg

10 Hopping

11 Rope Skipping on the Unicycle

C Variations on the Unicycle

1 Giraffe

a) Preparing to Mount

b) Free Mount and Dismount

c) Advanced Techniques on the Giraffe

2 Ultimate

a) Preparations

b) Free Mount

D Unicyclehockey and Other Games,Plus Unicycle Races

1 Unicyclehockey

a) The Game

b) The Rules

2 Other Great Games on the Unicycle

3 Unicycle Races

E How to Teach Unicycling

1 Preliminary Considerations

a) Comparing the Movement Patterns of the Unicycle, the Bike, and Walking

b) Purpose

c) Recommendations for Teaching Methods

d) Public Transportation and Unicycles

2 Challenges and Elaborate Tricks

a) Combinations and Acrobatics on the Unicycle

b) The Rating of Skill Levels

F All About the Unicycle:Equipment, Links, and Retailers

1 Equipment and Tips for Buying Your Unicycle

a) Unicycles

b) The Giraffe

c) The Ultimate

2 Some Useful Websites

3 Some Retailers

Thanks

Photo and Illustration Credits

Preface

Learning to ride a unicycle usually starts with a lot of unwanted detours. This was also true in our case. Unicycles were not very common when we started riding them in the early eighties. With some difficulty, you could buy one from a special manufacturer, but the idea of unicycling just for fun had not yet caught on. No written instructions for unicycling were available, and only a very few professional artists on unicycling were around to show others how it worked. So, we had to teach ourselves. Working alone and in small groups, we made some slow progress using the time-honored and time-consuming method of trial and error.

Today, getting a hold of a unicycle is a fairly easy matter. Specialty shops have sprung up in all major cities, and people can be seen riding unicycles almost everywhere in the streets. At least one unicycle can be found in even the smallest town. There are also more possibilities to learn from experienced riders. Our struggles have made us aware how important it is to pass on experience and special techniques that help one to avoid mistakes. This has taken us from just riding to actually teaching, and today we instruct people in the art of unicycling and other circus skills at our circus school "Zirkusschule Windspiel" which was founded in 2003. Among the children and teenagers we teach there, unicycling is by far the most favorite subject. Although girls in particular seem to be very fond of it, unicycling is by no means an all-female activity. The unicycling experience provides a unique mixture of athletic achievement, art, and enormous fun for everyone.

Despite the fact that unicycling has become a popular sport, there is still a need for written instruction since not everyone has a competent teacher within reach. We know from our experience with other circus skills (e.g. juggling) how helpful a small manual can be, and we have often lamented the lack of one on unicycling. The solution was to write one ourselves, which would help beginners from the start, and also contain some information for more experienced unicyclists, e.g. on new trends and developments.

The unicycle has, for example, moved out of the great towns where parks and squares have always offered good playgrounds. In the countryside, the versatile unicycle is now used for daring mountain unicycling (MUni) and for traveling long distances. The Internet offers a huge forum for unicycling, and all the spin-off activities associated with the sport. There is also more and more attention being paid to the athletic aspect of unicycling. In fact, this development seems to attract many young people, in particular. They want to show what they can achieve with a mixture of focused practice, and the fun of playing extraordinary games. World Championships with races, freestyle competitions, and hockey matches on unicycles are now being held biennially. In 2006 and 2008 the World Championships (called UNICON XIII and UNICON XIV) were held in Europe again after the last three took place in Tokyo, Bejing, and Seattle, Washington in 2004, 2002, and 2000 respectively. Unicycling has come home, so to speak, to Europe, where it has a long tradition of almost 150 years, and dates back to the time when bikes and unicycles were invented almost simultaneously.

Apart from the unicycle, no special equipment is needed to join the fun. You can get an affordable unicycle from any of the manufacturers listed at the end of the book. Here you will also find important tips on finding and buying the perfect, tailor-made unicycle for you. Proper shoes that cover your ankles are the only protection you need to wear at the beginning. If you are careful, and you do not mind an occasional minor bruise, you can even do without protective shoes. Later on, when you start doing some of the more daring moves on the unicycle, you can use the protective equipment designed for skateboarders.

We hope that you find this book helpful and you keep on unicycling, taking yourself to ever new experiences on one wheel.

To boldly go where no one has gone before.

A Learning to Ride a Unicycle

From Basics to Proficient Riding

1How to Ride Forward

a) The Training Ground

When you start to ride a unicycle, your mind will be occupied with things other than where you are going. Since you will only be able to ride very short distances in the beginning, you don't really have to bother with much else. Artful dodging of obstacles and precise turns will have to wait until later.

So, in order to get started properly, you should find a place open enough. A few meters of clear ground all around you are necessary since you might find yourself going in directions you did not intend to go in.

Make sure that the place where you choose to practice is safe (no traffic!), and also that you don't endanger anyone else by what you are doing.

Please remember that it is prohibited to ride a unicycle on public roads since you could obstruct the traffic.

The ground you practice on should be firm and not slippery. An uneven piece of road might look like a bad training ground, but often it does not cause much of a problem because the unicycle is much less affected by it than you might think.

Really bumpy roads, grass, and gravel, on the other hand, are not really suitable. In addition, a slight downward slope is also less problematic than one that falls away to the side.

You can find everything you should know about your unicycle (adjusting the saddle, where the front/back is, etc.,) before you start riding it at the beginning of chapter F 1.

You don't really need a helmet or other protection as a beginner. You can't fall from great heights, and you can easily get your feet back on the ground. Protective clothing might even hinder your moving about freely. Only if you tend to injure easily should you take it upon yourself to wear some extra protection.

Before you start riding, you should try to find something to hold onto. People who can lend you a hand are ideal if they are available. Only hang on to your friends or parents as long as you need to in order to get used to your unicycle, and to learn how it reacts to you mounting, and to your movements.

In the following chapter, we will explain how your assistants can best help you on the unicycle. You will also learn how to practice properly with the help of only one or even no assistant at all using walls, fences, and other means of support. Don’t start mounting your unicycle before you have found a suitable training ground, and some good assistants or support.

b) Support and Assistants

If there is nobody around to help you, try to find something to hold onto like a fence, a handrail, or a wall. There shouldn’t be any sharp edges or nails on top or along the wall.

Keep your hand open, and when you support yourself, avoid clinging to the fence or handrail. If your hands and arms cling too tightly, you will not learn to keep your balance properly. Stay in touching distance with the wall or fence without gripping it.

If the thing you hold on to is only available on one side, you will automatically tend slightly towards that side because you can only catch yourself from falling into the wall, but not away from it. Tending continuously to one side is of course bad for proper balance.

Much of the equipment usually found in a gymnasium (e.g. handlebars etc.) is extremely helpful. These are a great help to learn unicycling because you can arrange them, so that you get support from both sides. You can also place chairs or tables in a row to cycle along.

Having support at both sides is perfect to keep your balance. If gymnastic trainingboxes or bleachers are available, build them up as high as your shoulders.

However, chairs or special equipment are not always available. So, another good possibility is to use places like aisles, or narrow corridors, e.g. in your cellar or attic, where two parallel walls are often close enough to each other that you can touch both of them at the same time.

If it is not possible to find a place where you can hold onto both sides at the same time, one side will have to do. You should then change direction as often as possible, so you can learn to keep balance with a wall on your left side just as well as with a wall on your right side. Make sure that you keep some distance from the wall. Your arm’s length is the right distance to avoid touching the wall with your pedal. This will also improve your balance since you avoid clinging to the wall.

A shopping cart is a great help. Hold the handlebars, and push the shopping cart when you practice. After closing, the often roomy parking lot of a shopping center is an ideal place to practice unicycling when no cars are around.

Support on one side offers some important help, and is better than nosupport at all.

The handlebars of a shopping cart provide support that moves along. Somegarbage bins with wheels will do just as well.

A short stick held by someone is also a good means of assistance to you. If you are on the unicycle, you should hold onto the stick in front of you with both hands like the handlebars of a bike. The assistant should walk backwards holding the stick with both hands, as well. Make sure that you do not hurt your assistant with your falling unicycle when you dismount.

A pole of about 2 meters held by an assistant in the middle allows support for two or more children at a time. They can practice to ride in a circle, or perform in a show long before they can actually ride without help.

An old mast from a surfboard provides assistance for several children at a time.

Summary: Make sure you have good support. It should look like this:

You should be supported

on both sides

, so that you can learn

to keep your balance

on both sides.

A support on one side only

should be quite long

in order to allow you to ride for some time alongside the support before you have to turn around. Then, you can concentrate on the actual riding itself, rather than on turning around all the time.

The support must be

solid and strong

because the unicycle tends to leave some marks and dents.

It should be at least

as high as your hips,

and lower than your shoulders when you are on the unicycle, so that you can always keep your body straight.

The best and most flexible support is, of course, one or two assistants who can walkalongside offering help on demand. This can be done by other unicyclists if you share a unicycle with them, and use it alternately. It can also be your parents or some strong friends.

Important:

The assistants have to make sure that they do not disturb the balance of the unicyclist. They have to stay alongside the unicyclist the whole time to avoid pushing or pulling you without noticing it.

They should only offer support – like a walking post – and avoid actively holding the rider or the unicycle.

“You are not held by your assistant(s). They only offer support, and youshould let go after a while. At first, you let go for a short while, and then forlonger intervals whenever you feel balanced enough. Your assistant(s) stay atyour side.”

“This is the wrong way ofhelping.The assistant islagging behind, and unbalancesthe unicyclist. The assistantshould not raise his arm toohigh.”

There is a general rule for any support that you might use while practicing:

Make sure that your goal is always to learn how to do it without support. Hold onto it just enough to avoid falling off the unicycle – not more and not less.

Very often, you will be tempted to not correct mistakes or, even worse, to learn movements the wrong way because the support or assistant is too readily available. If you keep in mind what it would be like without his or her support, you can actually learn something. Any support should mainly offer you a safe feeling on the unicycle until you become independent of the support.

Make sure that you don’t hurt your assistant by holding too tightly on to his arms; he is your helpful assistant, not your victim.

c) Getting Started after All: Mounting Your Unicycle

After having chosen a suitable training ground and secured some good support or assistants, you can now actually start to learn unicycling. Your assistants could, of course, lift you up onto the saddle, or you could pull your body onto the saddle using your support; however, it is better to try to mount the unicycle on your own from the beginning. This way you will learn right away what is important.

Your assistants stand ready, but they don’t offer help before you need it. If you have support on one side only, you should be within reach, but don’t touch it right now. You have to do the first step on your own.

“You are ready for take-off.Try doing this on your own.”

Put the unicycle in front of you with the narrow part of the saddle pointing forwards. Make sure that the position of the pedals is correct before you start mounting: The pedals should be almost at the same level with the one closer to you only a little lower than the other one.

Depending on which foot you would like to start with, the right or the left pedal should point towards you now. Hold the unicycle with your hands on both sides of the saddle.

“One pedal should be closer toyou. This is where you put yourfoot first.”

Move slowly towards the unicycle, and move your hands to the front of the saddle at the same time. Then, put the leg you want to start with over the saddle. Your whole weight is now on the other leg.

Now you put the saddle between your legs without changing the position of the pedals, and without moving the unicycle backwards or forwards. Then you put your foot on the pedal withoutplacing much weight on it right now.

“Stand on one foot while you stepover the saddle, and place theother foot on the pedal. Hold thesaddle with both hands.”

Keep one hand at the front of the saddle while reaching out with the other for your assistant or yoursupport at your side.

Now, very, very slowly you can shift your weight from the foot you are standing on to the unicycle. Put exactly as much weight on thesaddle as on the one pedal. Make sure that you keep your balance at all times. Your assistant or your support should not carry any weight; they are just there to help you to keep your balance. Repeat this movement up and down the pedal a few times until you feel you can do it almost without support.

“Your assistant or your supporthelp to keep you balanced, butthey do not carry your weight.”

While you mount the unicycle, you can lean forward a bit. If you have done everything correctly, then your unicycle doesn’t move away from you. It may move a bit towards you, though. In this way, it will move slowly under your body, and you can shift the remaining weight from the foot on the ground to the unicycle step by step.

Above: “Mounting slowlyprevents injuries. A fast-movingpedal could hit your leg whenyou move too abruptly.”Left: “The initial position of thepedals does not change. The weighton the saddle is in balance with theforce on the back pedal.”

As soon as you have your whole weight on the unicycle, you can put the second foot on the other pedal. If you do everything slowly and with control, then the second pedal will not hit your shin.