Regarding UNI progress

I'll be updating regarding unicycle progress weekly, on saturday night mostly.

- Last weekend was mostly frustrating. I spent 3 hours, and nothing satisfying came of it.
- On Wednesday, i spent 30 minutes going down a handicap access ramp, with rails on both sides. It's a bit steep, maybe 10-15 degrees, but whatever. It presents a different environment in which to practice. I took the seat up a tad, and didn't mess with it at all since.
- Thursday, i spent a mere 20 minutes. This time i spent time going UP the hill too. I find going UP the hill rather than DOWN does several things for me. It forces me to lean, because for whatever reason, using (and abusing) the rail as a support does to nothing to help me when i'm going uphill. it does help maintiain side-to-side balance clearly, but on flats and downhill i tend to abuse the rail as i approach the dead zone. and it helps, and i abuse it. anyway, uphill forces me to learn smoother pedaling. Another thing it does is helps me... not fear... leaning forward. Yes, it forces me to lean, because i'll fall if i dont, but... it's less "scary" because the ground seems closer and all. Yada Yada. As far as i am concerned, Wednesday the 9th is when i started making progress. Another note, my shoes broke, quite literally, and i bought a replacement pair. No help with the pedal-slip problem though. I also started experimenting with the position of my ass on the seat. Farther forward helps me.
- Friday: 30 minutes up and down the hill. Forwards AND Backwards now. Did fairly well, THE GODDAMN CRANKS KEEP HITTING MY HEELS. It's the other way around no doubt, but plastic pedals on flat soled shoes means i'm having a piss of a problem with crank-heel collisions. GRR.
- And Finally, TODAY, Thursday the 11th: Firstly i should mention that i am doing nothing "unassisted." Even when i do 1,2,4 and sometimes 5 revs "solo" i am always next to railing, having gotten an assisted start. While on a flat area i've found, after having done mostly ramp practice for the last few days, i figured i'd compare my current skills to last weekend. I'm increasingly comfortable with speed, but not consistently capable of getting there... in the 10-15 feet i have to work with. I'm also mounting 1 handed now. before i was using 1 or 2 hands... now i'm just using 1, and i'm comfortable with it too. I can tell my leg strength/balance/comfort level is increasing alot. The standing on the pedals horizontally thing i've been doing, well i can stand on the pedals, without them being horizontal, without the wheel moving with no problem. I actually did it several times without realizing. Yada yada i'm a wussy i know. After doing the flat 10 foot rail thing for 25 min i tried to do a SINGLE totally unassisted revolution. I tried for 20 minutes. No luck. I can't get going. The leaning, the momentum... my wussy fear, whatever. It's keeping me back. I'll get there though. After those 20 mins, i went back to my hill. I've developed a routine for the hill. I'm doing laps. Go down, turn around, come up. When i get to 5 "UPD-in-motion" i will stop that, and check how long it's been. today i did 20 minutes. THEN after normal laps, i will do another thing... go down... then... BACK up. backwards. 5upds, check the time. 10 minutes today.

SOOOOOO...... for the week..........
5.5 hours practice over 6 days. 0 unassisted revs [none that count]. BUT I AM NOW HAVING MORE FUN. I am developing confidence and a comfort level.

TOTAL PRACTICE TIME: 8 hrs 50 min.

2 more sessions.

I've done 2 more practice sessions. The second and the third of october. Little progress, at least that i've noticed. I got video, about 10 minutes worth, of my last session. I'm going far too slow, which may give reason to get a 20". I also noticed, though, that in my quest to remain upright with my back straight, it seems like i'm leaning BACK. yeah....................... That and my bulky shoes keep smacking the cranks. Well my right shoe anyways.

45 practice minutes on the 2nd
30 minutes on the 3rd

total practice time 3:15.