Exhaused Four Hundred Feet

My age is 54 and I started learning 11 days ago. I practiced for 9 days
(or 9 hours) as it rained two days. I do not seem to be picking this
up as fast as most.

I do not being able to do the mailbox mount, as I need a wall, car,
fence to steady myself before I can ride off, however this is working
it self out.

The question is after I ride about four to five hundred feet I am
totally exhausted and every thing start deteriorate from there. Is
that normal for a beginner, or am doing some wrong? It would take a
lot less effort to walk the same distance.

Perhaps more time in the saddle will cure all.

Thanks


--
xtor
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That is absolutely normal. When you are learning your legs are tense.
Your legs are fighting each other to try to control the unicycle. That
makes for a lot of work and very inefficient riding.

Once you learn and get better you'll be able to pedal with your legs
relaxed. It will be much easier and take much less effort. It will be
just like walking the same distance.

For now think about keeping your weight on the seat and relaxing the
legs. The seat should be supporting your weight and not your legs.
Also make sure your saddle is high enough. A low saddle height will be
harder on your legs. The saddle should be high enough that your leg
only has a slight bend at the knee when at the bottom of the pedal
stroke, just like how you would set the saddle height for a road bike.

Keep track of your practice time and how long it takes you to learn the
basics. Klaas Bil, our resident statistician, will find your 54 year
old data point to be very interesting.


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It took me longer then that to go 4-5 hundred feet when I was twelve.


My dad is 50, and when he starts riding after not having ridden in
awhile, it makes his legs tired and sore fast because he's too tense;
he's fighting it like John Childs said. But after awhile he relaxes and
can do it a lot better.


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it took me a week to be able to ride down my driveway and (300ft) down
the road, and im 14 and was practising nonstop. sounds like you're
doing excellently for a 54 yr old!


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Yeah, what they said. At 9 days I was more like a stair-stepper than a
unicycler. When I finally got to the point i could do 400 feet my
quads felt completely clenched up and drained of blood and I had to
walk it off. A lot of this was because I had yet to learn to put the
majority of my weight into the seat and thus forcing my quads to bear
the brunt of it. At the end of a practice session I would be drenched
with sweat from head to toe.

Sound like you're in the advanced beginners class to me. Gold Star
for you.


--
Trapper
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xtor wrote:
My age is 54 and I started learning 11 days ago. I practiced for 9 days
(or 9 hours) as it rained two days. I do not seem to be picking this
up as fast as most.

I do not being able to do the mailbox mount, as I need a wall, car,
fence to steady myself before I can ride off, however this is working
it self out.

The question is after I ride about four to five hundred feet I am
totally exhausted and every thing start deteriorate from there. Is
that normal for a beginner, or am doing some wrong? It would take a
lot less effort to walk the same distance.

Perhaps more time in the saddle will cure all.

Thanks



Yep, it definitely takes a lot effort initially. 9 days for 4-500 feet
is pretty good going. It took me a few weeks on/off before I could do
that. And I would be totally exhausted for several days from just
riding a few hundred meters up the road. That's normal and there's
nothing you can do about it except ride more. Most of your effort is
used in balancing yourself on the unicycle.

Now it usually takes a hundred or so Km's before I've had enough


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I am 54..same age but I learned to ride basically years ago. After about
the same distance, I had to get off as the legs burned like crazy. I
remember, I could hardly stand up. The upward hurts because nothing
else does the same. GOOD NEWS, you get over it. Keep going


--
onebyone

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From my beginning experience, it was the seat height being to LOW that
caused me to be tired. Listen to John Childs and make sure your seat
height is correct.
Your leg at the 6 o'clock position should be "almost" fully extended.
And put all your weight on your seat and not your legs.
Hope that helps.


--
leadpan

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GOOD NEWS, you get over it. Keep going
Glad to hear it


First, I would like to thank you all for your answers. I sure
appreciate getting a response so, quickly.

It was surely frustrating, my legs were not burning or anything of that
kind. It just felt like weak and my battery was drained, and I am
“drenched with sweat from head to toe.”

I read about riding unicycles for over 20 hours (more time then I have
practiced) before I decided to start this new hobby. So, I knew to
keep my but in seat, though, that is not a problem because; I do not
ride well enough to stand while riding.

About the seat height, I am not sure, the seat height on my bicycle is
adjusted so my feet can touch the ground. On the uni it is adjusted to
my inseam; ground not in reach! When I put the ball of my foot on the
pedal I have a slight bend in my knee. Is that correct, what is a
slight bend?

Tense, anxiety level is high, and I cannot shake the high that riding
gives me, sometimes taking my mind off of what I am going.

Lastly, today I was able to ride longer and I was not as tired, turning
however, that’s another story.

Once again thank all of you.


--
xtor
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In message
essage.Poster.at.Unicyc
list.com, xtor writes

GOOD NEWS, you get over it. Keep going
Glad to hear it


First, I would like to thank you all for your answers. I sure
appreciate getting a response so, quickly.

It was surely frustrating, my legs were not burning or anything of that
kind. It just felt like weak and my battery was drained, and I am
“drenched with sweat from head to toe.�

You're doing really well. It took me three months to reach your stage (I
was 51). It really is tiring at first - I think not so much due to the
physical effort, as to the intense concentration and tension of those
first longer rides. I still get that sometimes on rough terrain when I'm
concentrating like mad. Before long, you'll gain confidence and relax -
then it gets easier.

About the seat height, I am not sure, the seat height on my bicycle is
adjusted so my feet can touch the ground. On the uni it is adjusted to
my inseam; ground not in reach! When I put the ball of my foot on the
pedal I have a slight bend in my knee. Is that correct, what is a
slight bend?

For me, as straight as you can get your leg without having to wiggle
your back end.

Tense, anxiety level is high, and I cannot shake the high that riding
gives me, sometimes taking my mind off of what I am going.

Those first long rides really do make you high! I was so knackered after
my first ride of 100 m that I had to lie down in the dark for an hour
with a beer!



Wassail!
--
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