No Progress to report!

I am getting SO FRUSTRATED at my lack of progress. After my
breakthrough I haven't managed to get further than 4 pedal pushes,
closer to 3 when I'm at home on the paving. What bugs me most about the
paving thing is that, when I borrow a shoulder, I get the whole length
smoothly and in a fairly straight line. When I go solo I'm lucky to get
up to three pedal pushes and veer off to the left. I'm also noticing a
nasty tendency to roll to my pedalling side. I KNOW this is nothing to
do with my seat being too high as this is not a problem when I ride with
assistance.

After reading other posts about progress problems I have lowered my seat
just about as far as it will go without changing the seatpost. This has
helped with the rolling, but I think I need to find a way to switch my
brain off before I go riding. I have moments when it feels right. I am
balanced, pedalling is smooth and easy, and most of my weight is on the
seat. Then my brain kicks in and starts yelling "This is impossible"
and tells my body to jump off. Right now I feel like I am never going
to get this right. If only progress was linear, but what I can get
right one day often seems impossible the next.

I have decided that I can't take this ANYMORE! Tomorrow there will be
no jumping off. I will ride until I hit the paving. I am wrapped up in
protective stuff and shouldn't get too badly hurt. I WILL NOT BE
DEFEATED BY SOMETHING WITH ONLY ONE WHEEL!

Jayne


--
Jayne ZA - Learning to ride on a Coker

Being a statistician means never having to say you're certain


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How fast do you go? I know lots of people in our club who learn (on 20"
unis) who go too slow when they've almost but not quite got it sorted.
I'm just thinking that on a coker it might be very easy to go to slow,
because a natural riding speed would feel very fast.
Just a thought.

John


--
johnhimsworth - Nullus Anxietas

What if the hokey cokey really is what it's all about?
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Jayne ZA wrote:
* I have moments when it feels right. I am balanced, pedalling is
smooth and easy, and most of my weight is on the seat. Then my brain
kicks in and starts yelling "This is impossible" and tells my body to
jump off. *

Sounds like this bird is ready to leave the nest.

I had a very similar 'problem' (http://tinyurl.com/2b87h). I don't know
if you've ever seen the "buggs Bunny and Roadrunner" cartoons, but the
classic pattern is that Wiley E. Coyote devises an elaborate trap to
catch the RoadRunner (a kind of bird common in the USA's southwestern
deserts), his plan fails completely and he is the one who gets whacked.
At least half the time he chases the roadrunner off a cliff and tries to
run in mid-air. He does well, too, until he notices that he is in mid
air. Then his grin fades, he flashes a little sign that says "Help?" or
something, and drops like a stone. So in USA slang your endurance
problems are called "Wiley E. Coyote Moments" or "WEC moments" for
short.

What is happening is that you haven't yet figured out how to balance
laterally. With a shoulder or a perfectly vertical position you do
fine, because you've mastered the longitudinal balance problem. The
lateral problem is just as hard and takes just as long, and like the
longitudinal problem, once you solve it you're not quite sure how you
did it so it's very hard to teach.

What you've got to do is to:

0) have your back straight and your arms way out to the side,
1) detect the impending lateral fall (lets say it's to the left),
2) SUSPEND DISBELIEF,
3) gracefully start your arms and shoulders swinging to the left,
4) when your right pedal is just coming over the top simultaneously a)
swing your arms and shoulders hard to the right, b) snap your hips and
the unicycle to the left (into the fall), and c) stomp hard on the right
pedal, then
5) relax and feel the contact patch roll back under you.
6) Repeat from (1) as necessary

The whole game at this point is to keep the unicycle wheel - in
particular, the contact patch - directly between you and the center of
the earth. Learning to turn is automatic after you've mastered this
basic skill.

At this point you've got 0 and 1 sussed, and are ****ed off enough to
grit your way through 2. That's great! Now the hard part is learning
the windup (3) and the turn (4). If you watch great unicyclists you'll
see them doing this faster than you can think about it, which is your
problem at the moment. They've got it hardwired in their systems and
probably don't even know what they are doing. You still need to think
about it.

I won't lie to you and say you'll get it the first session. I didn't,
and I was on a smaller wheel. Hardwiring those reflexes takes time.

Cokers are notoriously resistant to the hip-snap turn I've described,
but they also move much faster so not as much of a turn is needed. On
the 20", at 2 to 4 mph I sometimes need to turn the wheel 30 or 45
degrees to get the tire patch back under me. On the Coker at 8 to 12
mph I only need 5 to 10 degree corrections. The body moves have the
same amplitude but on the Coker I can relax and take my time, so other
than the scary speed I find the Coker easier to ride.

Good luck,

Tim

PS: If you happened to be carrying a little sign that says "Help?" and
flashed it when you were about to fall that would be VERY funny...


--
cyberbellum - Level 1.0 rider!

Optimists think the glass is half full. Pesimists think the glass is
half empty. Engineers think the glass is too big.
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4) WHEN YOUR RIGHT PEDAL IS JUST COMING OVER THE TOP SIMULTANEOUSLY A)
SWING YOUR ARMS AND SHOULDERS HARD TO THE RIGHT, B) SNAP YOUR HIPS AND
THE UNICYCLE TO THE LEFT (INTO THE FALL), AND C) STOMP HARD ON THE RIGHT
PEDAL, THEN

Yes. I tried to describe this before for you. When I got to the point
you are at now, I figured that I would "force" myself to fall. To do
that, I would TURN sharply to the left, and then turn sharply to the
right for each stroke.

Press down hard on the right foot, and throw the LEFT knee across to the
right.
Answer by pushing the left foot down HARD, and throw the right knee to
the left.
IT will cause you to zigzag violently, but it will keep you up. From
there, it is just a matter of smoothing it out. And, you will see
yourself do it again in the future when trying to climb steep hills (so
it isn't something you won't use later).


--
ChangingLINKS.com - member

Wishing you Happiness, Joy and Laughter,
Drew Brown
http://www.ChangingLINKS.com
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Oh. Another tip that may help.
Find a large flat grassy field.
Expect to fall, don't expect it to hurt long.


--
ChangingLINKS.com - member

Wishing you Happiness, Joy and Laughter,
Drew Brown
http://www.ChangingLINKS.com
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I like your attitude. DON'T let one wheel beat you. I can totally
relate to your feelings of frustration. I'm now approaching the 40 hour
mark and still can't ride at a level 1 (on a 20" wheel) but I am
starting to post some 30 - 40 meter rides with some regularity. One
thing that helped me get some small breakthroughs when I felt like I
wasn't progessing very well (indeed at times I felt like I was losing
ground) was to mix things up a bit. I had this comfort zone where I was
always starting w/ my right foot back and clinging to the fence with my
right hand and just not making progress. I decided to start w/ my left
foot and cling to the fence with my left hand. I felt VERY uncomfortable
for a couple of hours but then I suddenly noticed a real improvement in
ride distance and directional control. Every time you try something
different whether you succeed or fall, your body (and brain) learns
something more about what to do and what not to do. I think it's all
about time in the saddle, the more the better. Good luck.


--
underdog - level 0.5 rider

toast is god's way of saying 'eat more butter'
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Jayne,
Having just got back from riding my Coker and paying close attention
to what I was doing as I mounted, I believe the lack of speed may be
part of your problem. I noticed that if I don't get a sudden burst to
get the Coker rolling past that 3rd or 4th revolution, I tend to lose
all momentum and have to dismount. Since you are going to be practicing
"safe Cokering", try to acelerate a litle harder. Once that big whell
develops a little momentum, it is a WHOLE LOT easier to keep it going
straight. Good luck and don't let it beat you


--
Krashin'Kenny - Crash Tested

If you ain't crashing, you ain't going fast enough!!!!!!!!!!!

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ChangingLINKS.com wrote:
*
Yes. I tried to describe this before for you. When I got to the point
you are at now, I figured that I would "force" myself to fall. *

Hi Drew,

Which "you" are you refering too? Jayne or me?

The exagerated zig-zag you describe is useful when you don't know what
else to do, but on a Coker it's a bit different. It doesn't really
respond like a 20" or 24" wheel. You CAN get it to snap back and forth
in a zig-zag but the amplitude of the turns are too shallow to really
correct much.

When I look back at the trail of my smaller unicycles when I zig-zag the
lateral moves are at least 30-40 and are spaced about a meter or two
apart. On the Coker the same frantic zig-zaging results in wobbles
about 10-20 cm wide but spaced about three meters apart.

If Jayne is lucky she'll get it right every now and then and make a
single lateral correction before she UPDs. Eventually she'll get two in
a row, then three, and from there it's not long before her legs and back
are wired up properly and she's doing effortless laps around the parking
lot.

Jayne, in my very limited experience, riding the Coker is a graceful,
swooping process. If you are wearing your armor the crashes aren't bad,
so all you have to do is get past step 2 so you can put in some time on
steps 3 and 4.

Don't try for speed yet - you've got plenty as long as the pedals are
going around. Trying to "go faster" is good advice for a 20" where you
have to pedal frantically to even reach walking speed. That big wheel
is your friend - hip-twist it into the fall, keep pedaling and it will
take care of you.

I know it feels like speed metal, but imagine that the Coker is singing
an old 'Gene Vincent' (http://clubalibi.com/media/bebopalula.mp3) song
to you. Bizzare? Yes, but it might help.


*BE-BOP-A-LULA*
(Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis Duet, long-play unicycle version)

Well be-bop-a-lula she's my baby,
Be-bop-a-lula I don't mean maybe.
Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby
Be-bop-a-lula I don't mean maybe
Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby love,
My baby love, my baby love.

Well she's the girlie with tight blue jeans.
She's the chickie with most everything.
She's the girlie that shakes that thing
She aint got a diamond ring,

Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby,
Be-bop-a-lula I don't mean maybe.
Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby
Be-bop-a-lula I don't mean maybe
Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby love,
My baby love, my baby love.

Well she's the one that gots that beat.
She's the one with the flyin' feet.
She's the one that rolls right out the door.
She's the one that gets more more more.

Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby,
Be-bop-a-lula I don't mean maybe.
Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby
Be-bop-a-lula I don't mean maybe
Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby love,
My baby love, my baby love.

She's the girlie that shakes that thing.
She's the girlie that knows everything.
She's the chick that I love so,
And when the doctor gives it, well go, go, go, go

Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby,
Be-bop-a-lula I don't mean maybe.
Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby, baby,
baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby.

Be-bop-a-lula she's my baby love,
My baby love, my baby love.




My 2 cents,

Tim

PS: I couldn't find a mp3 version of the Elvis and Lewis duet, but here
is Lewis's 'solo version with the modified wording'
(http://dl.zvuki.ru/2/2963/mp3/15.mp3).


--
cyberbellum - Level 1.0 rider!

Optimists think the glass is half full. Pesimists think the glass is
half empty. Engineers think the glass is too big.
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Krashin'Kenny wrote:
*Jayne,
I noticed that if I don't get a sudden burst to get the Coker rolling
past that 3rd or 4th revolution, I tend to lose all momentum and have
to dismount. *

Kenny's right about the first couple of revs being the hardest. You DO
have to get the wheel rolling to ride it.

What I was tryin to say was that 40-60 RPM is about right for a newbie
learning to Coker. That's about 2-3 meters per second, or 7-11 kph.
It's easy to run out of a fall at that speed and your brain can't go
much faster anyway. Leave the 160 rpm speed demons runs for later

Elvis's version of Be Bop a Lula is real slow, around 50 beats per
minute, so it's ideal for getting the pace right. (Disclamer - I'm not
much of a musician so I don't really know how fast the Elvis tune is.
It just feels right for Cokering slow.)

Jayne, your brain needs something to distract it, so my recommendation
to mentally sing an Elvis tune while riding is real. The worst thing
you can do at this point is to let your brain concentrate on your
lower-body reflexes. It just screws them up.


--
cyberbellum - Level 1.0 rider!

Optimists think the glass is half full. Pesimists think the glass is
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cyberbellum wrote:
*4) when your right pedal is just coming over the top simultaneously
a) swing your arms and shoulders hard to the right, b) snap your hips
and the unicycle to the left (into the fall), and c) stomp hard on the
right pedal, *

Hmmm... ChangingLinks may be right. Perhaps it's the LEFT pedal that
you have to stomp to go left? I'm not really sure anymore. Time to go
riding and observe what my legs are doing.

Tim


--
cyberbellum - Level 1.0 rider!

Optimists think the glass is half full. Pesimists think the glass is
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