Learning to ride a bike

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Craig the cyclist

Über Member
The joys of Freecycle have led me to this.........

Can any of you really do this? How long do you think it will take me to learn? Should I be riding for 30 seconds by the end of the day?

Am I f'ing mad for even considering it at my age?

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Deleted member 26715

Guest
Always wanted to try it, if you don't get on with it throw it in my direction please
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
A neighbour learnt to ride one of those over several months. He practiced in the local park and said it was completely different to riding a normal bike.

There's also a British bloke riding one of those round the world.
 

stephec

Legendary Member
Location
Bolton
Completely different is putting it mildly. 😄

I've got one that took me a few months of on and off occasional practice before I could do about 3m before falling off, not touched it for a while though so I'm back to square one again.
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
An American student at Durham University did a 50 mile charity ride on a unicycle which had a 26" MTB wheel and tyre.

He told me the most difficult part was stopping the cycle running away from the rider when going down hill.

According to him, there is a small but active unicycling scene in the US.
 

gavroche

Getting old but not past it
Location
North Wales
In France, where it is legal, they use an electric gyro wheel which can do 20 mph. It just has one platform on each side of the wheel where you put your feet and off you go. A good one will cost you about £1200 and it has a range of 60 kms. It weighs between 14 and 17 kgs, according to the model but ideal for commuting really as it is easier to carry than a bike.
They are illegal in the UK though.
 
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Craig the cyclist

Über Member
35 minutes of stumbling, faffing, swearing and falling off, this was just about as good as it got (the next one was smoother and I pedalled out of shot, but still less than 10 seconds) On YouTube, 30 seconds seems to be the key learners benchmark, so I will go for that......

Hmmm, can I embed a video?
 
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Craig the cyclist

Über Member
Point of order, m'lud. That...thing...is not, by any definition, a bicycle.

Mind you, I'm ever so slightly envious. Freecycle, you say?

Oh, I don't know, having a look at YouTube suggests that men and women are equally f'ed when learning to ride the things!

Yes, Freecycle, can you believe it? She asked if i wanted an alarm clock and some towels while I was there :wacko:
 

annedonnelly

Girl from the North Country
An American student at Durham University did a 50 mile charity ride on a unicycle which had a 26" MTB wheel and tyre.

He told me the most difficult part was stopping the cycle running away from the rider when going down hill.

According to him, there is a small but active unicycling scene in the US.
Was that the Great North Bike Ride? I remember seeing someone on that. I think there was someone regularly around Cullercoats/Tynemouth way on one too.
 

a.twiddler

Veteran
Learning to ride a bike is in itself probably the most marvellous and liberating thing a person can do in terms of energy expended and cost compared to walking. Usually the trend is to increase the number of wheels as you get older rather than reduce them. More wheels is easier to ride, needing less coordination and balance, less wheels are much more demanding, but to be be able to master a unicycle must be a tremendous buzz.

Strangely enough, While out shopping on my motorcycle last week in the town of Northwich I spotted a bloke on a unicycle on the roadside cycle path and I can't swear to it, but he had something in his hand and looked like he was texting! He looked remarkably chilled as he rolled along. As I can barely cycle and chew gum simultaneously myself I was massively impressed by this feat of coordination.

I thought I had done rather well to be able to learn to ride a recumbent bike. What next -a recumbent unicycle?
 
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