Some do find walking the wheel much easier than hopping on the wheel.
So many in fact, that at the USA, Inc. annual meeting, the motion to
move walking the wheel down to level five and move hopping on the
wheel up to level six passed by an overwhelming margin (it looked like
a 4/1 ratio in favour). The IUF, Inc. hasn't taken any action on
this issue yet. So currently, the USA and IUF Acheivement Skill
Levels differ on this single point.
Maybe the Acheivement Skill Level video tape would help.
$23.50 (U.S.) or $32 (foreign) including shipping and handling.
To get it write to:
Unicycling Society of America, Inc.
P.O. Box 40534
Redford, MI 48240
USA memberships (not needed to get the tape) are $15 (U.S.), $20
(Mexico/Canada) or $25 (Overseas). Additional family members are $1
each.
Mark Sands already gave an excellent technical description on how to
do hopping on the wheel. I can only add another way to go from riding
to hopping on the wheel and two more ways to get back down on the
pedals.
Pedals to Hopping on the Wheel:
In the following description, the seat
1) Come to a stop with the pedals horizontal and the right pedal
forward and pull the seat out to the front with the right hand.
Hold the front of the seat with the right hand and back of the seat
with the left hand. (If the pedals stopped with the left pedal
forward, switch "left" and "right" in the two sentences.)
[This positioning of the hands places them in the best position to
do step 3 below.]
2) Hop with the seat out in front until balance is stable.
3) Leap up with both feet simultaneously so the body rotates 90
degrees right if the right pedal is forward (or 90 degrees left if
the left pedal is forward). [The feet travel a shorter distance
this way; turning 90 degrees the other way would force the feet to
travel a much greater distance. The wheel stays in contact with the
floor and does not move throughout this movement. [This may be a
easier method than twisting the unicycle itself 90 degrees, because
the feet can land on a stationary target.]
4) The feet can land on the tire right next to the frame almost
touching it or about six inches from the frame on either side.
Brief description of Hopping on the Wheel:
Hopping the wheel can be done in either of these two positions.
In the former method, the feet can be squeezed together so the
wheel can not rotate while hopping. In the latter method the feet
directly control the rotation of the wheel which can be an
advantage when learning certain wheel hopping variation and the
sideways wheel walk. However, the former method is probably easier
to learn and is far more prevalent. It is recommended that both
methods be learned as soon as possible, since each has advantages
over the other.
Hopping on the Wheel to Pedals:
Method #1 (Somewhat similar to what Mark Sands described):
1) The right (left) foot on the wheel behind the frame reaches down
toward the back right (left) pedal while the left (right) foot on
the wheel in front of the frame maintains balance by not allowing
the wheel to turn or by doing a brief one foot wheel walk idle.
2) The right (left) foot lands on the back right (left) pedal and this
momentum makes an idle starting on a backward stroke a natural next
movement. At about the same time, the rider slides into the saddle.
(Other final movements are hopping (on the pedals), stillstand,
riding backward, an idle starting on a forward stroke, and riding.)
Method #2:
1) With both feet remaining on the wheel, lower the body down onto the
seat.
2) Quickly move the feet off the wheel and onto the pedals which
should be horizontal with the right pedal forward if the right
(left) foot was in front of the frame.
>Another question -- as a somewhat frequent computer user, I've become a
>bit worried about messing up my wrists. I've noticed that when I have to
>hold onto the seat to jump a lot, or (attempt to:) do stairs, they start to
>hurt. Does anyone know of anyway to minimize this effect, or should I
>abandon my efforts at hopping curbs and doing stairs (both very
>useful skills)?
Maybe you are using your wrists too vigorously for too long. You
could try to reduce the vigor or reducing the length of use. Pace the
use of your wrists by spacing out skills that place a strain on your
wrists with skills that do not.
As your skill in hopping curbs and doing stairs increases, you will be
able to control the unicycle with far less strain to your wrists.
Unless the condition of your wrists is serious enough to seek medical
help, I wouldn't worry, but do be cautious.
Stay on Top,
Ken Fuchs (kfuchs@winternet.com)