Learning to unicycle on different surface types
This entry was originally posted at https://pchengi.com/bicycling/2021/02/23/Learning_to_unicycle_on_different_surface_types, and cross-posted here.
When I started riding outdoors in 2019, I could barely ride a couple of laps around the basketball field before my calf muscles screamed murder. Since then, I've not only been able to steadily increase the distances, but I've also learned to ride on different types of surfaces. I've now ridden on asphalt, firm soil, sand, snow, gravel-covered asphalt, and cobblestone. The ability to ride on different kinds of surfaces gives one more confidence, and the ability to change from one surface to the other without having to dismount and remount is a great advantage, particularly if one wishes to commute on a unicycle.
On most evenings, I accompany my wife on her evening walks, with my 24" unicycle, which is super-easy to mount and handle in the city, and I like riding around downtown with it. When I ride around Stora Törget (Central Square), I can easily transition from the asphalt to cobblestone and vice-versa and keep riding. One surface I've not ridden on just yet has been grass, particularly clumpy grass. On one of our evening rides, I came across a large patch of ice which I wanted to avoid, but since I haven't the experience of riding on grass, wet or otherwise, I couldn't just ride off the road and onto the grass, and this is therefore the next surface type I'd like to learn to ride on. Since I'm already quite familiar with riding on snow, being able to ride on grass would allow me to go off-road, in perhaps what would be a good first step towards being able to ride Muni.
When I started riding outdoors in 2019, I could barely ride a couple of laps around the basketball field before my calf muscles screamed murder. Since then, I've not only been able to steadily increase the distances, but I've also learned to ride on different types of surfaces. I've now ridden on asphalt, firm soil, sand, snow, gravel-covered asphalt, and cobblestone. The ability to ride on different kinds of surfaces gives one more confidence, and the ability to change from one surface to the other without having to dismount and remount is a great advantage, particularly if one wishes to commute on a unicycle.
On most evenings, I accompany my wife on her evening walks, with my 24" unicycle, which is super-easy to mount and handle in the city, and I like riding around downtown with it. When I ride around Stora Törget (Central Square), I can easily transition from the asphalt to cobblestone and vice-versa and keep riding. One surface I've not ridden on just yet has been grass, particularly clumpy grass. On one of our evening rides, I came across a large patch of ice which I wanted to avoid, but since I haven't the experience of riding on grass, wet or otherwise, I couldn't just ride off the road and onto the grass, and this is therefore the next surface type I'd like to learn to ride on. Since I'm already quite familiar with riding on snow, being able to ride on grass would allow me to go off-road, in perhaps what would be a good first step towards being able to ride Muni.