Two Challenges That Will Make You a Better Unicyclist

We all know that riding that single wheel cycle is a lot harder than riding the two-wheeled cousin. Not that riding a bike is easier, especially if we’re talking about one of those penny farthings, you know, the bicycles with the big front wheel. 

But we digress. There are challenges of balance and strength associated with a unicycle that just don’t translate to a bike.

Take, for instance, speed, which is a critical element of riding that can’t be understated. 

First let’s look at how it affects a bike. With a bike, you get lateral stability from speed; but even if you slow down, and are more liable to wobble off to one side or the other, the fact that you’re situated between a front and a back wheel means that you won’t suddenly pitch forward or backward. 

Really, with a bike, all you have to do is worry about veering (or falling) off to the right or to the left. 

With a single wheel cycle, that is, your unicycle, you have no such stability. Your wheel makes effectively one point of contact with the ground, giving you no inherent stability in any dimension, neither forward nor backwards, nor side to side. 

The reason we bring this up is because, as hard as it is to ride a bike at a true snail’s pace, it is that much harder to do that with a single wheel cycle. 

Which is why we’ve come up with a technique to make you a better and a stronger rider. Much as we have compiled lists of exercises in the past which will strengthen your riding muscles, so too will the exercises (to call them that) mentioned here strengthen you and improve your coordination, making you a stronger, more proficient rider overall.

And both of them have to do with riding slowly. So let’s start with the painted line slow race. 

The Painted Line Challenge and The Slow Race

There are trials and challenges at unicycle events and conventions that consist of slow races.

What is a slow race, you ask? It’s a race, out the winner is the slowest rider still riding. That is, you lose if you get to the finish line first. Idling is not permitted, nor is riding backwards. You literally need to get to the finish line as slowly as possible, or lose. 

Regardless of whether you have it in your cards or not to compete officially, the slow race is an excellent way to make you a stronger, better rider with greater control over your single wheel cycle. Here’s how you can do it at home. 

Find a painted line roughly the width of your unicycle’s tire, if you want a real challenge, or around twice the width, if you want to start easy. The white lines on the shoulders of roads work well for this, but you won’t want to do this on a busy road for obvious reasons. 

Mark off 20 feet of the line, and have a friend set you up with the timer. Get in the saddle, have the friend start the timer the second you get in the saddle, and ride those 20 feet of the line as slowly as possible. 

Take your time, and mark it. See how slowly you completed it, and then aim to beat that time the next go around. 

There are just a few considerations here. One is that if you go off the painted line for any reason, you are disqualified. That go doesn’t count, so start over. Control is critical here. You need to complete the slow race slowly, but you also can’t be all over the place. You need to control the unicycle. 

The other thing is that you cannot stop and you cannot idle. That wouldn’t be fair. There are unicyclists that can idle indefinitely, if not just straight up balance their unicycles in one spot. That would drag out the slow race forever and would really become a competition to see how long you could effectively control a single wheel cycle under an idle, not how slowly you could actually finish a race. 

Keep trying to beat your time by lengthening it. It will make you a stronger rider, hone your balance, and fine-tune your sense of control while in the saddle. 

Up the Ante: The 2x4 Slow Race 

The painted line slow race is challenging enough and remains a great way to become a better, 

stronger unicyclist. But if you’re looking for a real challenge, one great way to up the ante is with the 2x4 slow race.

It’s effectively the same thing as the painted line slow race but this time you need a length of 2x4 that’s approximately 20 feet long. That’s a bit tough to find so if you can’t you can just lay a few sections end to end and that should work just as well. 

Why is it so much harder? Well, because staying basically on a painted line is one thing, but you will know if you’re too close to the edge of the 2x4. You’ll fall off if you go over. Plus, being able to make corrections near the edge of the plank adds another dimension of skill here. 

All other aspects of the trial remain the same. You have to try to take as long as possible, you can’t stop or idle, and obviously, if you fall off the 2x4, you have to start over and that attempt doesn’t count for scoring purposes. 

Try this challenge and just see if it doesn’t make you a better, stronger, more controlled unicyclist who’s better prepared to try a new riding discipline, like mountain unicycling or some unicycle sport. 

Gear Up for Single Wheel Cycling Here 
Whether you’re just here for ideas or could use some new unicycle or bike safety gear or even a new unicycle itself, we have you covered. Shop our online collection and get in touch with us if you have any questions at all. We’re more than happy to help.