It’s been slightly over a couple of weeks since the last update, where I’d realized I was able to mount the 36-er, but was still unable to roll away on it. For the first time in a while, I spent the weekend (28 Jun - 1st Jul) biking, riding to Örebro, and participating in a 200 BRM, my first BRM this season. The ride didn’t go to plan, but I wrapped up the weekend by enjoying a strong ride back to Linköping. On the unicycle front, I began to detect a strong reluctance to get on the 36-er. Each time I wanted to try it, I found myself subconsciously steering towards the 20” uni instead. When you analyse it for a bit, the reason becomes quite clear; on the smaller wheel, I’m so much better, and each time I ride it, I come back with more confidence and the realization that my skills are getting better, and I can also ride till my legs scream. On the 36-er though, progress is still slow, and all I could do was to hop on, and then step off. Sure, I was stepping off more gracefully now, and was now almost always able to catch the unicycle before it dropped to the ground (which feels nice), but that was about it.

I then realized that I should try and mix riding both unicycles in the same session, to reduce the monotony/drudgery of repeating endless cycles of hop-on-hop-offs, and when I actually did it, the results were really nice. The brain absolutely loves the challenge of recalibrating some inner tables to accomodate for the size difference. The better you get, a bigger part of these recalibrations occur without your realizing it, but initially, it can even be a bit hilarious, as you fumble around, looking silly and feeling sillier, as you struggle to do something you clearly know you can :)

Today, I took the 36-er first up, and noted steady progress in my mounting technique. A lot of my attempts to mount and launch would lead to getting on in a crabbish sideways angle from which it would be pretty near impossible to get a launch off; I found myself making fewer of these rejected mounts, and saw I was getting smoother, and straighter. After a few attempts which yielded a couple of revolutions or so, I landed one and rode eight revolutions. After another couple of attempts, I landed one and rode quite a bit. I stopped counting after some 30 revolutions, as I knew I was in a stabilized ride. Riding a 36-er is far easier than riding the smaller wheel is, but all the hopping on and off can tire one out fairly quickly, and so, after about 40 minutes, I found I was fairly zapped.

I got home, ate my dinner, and hopped on the smaller wheel, to finish up, and it was fun. I found that I was no longer comically losing the wheel under me, after having ridden the 36-er, in a clear sign that the recalibration is happening with greater efficiency. I’ve raised the saddle height on the smaller wheel a bit now, and the increased height makes me a bit (lot?) less stable at lower speeds, but it’s now a lot easier on my knees. I think I should be able to regain my stability as soon as I get a bit more used to the new saddle position. Oh, this is fun!