I decided to set off on a 10+ km ride today, hoping to hit my old stomping grounds, along Ekängenvägen (which my wife and I have dubbed Snigelvägen aka Snail-road) for the sheer number of snails that turn up on the roads during the summers!

As I was getting ready to leave, I wondered if my wife would like to join me on my ride, on her bike, along with our son. She said yes, and I headed down to the basement to fetch my 29-er, and get warmed up prior to the ride. As soon as I started the warmup, I realized that I was still rusty with my freemounting, which was going to waste a lot of time on the road. I checked and corrected the pressures on the unicycle’s tire as well as my wife’s bicycle, and as soon as they came, we hit the road.

As I’d feared, my freemounting rustiness meant I needed a lot of hopping before I could get going. Even my wife noted that I seemed to be landing my jumps correctly, but I didn’t seem to be able to get rolling, and this was purely down to the lack of confidence. There were also more issues; there was a lot of gravel on the bike paths from the time it had been laid down, when the conditions were snowy/icy, and this was causing me a lot of anxiety, given that my confidence was low. There was also a stiff crosswind, so I found myself riding pretty-much crab-like, with my torso angled awkwardly sideways, and any attempt to switch to a more comfortable position meant that I came right off the pedals. I was also struggling to ride two-handed, instead waving my right hand like a magician with a nervous tic :( After a couple of more unplanned dismounts (UPDs), I settled down into a slightly better rhythm. I made a slight correction to the angle of the handle-saddle, giving it a slight offset, and changed my grip a bit, and just like that, the crabbing stopped :) I decided then that I’d take it easy and just add some much needed kilometers onto my legs. It’s surprising just how much of a difference confidence and regular practice can make to one’s riding abilities. While this is something we hardly discover while bicycling, the effect is far more apparent when we are on one wheel instead of two.

Since I’d taken a lot of time working through my issues, I realized that it was close to lunch time, and that it would be far too late if I wanted to complete my planned ride. We decided to turn around and start towards the local burger place, Max, where we could all grab a burger meal, before riding back home. It was heartening to hear my son cheering me on as I rode alongside them. The crosswinds were still strong as ever, but I found my confidence increasing with every minute of time on the saddle. Practicing indoors helps, but nothing can improve one’s riding skills like riding in real-world conditions is what I realized. I’m looking foward to more outdoor rides, now that I’ve faced and overcome some of the mental gremlins.

Pranav inspects the fries prior to consuming them. They seemed to pass his vibe-check!