Learning to Unicycle

There are many videos on YouTube that do a great job teaching how to ride a unicycle. That being said, I have a few extra tips that aren't always mentioned in them. I recommend checking out these tips before going off to watch your tutorial of choice,

Before you start (safety tips)

You will not fall and hit your head (unless you really try or do something very unusual).

However, there is some risk of minor injury if you don't know what to expect. Here is what you have to look out for:

Your pedals may hit your shins, especially while mounting.
- With some trial and error, you will figure out how much pressure to put on the first foot, and where to bring your second foot to land on the pedal without getting hit by it. If you get hit, it won't feel good but you'll be ok.
You will fall off the unicycle. That doesn't mean you have to end up on the ground.
- Do not try to hold onto the unicycle on your way down. Let it roll away and hit the ground, for your safety. Unicycles are designed to withstand this. If you are feeling so unstable that you cannot adjust and stay on, just step off the unicycle. Check out the how to fall page for more in depth tips on how to recover safely.
If you have male private parts, you will need to mount the unicycle differently.
- Lift the seat under you by dragging it back to front across the bottom of your crotch. This will pull your junk out in front so that when you are ready to put your weight on the unicycle, there is no obstruction.

Extra Tips

Whether you choose one of the videos below, or read my instructions, there are a number of tips you will want to keep in mind while you're practicing. These are the things that make the biggest difference and it's important to catch yourself and correct if you find yourself not doing these:

Look straight ahead, and at something far away
Put all your weight on the seat (practically no weight should go on the pedals)
Sit upright
Be loose and let your arms do what they need to for balance
- Let them flail if they want to, it will get better over time

Once you're ready to get started

Check out one of the many YouTube videos out there showing you how to ride. A few that I trust and recommend are linked below.

How to Unicycle (Nick's Method)

If you insist on reading this page instead of watching a video from above, you can follow my method to the best of your ability. If you need personalized help while learning, I highly recommend joining the Unicycling Discord as well!

Milestone 1: Mounting

Before mounting, ensure you have something to hold onto, like a wall, fence or friend. Make sure you don't pick an object that is too short as you don't want to be hunched over.

Identify your mounting foot.
- If you're unsure which foot to use, stand in place, and take a step forward. Whichever foot you stepped with first is likely what you will feel most comfortable using as your mounting foot.
Arrange the pedals so that the pedal on your mounting foot side is somewhere within the green area in figure 1.
- The bottom-most position is the safest for protecting your other leg from getting hit by the pedal, but if you find that you need more leverage to get onto the uni, you may use a higher pedal position. Do not start with your pedal outside the green area.
Position the seat under your crotch (if you have male anatomy, this is the time to use the method described above to position the seat)
With assistance from your wall/fence/friend, step onto the unicycle. A good mount may feel more like a jump, so put some power into it!
- When you put weight on the pedal (figure 1, red arrow), the wheel will roll back and the other pedal will come towards your free leg.
Catch the other pedal with the other foot. You may end up in the position in figure 2 the first few times you try mounting, which is the most unstable position you can be in on a unicycle.
To prevent yourself from being in the unstable position, get them in the opposite position where the pedals are level/horizontal (figure 4). There are two ways to do this:
- Easier to learn, harder to master - Let the wheel keep rolling backwards for another quarter revolution. Once they have rolled past the unstable point, you can either push down with your mounting foot again (figure 3, red arrow) to roll forwards to the level/horizontal position, or roll backwards the whole way to the level/horizontal position.
- Harder to learn, more consistent - Do not put any weight on the mounting pedal so that the wheel doesn't roll back at all. You will have to do more of a jump to make this happen, and you must put weight on the other pedal before or at the same time as the mounting pedal, so that you never roll backwards. If done successfully you can roll forwards right away without the roll back. This technique works best starting and ending with the level/horizontal position (figure 4) before rolling out.
Sit there and get comfortable. Once you are on the unicycle, you will want to get used to what it feels like to just sit on it. Pedal back and forth a bit to learn how the unicycle responds to the weight on the pedals. Try to feel the difference between the unstable position (figure 2) and the level/horizontal position (figure 4)

Milestone 2: Riding with Assistance

Once you are comfortable mounting and existing atop the unicycle, you can start learning how to pedal forwards!

Initiate a pedal, while holding onto your support object.
- Give the pedal a decent push. Try to roll through the unstable position from one horizontal position to the next horizontal position. You should try to avoid getting stuck in the unstable position.
Repeat step 1 until it starts to feel comfortable
Initiate more consecutive pedals, and pedal a bit faster
- To accomodate the extra speed you may need to lean forwards slightly before pedaling. A faster pedal motion is initiated by leaning forwards, because it allows you to accelerate without you falling off the back of the unicycle. You should lean, then pedal so that the unicycle and your legs catch up to your upper body and balance out.
Repeat step 3 until it starts to feel comfortable.
Start riding with your support object, before steering away from it slightly for 1 revolution and coming back. Once you succeed, add more revolutions.
Start riding with your support object, then steer away and ride as far as you can. Don't worry about turning for now. Make it a goal to get to the other side of your practice space!

Congratulations! You can now ride a unicycle!

Milestone 3: Turning and Freemounting

Once you have completed Milestone 2, I would consider you a real unicyclist! However, most people also want to learn how to turn and mount without holding onto anything once they learn to ride around. In this section, I'll cover how to turn and some basic freemounting info.

Turning is simply a matter of looking where you want to be going, leaning that direction, and twisting your hips to align the wheel to go where you direct it. Start with super wide turns first, and then experiment with using your arms to initiate a tighter hip twist. Most people have one direction they are better at turning, but be sue to practice both ways!
Freemounting is the exact same method described in Milestone 1, but way harder without support. It may very well take many days to figure out. For freemounting, you have mount quickly, or you will lose your balance before you can even try pedaling forwards. As a reminder, there are two common methods for freemounting. I really recommend learning method #2 eventually if you want to be able to freemount effortlessly, but you will likely be able to use method #1 to successfully freemount sooner:
1. Easier to learn, harder to master - Let the wheel keep rolling backwards for another quarter revolution. Once they have rolled past the unstable point, you can either push down with your mounting foot again to roll forwards to the level/horizontal position, or roll backwards the whole way to the level/horizontal position.
2. Harder to learn, more consistent - Do not put any weight on the mounting pedal so that the wheel doesn't roll back at all. You will have to do more of a jump to make this happen, and you must put weight on the other pedal before or at the same time as the mounting pedal, so that you never roll backwards. If done successfully you can roll forwards right away without the roll back. This technique works best starting and ending with the level/horizontal position before rolling out.

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