Crank idling!

By Tanya Marsh

In order to learn how to crank idle, you first need to learn seat on side. When you are proficient at riding seat on side, then you can learn to idle seat on side. Since you will want to be idling with your dominant idling foot, you may have to learn to ride seat on side in the opposite direction you normally do; this was the case for us. Once you have idling seat on side down, we recommend you head to a wall.

Here, you KICK the foot idling on the high pedal over to the other side of the seat, and place it on the crank. You will want to have the foot that is on the pedal really far to the pedal's edge, so that your feet don't bump each other off. Then start rocking back and forth. At first it will feel like you're just using the wall to swing yourself, but soon you will understand when to transfer your weight to the crank, and when to transfer it to the pedal again.

When you can let go of the wall and keep crank idling for awhile, it's time to take to the middle of the floor! An easier way to start crank idling in the middle of the floor is to start by placing the foot that idles on the crank on the crank. Your heel should be about in line with the back of your pedal, and the middle of your foot should be at the beginning of your crank, at the center of the wheel. You should stand on your crank like this, holding the seat away from you at about the same angle and distance you would for a sidemount.

Lift your other foot off the ground and place it on the pedal, toward the edge as previously mentioned. At first you probably won't be able to get any idles at all. But if you keep at it, pretty soon you will be crank idling!

Crank Kicks

By Tammy Marsh

You can do a lot of funky stuff with crank idling. Pictured below are a few examples of various types of kicks you can do from the crank idle position.

First learn the kick with the seat against your body. When the pedal is forward all the way (horizontal) and your weight is on it, transfer all your weight to the crank foot and extend your other foot. Start small and just do baby kicks. Eventually work it up to where you can kick as high as you can.

Then you can learn the extended kick. This is my very favorite unicycle trick. Again when the pedal is all the way forward, transfer your weight to the crank. Hold onto the BACK of the seat and extend it as you kick out your other foot. The goal is to extend the seat far enough to make the opposite pedal touch the floor. You can pause a second while it rests on the ground. Then give a yank to the seat and pull it back to you so you can resume crank idling!

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