50/50

So it actually was not raining last night so I took advantage of it to get some more EUC training in.  Despite Cindy getting me all that protective gear I did not put any of it on.  My reasoning was I intended to ride mostly on the grass in the front yard. I did buy a cheap pair of boots to give me some ankle support and padding, which I wore during the riding.

I was having a hard time practicing in the grass.  The sandy soil was soft and squishy from all of the rain we had been getting.  The tire on the Ninebot also felt like it was under inflated.  When I put my air pump on it the pressure was lower than recommended.

During that first session last night I was doing short runs across the width of the driveway, no more than 15-20 feet long.  My goal was simple, get on and get off the wheel without crashing.  Unlike my earlier training sessions where pretty much every time I got off the wheel it was via a crash, I had some mild success keeping control last night.  I’d say about 50% of the time I was able to get on the wheel, ride a short distance and then got off in a somewhat orderly manner that allowed me to grab the wheel without it crashing to the ground.

I was trying to use a couple tips while riding to help me.  First I tried to look ahead instead of down at my feet.  This was the same tip that helped me get the hang of slackline balance.  Second, I worked on turning the wheel into the direction of hard leans to stop myself from tipping over.  I did so by sort of awkwardly rotating my hips.  You can see some examples of it in the video.  It did work although I need to get much, much better at it.  The one negative about the turning motion is the twisting forces it applies to my knees, something that is not great for someone that has had them operated on twice for meniscus damage.

I did have one rather bad wipeout during the night when I had pretty fast descent down the driveway that I lost control of.  I wound up going for a roll that left a baseball sized brush burn on my lower back as well as another one on my left knee.  Some of that damage could have been negated by my new pads so I felt dumb for not wearing them at that point.  Anyway, overall I felt positive about the progress I showed last night.  It still feels awkward as hell and I still have minimal control but when compared to how I started I definitely have moved the bar forward.

Sadie goes back to Ali’s place today.  It’s always a weird adjustment period when she goes back.  Cindy and I quickly get used to having Sadie shadow us around the house.  When she leaves I find myself turning around, expecting her to be there.  I feel disappointed when I realize she isn’t.