Speed and steering

In a previous visit to Tandberg (now part of Cisco) I happened to mention I once learned to ride a unicycle. During my latest visit to Tandberg a developer called Oivind told me he unicycled to work and asked if I would I like to try it again. It had been 25 years but I was game.

I started by moving slowly along a fairly narrow corridor - narrow enough to touch both walls. I managed to get some of the skill back but quickly reach a plateau. Oivind suggested I try riding in the open space at the end of the corridor.

With more space I could concentrate on leaning forward and riding a bit faster without worrying about crashing into a wall. Going a bit faster is important because it's hard to maintain balance moving very slowly.

With more space I could concentrate on keeping going and steering into a correction without worrying about crashing into a wall. Steering is important because there's not much point in learning to ride if you can't control where you're going.