This video is not one I ever wanted to make or thought I would make but I feel it is important to share with you what I recently went through. I am the last person I would have ever thought would ever go through a mental health episode and I am not 100% sure what exactly brought it on. All I can do is share my experience with everyone as I feel this is something that more people go through then we really know.
I hope this video will help others going through their own mental challenges and would like to find a way to add more mental health content to this channel moving forward as it is just as or even more important than physical health.
When you see someone ripping around on an EUC (Electric Unicycle) it looks pretty easy, the just lean forward a bit and glide away dipping side to side to turn left and right...
Well I am sorry to say it is not so simple. Yes the leaning forward and back part is 100% handled by the EUC but when it comes to the side to side it's all up to you and no riding a bike does not seem to help here. If you have ridden an actual Unicycle then I am sure the learning process of the EUC will be a lot easier but I think most of us have little to no experience on a pedal based Unicycle.
This video represents day three of the learning process for me. My first steps to learning how to ride my Begode Tesla T3 EUC Electric Unicycle where at home in my kitchen where I simple held on to walls and stuff while I went back and forth against the wall and did some loops around the island. There was no real speed involved here and very little free wheeling.
My next main training session was going to my local artificial turf soccer field and learning how to get away from holding onto stuff. I figured this is a safe place since the ground is much softer than a road or parking lot (better for both me and the EUC) and I still had a nice fence all the way around to practice on at first before taking a leap of faith and ridding with no assistance. This session was fairly productive with me being able to ride around the field non-assisted for the most part without crashing and I was even able to make decent turns but I did not feel super confident, for sure not ready for any trails, sidewalks or open roads.
So now we get to this video which shows me at the same artificial turf soccer field but this time with the inclusion of snow! Probably not the best for learning on but maybe even softer if/when I fall :) Like before I pretty much just road around the field hoping to get more comfortable with riding in a straight line and also turning. And low and behold it did start to all come together a lot more than before, so much so that I took to the local trail even though it was covered in snow and did a nice loop with no falls or crashes!
Some basic suggestions that I feel helped me a lot while learning would be the following:
Go at your own pace and start off with simple wins like just standing on your EUC and going forward and back while holding onto a wall or person.
Progress to very short no assistance rides from one point to another even if it is only 5 or 6 feet at first. lengthen the distance as you get more confident.
Look where you want to go, maybe even a bit ahead, do not look at things you want to avoid or you will hit them for sure!
Keep your knees a bit bent and squeeze the EUC with your legs not too much but just enough to keep it stable.
When turning put most of your weight on your outside leg almost like you are riding on that leg all by itself.
Also when turning, make sure to keep a slight lean forward or you may stall in the turn, you need to keep your speed up in turns.
Well that's where I am at so far learning how to ride my new Begode Tesla T3 EUC Electric Unicycle. I look forward to being even more confident on it and taking it to the sidewalks and roads and using it as a sort of commuter vehicle for more local trips even though it can take me 70-80km on one charge if I need it.
So now that the Vancouver Fall Classic has come and gone, what are my final thoughts and what is next for this 53 year old body bodybuilder wannabe. Was I happy with how I looked for the show and in the show? Was I happy with how I placed in the show? Did I do everything I wanted to do? Could I have done more or made any changes in my contest prep? How is everything going now after the show, is my body bouncing back OK since post show stress can be even worse then pre show body stress? And what are my future plans moving forward now that the show is over and I have to go back to my regular mundane life ;)
I answer all of these questions and more for you in this video so grab a drink and bag of popcorn and sit back and watch the video...
So we made it to the Vancouver Fall Classic stage and for the most part everything went as planned. I stuck to my program and came in what I thought would be very close to my best condition in several years. If I am honest I don't think I was in my best condition? I have my doubts but really need to see my stage photos to know for sure. They really tell the truth, not that friend and family don't but they will always be rooting for you and have a bias that may not give you 100% accurate feedback.
As I have been talking about leading into this show I struggled with a bit of water retention in my face and to some degree that also showed up a little bit with stomach bloat, not so much in my skin but more under my skin and in my abdomen. I managed this fairly well in the morning show by using an over the counter diabetic called Watertight along with very limited water intake the night before and day of the show. I know I was not holding a lot of water for the morning show because I weight pretty much the same as I had weighed leading up to the show, in my weigh in and in the morning and right up to the day show which was right around 193 to 194 pounds.
Between the mornign Prejudging Show and the evening Awards Show I did have a reasonable sized lunch and I took a bit of fluids, this increased my weight from 193 to around 198 pounds so I went up a good 5 pounds but it was all water and it went a bit into my mid section and face, not really anywhere else and not too much into the skin but maybe a little bit. So I did feel. Little bit bloated on stage which was not exactly what I wanted for the evening show.
It could of been worse for sure but I feel I could have been tighter on stage if I did not have this water retentions issue going on, that said I did OK and placed 1st in Master's Classic Physique which was not a surprise as I was the only one in that class. I placed 1st in Masters Physique out of three competitors one of which I felt was a strong contender for sure so happy with that placing. In the open categories I placed 3rd in Tall Physique out of 5 guys all of which where half my age so again very happy with that placing and in Tall Classic Physique which is probably my weakest category I placed 7th out of 11 guys all of which where young other than me and another Master competitor.
So am I happy with the results? Yes and no, I feel like things fell apart the last week or two of my prep. It's like I strolled a bit, my body fat seemed to drop but I didn't see changes in my body as much as I should of and I believe it was a water retention problem because my weight did not change much even though my body fat did and I was having problem with my face holding onto water any time I changed my diet even a little bit when adding any carbs in.
I am posting this on the Monday after the show and right now I am 205 pounds so 12 pounds overweight in and stage weight and I did not go crazy with the food. I had to shut down the eating and drinking a lot because it was literally putting me into a coma every time I ate anything significant. The interesting things is I am not holding virtually any water anywhere other than my face and abdomen, my ankles and feet are fine, my skin in general is fairly thin everywhere other than my face. I do have a lot of bloat in my stomach which puts pressure on the organs and makes you feel lethargic.
So I guess it is in my best interest and health to go back to a much cleaner and low carb eating style which I am more use to but I was hoping to be able to enjoy a few meals and treats before getting back to more regulated eating. Maybe this is good in a way since I am less likely to put on unwanted weight and can stay leaner this time post show. I will keep you all updated on my health and how my post show recovery goes...
Monday, December 12, 2022 at 1:32PM ;)