Gregg

The two basic four ball patterns are called the asynchronous fountain and the synchronous fountain. The asynchronous fountain has the juggler throwing balls alternating between his left hand and his right (in two columns, never throwing two balls at the same time.) This pattern is easier to learn if you are familiar with the 3 ball cascade (“the” juggling pattern… looks like a pretzel), because it follows the same rythm of tosses (right, left, right, left). The Synchronous fountain is where the juggler throws the balls in sync with one another, throwing two at a time, one from each hand. This is slightly harder to get the hang of because you have to focus on two simultaneous tosses, and you have to keep them very consistant with one another so you can throw the next pair.

That’s my two cents for the beginner 4 ball juggler. It looks cool, and it’s pretty impressive to the general public.

Regarding the use of ski poles and what have you as balance aids, the only real downside I can see to that is the heightened potential for injury. Falling off a unicycle is no big thing, most of the time you end up standing, but throw poles into the mix and there’s a chance of landing on the pole, which would be majorly uncool. That’s really the only difference from using walls, I’d say.

Unicycling is a fun skill to have, and it’s great exercise. When I had a unicycle, I rode it to and from class every day, which involved covering a fairly substantial hill, up and down. Once you’re comfortable with riding, it’s faster than walking (though this really depends on wheel size and what you consider a “normal” pedalling speed.), though not as fast as running.

If you get decently good at riding, it’s worth it to give juggling a try, because once you can do both, there’s some money to be made from people passing on the street, if that’s your bag.

Words of Wisdom for new riders: Lean your weight forwards when riding forwards, rather than keeping it straight above the wheel. This prevents you from falling off backwards, which has greater potential for injury than falling off forwards.

Definitely learn to idle. (Rock your pedals back and forth while staying in the same area.)

Practice all your skills with both feet evenly from the start, otherwise it will only be more difficult to learn later.

Basic familiarity with a unicycle can be gained in a weekend, just keep at it, don’t give up.

Enjoy!

Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Well, perhaps not, but I used to stay up until between 2 and 4 in the morning every day for a number of reasons, one of which was that I could get more work done if no one was awake to distract me. This year, I’ve been slowly adapting to a schedule wherein I get up at 4 or 5 in the morning and go to sleep around 9 or 10. I was having more success before I started watching TV again. (Damn you, Lost!)

Anyhow, it’s very nice to be up for a few hours on your own before you have to go to work/school/whatever. You aren’t as groggy, and you don’t have to start your day off by getting ready to work—instead, you get a couple of hours of flex time to do whatever tickles your fancy. I like it, but maybe I’m just crazy.