End Quote
I would like to add a slightly cautionary tale on a related subject...
Be careful the first few times that you go backwards on a giraffe. The first
time I tried it I went the entire length of the hall until I hit the far wall
(not too fast, luckily).
The second time I tried was on a borrowed six-foot
at a convention. The same thing started to happen, and I swayed majestically
backwards, in perfect control - except that I couldn't stop! :-O
I heard gasps of horror and realised that I was bang on course to demolish a
very large stand of juggling equipment. I leaned way over to one side and did
a sharp turn and somehow ended up idling (and shaking a lot).
The technical moral:
What I was trying to do was to pedal backwards faster until the wheel
overtook me and I would be able to pedal forwards again (well, it seemed
logical at the time).
What I should have done - and what I do now - is to lean forwards gently
without consciously altering my pedalling. Everything sorts itself out and
the much desired forward progress is achieved once more.
Peter Philip
of the LUNIs, London's Unicycle Hockey Team