Why learning to unicycle is not easy

Learning to unicycle is of course not impossible but it's not easy either.

It's hard because there are several things to do all at the same time. You can't really think much about them because you can't stop peddling. There's no time to ponder. It's all feeling and reaction.

It's hard because there's so much advice on how to do it, but much of what people write relates to what they got hung up on. Once they got the hang of "that one thing" the rest was easy. It's not the same for everyone, so advice is relative and not absolute.

It's hard because speed is needed to balance. On a bike speed is mitigated by brakes and handles. On a unicycle, speed is determined by how you pedal, and if your pedaling isn't smooth your body has to react to counter balance accordingly. If you press hard on the pedal, you better lean forward. If you get distracted and stop pedaling, you best not be leaning too far over the wheel. It's not a natural feeling to commit to pedaling fast enough to get your balance without any ability to direct the unicycle or stop without stepping off the front.

On a unicycle, theory only gets you so far.