David Ramos, from Isabels, Puerto Rico, rode his Schwinn underwater with SCUBA gear in 1986. A description appeared in On One Wheel, Summer 1993.
Kevin L. Seaman also attempted this. He writes "When SCUBA diving, you can't pedal a unicycle. What you can do is swim with your arms and use your thighs to hold the seat so as to take the unicycle with you where ever you go. Basically it's nothing more than just another Kodak moment."
In Maastricht, at the 12th European Juggling Association Festival, 1989, a group from the University of Surrey performed their unicycle act on the stage - a floating pontoon on a swimming pool. When they all rode in one direction, the pontoon would float in the other direction. At the end of their act, they rode off the edge of the stage, into the pool.
Ken Fuchs
was pictured in the first issue of Unicycling Magazine in 1985 riding in wet sand at Jones Beach.Stephen Gun has been photographed attempting it on sand dunes, on Kangaroo Island, South Australia.
John Foss tried it in October 1985. A picture and a description appeared in Unicycling Quarterly, Fall 1987.
There has been some discussion on the problems, especially during `UMX' races.
Jax, of Roslyn Heights, New York is pictured,
aged 11, trying to ride through mud at a mountain bike festival in Vermont.
Mountain Unicycling (Muni) is a sport taken very seriously by its proponents.
Trials (obstacle courses with thin blanks, hopping and dropping) are also becoming popular.
A number of people have tried it. Others have discussed it.
At the 1995 British Juggling Convention, at the Cardiff Ice Hockey Stadium, teams played Unicycle Hockey on ice.
Pictured are Conny Rolke from Frankfurt, Germany riding down an Austrian ski slope, and John Foss riding on ice.
Lars Burgstahler, of Stuttgart, Germany also has some photographs which are well worth a look.
At the 1996 Bristol Juggling Convention, "a bloke called Max" nearly killed himself when the burning plank he was riding on, on top of a bonfire, broke, but he managed to leap to safety.
It's been done - Wolfgang Schaper, for example, has tried it at Munich Airport, and Peter Philip, the Unicon VIII director, tried it at Bank station in London.
In a similar style, Wayne Haines rode on a (manually-powered) treadmill exerciser in Findlay, Ohio in 1982.
It has been done more than once.
On October 2, 1971, Larry Chebowski (also known as Arnold Wheels) rode a unicycle, with a 12" wheel, up and down the aisle of an American Airlines jet, which was from Phoenix, Arizona to New York City for the World's First Unicycle Invitational.
Gregor Kerr and Guy Kerr of Calgary, Alberta rode up and down a bobsled track - without snow.
A feat attempted many times. Jean Paul Jenack rode a 6 foot giraffe off a 3 metre diving board at Long Island.
Fu Xiuju, of the Chinese State Circus, rides a giraffe one-footed while on top of a
walking globe, on top of a table, idling one-footed as she kicks a saucer, cup and
teaspoon onto her head. IUF Unicycling, Vol 2 #2, May 1988 had a cover picture of her at
the Monte Carlo Circus Festival. Eye-witnesses and experts have disputed over claims that
the globe was rigged, but are universally impressed with the level of skill.
There is a classic MPEG of video footage showing
some fool bungee jumping while riding a unicycle.
Lee Naish
has unicycled on the side of a twelve storey building. A colour photo.
Reportedly done a number of times. It was shown on "You've Been Framed" in September 1995, and on "America's Funniest Home Videos" around 27 March 1995. Apparently, it happened at the World Skydiving Convention in Quincy, Illinois, and appeared 1995 Quincy edition of Skydiving Magazine.
Kevin L. Seaman writes "Back in 1982, I was hoping that the TV show That's Incredible would tape and air this stunt. Of the four times I tried this, I never could get the "riding away" part on landing. Twice I dismounted and twice I just plain fell down. Needless to say, it was never on TV."
Steve Dressler and Van Parseghian rode on the deck of a cruise vessel, even during a very windy night.
Mark Sands has ridden on the deck of a ship, in Antarctic waters, that was pitching and rolling in such a way that he was always riding down hill.
Unfortunately, Mark Sands denies the rumour that he has ridden around the South Pole.
Erik Roseman of Telluride, Colorado was a General Assistant at the US Amundsen Scott
South Pole Station in the 1994-95 season. He was pictured (and recorded in a television
documentary) riding around the South Pole. (Thanks to photographer Ann Hawthorne,
of Washington DC, for permission to reproduce the photograph.)
One of the early USA Newsletters has a story about a guy who rode his unicycle around the world several times at the North pole.
Yes, many unicyclists commute to work.
From The Complete Book of Unicycling, (page 186) by Jack Wiley:
"Another notable unicycling feat was that of Bernard Munier of France. In 1971 at age 20 he rode a unicycle down the 1,700 steps and landings of the Eiffel Tower non-stop without touching a rail with his hands or a step with his feet. Stirrups held his feet to the pedals."
Julian Orbach
Copyright © 1998-2003 Julian Orbach All rights reserved.
