I have 5 kids ranging in age from 14 down to 5. The oldest (a girl), got interested when she visited my brother's school (he is an elementary PE teacher in Lake Oswego, Oregon. He has been teaching his students unicycling for the last 10 years and they have a very active unicycling club. His students have performed at half time during basketball games and other public events; he has had over 300 students learn to ride and they have ridden thousands of hours; he reports that there has only been one broken bone in all those thousands of hours of riding!) during a holday. So I bought her a used 20" unicycle and she proceeded to teach herself in just a few weeks. Soon she was riding as well or better than me and teaching me new things! Sometimes we play "follow the leader" only she usually wins (whoever falls off first loses). I borrowed a 16" unicycle from my brother for the summer. Both my 7 and 9 year olds are learning to ride. The 7 year old is making the most progress. He can now ride 10 or 20 feet without falling (he has been working at it for only about 10 days!) For the first few days my 14 year old and I helped him by walking on each side and letting him hold our arms. Now he has progressed far enough that he is working on it himself. I think he will be riding without falling within another week if he keeps it up.
We often go out together in the evenings and ride together. I am working on riding backwards and on idling. After several weeks of hard work, I am finally getting to the point I can ride backwards some. The thing I enjoy about unicycling, besides its being fun, is that it is challenging. There is always something to learn.
I live only 4 blocks from my office. A couple of weeks ago I started to ride my uncycle to work (on the days I don't need to drive to a client's office). It is a lot of fun to ride down the street in a suit and tie! I do get some comments, but they are almost all positive. The reaction by both old and young is very supportive. I find that it is a good way to help bridge the gap between generations and different economic status. My coworkers are suitably impressed (they already knew I was a bit different).
On our vacation this year, I put a ski rack on top of our minivan, and took two unicycles (mine and my 14 year old's). We stayed at various campgrounds in SE Oregon and practiced riding on gravel roads, in campgrounds, and on some trails. It was a blast! And it really helped improve our cycling skills.
I no longer consider unicycling a dangerous activity. Since the rider is usually only a few inches from the ground and is going slow, it is much safer than bicycling. We usually wear helmets (kids are required to wear helmets to ride a bicycle in Oregon), but I don't think they are usually very necessary. I have my share of bumps and bruises, mostly from trying to learn new skills, but nothing to worry about.
And it is a great exercise!
Scott Arnold
Scott Arnold