Everyone, over the next month, please write and send us an interesting or humorous story, poem, article, book, or just a short paragraph about unicycling. Let's see if we can get a contribution from each member on the list.

A story that is usually very interesting is how and why you became interested in unicycling. Another describes your experience of learning to ride a unicycle; include details that are unique to your learning experience. Tell us of a unicycling experience that you recall form time to time; just sit down in from of our keyboard and let them flow into it so, the rest of us can enjoy your experience too.

Please don't tell yourself "I'll do it later." Just say to yourself "I'm not too busy to write a paragraph or two, besides from where I'm sitting now, it will take just a keystroke to get started, I'll enjoy the experience of writing that special unicycling memory and share it with other unicyclists."

Stay on Top,

Ken.

Ken Fuchs (kfuchs@winternet.com)
 
 

 Beirne Konarski  (beirne@neo.lrun.com)
 
 

That was a great story, Beirne.

New unicycling promotion:

"Every dog owner should learn to ride a unicycle, so they can walk their dog. The reason is simple. Dogs walk faster than a person on foot and slower than a person on a bicycle, but unicycling speed is just right."

Thank you,

Ken Fuchs (kfuchs@winternet.com)

___ | O O+O O

Rolf Sander

I decided that although buying a red sports car and having an affair with someone at the office was the norm, purchasing a unicycle and learning to ride it would be less expensive - though not necessarily safer. It's been a few years now and I'm still a beginner, but I can ride a few hundred feet without falling off. The major obstacle has been finding the time (poor excuse, I know). I bought a second uni when it was time to replace the cheap seat on my first one, in hopes my teenage daughter would learn with me. After one evening on the blacktop by the school, my daughter was asked numerous times "was that you and your father on one of those clown-things?".

I really appreciate reading the unicycle mailing list discussions, thanks to those that contribute so much useful information.

Bruce luhrs@netcad.enet.dec.com T

Name: John Butler Age: 20 From: Waycross, GA, studying at Georgia Tech in Atlanta (U.S.) Job: Computing Support Representative Other Hobbies: Typography, Bass Guitar, Juggling, Politics

I learned to unicycle before I learned to juggle. During my senior year of heh school, A girl named Jill Cirasella (who was a sophomore at the time) moved to my town and became good friends with my sister. She had a unicycle (Cyclepro brand, anyone heard of that one?) that she sold to me for $15!!! It was a 24", and it took me about three weeks to be able to ride it any good distance. I rode it all over my neighborhood. I then started to practice juggling again, and later that year I could do a 3-ball cascade. I brought the unicycle with me up here to Georgia Tech, and I like to use it to get around campus. I've seen one other unicyclist, but I don't know him very well. There was a coffee house about three miles from my dorm my freshman year, and I would ride there in my spare time. Nothing like unicycling 6 miles through downtown Atlanta. Once I was riding around under the Southern Bell building and some 12-14 year old kids on skateboards came by. They were rather impressed. Unfortunately, one of the little shits offered me some marijuana... 12 years old! I politely refused, and warned him in advance that cops frequently patrolled the building so he might want to get rid of his stash.

Just curious, but am I the only Republican on this list?

Fez jbutler@gtri.gatech.edu

Well, I posted the news on rec.juggling, but I didn't write much about it. I rode my uni (DM Ringmaster, 20" wheel) 30 miles along the cyclepath from Bath to Bristol and back at the weekend.

I'm a 21 year old biochemistry undergrad. I started juggling during the Christmas vacation, 1992. I started unicycling in July this year. I was lucky enough to have excellent conditions for learning to ride a unicycle. I got the uni on a Friday afternoon and spent that weekend at the Wessex Juggling Convention, so there were plenty of people around to give me advice. I spent hours practising in the car park. The following Tuesday was the first time I unicycled to work.

I've ridden along the Avon Valley Cycleway a few times by bike. I decided it was time to do it by unicycle. It was a bank holiday weekend, so I could do the ride on Sunday afternoon and then rest on Monday. The weather was good, so there were quite a few people around. Fortunately though, the path tends to be busiest on bank holidays themselves rather than at the weekends.

I meant to leave by noon, because I wanted to visit the Bristol Exploratory. But, when I got up I couldn't remember why I had planned to leave early. So I finally left about 1.30.

After a few miles I started to ache a little, despite my padded lycra shorts, but I only had to get off for a few seconds and I was ready to go again. In the first few miles I had to cross a couple of bridges, both of which were unsheltered and windy. On the second I got off for a rest, so I had loadsa fun trying to get back on again. :-(

At one point it started to rain. Fortunately I had my umbrella (the major advantage of a uni over a bike) and I was sheltered from the wind by trees on either side.

In the middle of the cyclepath there is a stretch of a few miles which is unpaved. A fair portion of this is unsheltered. I was glad to see the end of that stretch.

All the way I heard comments along the lines of "that's doing it the hard way." A couple of groups of cyclists slowed down to talk to me, both wishing me luck after asking if I was going all the way. The only "where's your other wheel" joke I had while on the cyclepath was from a girl in one of the groups who slowed down. The comment was met with some scorn from her friends ("where's your originality?"), and she followed it with "I bet people say that all the time." One bloke asked what possessed me to ride to Bristol and back on a uni, I told him I wanted to see if I could do it.

Pedestrians occur all the way along the cyclepath, but they are most common towards the Bristol end. As I entered Bristol a group of teenage girls walked past and called back "Nice legs!" Who am I to argue with their opinion? :-)

The path crosses roads at a couple of points, so I had to get off and remount. I take on average 3 tries to free mount, and I wanted to free mount as much as possible. One time I was particularly lucky - I managed to free mount on the first try in front of a group of 3 teenage girls. Not that I was trying to impress, but can you imagine if I'd taken a dozen tries? Hell hath no fury and all that. They asked how far I'd been. I told them "From Bath to Bristol and this far back." At this point that meant about 20 - 25 miles. One of them said "you're mad." Naturally, I thanked her.

The ride took about 3 hours there and 4 hours back (I was taking it *really* easy riding home). It was getting dark by the time I got home, but I had my lights with me. Overall, I reckon the ride was worth doing once but I doubt I'd do it again without a bloody good reason.

Danny Colyer | bs1dwc@bath.ac.uk

I have been reading this list with great interest. Although I suppose I am more of an armchair unicyclist than a real addict, you may be interested to hear how I got my uni.

As a recumbent cycling addict, I am already regarded as somewhat of a nutter. So when I read an ad in the local free paper about a new juggling shop, I felt I could go there and stay in character. In fact, the shop is real fun. It is tiny, but the walls are completely covered with juggling gear, from bean bags to knives to torches, there are kites and...unis. The guy that owns/runs the shop is called Oddball (yes, I am told that is really his name!). He insisted on demonstrating any item I layed my eyes on. Then he asked me if I was happy, where I was from etc. I told him I was Dutch. He then asked me if I could do something for him (no, this is not a dirty story, no religious stuff either). He told me he wanted to export some of his gear to Belgium. But to do that, he needed some instruction sheets translated into Dutch and French. Translating is fun but a lot of work, so I said, surely we can make a deal out of it. I will do the sheets and you can give me a uni. I was just joking but he agreed!! So I translated the sheets, well over 40 hours of work. He then offered me a 20" SEMcycle, the kind with the pressed forks. Although it was used it seems to be in good order. I did not have any one to help me, so I just started off in the park. So far, I managed to free mount, ride about 100m, make gentle turns. So I am still sub level one, but maybe one day... Riding is not particularly comfortable though. Maybe I should try padded shorts or something. Or a different saddle. Pointer appreciated.

Whilst riding in the park the reactions range from the obvious 'have you lost your other wheel' to 'I did that when I was a little girl' from a 85 year old lady who watched me struggle with a shine in her eyes. Also, a lot students will say 'almost there'. I presume they are on Oxfords uni-hockey team. Chinese people look at me with pity, I suppose they are spoiled seeing their acrobats.

Kind regards,

Wouter wouter.suverkropp@jet.uk

Cycling is fun, even when there is no sun.
 

Name : Dennis Kathrens Age : 38 Location : LeRoy Kansas (out in the boonies, 70 miles south of Topeka) Occupation: Instrumentation and Process Controls Technician Hobbies : read science fiction, repair just about anything, bicycling, unicycling.

Favorite sayings :

Reality is a Crutch for Minds that can't handle Science Fiction. Man who Wear Shoe Think Earth Covered with Leather. Think for Yourself and Question Assumptions The Higher, The Fewer Nuke a Gay Whale for Jesus

I am tall and skinny and was never considered athletic, more the bookworm type in school. When I turned 30 (gasp! I'm old now!) I decided I should take up some program of exercise. After trying and rejecting weight training (a waste of time for ectomorphic individuals like me) and running (boring and painful), I got a recumbent bicycle and started commuting to work on it. I have come pretty close to my original goal of 100 miles per week, riding about 5000 miles per year for the last four years. I also tour and run errands with it. It's my "other car".

One thing about recumbent bicycles is that your upper body is supported by the seat and doesn't benefit much. I suffered from Doogie Schwarzenegger Syndrome--very muscular from the waist down, like a 16 year old kid from the waist up.

It came to mind last fall that riding a unicycle would be what I needed to balance this out. No upper body support whatsoever, using the upper body for balance and directional control. Tones arms, shoulders, back and abdominal muscles. And it sounded like fun!

I searched high and low for an inexpensive used unicycle--let's see if I can even do this before I spend big bucks on a new one. After scouring the local area without success, I went to Michigan for a short-term job, and my searches there were just as fruitless. I broke down and bought a 24" Matthews through a mail order company. The very next day I called to talk to my wife and she told me "You'll never guess what I saw at Wednesday auction--a unicycle. It sold for $5!" Sigh.

My unicycle arrived a week later and I assembled it myself, frantic to get outside and start learning. This is the hardest thing I have ever tried to do, and during the first two hours of practice I was afraid that I had bitten off more than I could chew. But I concentrated on learning little bits of the process and putting them together. Inside a week, practicing about 30 minutes per day, I was able to ride 50 feet, turn around and come back.

After two weeks of practicing, I rode my unicycle to work, 4.5 miles away. I hadn't learned a free mount yet and I thought I could get away with carrying just one stick. Half a mile from the house I fell off and found I couldn't get back on with just one stick. No curbs, no mailboxes, no parked cars to hang onto. The road I took bordered a woods so each time I fell off, I had to walk across the ditch and find a dead branch to use as the second stick. I would get going and then throw it away. The last mile was a private road to the power plant where I was working, and I dared not fall since there were no trees on that road. It only took me four remounts and an hour and ten minutes of pedaling to get to work. Only three remounts and one hour to get back home after work. I found and used many of the same sticks I had discarded previously .

At the morning meeting, one of my coworkers who arrived late asked "Is that your unicycle in the bike rack?" I said yes. Someone else said "Just how do you park a unicycle in a bicycle rack?" With a straight face I answered: "Same as a bicycle--you poke the wheel into a slot and put down the kickstand." Then I sat back and watched his brain overload trying to process this datum.

There's a new simile to add to your lexicon: Useless as a kickstand on a unicycle. :^)

After about 3 weeks I learned to hop on from behind and get going. First by starting with the wheel backed against a curb, then against a block of wood and !finally! against nothing at all. It was at this point that I felt I could start calling myself a unicyclist.

Since then I have learned several tricks, thanks especially to the videotape IUF Skill Levels. I haven't been qualified by an official examinator, but I am somewhere between level 4 and 5 now. I hope to go all the way to level 10 eventually. I look forward to meeting uncyclists in other areas of the country. I travel all over the US for contract work lasting 3 months or more, so I have time to really get to know an area and meet interesting people.

I have a lot of fun riding around town and learning new tricks. I have ridden in several local parades this summer to the amazement of my friends and neighbors.

My nephew from Ohio came to visit last week. He noticed my unicycle and wanted to see me ride it. I showed him what I could do and then let him watch the IUF Skill Levels tape. He asked why people spent so much time learning such difficult tricks. I replied "What about skateboarders and freestyle bikers? They do tricks that look downright impossible. I'll bet it took a long time to learn them." He thought about this for a moment and said "Yeah, but THOSE tricks are COOL." My wife took all this in and started laughing, so I retorted "Oh yeah? Well I was uncool when uncool wasn't cool!"

( For those not into Country & Western music, this is a take off on a popular song, "I was Country when Country wasn't Cool" by Barbara Mandrell. )

That's all for now...
Dennis Kathrens  d.kathrens@genie.geis.com

My most memorable unicycling experience occured while riding my unicycle on the Helli deck of the AURORA AUTRALIS, an Australian Antarctic research and resupply ship. It was somewhere in the middle of the Southern Ocean with a dreamscape background of huge ice-burgs and sunset colours everywhere. The ship was experiencing a type off motion commonly known as corkscrewing (I'm sure you can imagine what that means). This gentle corkscrew action allowed me to ride round and round in a circle, travelling downhill the whole time! Quite a unique experience.

On the same trip I had another first for me, though many of you I'm sure find the situation commonplace (well allmost). I'm talking about riding in the snow. We were sheltering from the winds in the lee of Heard Island in the Southern Ocean. It was quite calm and large snowflakes were gently falling. The ship was covered in about two cm of soft snow. It made the riding surface (the metal floor of the helli deck) quite slippery so gliding with the wheel locked was possible. Again the scenery was what made the experience so special - sitting just a couple hundred meters from the site where a large glacier meets the sea. A couple of seals lounging on the ice and penguins darting and Porpoising through the water.
 

Mark Sands M.R.Sands@iasos.utas.edu.au
 
 
 

Age: 35 City: Rochester, MN Occupation: Electrical Engineer Married with 3 kids.

I am an avid juggler (I can do 5 balls and 4 clubs) and in January of this year somebody in the juggling club told me where he saw a used uni for sale. I bought it for $50. It is a 24" old Schwinn. I started learning in my basement because there is no place to ride a uni outside in January in Minnesota. Within a couple of weeks I could ride the 30 feet across the basement. Learning to free mount took longer and I then learned I had the seat way too low. Had to learn to free mount all over again after I moved the seat up where it should be.

Over the summer I have learned to go as far as I want, can do figure 8's in the driveway, can juggle 3 balls and my 5 year old son likes me to give him rides on my shoulders. My 7 year old son isn't brave enough to sit on my shoulders even without being on the uni.

This winter I hope I can learn (in my basement again) how to idle. I would like to get more steady while juggling, especially 3 clubs. I have tried to pick up things on the ground and can get down to something about 7" high so far. Would be nice to learn to pick up a dropped club.

Unicycling is still second to juggling and I really only want to learn enough on the uni so I can work it in with my juggling.

Andy Arhelger andya5@aol.com
 

I was calmly walking down the sidewalk, looking across the four lane street next to Iowa State University, one of the most beautiful land grant universities in the US. I was enjoying the peaceful, late spring scene of two swans swimming around and nuzzling each other in the lake across the road. The scene of the playful swans in their lake was so tranquil, that time seemed to slow to a stop. Then abruptly time snapped back to full speed, as something approached me from behind. As I turned back to see who or what it was, in the corner of my eyes, I could make out the very vague image of a bicyclist as he whizzed pass me. But something didn't seem right about what I saw, so I turned around to look straight at him. My feelings of tranquility turned to absolute amazement, as I observed only one wheel on the "bicycle" this person was riding, gentlely wobbling to and fro as he receded into the distance. After staring at him for about 5 seconds, I realized that he was wearing an ordinary shirt and blue jeans. I began to think about what I saw as I turned back to continue my walk. "I'd never seen a unicycle ridden outside of a circus, but this fellow was dressed in ordinary street clothes and I wasn't aware of there being a circus near Ames now. So clearly this guy was ordinary person, not a circus person with extraordinary skills. Riding that unicycle looked like a lot of fun and I saw an ordinary person ride, so why shouldn't I try it? I have a pretty good sense of balance. I think I'll buy my own unicycle, and learn to ride it. That fellow learned to ride, so why can't I?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

If any wants to hear the rest of this true story, please let me know and I'll write and post it to the list.

My thanks go to everyone who has accepted the UNICYCLING MAILING LIST CHALLENGE! I encourage everyone who hasn't, to consider it now. It doesn't have to be a story about your involvement with unicycling, although a unique story about yourself and unicycling can be an excellent contribution to list members. Maybe you'd like to try your hand at poetry, a short story about another unicyclist, a short article about a unicycling event, or pose a question or questions to members of the list. Let some of your creative energy flow into the unicycling list!

Stay on Top,

Ken. kfuchs@winternet.com
 
 

How did I learn to ride a unicycle? Well, it runs in the family: you could say it's an inherited behaviour. So, to learn about me, we have to start with my father.

My father, Miles S. Rogers, learned to ride a unicyle when he was a teenager. He used to hang out at a bike shop in West Los Angeles (this was before video game arcades :-). My father was a serious bicyclist, for that matter; when he was 14, he rode/hitched from Los Angeles, California, to Weiser, Idaho, and back via Portland, Oregon: a distance of 2600 miles (4200 km), of which 1200 miles were on the bike.

He learned to ride a unicycle using a 4-foot high fence on an alley back of the bike shop. For a while he rode with a friend in parades, but after his friend dropped out Father moved on to other things (such as World War II). Eventually, he got married and had kids. I'm the oldest, followed by my sister Dawn, my brother Bruce (who's on this mailing list, too), and my sister Valerie.

Now, Father had told Mother, at some point, about his former unicycling career. On Father's Day, 1961, she surprised him with a gag present: a unicycle she had bought for $25 from the famous Walter Nilsson, the first unicyclist to ride coast-to-coast across the USA. This unicycle was too small for Father to ride comfortably, so he went back to Walter's shop and had a 24" custom built for him (heavy-duty with balloon tires!). The small unicycle gave Father an idea: why not teach the kids to ride???!

I'm sure you're thinking you know the end of the story: how could we avoid learning to ride? Well, there's still a bit more to tell.

First of all, there's the question of where and how one learns to ride. The first few attempts (in 1963, when I was 7) had us (my sister Dawn and I) sitting on the unicycle while leaning against the side of the family station wagon. We were supposed to work our way along the car, and when we reached the end we were supposed to let go, ride down the rest of the driveway, and ride out into the street.

I'm afraid we did more flying onto our hands or backs than riding down the street. We scratched the paint on the car. We didn't have fun. We didn't learn.

A couple of months later the family moved from Westchester (near the Los Angeles airport) to what's now the City of Carson, a suburb south of LA. The new house had a short cinder-block retaining wall along the driveway. Dawn became interested again in learning to ride, and Father issued her a challenge: if Dawn could ride from our garage door to the sidewalk, turn a corner, ride to the neighbor's driveway, turn again, ride up to the neighbor's garage door, turn around, and reverse the route (uphill), all without falling, Father would buy her a unicycle of her own.

After a few weeks, Dawn completed the test, and Father bought her a brand new Royce-Union unicycle.

Well, I couldn't stand this. Here my SISTER was riding, and I wasn't. My SISTER had a new unicycle, and I DIDN'T. Furthermore, Dawn was teaching one of the cute neighborhood girls, Georgeanne Babros, to ride. You bet I got down to business and learned to ride in a hurry!

The Wonderwheels Unicycle Drill Team was formed. Georganne, Dawn, Father and I were in our first parade in the fall of 1964. Incidentally, there we met the Concord Unicycle Drill Team, sponsored by the Children's Club of Concord, California, for many years one of the foremost performing unicycling teams in the United States.

I started by saying that riding runs (or pedals) in our family. Let me tell you about my nephew, Jason. Father got Jason a unicycle, and recently gave him daily training sessions for two weeks. My brother, Bruce, issued a father-to-son challenge to Jason: if Jason could ride around a certain large tennis court area without touching the fence, he could go to the next NUC. What do you know, Jason made it the first day he tried! You'll see him at Bowling Green!

Craig Milo Rogers rogers@ISI.EDU
 

I learned to unicycle mostly as a side-effect of learning to juggle. It was probably early 1986 or so, when I was very active with the University of Minnesota Jugglers. The club had a few unicycles: a 6' (20"?) Schwinn, a 24" Schwinn, and a Cycle Pro. I mostly learned to pedal along using the one-hand-on-the-wall-of- the-gym technique, and it took me a long time to learn to turn to the right. About the time I managed that, lots of unicyclists started showing up at juggling club (Connie Cotter for one), I think mostly because of the unicycle festival in Minneapolis that summer (or was that '87?). By the standards of 1987, I think I'm a level three rider, but am now a level 2 rider (I don't ride over objects well).

--

Unfortunately, this has not been a banner year for me -- I had a friend buy a 20" Miyata Deluxe for me (I already owned a 24" Miyata Deluxe) that I knew a bike shop in Boulder, CO had. He was going up to Boulder for the day (I'm ~100 miles from Boulder), and got it for me. I was skiing that day (this was in January), and had my first bad skiing accident, spraining my right knee. So I didn't get to ride my new unicycle until last month!

--

I have managed to spread unicycling some. Some very old friends of the family have an eldest daughter that always wanted to learn to unicycle. While in high school, she had her parents draw up a list of classic American literature that they figured would round out her knowledge of American authors and literature. She set to work on it one summer, and got through by September. For her birthday, and partially in reward, her mother set about attempting to locate a unicycle for her to ride. I advised on this and, being a Miyata bigot, strongly recommended a Miyata.

Unfortunately, in 1987, no bicycle dealer in Salt Lake City carried Miyata unis. A few bicycle dealers attempted to discourage buying a Miyata ("It'd be too good"), and recommended a Cycle Pro (ugh!!) or a Schwinn. So I bought a Miyata 20" in Minneapolis and shipped it out. It was apparently a great hit -- she learned to ride within a week. She also discovered that the man next door had learned to ride 30 years before. (His wife was very surprised, too!) Harriet is extremely possessive of her unicycle, and has ridden it just about everywhere.

This last Christmas, I gifted her two younger siblings with a unicycle I saw advertised on this mailing list; that has been well received, too. (It has been named "Ethelred" (The Unready).) Last I saw, about a week after I gave them the 'cycle, the youngest was toodling up and down the street, and the middle was riding most of the length of their driveway. Fortunately, Mom is a pretty tolerant type -- when the driveway was iced over, practice was in the kitchen!

--

Next up, getting two of my coworkers who have not ridden for > 10 years back on unis.

Robert Herndon rh@craycos.com
 
 

I'm enjoying all the stories so far. A lot of similar experiences that I have had, too. Here's some of my story:

Name: Dirk Iwema Age: 39 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio USA Occupation: Engineer Married with 3 daughters

About 5 years ago I had this desire to learn how to juggle. (Maybe an early mid-life crisis.) I discovered that juggling was a lot of other things besides throwing things up and catching them. It was also blance type things, including unicycles. But that was too hard to even think about.

About a year later I saw an ad in the paper for a uni. Why not? So I cut it out and then didn't do anything about it. A few months after that I thought I would call (I figured it would be long gone and wouldn't have to learn riding it.) Much to my surprise it was still available. Since no one even called they would lower the price to $30. That is how I came by a nice Panasonic 20 inch uni! At the time I didn't know what a great deal I got!

Once I could ride around the block (about a mile) without falling off and was able to free mount most of the time, I set a goal to ride every street within a mile radius of my home. This has been fun as I now see new places and meet new people and discovered new parks and neighborhoods, etc. It is also a challenge on a 20" and the hills here in Cincinnati. I am now working on the second mile radius. Maybe the goal after that it will be every street backward or one footed (NOT) or ...

 Dirk Iwema  Internet: iwema_dirk@ae.ge.com
 

Name: John Foss (The Uni-Cyclone) Born: 03/03/62, Detroit, MI Learned to ride: "almost" at age 14, then "the rest of the way" at age 17 Club Affiliation: Joined Redford Club in 1980, founded Long Island Unicyclists in 1985 Work: Motorcycle Instructor, Driving Instructor, Part time pro. performer Used to be: Artist/Instructor for the National Circus Project, doing school programs around the Northeast. Company founded by JeanPaul Jenack Hobby: Unicycle, Juggling & similar skills, Photography, Bicycling, Collector of unicycles, unicycle T-shirts, and Coca-Cola bottles & cans

LEARNED TO RIDE: (Alternate title "HOW NOT TO LEARN TO RIDE A UNICYCLE")

I originally remember seeing unicycles for the first time in the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is usually telecast nationally. It was a group from "a school where all the kids ride." This was St. Helens, in Newberry, Ohio. I was six. From then on, a pilot light was lit in the back of my mind that said I want to do that. At age six, I got some hand made stilts instead.

Age 14, a neighbor had a Schwinn. Wow, interesting! I couldn't borrow it, because too many other people were using it. Then, my neighbor let me borrow his. It was a red Troxel from Sears or somewhere. I soon found out why he let me use it for as long as I wanted. It had a 16" hard plastic tire (no air), and otherwise tricycle parts. Troxel is a large company making tricycles and other vehicles for kids who can't read yet. It did have the ability to raise the seat to a reasonable height, and a banana type seat, which was not bad for a unicycle. It did not have bearings. When you put your weight on the seat, there was a huge amount of resistance to turning the wheel.

Over the course of several weeks I banged around the basement, holding onto old furniture and whatever else was in reach, frequently throwing the infernal thing into the corner and saying 'to hell with it.' but I would not let it win. Sooner or later I always tried again until I could ride 20 - 30 feet or so. Just when I got to where I could ride down my driveway and start to turn, the thing self-destructed. The wheel would go up against the fork, and come to a stop. I didn't have the tools or technology at the time to fix it, so that was that.

Three years later, my neighbor Bradley went riding by on a Schwinn 6' Giraffe. I was again fascinated. I followed him around on a bike but I was too fast. I followed him on foot but I was too slow. I would have to learn. It took a while before I built up the guts (stupidity) to try it, but eventually I got on and attempted to ride away from the trunk of a car, which was just the right height to make it like starting a regular uni. from the curb. I only tried once and went about 3', but a few days later, I spent 45 minutes of concentrated getting-back-on, until I could go away from the car, turn 180 degrees, ride up the bump & up bradley's driveway, until I got to the garage and grabbed the basketball net.

One week later we set off on a 10 mile ride on one 20" Schwinn and the 20" wheel giraffe. It was a trip of epic (painful) proportions! But that's enough for now. Maybe some other time I'll relate a story which I hope you will find interesting. Until then, get your back issues of ON ONE WHEEL, join the USA, and read about what everyone else has done, with pictures!!!!!!!!!!

John Foss, President International Unicycling Federation jfoss@unicycling.com
 

Hello all, and happy New Year. Having seen the info. needed to join this mailing list on the rec.juggling internet newsgroup - I jumped at the chance. I'm Keith Johnson from Providence RI. I'm a 30yr. old. full time performer (since '86) of Family Oriented entertainment (circus arts, magic, comedy at fairs, fests, corp. picnic Christmas & Picnics etc.) and Humor Based Educational Assemblies for K-6 grade students in New England. I do about 450 shows per year, the majority of which are "4 a days" at schools.

I've been unicycling off and on (mostly off) since I was 16. Never have I used the uni in my shows because 1. it's hard to find a place to practice year round in order to get good enough to include it in the shows and 2. only recently have I graduated to performing at spaces that consistently have the correct surface to ride. It's tough to include unicycling when you're on the living room & ball field circuit. The only interestingish story that I have about my life on one wheel to-date: I graduated from Ringling Clown College in '83 and in our year they had a big thing about cycles. One guy there seemed to be born on a unicycle, it was as if there wasn't anything he couldn't do - it was as natural to him as walking is to me. In a couple of days he learned to ride a unicycle wheel without the seat or body, (I forget what that is called.) At the time I was able to ride a uni in a straight line and mostly stay up. A couple of weeks before the end of the course, I was informed that I was to ride a 6 footer in our graduation performance (in which we are judged eligible for circus contracts). I did learn to ride it - barely. I never did learn to free-mount the 6 footer, but by holding it still against a vertical "I" beam which was a good distance away from the performance area, I could climb up and then sit and wait for my entrance. I was to ride in the center of a line of 4 other unicyclists lined up like a train. Anyway since I could not rock in place, and could only move in a forward direction at a set pace, I had to judge by the actions of the first 2 cyclists when to let go of the beam and race forward to catch up to them and have it look like a smooth entrance at the same time.

As if that weren't enough, the day before our performance the director decided I should be carrying in my hands a 3 foot tall book entitled "How To Ride A Tall Unicycle". The worst part is, this gigantic book was made out of 1/4 inch plywood. After mounting the unicycle and letting go of my beam in time to look like I was a synchronized part of a 5 person unicycling team, right before I made my entrance, I was handed a HEAVY hinged plywood book to hold in front of my face as I rolled out to be scrutinized by the owner of the circus and the world media that was invited. I never did crash, I never ran into someone that was behind or in front of me - both of which would have at least been funny and therefor acceptable, instead I did the worst thing possible. I rode that unicycle in front of all of those people looking like I was scared to death and out of control - which I was. People fearing for your safety and the safety of the others around you does not a good impression make in Ringling Bros. Circus. I was not one of the lucky few who were offered contracts the following day. I was offered a contract a few months after graduation, but I declined (a sin). Who knows what they would have had me do if I was actually in their employ? I hope to rekindle my fondness of unicycling by taking part in this mailing list. I'll be watching for encouraging words written by others who have worked through the basics of unicycle skills and are now onto more complex things. Hopefully, next summer I'll put the uni back into my shows. I welcome e-mail at all times concerning- juggling, circus arts, the trials and pleasures of performing solo shows etc. Sorry if this post is unacceptably long - I won't do it again. My best to you all,

Keith- KMJ1@aol.com
 

Hello,

The welcome message for this mailing list contained a call for unicycle stories. Well, here's mine.

I started juggling three years ago and at a juggling convention I first tried unicycling without much success, but I liked it anyway.

Santa was kind enough to give me a unicycle last December. Yuri Abrahams (that's Sem's brother) gave some quick tips when I picked up my 24" SemCycle, I had some free time around Christmas and New Year so I was ready to learn to ride.

Because there was no one to hold my hand all the time I decided to try the "just-go-for-it" method. It worked well for me. I started mounting the unicycle with one hand to a wall for balance. My goal for the first day was to reach a fence at the other side of the driveway, about 5 meters away. To my surprise I got to the fence before lunch. In the afternoon I rode from driveway onto the road. Before I knew what was happening I had cycled 20 meters. Then I started thinking and of course fell of. But I had felt what it was to cycle and the same day I brought the record to 150 meters.

The following day it started raining but I did repeat a few more runs of 100+ meters.

The third day the weather was even worse and I had to stay indoors. Mounting the unicycle without any support from a wall looked like a useful skill, so I spent the time to try and learn this. After numerous tries I managed to get on the unicycle most of the time. I don't if my method counts as a "free mount" because I hold on to the tyre to stabilise the wheel before both my feet are on the pedals.

The last practise day I concentrated on making curves. I set up a slalom course with some bricks, moving the bricks closer together every time. I also had some fun trying to cycle as slow as possible. At the end of the day I could make a circle of about 2 meters in diameter, but only if I turned left! Making turns to the right is more difficult for me. Does anybody have any idea why?

The next thing I want to learn is to idle. I understand that you cycle back and forth a little, but I am not sure about the positions of the pedals. Are they supposed to be level in the two extreme positions? This would mean that the wheel makes half a revolution every time, which seems rather a lot to me.

Thanks for any help.

Cheers,

Ronny Wichers Schreur ronny@cs.kun.nl

F
Hello all,

This is kind of a belated introduction, as I've been lurking for some months now, after discovering this list via the uni WWW page. What inspired me to overcome my shyness was the recent discussion about length of time it took to learn to ride (and also a contribution to increase the bandwidth to make rec.{sport.}unicycling a possibility! :-).

My story is that when I was ~14, I remember spying a Sears unicycle for $20 in the catalog. After much grief, and at least a week (it's been 15 years now), I too achieved that sense of elation when one finally is able to traverse those precious few feet in semi-control. Well, after wearing out that pathetic non-pneumatic solid tire, I spied a "real" Schwinn uni in a local bike shop. Unfortunately, the price was exorbitant compared to my small means, so I endeavored to buckle up and supplement my meager paper route income with the lucrative wages as a strawberry picker. Lo and behold I was able to buy the treasured uni! I've no idea how I got it in my head to unicyle in the first place, as I didn't know anyone who had one, and the only inspiration I had was Jack Wiley's book at my school library. I never progressed very far (never got idling, or riding backwards down), and soon abandoned it. So, after a 15 year hiatus, and new inspiration brought on by all the uni-talk on this mailing list, I recently purchased a Miyata 24" deluxe (from Osell's -- thanks for the pointer Karl). Much to my (pleasant) surprise, I had no trouble picking up where I left off 15 years ago. OK, I've heard "it's like riding a bike, once you've learned, you never forget", but I'd never heard "It's like riding a unicycle!". Is this a common thing -- once you learn, you never forget?

ObSpecs: Steve Nash Occupation: Aeronautical Engineer Hobbies: bike racing (road, track, mountain), juggling, and unicyling Location: Los Alto Hills, California

Thanks for the inspiration!
 

Hello

I am new to this list, and I have a little story

I am at university at in Armidale N.S.W. Australia and I was a bit into juggling. There is this really cool guy doing the same course as me and my flatmate said he saw this guy juggling down the mall. I didn't really know him and so I went up to him in a computer class and asked him about juggling, then we got talking about juggling and he got me juggling clubs and it turned out that he also wanted to go down to Tasmania and he asked if he could get a lift with me when I go.

We eventually got to Melbourne Victoria and we didn't know what to do and so it was suggested we go to Juggleart - a juggling shop. Paul new the address of this shop, but Never being to Melbourne before, neither of us new where to go. We drove around a bit and we found the street the shop is in. We walked into the shop and it was so excellent. All of these juggling props and these giraffe unicycles!!! I had never riden a big tall unicycle before and asked if I could have a go. I idled first go on a 5 and 6 ft unicycle and it was so cool, and then I tried the 8ft one and was to scared to let go of the roof. It was so far to the ground, you need a parachute or something if you fell!

Anyhow, I never made it to Tasmania, but I spent a few more days in Melbourne before heading back for home and went to a juggling thing with a heap of other jugglers where you just go and juggle. It was really cool.

That is where I saw this guy wheelwalking and riding one footed. I always wondered if that was possible, but never thought I could ever be able to do it. I am into bmx freestyle a bit, so that is where the idea came from. I had never seen anybody do it before.

and that is where I met another guy who had an email address and he got mine and sent me some mail yesterday telling me about this list and he is a little piece of trivial information that stems from some place.

later

Scott  shone@neumann.une.edu.au
 
 

finally getting around to it... :^)

Hi,

I'm Peter Philip and I play unicycle hockey with the LUNIs - London's Unicycle Hockey Team.

The seed of unicycling was really planted in my brain around fifteen years ago when I was walking through the town of Witney, near Oxford in England and saw some guy come along the road on a unicycle with a big bag of shopping in each hand. He went round a roundabout in the middle of the traffic and swept out of sight so gracefully... I never saw him again, but the image stayed with me.

When I learned to juggle I looked at unicycles but they were just too expensive seeing as there was no guarantee that I would be able to ride the thing...

Then, after I started working at Friends of the Earth, I came across a big Australian called Rob (who later became my boss) and he also had unicycling ambitions. Between us we got together a syndicate of seven people who each paid 10 pounds and we bought a Pashley 20" and set about teaching ourselves to ride. Four weeks later the Pashley was destroyed (cranks, pedals and cotter pins - I said he was a big Australian) and at least two of us could ride. We both bought 24" Sem XL Trainers.

After several attempts to find a group of people who (it was advertised) played the improbable sport of unicycle hockey, we finally met up with one January night in 1993 in an old church hall in East London. That was the night that the current LUNIs team was born. We have since won the British Championship and at Eurocycle 94 were only beaten by the legendary Lahimo club (who claim to be unbeaten in 14 years).

Unicycle hockey has become the greatest obsession in my life and I only wish that there were more teams of a better standard to keep us pushing ourselves to improve.

My unicycling career (and my life) was nearly ended abruptly last year when I leant against a window while I was playing hockey on my uni and went straight through. I ended up with a large cut in my arm and a smaller one on my throat. I narrowly avoided having a skin graft and now all I have to show for it is a pretty scar, a mild phobia for windows (our new practice venue doesn't have any) and a more thankful attitude towards life. It hasn't stopped me playing hockey though, or riding on the streets of London and I hope that, every now and then, as I ride home from the supermarket, that someone will look at me and think........ and remember until the opportunity arises.

Peter Philip philip@mnet.fr
 
 

Hi to all,

As a new member of your mailing list, i would like to introduce myself. My name is Bob and i am an engineer working for a large R&D firm in the Baltimore/Washington area. I have been unicycling ever since a friend of mine introduced me to the sport while we were in college. While in college, i owned three unicycles (one normal size, one very tall, one with a small wheel for stunts) and tended to use each of them on almost a daily basis. Now that I am a family man with a full time job, i have much less time to ride, and money/space considerations have forced me to sell all of my unicycles except the normal-size one. My one remaining unicycle sits in my garage now, and is used once in a blue moon. I do, however, still thoroughly enjoy riding it, and try to take it with me whenever i go on vacation, or to a party where people might enjoy watching or trying it out. I would like to teach my son to ride in a couple of years so that i will have someone to ride with (first he needs to master the two-wheeler).

It is very easy for me come up with a story for the "Unicycle Challenge." There is one story that really stands out in my mind. It is the story of how I acquired my very tall (10 feet?) unicycle. So heres how I got it. ......

I was in college, and the first time I saw the 10-foot unicycle in the local bike shop, I knew I had to have one. I would still ride my standard-height unicycle most of the time, but i wanted the a tall one to ride on special occasions. The problem was the price tag; i could not afford it, and I knew i could never justify the expense if I should happen to come by a windfall. I decided that i would never own a tall unicyle.

While in college, I was an avid bicyclist. In he winter of 1979, I trained intensly for a cross-country ride, and in the spring of 1980, I rode across the country with no problems. That was an incredible journey, and could be the subject of another story. Shortly after returning from that ride, i read an announcement in local newspaper that said that the local bike shop was sponsoring a bike-a-thon to support MDA. The article said that participants should get sponsors, and that their would be prizes awarded for 1) most money collected, and 2) most miles ridden. I signed up for the bike-a-thon, and proceeded to get several sponsors (which did not add up to that much money, but it was something, and it was a noble gesture) There were several problems with the date that the cycle shop had chosen for the bike-a-thon. The biggest problem was that they had chosen the day of one of the biggest rivalry football games that our school played each year. There were very few students who were going to be willing to miss this game. Also, the weather was really lousy on that day, and the organizers had failed to make provisions for a rain date. Anyway, for all of these reasons, and due to some lousy advertising, the bike-a-thon was a complete failure, and I was one of only five people who rode the event. The other four participants were all young girls, one of whom actually had training wheels on her bike. Since the organizers had set up a rather nice course, i decided to treat the day as a training ride, and rode straight and steady from the first minute of the event to the last minute of the event. As I was in such good shape from my cross-country ride two weeks before, I racked up a number of miles which really amazed everyone around. Needless to say, I won the category of "Most Miles." I was informed that I should contact the cycle shop to make arrangements to pick up my prize, a bran new ten-speed bike!

Although I was delighted to have won anything, I really had no use for the bike that they were giving me. I considered giving it to charity, and then I thought about that 10-foot unicycle that i had seen at the cycle shop. I called the store and asked them if they would consider giving me the unicycle instead since it was worth approximately the same. I was told "We will get back to you on that!" When they called me back, the owner of the store explained that he would be glad to give me the unicycle instead, but that there was one condition. He explained that when I came to get the prize, the local newpaper wanted a picture of the store owner presenting me with the prize. I was told that the store would be presenting me a ten-speed during the photo session, and that I could exchange it for the unicycle after the photographers left. That is exactly what I did, and that is how I got my tall unicycle!

I will be looking forward to neat stuff out of this mailing-list. See you later,

Bob  McLeoRB1@central.ssd.jhuapl.edu
 

Name: Doug Borngasser Age: 27 Location: San Diego, CA Occupation: Biology Graduate Student at UCSD e-mail: db@ucsd.edu

I finally just stumbled across the unicyling home page on the Web and thought I'd add my story to the list.

I first started riding over 20 years ago and have been riding most of the time since then. When I was between the ages of 5 and 6 my parents took me to Ringling Brothers and I fell in love with the unicycles. I wanted to learn so badly that when my parents told me they wouldn't pay for it, I spent all of the money I got for X-mas ($15) on a truely beginners unicycle at Toy's R Us. It took me close to 6 months to learn how to ride, but at that age, almost all your time if free. I was determined that I wouldn't let it beat me since I had spent my money on it. I kept traveling along the bar in our basement and then out to the bar stools and back until I could finally travel the length of the room. Then it was out to the sidewalk. After months of falling off, I was finally able to ride off over the hills toward school. Only one major problem. The lowest seat setting was still so high that I was riding on my toes and had to have something to stand on and something to hold to get back on. I started having some long walks back to my starting point at home.

They probably aren't still making the unicycle I started on. If they are I wouldn't recommend it to anyone older than 6, it got to be uncomfortable fast.8-) It had a 20" solid rubber wheel, a hard plastic seat, and was made of painted steel (heavy). I rode that unicycle for 6 years until, going over a bump, all the rusted spokes broke. What a happy day. I finally had an excuse to get a new wheel. After that I bought a slightly better wheel from JC Penny which made it until I left for college and is still kicking around my parents place somewhere.

When I got to college, I bought the unicycle that still sits in the trunk of my car most of the time as a way to commute around campus (24" with knobby tires). I've been looking for a replacement, but none of the shops around here have anything better. I'm tired of replacing destroyed cotter pins and trying to find new cranks to replace the ones I've bent jumping off curbs and riding around in the dirt. I have looked over the faq and will probably call around to see what's available.

Now that the sun is out after I get home, I'll have to pull out my old Schwinn Giraffe and cruise the neighborhood.

You Know you're a Unicyclist when Walking has too much up and down motion. Doug
 

Greetings...I just stuck a potato in the oven so,even though there is so much I want to share(I'm a talking head)I'll resrict myself to the time it takes to cook a potato to share my favorite unicycle story of this year.  I'll try to abridge it.I'm so excited to find this place on the web(anywhere for that matter)that I know I'll blab on!  The unicycle is about balance so I'll balance my excitement too.

Anyways,my story is of" Chinese New Years Day Parade",SanFransisco.  I crashed the Parade!  On my Schwin Giraffe(6 ft.)dressed as the ever popular(in Asia anyways)"Sun Wu Kong".  The Monkey King! My potato is half cooked by now so I'll leave his great stories to your further inquiries or interest but He was a mischievous Hero and you'd want him on your side in a clinch.  I tried to enter the parade through "normal" channels.  There were no friendly open welcomes.  I belong to a Kung Fu school and was going to pay my respects like the hundred plus others but I'm trying to stay out of mischief being a DAD and all, but my web buisiness partners are total fans of the Monkey King stories and collect all kinds of memoribilia and invested in the costume production.  So, I had a red light and was feeling the stage fright of my circus days with "Ringling Bros. Circus"so I did feel less inspired Knowing how tight security would be as well.  I informed my freinds that it would be to much hassle to do up all the make-up etc. and be turned away.I dicided to not do it.I felt good about making the "responsable" desision,but when it came to the crucial hours before the parade(the biggest parade)I felt this michievous boldness that got me on a unicycle in the first place so many years ago.  I dicided to honor my master and friends and the NEW YEAR with at least the attemp.  I was running late and didn't ride my beloved uni in at least 6 months and there was no time to practice!  When my ride got there the tire was considerably low in air but I kept pushing myself closer towards the heart of the beast and a passer-byer on a bicycle was at a distantance and there was no air closer than a bike pump so to his surprise he was flagged down by a monkey-man in silks and a leapard skirt and fighting staff with a 6ft.uni. With the tire now solid just the way I like, I mounted and road towards the emence crowd.  Once the police and security parted the crowd for me I had cart blanche and the light was green!  I became the Monkey King! and as soon as I hit the middle of the street and did a few tight circles whilst screeming and yelping myself into character the crowd went BANANAS!  There was much more to it but my potato was done before this retelling got to the parade.  It was a challenging ride though.I used to commute 7mi. to school on this very unicycle when I was a pubescent.  I fell 3 times!  But I stayed in character and made good use of such folly!The newly elected mayor was Quite surprised.I was able to really work a crowd 10 years ago when I was with the Cirque but I haven't done anything on that scale since then and I'll tell ya I've never seen such an ethnically diverse crowd get so loud and wild.  I've been a spectator of that event for years and it can actually be an uncomfortable event bumping and vying for a good view in a well crowded space.  Mixing with unformiliars in a nervous society etc.  Well the unicycle had enough magic to stur them up to get such a response!  I) RIDE-ON!

Greg Mooney) gregm@warmcove.com