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Unicycles

Ariadne

18:47 / 04.05.04

I've developed a strange obsession with them and keep seeing them everywhere. Tonight my sis says she saw someone riding one round the big roundabout at Hammersmith, which seems pretty brave.

So - does anyone ride one, how hard is it, and should I buy one on EBay?

Red Cross Iodized Salt

23:58 / 04.05.04

When I was about five or six I was obsessed with unicycles and kept pestering my parents to buy me one. The stock response was 'when you're older' which, when I would invariably press 'how much older?', was defined as 'ten'. Then, for my tenth birthday, long after I had forgotten my unicycle obsession, they surprised me by actually getting me one. I think it was probably the single coolest gift I've ever received.

It didn't take too long to learn how to ride. It's basically the same as riding a regular bike without any hands except you have to lean forward to keep from falling over. The only really difficult part is the staying-in-one-spot / back-and-forth thing. I eventually got the hang of that, but could never do it for too long.

I don't think I'd recommend one as an actual mode of transportation, but they are a lot of fun.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

00:02 / 05.05.04

I've got one, but I'm poo at riding it.

Myshka

12:59 / 05.05.04

I dont know if its the same for girls, but I found unicycles extremely uncomfortable. Too much weight on the perineum isnt good...

Loomis

15:12 / 05.05.04

Right Ariadne that's it - you're banned from ebay. It's for the best really. You'll thank me later.

But seriously - how do you learn to slow down and stop without using your front teeth and the asphalt for brake pads? It seems to me like one of those things that are fine once you know how, but don't have the capacity for you to learn and make mistakes on, without risking serious dental work. I'd love to be proved wrong though, even though Ariadne has enough bikes in the flat already and if she thinks this only counts as half a bike, she can think again.

Grey Area

15:32 / 05.05.04

Well, you slow down and stop by not pedaling. The unicycle I learnt on had a direct link between the pedals and the wheel, which meant that if you stopped pedaling you didn't go anywhere. I think that's normal for unicycles (inasmuch unicycles could be seen as normal). If you fall you put one leg in front and do a kind of 'dying flamingo' hoparound manoever as you regain your balance, all the while avoiding the now tumbling unicycle that wishes to punish you for your lack of balance by giving you a sharp whack on the shin. It's loads of fun.

xxsarahxx

19:23 / 05.05.04

i know i wouldnt like to ride one, it requires concentration which i dont have. my brothers mate on the otherhand rides his while doing his paper round. very funny, suits his personality. and a great laugh if you see him in the streets. (laugh out loud)

tom-karika nukes it from orbit

09:10 / 06.05.04

I've never got the hang of riding mine - an my kneecaps haven't recovered from the attempt. It is exceptionally uncomfortable as well.

I'm coming to the conclusion that I'm doing something terribly wrong...

pointless and uncalled for

09:14 / 06.05.04

I'd give it a shot but only on one of those short ones first.

Sadly it's one of those toys that work better the faster you go, counterintuitiontastic really.

gingerbop

04:17 / 27.12.04

I do indeed, but I dont at the same time. I haven't cracked it yet, although I've had one for years. My flatmate is good at it though, so we're both gonna take ours down after christmas and hopefully I'll be chasing the guy in hammersmith down the road soon.

Lilly Nowhere Late

07:30 / 27.12.04

On a trip to North Carolina last year I read an article about a new "trend" in mountain biking which was using unicycles. Now I come from some pretty serious mountains and although I read the article(s) completely, I just didn't get it. How dangerous! How scary! Extreme sports seem extremely stupid sometimes! Etc.
This year, my trip to the same place revealed no mention/evidence of this craze for mountain unicycling. Could it be that this particular extreme sport was extremely underthought and smartly discarded?
I understand there are mountains in Scotland. Ariadne, a personal appeal: please don't take up mountain unicycling.

Lionheart

07:35 / 27.12.04

"I just didn't get it. How dangerous! How scary! Extreme sports seem extremely stupid sometimes! Etc."

Yeah, it's nothing like the perfectly sane sport of strapping two humongous sticks of wood to your feet and going down a snowy mountain at blazingly fast speeds.

HCE

14:53 / 27.12.04

My bf has one already and wants another. He said it took him 3 months to learn to ride it properly and be able to idle, etc. I've tried several times and doubt I'll ever learn, another friend of ours got the hang of it almost right away. Tips: lean farther forward than seems right, keep your weight on your seat rather than on the pedals, stick your arms out, keep the seat higher than seems right.

alas

18:28 / 27.12.04

There's a small fee-paying primary school near where I live, kind of a hippie school, where all the children learn to ride unicycles. I think that's so cool.

■

18:47 / 27.12.04

The way they teach is to get one person in front and one behind the trainee hippy unicyclist each holding up a bar of soap. They learn to balance very quick, I hear.

ps. I do love hippies, honest. It's just an image that popped into my head that wouldn't go away.

Lilly Nowhere Late

06:22 / 28.12.04

Dear Lionheart, I wouldn't do that either, but I'm a bit of wimp.

Water skiing anyone?

gingerbop

15:16 / 28.12.04

Yeah... well it's just being dragged behind a boat really. Unless it's going over humungoid jumps, letting go, doing somersaults and catching the rope again, I dont see the problem.

I've been promised a lifetime's free waterskiing too, for working for a week for a guy who does all the watersports stuff on a beach in greece. So of course that's not a silly sport.

Lilly Nowhere Late

16:13 / 28.12.04

Water skiing is quite good actually. It involves very little vertigo and the water usually feels all right when you smash into it. Better than pine trees anyway.

HCE

17:30 / 28.12.04

GP: nightclub dwight said it all basically..
rj: haha
rj: who?
GP: Tell them to go to unicycle.com to get a good unicycle.
GP: nightclub dwight.
rj: hahaha
rj: that's me
GP: doh!
rj: hehe
GP: it didn't take me 3 months..
GP: 3 weeks.
GP: !
GP: make me look bad..
GP: here's a good unicycling forum.. http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

22:16 / 28.12.04

a guy who does all the watersports stuff on a beach in greece

snigger

gingerbop

22:25 / 28.12.04

Oh, you try and word it better, mister matching bibles man.

Lilly Nowhere Late

18:27 / 02.01.05

So A, did you get one for xmiss?

Ariadne

18:43 / 02.01.05

No, I didn't - which is a wee bit of a shame, given that I'm about to be unemployed and would have the perfect chance to practice! Maybe I'll buy one as a treat when I get a new job.

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