Emma and I went out for our 3rd Saturday ride on the Henry Hudson Trail this morning. It was hotter than it had been the previous 2 weeks, unusually so for this time of year, but good riding weather nonetheless. We went our usual 4 1/2 miles. On the 24"er I’m able to keep up a bit better, but she still shoots ahead and then stops to wait for me.
Again, I can report that among the many people we passed today, not a single “are you a clown”, “where’s your other wheel”, etc. Interestingly as this trail at that time of morning on a Saturday (10:00 am - 11:00 am) most of the people on the trail are there for fitness. Mostly it’s joggers, bike riders, and a few elderly walkers. Perhaps this demographic is less likely to make silly comments.
Each of the past two weeks I’ve encountered one person who has said that s/he has a unicycle but has not been on it for many years. In both cases I’ve stopped and idled a bit, done a 90 degree twist and encouraged them to take it up again. I have to believe that in any given community there are lots of unicycles sitting sadly in basements, garages, and attics sadly pining for some use.
One kid this morning as he rode by gave a sort of chortle/laugh which sounded like he was showing that he was impressed. As it turned out we met up with him later and he apologized to me if it sounded like he had been laughing at me, he thought, he said, that the unicycle looked cool. I said that I thought that was what it meant and we talked for a while about unicycling and I assured him it only took a bit of determination and a week or two to learn.
Cheers all,
Raphael Lasar