I posted this info in a Utah thread in one of the non-unicycling discussion forums, but I haven’t gotten many hits over there, so I figured I’d try here.
My kids and I are riding with some unicycle friends in at least two parades this summer. As of right now, we have 8 riders, with a 9th rider who is a maybe. That means there’s room for more riders – lots more. We’d love to have you ride with us. Even if you primarily ride muni, don’t be scared away by the fact that this riding will be on the streets – the crowds love unicycles of all shapes and sizes. One of my friends periodically stops along the route and does simply hopping; the crowds usually cheer at how cool it looks, blissfully unaware how easy it is. This is my third summer riding uni in parades, and I love it. The best vantage point to watch a parade from is the seat of a uni! You can ride up and down the parade route, throwing candy and doing tricks.
Uinta Day Parade – Saturday, June 8, 2013, at 10 am
Uinta is a small community south of Ogden, nestled at the mouth of the canyon where Highway 89 meets I-84. The parade route is only 1/4 mile long, so it’s perfect if this is your first parade. I’ve been told that the city will be providing us candy to throw, so we don’t need to bring our own. This will be my first time riding in this parade, but I was contacted by the parade organizer through this forum. Yes, he subscribed to unicyclist.com just so he could send me a PM to see if we would be willing to ride our unis in the parade! How cool is that?
Kaysville 4th of July Parade – Thursday, July 4, 2013, at 11 am
I’d have to look this up on Google maps again, but I think this parade is about 1.5 miles, give or take. This will be my third time riding this parade. For a small-town parade, this one has really good sized crowds. The spectators are very friendly (especially when they see you holding candy). Like many cities in Utah, Kaysville has very wide streets (thanks to the original Mormon settlers), so unis have an advantage in throwing candy that the regular floats do not: closer range! You can ride right out to the edge of the crowd and throw the candy from there, so the candy lands where we want it. Sometimes, when I see someone I know in the crowd, I will throw the candy right to them, over their kids’ heads; I’ll chuck two or three pieces and then ride off like I’m done, but then flip back around and chuck a whole handful to the kids. This usually gets a lot of laughs. On the other hand, the people throwing from the floats often land half their candy on the street. From a uni, you could even set the candy in kids’ outstretched hands instead of throwing it if you wanted to; in fact, sometimes kids will hold out their hands for a high five as you ride by – especially if you double back for the high fives after throwing candy.
Let’s Ride!
If anyone wants to ride in either parade, or both, please drop me a PM and I’ll let you know additional details about where to meet and what time, as well as exchanging contact info with you. Don’t think about all the reasons why you don’t want to do – just do it! You’ll be glad you did.