I’ve had my wife for fifty years and had a unicycle for about sixty. She doesn’t really have a leg to stand on and doesn’t say too much. She knows that unicycles are a lot safer then training crazy horses (or mules).
My wife doesn’t really care either way but she does strongly object to the idea of my getting a penny farthing because it takes up a lot of space and she fully expects me to break my neck.
My wife thought it rather odd when I bought my first uni at a garage sale for ten dollars. She was bemused at how I worked at it until I could ride. Once I could ride she asked where I would go with it.
Once I got got serious she noticed how good it was for both my physique and state of mind and became my biggest fan.
About eight months after I started I found out the national championships would be on in about a month. I expressed an interest in going to the event the following year and she said, “why not this year?”. Then she organised the whole trip, flights, hire car and accommodation.
She loved watching the events, especially at the skate park and the high jump. We have been to three championships now.
I got a part riding a uni on stage in one of the shows she performed in when she told the director her husband rode a unicycle.
She did a film making course and her main project was “The One Wheeler”, featuring me and my unicycles.
When I bought the Triton 36 and told her how much it cost, her response was “So?”
She didn’t really like how much space the unicycles took up in the garage but was much happier when I built a hanging rack.
Good, skipping the previous commercial and continuing with the thread…
My wife doesn’t see the point of unicycles and she thinks I should sell them all. She also doesn’t want to learn to ride, though with the last unicycle festival, she came with and I managed to let her at least try to sit on a uni and also my daughter. They are both afraid they will fall off and break their necks.
She is fervently against me buying new unicycles because I have enough in her eyes, but as she never enters the shed where I have all of the unicycles, I bought a new uni last summer while she was away and told her it wasn’t new, but that it had been in the shed all this time.
I would have to fall in the category of my wife supporting my riding a uni.
she bought the first one for me after a told her I would like to try to ride again. She was more than OK with me getting the 2nd uni as I got to where I wanted to ride on the road a little but mostly wanted to be able to almost keep up with her when we ride together.
I was a bit worried by my wife’s reaction, and also not sure that I would stick with unicycling. So I left my new uni at my gym, where initially I practised once or twice a week after a gym session. My plan was to produce the thing, fully able to ride it. Well, it soon became clear that 30 minutes of practice two times a week was never going to get me anywhere, so I repatriated the uni and fessed up. She took it very well – she didn’t expect a unicycle specifically, but I have form for similar things. And she’s been very supportive of me doing 5000 km (and counting) on two wheels this year. I think I really lucked out with my choice of spouse! The chances of getting her to give it a go are precisely nil. There was a bit of push back after uni #2. I may be able to justify 2 unis for each bike I get rid of.
Ladies, what do your other halves make of you unicycling? Puzzled? Supportive? Competitive?
when I start being a little nervous she knows that if I go and have a ride I will be more “zen”
she knows it helps me feel (and look!) younger (after all she also practices sports that help her feel -and look- younger)
She is just wondering where I could store my next Uni (our house is built on an old factory: we have plenty of room but we tend to overuse space!)
ah and yes: since I practice mostly muni she is sometimes worried that I may hurt myself in the woods. Oops the real problem is when I bring back mud to our house
Let this be a reminder to you that your success or failure learning to unicycle does not hinge on her approval. If you can deal with her disapproval, you will have less problem dealing with the disapproval of others watching you look like a complete idiot. So, in a way, your wife is giving you an inoculation, immunity from the disapproval of others. Thanks, honey!
My wife was tolerant of me learning to unicycle. Once I developed skills, her tolerance changed to approval. She saw the health and exercise benefits of what I was doing. She admired me for persevering and learning something difficult. Maybe your wife’s attitude will become more tolerant over time.
When you choose to do something non-conformist, you open yourself to the derision of others. In some cases, I think, others feel comfortable criticizing you because they know you don’t care what other people think about you. If you did care, you probably wouldn’t have chosen unicycling.
My partner is supportive. He’s not keen to learn himself though!
We went over to Denmark for a big unicycling adventure. He rode a bike, I rode the uni. The only problem is that I couldn’t freemount the 36er so he had to help me pretty much every time after I dismounted.
He came down to support me at uninats and to watch the action. He had to be at home the first couple of days for work but he flew down to catch what he could (so he came for the second half of it).
So, he is supportive, but only wants me to ride unicycles I can mount independently on trips.
For my birthday he got me a Allen key tool for tightening cranks and adjusting seat heights from Germany (cause I wanted his one)
As to unicycles, I mainly keep them in one of the rooms of the house. We have a big house…
My partner generally thinks i’m a bit nutty in a good way. He is still in the “i’m not going to try” phase and is transitioning to “maybe after this race season I"ll consider trying”. We ride a lot of bikes, so the cost of unicycles is pretty reasonable in comparison.
My wife has always been supportive, just don’t ask her to try and ride a unicyle.
We started doing longer rides together, me on a unicycle and her on 2 wheels, and now her bicycling skills and fitness have improved enormously. There was a time when I had to wait for her to catch me up, now it’s the other way (except on hills).
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(our house is built on an old factory: we have plenty of room but we tend to overuse space!)
