Some beleive unicycling came about by accident, or rather by avoiding an
accident, whilst riding astride the old highwheeler bicycles, also known as
ordanaries or, in england, penny-farthings. Unlike the safety bicycles, which we
ride to this day, highwheelers had a very large front wheel, for more distance
per pedal revolution, and a small trailing wheel for stability. This
configuration made “doing a header” (flyong over the bars and cracking one’s
skull on the road) a danger upon encountering a bad bump.
Some riders of highwheelers discovered they could balance while riding only the
front wheel, until they could shift their weight to put the rear wheel on the
ground again. Someone must have thought this totaly rocked so they made
highwheelers without rear wheels.
But don’t take my word for it. I just made this up…ok now go to the library:)
Marlon Solar
JamiKate wrote: > > Hi. Does anyone know the early history of unicycling? i have to do a report
on > it but i’m not sure on a couple things like dates and stuff. It would be > greatly appreciated if you can help me out! Thanks! > > JamiKate “UniQue”
Hi. Does anyone know the early history of unicycling? i have to do a report on
it but i’m not sure on a couple things like dates and stuff. It would be greatly
appreciated if you can help me out! Thanks!
Marlon Solar wrote: > > Some beleive unicycling came about by accident, or rather by avoiding an > accident, whilst riding astride the old highwheeler bicycles, also known as > ordanaries or, in england, penny-farthings.
The proper name in the UK is Ordinary. The common name is Penny-Farthing.
Purists (who still ride in clubs) tend to call them Ordinaries, and are not so
keen on Penny-Farthing.
My parents ride in a vintage cycle club, and a surprising number of the ordinary
riders also ride unicycles. The ordinary is pretty similar to a big-wheel
unicycle, although the seat is on a part which can turn relative to the wheel.
The pictures I’ve seen of ‘ordinary’ unicycles, tend to have either no seat -
just the handlebars, or the seat is fixed rigid relative to the handlebars.
(I.e. the turning mechanism is somehow jammed, and the post down to the back
wheel is cut off just below the seat).
In message “Re: Early History ???”, Stuart Carter wrote… >Marlon Solar wrote: >> >> Some beleive unicycling came about by accident, or rather by avoiding an >> accident, whilst riding astride the old highwheeler bicycles, also known as >> ordanaries or, in england, penny-farthings. > that makes some sense. >
IUF Director Craig Rogers’ mother was for many years the official unicyclig
historian. I helpedn her with the history of unicycling in Japan, which gpes
all the way back to 1912.
Craig, I don’t know if your mother is on line. I want to suggest, as I suggested
to her before, that she make the fruits of her effors by publishing a booklet or
putting the data on the website. This is a fascinating subject that most
unicyclists no doubt have a string interest in.
Stay on top, Jack Halpern, IUF Vice President
Website: <a href="http://www.win.or.jp/~jhalpern">http://www.win.or.jp/~jhalpern</a>