After a few comments in various thread about spouses who do or don’t support your unicycling obsession, I thought we could dedicate a thread to it.
How does your spouse perceive and react to your unicyling?
As for me, I’m lucky. My excellent wife rolls her eyes a tiny a bit at unicycling in general, but completely supports me in this hobby. She generously allows time for me to ride (as I do for her running). She even lets me temporarily abandon husbandly and fatherly duties sometimes to go away on unicycling-related junkets. RTL is obviously a huge example.
I think, since we’re both serious exercisers (we met playing ultimate), we both understand that endorphin craving and that makes it a no-brainer for either of us to let the other “out” to run/ride/play. We also both enjoy having a gnarly and fit spouse.
I’m very fortunate as well because my spouse and I are both avid ultra-marathoners (we met an event through mutual ultra-running friends). She understood that I was feeling really “burned out” from running/racing competitively for over 15 years and needed scratch this new itch of mine. It has worked out well, often we’ll share the same trail on a long run; she’ll run and I’ll muni. Lately she has even been learning how to ride a unicycle as well! I’ve tried to convince her it is the perfect cross-training counterpart to our running. And over the past year as she’s witnessed my running performances starting match those of old, all the while mixing in long distance muni, I think she’s determined to give unicycling a shot. I’m still trying to work on her to let me dabble in some more “epic” adventures in the future; I think the only way that will work is if I sacrifice some of my running epics… No problem there, I really want to take on some muni challenges as big as some of the ultra-marathons I’ve finished.
On the other hand, it’s been a bit more difficult trying to explain the large trials course in the front-yard (and garage for rainy days). Luckily our house is in a heavily wooded area which sits below and well back from the street so neighbors can’t really see the strange assemblage of logs and things…
Well, I don’t exactly have a spouse (surprise surprise), but my family is very supportive. My parents pay 1/2 for everything unicycle-related (parts, unis, NAUCC, UNICON). Before I got my license, my parents would drive me to practice (a 30 minute drive each way) 3 days a week. My sister also encourages me in my riding.
Where did you play - and do you still? I play for Golden Spike, a Salt Lake mixed team.
As far as spousal support, I’m right there with you. My wife and I each make sure that the other gets time for exercise. In the summer, mine is ultimate and unicycling. Hers is mostly road cycling. In the winter, we both do a lot of backcountry skiing together.
For the benefit of the teenagers - better make this thread include parental support.
My girlfriend makes me go crazy places to unicycle, like Vietnam. That’s okay…I’m making her go to Africa next year.
She’s also the reason I’m going to RTL. She put together her “womens team” for RTL, and I figured I should go too. Unfortunately we’ll be competing against each other, but I guess a little competition is good for a relationship, right?
I’ve played tourney ultimate since 1983, and still play, though mostly summer league and masters now. Played in the NE mostly, but a few years each in Southern, Central, and Rocky Mtn. regions. I played in SLC in 89, 90, 91, while I was, ready for this…living at the GMD lodge at Alta. I know a guy Aaron Feinberg, you may have played mixed with.
At Alta I lived for the back country skiing. I tried to hike at least 2000’ vertical per day in my last season there. Pfiefferhorn, Y-couloir, Wolverine, Superior, Dryfork, even Deseret Peak one time. Living at GMD (elev. 8600) and hiking UP from there every day got me some good legs and lungs for ultimate down in the valley.
My wife begins to question whether each of my unicycling activities requires its own unicycle, but overall she supports my habit. Like MuniSano I come from an ultrarunning background, so she’s used to my endurance events and training. It’s not much difference to her whether I put on running shoes or a helmet when I head out the door. Most of the prep, time away, and aftermath are the same. And she knows it keeps me sane and she’s got a fit husband with a longer expected healthy lifespan at the end of the day.
My wife supports me in my crazy obsession. She doesn’t mind me eating into the weekend when we get to spend more time together to go out for a few hours of MUni. She has also paid for half of my half b*ke
At first she was quite skeptical about the whole Unicyling thing and did give me a hard time about spending a lot of time doing it, but the more I stick with it the more she supports me which is really great. She just questions me wanting to spend more and more money on it though. She does have a financial background, so 1 unicycle in her mind is good enough… but … but… I need to … no… have to get that 29’er
As with some other repliers he doesn’t really understand why I need a garage full of unicycles but I’ve often found that understanding is over rated and I would go for acceptance over understanding any day.
My husband is not an exerciser. I did try to get both him and my son into exercise the we could do together in the early years of our marriage. They weren’t interested. So I exercise on my own. He does get a bit bored when I talk about it though. I can see this glazed expression on his face.
My girlfriend likes the fact that I unicycle. She tried riding a few times but has given up on it. She’s not too pleased when I say I feel like practicing uni instead of getting together with her. In fact, last night she was joking about my unicycle obsession, saying she wanted to join the forum and start a unicycle widow/widower support group. She would have done it too, but wanted to think up a vicious acromym first.
My wife doesn’t give a hoot about unicycling, doesn’t care if I unicycle, but thinks it a bit odd. She’d dislike if I went and spent gobs of money on one, not because it’s a unicycle, but because it’s gobs of money.
My wife and two young children have been very supportive.
Especially since I’ve gone from having a unicycle sit most of the time in the closet for 20yrs to having 3 unicycles going non-stop for the past two years.
Its gone from an interest/occassional hobby to a full blown passion.
I’m very lucky to have their support and understanding.
To my posting above I should add that my 16 year old son and his friends tried riding my uni a month ago, and one of his friends just received his 20" Nimbus this week based on his 1 minute on mine! Another convert.
My family is pretty supportive, though my mother occasionally makes a comment about me having gone to college, and I came back learning how to uni and juggle… Kinda annoying, 'cause I only learned to juggle after my muni broke (circus unicycling is boring, street/muni is awesome!)
My wife is very supportive. The friend who introduced us actually learned to uni from the Bishop’s club I started, and she started riding through him… So she was already riding when we started dating! She’s a little annoyed now though, 'cause she’s 8 months pregnant and can’t go riding with me when I go
everyone i know thinks unicycling is a waste of money. the funny thing is they go and waste money on things like fast food and all kinds of useless crap.
my wife/ extended family range from quite supportive to trying to grasp why i would do such a thing, lol. actually my mother-in-law got me a torker lx 20" for christmas, and my wife just learned how to ride it. she helps out w/ a camp for highschool age kids one week over the summer, and one of her motivations to learn, was to be able to ride proficiently so she can take it along and use it to get around the camp.
My wife has been very supportive, as have our kids. I spent a large part of my life cycling and mountain biking up until back surgery slowed things up a few years ago. Unicycling has been like a second chance at the kind of stuff I love doing, being out there, rolling along, challenging yourself.
It’s been great experience for me personally to get into unicycling, but also I think my kids have really enjoyed observing the process, and fwiw they seem to have taken something from it, and have been giving things a go that they’ve been shying away from. I hope they give unicycling a go too, but I don’t push it too hard - if it’s their thing they will at some point.
The number of unicycles is bordering on issue with my wife, but hey what can you do, it’s still way cheaper than MTB. Kudos to the family for sure!
