At Virginia Tech I was riding my unicycle late at night, and this girl was like “OOOOH is that unicycle???”, and I said “No, some guy stole the frame off my f*&cking bike!!!”. And she replied “Oh man…that sucks”. People are stupid.
most people who make comments like these are brainless. anybody with brains can tell you cant take apart a bike and turn it into a unicycle! oh, and i bet none of you have ever heard this one before, me and my freind were riding to 7-eleven and this guy stops and says “im glad you guys could share a bike!”
I was riding in a park last month. There was this man, somewhere in his 50’s I’m guessing, who was watching me riding.
I dismounted near him and talked to him a little bit. He thought what I was doing was really cool. But he did ask a question that I found extremely odd, and he was very serious.
He asked me, “What’s that called that you are riding?” I told him, that it was called a unicycle, meaning one wheel, he thanked me and continued on his way.
As I was out riding the other week in the middle of nowhere I came across an old (seriously ancient, like nearly 50!) couple sat by the side of the track. The woman made a curious “ooooohk” high pitched noise, and then, inexplicably said “thats something new isnt it?” but the best bit is the fantastic comeback which i cam with straight off the top of my head…
“Yes.”
I suppose the point is that when confronted with something totally unexpected it is hard to come up with a witty response in the 2 seconds you have before you sail on by. Perhaps its not surprising that we get so many “where’s your other wheels” and “I hope you got that bike half price” (suggested response: yeah the paint jobs terrible quality aint it?). Sometimes its nicer than the I see no unicyclists people.
At the end of the day, if it really annoys me I can always let off my anger by shouting “Get a horse!” at b**ers.
Tim
That’s really funny. I’ve noticed that a lot too. “Must avert eyes…Can’t look at that one-wheeled-thing going by…I’m not thinking about trying not to look at that wierd guy rolling by…”
Comebacks…
It’s hard to think of a good comeback on the spot… The best one I’ve ever had was when a coworker said “Training for the Circus?” and I replied “I already work at Wal-Mart!”
But like today, I come marching off a narrow mountain bike trail onto the main paved bike trail, right into a bunch of school kids on a bike trip. This one kid says something like:
“Eh! C’est une unicycle-montagne!” And of course, even if I spoke french, the only thing I could think to say was “Oui!” and then mount it and ride off…
This morning tho a guy said I must fall sometimes. I pointed at the nice scratches on my legs and said “Yeah, it happens.”
I’ll have to try the divorce line…
I got a comment today that I have never heard before.
“What do you where under your Roach?”
I was chugging up a long steep hill in my neighborhood on my Coker, standing up and pulling pretty hard. For visibility reasons, I was riding up the “wrong” side of the road, i.e. against traffic rather than with it. I could hear a car coming up behind me, but it slowed down rather than driving by, even though there was plenty of room. Finally, as I crested the hill and sat back down, the car pulled up on my right. Driver a mom of 45-ish, passenger a daughter of 25-ish. The mom leans out her window and says “My daughter likes your butt…”.
The hill work starting to pay off. 
Kid to other kids/dad:
“I can ride one of them…the trick is to hold the seat”
This makes absolutely no sense, he definetly couldn’t ride a unicycle, he was just trying to say he could and show off or something.
“Oh my god. That is wicked” Two teengagers seeing me gliding down a hill. First real praise i ever had from a non unicyclist.
“Now that is what you call balance” - Funny, all i was doing was riding between poles.
Unfortunately this one isn’t mine but i put it in my signature coz its so funny. “He jumped off that with his (slight pause) one wheeled bike…and he broke his seat”
Re: Funny comments received while riding
“dubmuni2004” <dubmuni2004@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> wrote
in message
news:dubmuni2004.180e7i@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com…
>
> most people who make comments like these are brainless. anybody with
> brains can tell you cant take apart a bike and turn it into a unicycle!
> oh, and i bet none of you have ever heard this one before, me and my
> freind were riding to 7-eleven and this guy stops and says “im glad you
> guys could share a bike!”
>
>
…but I think you are wrong, most, apart from the usual odd asinine
teenager, are probably just being friendly, and at least showing an
interest. No matter how many times YOU have heard the “other wheel” the
chances are that THEY have never seen a uni outside of a circus. To them,
their comment is both original and funny, they are hearing the joke for the
first time, and are reacting to the unusual, and it is wrong of us to try
and belittle them for it. Brainless? I doubt it, many would do well in any
mental contest, even against unicyclists who, contrary to what seems to be
popular belief in here, are not mentally above those who do not unicycle.
We are probably a fair representational cross section of IQ levels, and
although I have seen some obviously bright people both in the rec and on
their unicycles, they have not stood out above other clever non unicyclists.
We also have those at the lower end of the scale, as does the population at
large. What may differentiate at these lower levels is that unicyclists
have a passion for SOMETHING. Those in the public without a passion for
anything can end up spending their time in a range of ‘unprofitable’ ways.
We are not better than cyclists nor pedestrians, skateboarders or anybody
else.
Naomi
You surely can’t think they were seriously convinced you were sharing the
bike, or that they really believed your frame had been stolen? They were
going along with the joke.
Re: Funny comments received while riding
“dubmuni2004” <dubmuni2004@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> wrote
in message
news:dubmuni2004.180e7i@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com…
>
> most people who make comments like these are brainless. anybody with
> brains can tell you cant take apart a bike and turn it into a unicycle!
> oh, and i bet none of you have ever heard this one before, me and my
> freind were riding to 7-eleven and this guy stops and says “im glad you
> guys could share a bike!”
>
>
…but I think you are wrong, most, apart from the usual odd asinine
teenager, are probably just being friendly, and at least showing an
interest. No matter how many times YOU have heard the “other wheel” the
chances are that THEY have never seen a uni outside of a circus. To them,
their comment is both original and funny, they are hearing the joke for the
first time, and are reacting to the unusual, and it is wrong of us to try
and belittle them for it. Brainless? I doubt it, many would do well in any
mental contest, even against unicyclists who, contrary to what seems to be
popular belief in here, are not mentally above those who do not unicycle.
We are probably a fair representational cross section of IQ levels, and
although I have seen some obviously bright people both in the rec and on
their unicycles, they have not stood out above other clever non unicyclists.
We also have those at the lower end of the scale, as does the population at
large. What may differentiate at these lower levels is that unicyclists
have a passion for SOMETHING. Those in the public without a passion for
anything can end up spending their time in a range of ‘unprofitable’ ways.
We are not better than cyclists nor pedestrians, skateboarders or anybody
else.
Naomi
You surely can’t think they were seriously convinced you were sharing the
bike, or that they really believed your frame had been stolen? They were
going along with the joke.
From the mother of three little girls in my neighborhood: “You have really impressed my family.” Made me feel really good, but lots of pressure not to flub my next freemount in front of them.
On a ride I met a geezer (my age) walking: “You’re going to bust you ass on that thing.”
Sweet.
Of the comments said to me personally, there is one that hasn’t been topped yet (but I’m sure one day it will). :
While MUni-ing, I surprised a 10 yr old kid who said “Hey, is that a REAL unicycle?”
(as opposed to …?)
“look mum clowns on holiday”
“Kids these days always want to show off”
“be careful up there the ambulance just left”
I didn’t realise folks in the US used the term ‘geezer’!
Teenage boy:
“What kind of comments do people make when they see you riding?”
First aid:
As I rode down a steep bike path:
Guy: “I’m not giving you first aid!”
Me, when I thought of it, 3 months later: “Can your girlfriend give me mouth-to-mouth?”
Why do I always think of the comebacks way too late?
young girl: “hey mom…look at the cool unicyclers”
mom’s reply: “don’t look at em sweetie, they are just trying to show off”
2.
some kid: “wow cool unicycles”
some woman: “they ride those because they can’t afford a real bicycle”
Re: Re: Funny comments received while riding
“Where there’s a wheel there’s a way.” – from a man on the streets in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1984.
I agree with the rest of your statement, that people making “stupid” comments and suggestions are usually trying to make friendly conversation.
But I’d be willing to take the challenge on “average unicyclist intelligence vs. average general intelligence.” I think the unicyclists would have an edge. Sure, we have our fair share of dummies, idiot-savants, and average joes, but I think our sport attracts people who like to work their brains a little harder. It would be interesting to find out someday.
Like all of you, I’ve heard the entire range of witty comments from the sidelines but the funniest comment I’ve ever heard was a new neighbor boy, about 4 years old, who said to King Muni-Man in a stuttering panicky sort of voice,
“Hey… hey kid, hey, wh-wh-what are you do’n, WHAT are YOU do’n!!”
It was like he was watching someone floating in the air or walking on water. He just couldn’t believe his eyes. Even KMM started to laugh. It was very cute and would have been a funniest video winner for sure.