A friend called to offer me some unicycles that she had. My friend is a teacher
and found 3 unicycles in a storage closet she was cleaning out in her school.
The unicycles were left over from a PE program in the 70’s along with a
trampoline, climbing ropes and other equipment that could not be used because
of insurance limitations. She knew I taught a group of Scouts to ride and
thought I might be able to use them. Naturally, I was very excited and drove
right over to her house. There they were, in her garage; one fairly well used,
and two brand new Hedstrom unicycles. Although they do have pneumatic tires,
they also have bushings instead of bearings, one piece bent steel axel/cranks,
welded spoke wheels, and the strangest triangular (yes, triangular - wide at
the back, coming to a rounded point in front) seats I have ever seen. They are
the type of unicycle smashed to pieces with a baseball bat in the UNiVERsE
video. I hid my disappoint, thanked very much and assured her that they would
be used appropriately. Exactly how that will be I am not sure, but learning to
ride on them is out of the question. The Scouts had fun trying to ride them.
The better riders could do it, but it was more work than they thought riding on
flat ground could be.
I will keep one as an example for parents of the type of unicycle to avoid
buying. The others I am not sure. John Foss suggests painting them all white and
then hanging it on a wall of identical color as a piece of uni art. My daughter
Julia suggested sawing it in half, painting it white, and then mounting it on
the wall so that it looks as if the unicycle is coming through the wall. Woody
thinks they should definitely be sawed in half, then thrown away, so that no one
else will be tempted to ride them and think that’s what unicycling is.
Any other suggestions?
All the best,
John Hooten
