I’d sat Kris Holm. He may not be the best, but he is one of the most influential unicyclists of all time, if not the most. He also rocks and has his line a unicycles.
Yoggi’s gots mad skills to!!! I’m sure most of us have seen the koxx team vids. He is pure insanity!!!
I would have to cast my vote for Raoul Bowden. His performance at Uni-Rex Central 2004 was amazing and his roof-tile mount technique has never been repeated. I personally think the judges at the C.S.W. T. (Competitive Single Wheel Tournament)2005 this year were a little bit unfair to take away his trophy for winning the Coker-Drag just because it turned out that his coker had a 37 inch wheel instead of the normal 36 inches, saying that the extra inch gave him a slight competitive edge, but I think that’s a moot point considering the fact that he did the race with 180 cranks.
Raoul Bowden scored an unbelievable 387 on the Rounder X-turns, maintained a clear lead during the Salt Path Wrapathon (beating out Charles Kingway and Harvey Zangwell, which in itself was a major upset) and scoring a full 50 (50!) on the Schaffer Mountain Descent.
He invented not only the roof-tile mount technique, but also the Blitzkrieg Mount, the Double-Razor mount, and the Moo-Moo turn. A lot of you may not know this, but he is in the Guinness Book of World Records for doing a full loop-de-loop inside a wind tunnel at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
He is the only unicyclist to complete the Pan American “Miller-Time” Run that stretches from Anchorage Alaska all the way down through the Panama Canal and finally ends at the Terra Del Fuego on the southern tip of Argentina. He did this in 2002–no one has beaten his record.
The amazing thing is that he does all this on a cheap Sun28, (with the exception of doing the Coker-Drag on the 37-inch coker) which is another reason I think he is way-cool. A journalist from USA Today asked him why he does almost everything on a Sun28, and his reply was simple “Because it’s the best, and it’s also excellent for drops and wheel-winging.”
Raoul Bowden was instrumental in getting the Olympics to feature Unicycling in 2008. (His older brother is some kind of, I don’t know, congressman or something like that) He’s also a really nice guy—I exchanged a couple of emails with him because I had a couple of Sun28 related questions, and he was nice enough to take the time out and answer me.
Oh, and on a side note: a lot of you may not know this because Raoul is a pretty secretive guy, but he is actually married to Claudia Schiffer’s younger sister. Who is also a unicyclist (Sun28).
Raoul Bowden: He is the Greatest Unicyclist of All Time. He definitely gets my vote.
Wait a minute. Isn’t Schaffer Mountain a slab of flat asphalt in Peoria, Illinois? And I thought Kingway died in '87 and Zangwell has been locked up in Sing-Sing since '94?
ALEX TOMS!!! (Tomsey)
I am new to the game, but what about Kris Holm?
Maybe that is far too mainstream.
yeah, he’s mainstream for a reason after all!
Andrew Carter
Very true, Dr. Harper, very true, and you are correct to point these things out…
Schaffer Mountain is indeed a huge slab of asphalt in Illinois, yet is is situated on a unique zone of the earth there the gravitational axis is just slightly off, resulting in an extraordinary “pull” from one end of the parking lot to the next–few unicyclists make it across (bicycles NEVER get more than 10 feet), and only the very, very best unicyclists have a chance. To score a 50 in that competition is beyond outstanding, it is a downright bending of physics…
I goofed when I wrote Charles Kingway, because it is true, as you have pointed out, that he is dead. It was Charles Kingway Jr (the brilliant son of Kingway) who was beaten by Bowden in the Salt Path Wrapathon.
You are also right about Harvey Zangwell being in prison. However, due to his celebretory status at Sing Sing, he is allowed the occasional ferlough for unicycle compititon. He was at the Salt Path Wrapathon (and most of the events held at C.S.W. T. 2005) but his name was not on the program so maybe that is why you thought he was still in jail. On a side note, Zangwell did get into a little trouble when he tried to escape from his guards during the Rolohundra Uphill event, so he’s back behind bars, doing trials and stuff like that in the prison yard.
Very good points brought up by Dr. Harper, and I hope my answers have cleared up any confusion.
Professor Dogbowl-
Thank you for clarifying these points for me. I apologize for failing to do the further research required with regard to these topics.
Xavier Collos
I’d have to say Irene Genelin just because she’s really really nice, I’ve met her, she’s level ten, and she is really really graceful on da uni. And she has a really awsome uni, too.
I would say Kris Holm.
best unicyclist
Ok well I am tired of seeing everybody put Yoggi as the best unicyclist. Everybody is looking at the wrong thing when it comes to the best unicyclist. The best unicyclists are the ones with the best skill. Not the ones that do a few crazy drops or one crazy thing. You have to look at consistancy and skill. For trials I would have to say Zack Baldwin (trials champ in 04) and Ryan Adkins who is simply amazing and makes unicycling kickass. Dan Heaton is incredible considering he does very little riding and a hell of alot of filming and editing. He has the best skills and is the most innovative rider. Brian Lundgren is my favorite street rider followed by Kevin McMullen. These are the best riders in my opinion. Everybody need to look up to these guys and not Yoggi who posts a crazy drop or riding on a bridge.
Well Alex has some great street but… the greatest unicyclist is good ole zackie b!
(ZACK BALDWIN)
im gonna have to say Mike Clark! HES SO FUCKING CRAZY!!
-Zack
Re: best unicyclist
I disagree…Yoggi can’t only do one cool thing. He’s an INSANEly awesome unicyclist, go look at the video Joe posted in RSU and then try and argue that he’s not good enough to be the best unicyclist.
ya yoggi is insane, when it comes to doing big drops and LIEING! not trying to dis on him or anything but on his website it says yoggi-2004 trials world expert champion. If im not mistaken I thought that was me?
hey,i wanted to say a little more…actually, that video of yoggi is very easy to argue that he isn’t the best. he is getting a lot better, but the stuff he is presenting in the videos in no where near the level of the riding that many other people have been doing for years. the riding in that video is quick and flashy, but not very challenging trials. for the most part, very simple surfaces and lines. the car stuff is nice, but riders have been doing that in demos and at trials comps for years. he seems to be improving quick, who knows, if he develops his technical trials ability, he can get up there with the best riders.
I’d have to agree with Zack. Many (if not all) of the trials lines he did in the video I’m pretty sure I could’ve stuck…
It’s your pretty basic “big-jumps”, “big-gaps” trials with large surfaces to land on.
As for the bridge… well… It’s not challenging persay but then again it takes balls to do it and honestly I don’t think it’s that worth it. I mean it doesn’t warp your mind like when Mr. Baldwin over here decides to pop 42".
So, I wouldn’t personnaly pick Yoggi as “THE greatest” he’s good. No denying. But I can’t say that anyone is “THE greatest” cause there’s always someone that could do a specific skill better than someone else…
Santa Claus would be a good pick though. He’s Magic.
