Hi everyone, I don’t know if something like this has happened to you. I take my 29" muni to go everywhere, everyday, and what shocks me is how some people react. Usually kids until 10-12 and adults between 25-60 are nice, but… What the hell! Teens and old people are just the meanest people I’ve seen in the world (not everyone but nearly half of them)…
Of course there are exceptions, but I’ve experienced all kind of attacks, not only shouting and insulting me, but throwing me balls, sticks and stones, they even stop in front of me to try to take the unicycle…
Maybe it’s me, maybe the city where I live, but man… sometimes I wonder what’s wrong with humanity…
I’ve had a group of BMX teens asking if they could try my uni and actually they were really nice. They were very careful not to drop my uni after I asked them to be careful and all had a go at riding. If I just saw them in the street I would have been scared of them. I also had a young lad stop and tell me how cool it was (he was really excited) and how long it takes to learn.I am 33 and I find that most positive comments come from younger people whereas most icy glares come from older ones.That said I have also had positive comments by older people so I suppose you can’t broad brush. There’s nothing worse than having assumptions made about a person based on age!
where are you in spain? I’m living in barcelona and people are pretty nice about riding here. I guess some older people look at you weird because it’s ‘different’ but most people either don’t care and ignore you or people think it’s different and fun.
They are not just assumptions. I don’t say that everyone between those ages it’s a jerk, only that the “aggressions” I had were from them… Once two in their 20s even use a full water bottle as a baseball bat and hit me while I was riding, I had to move fast and fortunately they just hit me in the arm, but I fell…
I mean, there is also very kind people. I remember from yesterday 3 young kids who were really sweet in the park, but just 100m away a group of preteenagers tried to hit me with a football while I was riding at 15km/h and shouting things like “we can do better things than you” “hey, try to hit him and let’s see if he falls”, some of them even threw stones!
Brendan, I’m from Cordoba, south of Spain, it’s the 12th biggest city in Spain. I have to say that many people and tourists are nice, they ask me things and even take photos, but some people make me think “What the hell is going on?” sometimes I even ask myself if I live in a city based on a Mad Max film…
Am I the only one being attacked? Maybe it’s because of the flames stickers on my frame
Occasionally some twit will try and startle me off by making a sudden aggressive move at me, but even that is acting like a tool rather than being aggro.
Otherwise I get ignored or I bring a smile to someones face. But never anything negative.
Homeless and down and out on their luck people, tradies in vans and trucks and aboriginals will make an attempt to converse as I go on by. Mostly other people are little more reserved unless they are in company.
Interesting! I don’t have enough experience on the uni yet, but on my recumbent bicycle the reactions can be split into 3 groups with few exceptions:
12ish or younger: “Wow, that’s so cool!”
Teenagers: “Haha, that’s really lame/stupid!”
20ish or older: “Huh, what a strange bike. Is it comfy? Is it hard to ride? Where did you get it?”
Nope, as I said these comments are regarding my bicycle, not my uni. When I’m on my uni, people tend to just smile, stare, or jump into the ditch to save their lives
Hmm… strange reactions. The only negative thing I got were some teenagers making sudden moves or jumping in front of me to see if I fall, but I think it was more like a joke for a group of them.
And I’m suprised about what you say about old people, because in my experience old people do say nothing or pretty often tell how they are impressed. And it usualy seems very positive.
The worst I have gotten on my uni are some insults mostly from older kids or younger teens. Looking back though I have been jumped for a skateboard, punched on my bike, attacked on foot, had bottles thrown at my car…There are mean people around whether or not you ride a unicycle. Best defense is avoiding trouble.
I mostly get positive responses on the uni. The exception is usually kids trying to look tough for their friends.
The worst I’ve had has been uni students jumping out infront of me trying to make me fall off, or tooting their car horn and shouting from the car. Considering how I’ve had things hurled at me when I’ve been walking, I’d say unicycling is safer. Besides, most people with half a brain cell will realise a unicycle is probably light enough to be lifted and used in defence.
Maybe it’s because of the flames stickers on my frame 
Best defense is avoiding trouble.