How did you get into unicycling?

My daughter Sofia is a unicycle-addict. I travelled with her to events and conventions and there I practised a bit. And after some time she gave me one of her old unicycles (a 19") which has become my trusted friend.

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@Royalty I am also a unicycle addict- I go like 30 mi a day so maybe I’m beyond the definition of addict :joy:
I’ve also never seen a 19” uni - interesting!!! :grin:

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19” unicycles are often called Trials unicycles. They have to have a smaller, wider rim than a normal 20” unicycle, because the tire is much fatter, which (I believe) results in roughly the same diameter as a 20” freestyle tire.

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I had to give up running, soccer, contact sports, and water sports back in 2017, and was told that I would need to go to physical therapy after surgery to learn to walk correctly again, so I decided to buy a Torker 20” unicycle off Craigslist. I wanted a more aggressive goal than learning to walk correctly.

Spinal cord injury, resulting in the replacement of three cervical discs, and the fusion of four vertebrae. The spinal cord injury made the spinal cord swell and caused me to have a “stroke in my spinal cord”, according to the neurosurgeon. Apparently, I ruptured the three discs 15-20 years before the 2017 hard plane landing that ultimately damaged my spinal cord, causing it to swell too much for the compromised space.

And that is my “nutshell” explanation of how I got into unicycling.

Here are a few photos to show a progression.

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@Uni2ONE2 That is an amazing story! Glad you found a passion to get you out of a tough time in your life. I think pedal sports are wonderful for that. BTW: love the Mini!

That is quite an impressive story! Kudos for aiming and reaching a higher goal than was proposed.

I think I already posted about that in another thread.
So again:
I started playing in “beaux-arts” brassbands in 1968 ( wiki in french only sorry )
in 1970 while playing (on roller skates) in a small town in south-west France (Vic-fezensac ) I saw a crazy performer on unicycle (Coin-coin de St tropez) I thought “cool I should try”…
So in 2002 I saw a unicycle in a shop , I just bought it… and that was it (I am a man of quick decisions :smirk:)
So I still play in brassbands and ride unicycles (but do not play while riding :frowning_face:)

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That’s awesome to hear you have an interest in unicycle touring and drew inspiration from Ed Pratt’s world tour! I come from a similar angle. I was very involved in urban unicycling (mostly flatland) as a teen but gave up after a few years.

It wasn’t until last December I picked it back up again and stumbled upon Ed’s videos. This sparked an interest in riding a unicycle simply as a means of transport rather than performing tricks.

I’ve been gearing up and training for my own unitouring rides. The first big one I aim to do is to travel across Utah. Then eventually one of these days I want to take a crack at riding across the US. So if you ever get around to picking up a touring unicycle maybe our paths will intersect! Lol

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:rofl: :sunglasses:

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I just had the dream of unicycling for a long time. My dad got me a unicycle for my birthday. So I’ve been unicycling for a grand total of a month and a half. :smile:

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It’s indeed a trial unicycle. I use it for ‘regular’ unicycling, but also use a 24" for that. Trial-uni’s are used for tricks like jumps and spins. I can’t do that but my daughter loves it. But I can cycle it: https://youtube.com/shorts/1uyYCf9wJkI?si=E7B9TPboFBjMX0NK

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@MatthPeder That sounds great. When you do start riding interstate, you should totally check out the Katy Trail, which runs along central Missouri. It is a great, well maintained trail made on an old railroad bed that would perfect for a unicycle tour.

Had a feeling I’d given the run down on this before - and I was right, but you’d never have found the tread from the title :joy:

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An electric unicycle pushed me over the edge!

OK, let me go back many years before that.
Back when I was 18, I saw this kid riding a unicycle through the town of Salem, OR, while driving through town. It blew my mind, I saw him several times, riding up and down big hills, up/down curbs, etc.just like a bicyclist might do. I had no idea unicycles could be ridden like that, outside of a gymnasium with a perfectly flat and smooth floor. It kind of always stuck out in my mind.
Then many years later (30 something) I saw this oregon public broadcasting video talking about tgis new sport of mountain unicycleing, and was again blown away, and thought about that kid I saw many years earlier. I wanted a unicycle now. But i didn’t follow through, thinking it was probably an impractical/unlikely thing I would ever learn to do.
I was telling a coworker about this crazy subject and he popped up about how he bought an electric unicycle recently and loved it. It sounded equally crazy, and I went Googling to find out what the heck he was talking about. I found videos about them and started asking him more questions. I had to get one! I bought a Solowheel glide 3 a.k.a. inmotion V8. It was a slight challenge at first, but i figured it out and loved it! It made me realize how awesome one-wheeled riding was and that I could do it. it really reignited that old fascination about *regular" unicycles i long had, so I bought a Club 24 toovand rhe rest is history.
I love both electric and peddle unicycles. They are both fun, but in in different ways.

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I started after Ed Pratt videos popped up in my u-tube feed.
Been riding for 3 1-2 years; 24-29-36” mostly road.
Will be 68 end of August.

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I used to ride my bike quite a bit during the summer, though one day we had a pretty good storm that ended up causing a big branch to land on my bicycle. It was still rideable afterwards, but some things were bent up and it just didn’t ride like it used to. Not to mention it was a big box store bike I didn’t really maintain or care for so it was already kinda on its way out.

I was thinking of just replacing it with another “nice” bike that I would actually maintain, but after looking at the prices I had some second thoughts. Should I stick with my old crusty rusty bent-up bike? Ehhhh… But I had another idea. I had been playing around with the thought of trying a different form of cycling, and unicycling happened to be the least expensive. My first one was from UDC, the Club 26" Road unicycle. And from there the unicycle bug bit me and the rest is history :smile:

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I got one for christmas.

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Now that‘s not the usual story! Kudos to you for taking this not sooo obvious decision.

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My parents saw me ogling some unicyclists at family camp, guess what I got that Christmas? Tried it with only a helmet, and without watching YT vids, fell flat on my back and got the breath knocked out of me. Chucked it in the closet, and forgot about it until we went to the same camp next year. Gave it an honest try when we got home, and never stopped from there.

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99.99% of people quit. (or 1 in 1,000 get it)
Congratulations.

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