Introducing myself to the forum

Introduce Yourself
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Hullo, everyone -

I’m Marc in South-Central Colorado. I’m an electronic technician by trade, and the two main hobbies in my life have always been playing guitar and fishing. I had a personal reawakening some years back and realized I no longer wanted to chase and harass fish, so I’ve put that aside for the time being. In September, I came across a local Craigslist ad featuring a unicycle for sale, $25 - I don’t know what it was about the ad that struck me; the uni looked battered and small (turned out to be a no-name 16”), but I felt compelled to check it out, and I did.

When my wife saw me return with the wheel, she cracked “Are you planning to join the circus?,” and generally derided me for my purchase.

But when I pulled that saddle into my crotch and leaned against my garage wall, gingerly placing my feet one at a time lightly on the pedals, experiencing a total loss of balance control, something happened - I really can’t put in into words… I felt a mixture of emotions - joy, anticipation, excitement, exhilaration - I think it was an awareness of discovering something that has GREAT potential, but you just can’t tell yet or see it clearly - I remember thinking “WHY have I never explored this before?!”

I began setting very small goals for myself, growing absolutely delighted when accomplishing the smallest victory - a bit more smoothness of motion, overall balance, distance achieved - I found I could easily spend hours doing repetitive things, taking note with any progress made.

I consider myself the rankest of rank beginners, and I’m proud to wear the badge. I am learning to ride in perhaps an unconventional way, in that I live rural and have no hard, smooth surfaces to ride on, save the small concrete pad in my garage, which is mostly cluttered.

So here’s my milieu: I live on the side of a hill, (five acres of undeveloped land) and have a loose rock driveway. Lumpy, uneven ground covered in native vegetation is the main surface I’m learning on. I’ll eventually start riding the neighborhood dirt roads when my confidence level rises, but what I really want to express is that I’m finding unicycling ENORMOUSLY SATISFYING! I can’t seem to get enough! :smiley:

BTW -

I’m 67, but don’t know how to act my age. :wink:

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2025: The Year in Review
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Welcome to the forum and the world of unicycling!

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Wellcome to the community Marc C-Ram!
Inspiring to read your story. Your ability to focus on the repetitive nauture of learning to ride a unicycle will be an advantage. I think the joy of even the smallest progress on the path of mastering this seemingly impossible feat of unicycling is one that we can all relate to.
It must be difficult to learn to ride on such a small wheel in the landscape you describe. Try riding in an empty parking lot or any other paved surface with limited traffic. Once you feel ready for a larger wheel, riding on rough terrain will be a lot easier.
I learned as a kid and took up unicycling again almost 3 years ago, I am 54…

Keep at it :grinning_face:

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I see in your profile that you have an Oracle 26. That definitely would be great for the terrain you’re describing. And as @UniKirk said, I do suggest finding a smooth paved surface to learn on.

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Welcome to the forum, and hello from Minnesota :slightly_smiling_face: I learned about three and a half years ago, and it’s been a wild (and fun!) ride.

I felt the same way when I was in the very beginning of my learning journey. It was frustrating, but in a good way that made me want to get back in the saddle again until I eventually began riding unassisted. I’ve come a long way since then! :uni: I wish you the best on your unicycle journey. It’s amazing what you can do with enough time with a unicycle

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Re the Oracle 26”: Ready for this? I have not yet ridden it. Once I became enamored of the concept of unicycling and realized that it appears to be a lifelong learning process, I purchased it as a future gift to myself. My current plan involves ticking off a number of smaller goals and accomplishments with both 16” and 20” wheels (I’m learning mainly on 20” now) until I reach a proficiency level I’ve personally set for myself. I’m nowhere close to that now, but time and discipline will get me there. The reward waiting for me is a brand-new Nimbus Oracle 26”!

So, I’ve got something to work for - :face_with_tongue:

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I can see where you are coming from by keeping the 26” Oracle as a reward for meeting your goals, but given you are learning on rough ground you might actually achieve your goals faster if you learn on it rather than your 16”. With your 16” small stones and undulations in the ground can easily throw you off whereas the larger wheel could roll over them. There are disadvantages from going straight to a larger wheel and it is generally advised to start on a 20” on a smooth surface, but a 16” is maybe making things a bit harder than they could be.

I learned on a 24” on roughish ground, that might be a good compromise if you can find a secondhand one and keep your 26” Oracle as the ‘prize’….

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I can’t get enough RAM, especially unicycling stories stored in @C-RAM :wink:
Comparing very different wheel sizes with road setup/ high tire pressure:
Two days ago I rode some meters offroad with a twitchy 19" uni. Today I rode the same path with a 36" and stabilizing T-bar. The larger wheel just rolls across bumps and through mud. You don’t have to react on everything. Much easier. But for your purpose much too large.
The ideal Muni size for you is certainly 26" once you can mount it. Play a bit with tire pressure on your terrain. On the street max pressure. Low pressure on bumpy offroad sections.
16" is fun on the pavement, but too hard to ride on your terrain.

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Thank you kindly!

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Thanks for the kind words.

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Thanks - I’m experiencing no frustration, but remain captivated by this activity!

To illustrate, I began riding bicycles as a small kid like most everyone and continued through my teens and into adulthood - I presently own a couple of Mountain Bikes, a Road Bike and a single-speed Cruiser, but I’m not what you would call a ‘bike guy’ - I like exercise and activity, and they help with that, but that’s about it.

The unicycle is a horse of a different color - I’m transfixed with it.

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Appreciate the advice!

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I’ve got a long way to go, but I can tell you I’m pleasantly anticipating the journey!

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Hello Marc, C-ram, I’m glad to see another beginner in my age group. Welcome to the community. (I’m also a beginner.) A friendly word of advice, protective gear will prevent a lot of set backs. I’m 66 with two total knee replacements. I can’t say enough about keeping life and limbs in one piece. I recently purchased motorcycle grade elbow & knee protection, to upgrade my gear. )I admire your enthusiasm, keep up the good work.

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I concur 100% with what DrD wrote:

A bigger wheel and a fatter tyre roll better over bumps, so that‘s better suited for the conditions you described.
And while I see the motivation to keep the 26er as a prize, I‘d like to stress that it‘s not the end of the road. The bigger uni opens a new horizon of possibilities - things that are simply not possible in the same way on 16“ and 20“ unis, municycling being the most obvious option. So, my advice is not to wait too long. :wink:

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I’m 67, also. I started when I was 60 on a 24. Once I could ride a little bit, I switched to a 26er. Something I haven’t seen mentioned is height. I’m 6 feet tall and the 24 didn’t feel comfortable. If you’re shorter, it may be fine. Additionally, what works for one person may not work for someone else. I took a long time to learn to ride and my daughter could could ride 20 yards in a couple hours.

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I learned on a 20 and for me the 26 was also the second which I bought after a month or so. It is still one of my most fave uni’s. Im 6’2. Smaller wheels are always a bit more twitchy.

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