Hi all, I’m Andrew from England, in the United Kingdom of Britain.
I got into unicycling by accident a few years back. Basically I needed some big Wheels for a cycling project that I was doing.
I had a few 36er wheels built up for said Project and one left over, so I decided to get the other parts needed to make it into a proper unicycle, watched a few tutorials, and then gave it a go.
Strangely, I took to unicycling like a duck to water, and over the years I’ve really enjoyed it. I managed to hook up with a small group of enthusiasts in my area and we created our own little forum, nothing as well organised as this, just a bunch of friends exchanging emails and that sort of thing. I was told that I was a natural at unicycling by the group, but as I didn’t know any better, just thought they were being polite. The weird part however, is that I’ve always found it much easier to mount and ride 36ers than I do to mount and ride the smaller wheel sizes, when for most people, it’s the other way round.
Because many people were impressed by my riding and what I could do on a uni, I was often asked if I would teach others how to do so. I eventually got persuaded to teach a youth group in my area, and I found that I enjoyed doing so… and I was getting paid too!
After a few more teaching opportunities, I decided to buy some unicycles, and all the spare parts for them such as rims and tyres, etc - mainly 36er stuff, as I was also into modern Penny farthings and the big Coker bicycles, afterall, riding all these was my speciality) and I sort to set up my own little side business teaching people to ride and to also sell them these too. I hasten to add that I was NOT going to be competition to Unicycle.uk… for me this was just a side hustle to bring in some extra cash for my hobbie, because I had a full-time day job that I loved doing.
I used to be a member of CycleMagic who were a Leicester based Cycle Charity. Unfortunately, they are no more, but our big claim to fame, was that we were the organisation that opened the 2007 Tour-De-France at Hyde Park in London when it came to England… if you GOOGLE Cyclemagic, there are still some references to us on the internet.
Anyway… back to my story… not long after purchasing all this stuff, I was involved in an accident - not on my unicycle I hasten to add - which meant that I was unable to ride for quite some time. Anyway, what with recovery, life and one thing and another, the business idea was put on the sidelines for a few years. But, l kept all the gear that I’d purchased, as I’d always hoped to revive it.
At the beginning of 2020, before the Covid-19 crisis hit Britain, I decided to get back into riding my unicycle again. To my delight, I discovered that I could still ride, but to my despair, it was causing me too much pain. I put it down to me being rusty and out of shape, so I resolved to lose some weight, get fitter and to try again.
A couple of months went by, and I lost some weight, got fitter and thought I’d try again. By this time, it was now March 23rd and Britain was entering into its first Covid-19 related lockdown. Unfortunately for me, when I tried to ride again, the pain I’d felt the first time round was just as strong and I had to come to terms with the fact that my unicycling days were now well and truly over.
So now, you’re probably wondering why I’ve joined this site?.. well, the explanation will probably sound daft to you, but here goes… basically, I’ve decided to get rid of some of my stuff, because it reminds me too much of what I used to be able to do and how good I used to be at it, and this makes me feel quite sad. But, as I’ve become quite sentimental about them… I’d like to see them go to people who I think would really appreciate them. PLUS… despite my lament, I do like to read some of the topics and stories on this forum, as they remind me - in a GOOD way - about how I used to be and the stuff I used to do.
It’s just a shame I hadn’t engaged with you guys earlier, totally my fault, it would have been a lot of fun engaging in lots of chat with more people who had the same interests as me. So I’d like to thank the organisers for creating this site and keeping it updated.
This is a short video of the great group I used to belong to called CycleMagic. Sadly they are no longer around, but It’ll give you guys an idea of my background, history and interest in the weird and wonderful of the bike and unicycle world.
. Thank you for the welcome. Yes I’ve tried everything that you’ve suggested and more including different seats, different types of padding and then stuff for my knee, etc, etc, etc.
… I could’ve made a killing!.. but instead I’m having to offload 
… sorry, for our international friends, this means that I’m an optimist and tend to look on the bright side of things.
