Hi again! Now it’s time for my unicycle crash story. I’ve taken a few
spills, but not many compare to this one. Read on. Between Febuary and
March of this year, I was at a friends house. I had just gotten back
from Europe on a unicycling trip, and was rather excited about
learning new tricks. I had been working on a few variations of hopping
on the wheel, but hadn’t yet really learned any of them well My
friends and I had planned to go to a movie that night. This was the
first time that we had actually planned on doing anything. We were
outside getting ready to leave when the guys asked me to show them my
new tricks. I figured that I’de try the hopping on the wheel stuff.
The first tricks worked out fine, and overly confident, I proceeded to
take my hands off the seat, in an attempt to hop on the wheel
freehanded. I hopped four or five times, and lost my balance. No
biggie, I usually lost my balance, and I usually just tipped over and
landed on my feet. When my left foot hit the ground, it did so
sideways, placing all of my weight on one foot. Normally this wouldn’t
do any damage, but it is also necessary to take into account the fact
that I fell from 20" up. I hit the ground and felt as well as heard a
crack. I got up, and refused to believe that that “crack” occured. I
even took a few painful steps, too painful. I removed my shoe and sock
to expose a terribly swolen foot. I went inside, iced it, and called
my house to see if anyone was home to take me to the E.R. Fourtinatly,
there was. My friends all came to the hospital and after about an hour
and a half, it was offical. I had broken my cuboid bone. I got my
splint and crutches, and went home, with doctors instructions to stay
off the unicycle for several weeks. Thats the story, the moral: never
plan anything. In the end you’ll be sorry.
One last thing: Welcome Harvy Mudders! This may come as a surprise,
but some of us already knew of your existance. Around a year ago, a
friend and I were out unicycling when a soon to be student of yours
approached us and said that he needed to learn how to ride because
there were lots of unicyclists where he was going to school: Harvy
Mudd college. I guess I had always assumed that you guys were already
in touch with the world of unicycling. Keep in touch, and lets keep
those unicycling horror stories coming. ( I'm enjoying them greatly!
Karl Frankowski (Madison, WI)