I arrived in Atlanta on a Tuesday evening and by Wednesday morning had already eagerly made a trek over to Marietta and unicycle.com. I wanted to buy either a Summit or KH trials unicycle because I was starting to “outgrow” (read “break”) the 20" Stealth Torker I own. John pretended to be busy while Jordan and Russell did all the work. I think he just plays and watches “UniVerse” all day long to tell the truth. He did give me, my brother, and my nephew a nice tour and showed us all of his latest toys. Jordan started assembling a KH and was half way done when I told him I thought we had agreed on the Summit. He said sure, he could change it, and pulled out a Summit frame and wheel set. The KH frame was much more attractive and, in fact, way too attractive to pass up and the black spokes on the KH wheel set sealed the deal; I had to have it. And this is unicycle number ten for me, my first decade.
I took it to Oakridge, TN to visit a friend who took me to a trials playground there where the KH hands down outperformed the Torker. I rode brick walls four feet off the ground on both sides, turned the 90 degree turns, and dropped at the ends. On Thursday I was back in Atlanta with my nephew at a park near where my brother lives. There, also, it was remarkable what the right equipment will let you do. I’ve already scratched up the left crank doing grabs on concrete. I also climbed a picnic table from the ground up and rode several sloping concrete walls. This thing can take enough abuse that I’m going to have to learn to do drops seat out. I did bop my ankle once on the protruding crank which is a complaint that many have voiced over this unicycle. I bopped it while doing demo stuff in thongs (footwear, not swimsuits) and dress pants for friends and relatives so I’m not so sure it counts. I view it as a jumping around toy more than a riding toy, anyway.
Sunday morning John had planned a MUni ride. He faked sick, showed up late, and let Casey do his riding for him. Russell and Robbie were there as was Corey, a friend of Casey’s. I thought I was in a 1980’s teen movie. Chad chickened out claiming that his 24" Torker UniStar had recently been run over by a locomotive and the rim was bent. It looked straight enough to me but my eyes aren’t that sharp anymore. Instead, Chad followed or lead on a bicycle and videoed my frequent falls and failures and the successes of the real riders.
John loaned me his Wilder with a 3" Gazz, ThudBuster shock and Black Widow cranks. The Wilder was very lightweight and pleasant to ride but I would wager from experience that the SH is a bit lighter similarly equipped. The ThudBuster performed noticeably when I was paying attention to it which I was able to do during the five or six mile ride. John accidentally had the seatpost adjusted about 4" too low so I corrected that for him. It may be a surprise the next time he rides. He’ll have to learn to coast in an abrupt manner. The only thing I didn’t like about his rig was the cheap, plastic, molded pin pedals that John Childs has scolded me for owning on numerous occassions in the past when I still used them. They do seem to be more slippy than grippy. You would think that the biggest distributor in North America would adorn the elegant and high-tech Wilder frame with some decent pedals but the guy is paying for a new “this is my midlife crisis” Jeep so I had to give him some latitude.
As I remembered from last summer at UNICON, Casey was an outstanding rider. I couldn’t verify that this time. We saw Casey and Corey’s backs briefly and then 15 minutes later the rest of would see them sitting down on the trail waiting for us. Apparently Casey’s Wilder is much, much lighter than John’s and the tire is much springier because he can ride it faster than me and jump it about three times higher than me and he lasts longer, too. Somehow, Corey, the other guy one third my age was able to keep up with him, though. Corey also lost it in the drink at the end of the ride. I had done that before, myself, in Mississippi with the lower delta boys so I felt his pain briefly. Then I laughed and berated him with the others which is, of course, the way of the “male bonding” myth. Corey was tactful enough to leave the unicycle dry, on the bridge, when he fell into the creek. I was not so courteous to Chris (rhysling) LeFay’s unicycle. Corey’s example also prevented me from attempting the same move which was originally my intent. Fortunately he was ahead of me that time.
Later that evening I went to dinner with those Drummonds who were still in town and a spare kid they borrowed from some unsuspecting mother to make sure they had superior forces wherever they chose to go. Amy showed me a very clearly altered “document” suggesting that I had numerous back payments due to unicycle.com and was dangerously in arrears. Particularly suspect was the special “Liberace” edition KH MUni with gem studded sterling silver frame and matching candelabrum priced at a disturbing $17,492.89 that I don’t remember ordering. Then, they took me to their house and sicced Casey on me with a ping-pong game in which I was doomed from the onset. A vicious group, that.
If you are in the Atlanta area try to drop in at unicycle.com and see the storefront and warehouse and all of the truly wonderful folks that work there. They are indeed a fine bunch. But, then, they’re unicyclists…what do you expect?
