Hello!
I have now officially given up bikes for good.
I have been unicycling for almost a year, and now have 4 unicycles: a Trials, a Muni, a Freestyle, and a Commuter.
Even though I have the commuter I still used my bike to get to work and university.
But on thursday night (bi)cycling home after work, some idiots thought it would be funny to shout out of their windows at me and give me a fright. I did indeed get a fright, I didn’t fall or owt, just got a wee fright.
But then I noticed the traffic lights and pedestrian area ahead of me. They were still sitting at a red light so I sailed by and punched their wing mirror clean off, and then went onto the pedestrian area and made my way home. That’ll teach them.
Then, on friday night, (bi)cycling home on the same road I saw a mate ahead so I speeded up to catch up with him. At least I intended to.
As soon as I put pressure on the pedals the chain slipped and I went down, getting tangled up in the bike, skinning my knees, and the end of the handlebar jabbed me in the ribs. And I pulled a musle in my calf somehow. Ouch.
Now some might say this is karma from the wing mirror incident, I’m not sure myself but I know it wouldn’t have happened on a unicycle.
My knees and calf are fine now, but my ribs hurt like hell. Breathing deeply is sore, as is coughing and sneezing, Getting up and sitting down is painful and has to be done slowly. I can’t uni as well as normal either cos its my left ribs and I hold the saddle with my left hand. I went out on my newly built trials corse (in my back yard!) yesterday for an hour and when I came back in I could hardly move. Perhaps I should be taking it easy?
Both incidents wouldn’t have happened on a unicycle, folk shout at me all the time on the uni but I just smile or ignore them. Or shout abuse. I wouldn’t have got so enraged that I would have punched their car on the uni. I would have just laughed at them. Or shouted abuse.
So that is me, no more bikes. They require too much maintenance, they are too many bits to go wrong, and they hurt too much when you fall off.
My bike has been ditched in the hallway never to be touched again. And my commuter has come out of the cupboard. It has a 24" wheel, 125mm cranks, a hookworm tyre with 50psi in it, a rear LED flasher, and a speedo. I’m also gonna get a front flasher and a non-quick-release seat clamp (for peace of mind when its locked up places) this afternoon.
Do any unicycle commuters have any advice for me? Is there anything I should be watching out for? I ride on the road when its quiet, and on the pavement if it’s quiet. I try and stay away from busy places/roads.
Thank you for listening/reading.
T.
Nice one!