I was seduced out onto the prom by the loveliness of the still and warm evening. I didn’t mean to go, I am supposed to be writing a literature review on stress & addiction.
The unicycle seemed smoother to ride now that I have inflated the tyre a little. Not so much bouncing around.
Three different lots of people applauded. Neumerous others said “oh my god” or “wow”. Two b*cyclists stopped to talk to me. One asked whether I had ever “made it” as he had seen me ride up & down several times. I presumed that he meant ridden all the way without ‘falling’ off and it was a bit embarrassing to explain why I get off now and again to let the blood ciruclate. He said he was a racing cyclist and was thinking about buliding his own uni - something about being in engineering.
The other b*cyclist said i was doing great and that he could himself ride a 20" of his friends.
No jerks around tonight. Except one who asked why I rode one wheel. I wanted to ask why he went around with vomit on his shirt (but was too polite).
Even at the end of the ride, when I wanted to ride along the pavement but was unable to because of a group of meandering youths, they suddenly crossed the road, leaving me a clear pavement.
It was a great evening.
I still haven’t done any work on my lit review, though. Never mind. It was worth it.
Cathy
I have also discovered that using my MP3 player when I’m riding is great. I can pretend I can’t hear to my heart’s content. I can also clear a path in front of me by mouthing to the songs (never actually committing the cardinal sin of singing out loud with earphones in, ofcourse). Not only am I a mad woman on a unicylce, which might seem quaint to some, I am also muttering to myself, which makes me positively dangerous. However, I didn’t need this ploy today.
Cathy
Re: People, more amazed and amazing than I realised
The world is full of engineers who are going to build their own unicycle one day. It’s their way of saying, “I may be an engineer, but I’m quite wacky, really.”
Engineering is all about finding elegant solutions to problems.
Problem: I need a unicycle, but know little or nothing about them.
Solution: I can buy one from a unicycle shop.
Secondary problem: Too easy - might have to go through with it.
Secondary solution: I’ll say I’m going to build one, when I get time, one day.
Sounds like a good ride, though. Did the youth really have vomit on his shirt - and did it look like his own? 
He wasn’t a youth, he was older than me. And it looked like vomit to me (and I was a nurse for 15 years so have seen a good bit of vomit). Couldn’t tell who it belonged to though, not having anything else to compare it to.
Cathy
Surely being a youth and older than you are not mutually exclusive.
Once upon a time, a long long time ago, this was true. But sadly not any more 
Cathy