yesterday- wow, omgosh you are awesome on that thing, can you do that again(i did), do something crazy (jumps over 3 sidewalk squares then clears the grass btw sidewalk and street), do a flip (my response) I’d rather wait a few more years … maybe even decades to die… but one time @ church retreat I did one, you are just insane, no I will not try it … i don’t have a death wish, you idiot
today(on the skimboard)
YOU ARE MY INSPIRATION- I can’t believe you are that good- WOW
all one comment
(it was a comment from a non unicycle rider, even if i wasn’t on the uni)
“You’ve lost your other wheel”. Not exactly quote of the day.
“Show off” “Big head”. From a couple of women crossing the road, also not quote of the day (I think they were joking though).
And then I passed some Americans - Cambridge is full of visiting US students at the moment, who are still trying to get used to the eccentric locals and strange traditions. I scooted round them, and heard an amused voice exclaim:
“What the hell? Where the hell am I?”
Apparently random cokers don’t fly past you so often in his hometown! I turned round to smile and one shouted “Man, that’s amazing!”, and then another shouted “We want your body!”. So I guess that’s good
I’ve had a lot of positive comments since getting the 36er - it really gets me noticed compared to the 29er. The fact there are tourists everywhere helps, they video me, stare and gawp, etc, etc.
I also got called a show off a few days ago, but that was probably reasonable: scooting between groups of pedestrians I spotted some gawping, smiled smugly from behind my shades and saluted. It was very Top Gun, but I’m pretty sure that’s not a good thing! Fun though
Final quote: “Everybody stared at you” from a friend who was biking alongside me. I later noticed my flies had been undone - the sight of my underpants flying towards them at eye level at high speed probably transfixed them. I really hope my T-shirt was long enough to preserve my modesty!
Just yesterday while riding semi-muni, a car passes with two girls, in their 20’s, and they scream: “SEXY!” I smiled and waved, and said to myself…Did they mean me or my unicycle? Whatever-it’s all good!
Now that I’m riding well enough to allow myself to be seen on the streets, I’ve been getting lots of comments.
~ most common thing I hear: “Is it hard to ride that thing?”
~ most recent thing I heard: “You should join a circus.”
~ favorite thing to hear: “Mind if I try that thing?”
The one who said that was a dad with two toddlers at his side. He said it’s been years since he rode, and that he’d never tried a 26" uni. He mounted on first try and rode 20 feet looking pretty comfortable doing it! I think his toddlers were surprised and impressed.
Yesterday I came to a family that was walking past me the other way. They were all smiling and the kids were whispering things to each other while glancing at me. I decided to toss something back at them that folks sometimes say to me. I said, “I lost the other wheel back there.” The kids laughed.
So far I haven’t had anyone throw rocks or food at me…
i’ve been getting nothing but positive comments lately… it’s starting to freak me out. i’m supposed to be the outcast who is genuinely glad to be rejected by society.
“you got skillllz man!!!”
“this guy is good!”
“that’s unbelievable, i would’ve fallen on my face”
etc…
even the drunks seem to like me these days.
This week while Muni-ing at Tiger Mountain with John Childs, a guy with 2 dogs sees us, drops down on his knees and bows(like middle easterns to allah)!!
I was riding around tonight and a kid maybe 11 or 12 years old is walking with his skateboard up the hill and I go backwards and weave through some cones on the side of the road the kid keeps looking back at me and I ride up next to him and he asks “how long did it take to learn to ride that?” I answered him, then he asks how long it took me to learn to turn and I answered then he asked if I would be back there tomorrow i told him I would and then I came home and found out that I wouldn’t and luckily he told me where he was staying for the summer so I can go tell him that i can meet him later I think I may have converted a Skater.
Well, one time I got an “It takes a lot of practice to ride that thing, right?” to which I answered, “Yes.” It was the most normal comment yet.People around here seem to refer to it as a “thing.” Another time, I was at a walk to support autism(puertorrican Walk Far for NAAR), and a lady smiled at me and said “I can’t even get on that thing!” I think she mentioned something about her kid riding, but I never saw him.Another time, the day when I learned, a kid and his mother were like, WHOA!Turns out the kid had one but couldn’t ride it…or something like that.Then, another time, I was at that same skatepark and there was a BMXer and a few skateboarders(one of them was my sister’s boyfriend, who is REALLY extreme, but can’t even get on the uni, I’ll call him “skater” right here, he knew the term unicycle, of course) and they were talking.
BMXer:WHOA!She sure rides that bike well!
skater:Yeah!
BMXer:So, can you ride it?
skater:No, I can’t even get on it!She’s the only one that rides!
Oh, and when I first got it:
Skater:I can’t believe I never thought of asking for one of those for my birthday!
And when I learned to hop:
Skater:WHOA!
Dad:You’re an EXTREME UNICYCLIST!!!
Lotsa laughs!
Oh, and when I learned to wheelwalk(a few steps only)
Dad:Whoa, that’s a new one!
“Is that a Coker?” asked a gent that had pulled into a median turn around and stopped his motorcycle. “Why yes it is.” I replied. Come to find out he’s a MUni rider and he hadn’t met any of the others in my area so I filled him in on some contact info. Technically this doesn’t fit in this thread but I thought it was cool to have bumped into another uni rider while out and about on my Coker.
i make a lot of bicycles and unis. today a random kid (who knew me somehow) came up to me and goes “why don’t you go and build yourself another unicycle”. i thought it was pretty wierd so i just gave him a mean look. and havent seen him since.
"can you ride that uphill?
“How do you balance?”
“How do you steer?”
“Why are you riding that on a trail?”
“Couldn’t I do the same thing on a pogo stick”?
“I tried one of those when I was a kid, but I fell off”
whilst riding on private property a groundsman comes up to me and my friend telling us we are not allowed to be here blah blah blah. He said hes seen us stack and if we fall and split our skulls they could get sued and he said something like “so you can’t ride here…at least not while i’m here”. then when we leave me friend goes “i was so tempted to ask him what time his shift finished”.
