Quote of the day (from non-riders)

That would truly be a nightmare, ending up in a wheel chair and not being able to ride uni. When I don’t ride for a month, I start dreaming about it. On the other hand, in my dreams there is no fear and I can do all the things that I can’t in real life.

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I try to practice patience/pity for the many who cannot ride or even imagine a unicycle.
The one’s who are the loudest, feel mocked or inferior, as we display our super powers.
Then the one’s with electronics, enjoy the little wheel and standing pedals.

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It’s easy to take for granted when you have spent so long immersed in it. I have a memory from when I was about 18 (so 25ish years ago) when someone offhandedly told me they saw a person unicycling down the street. “Just… rolling along?? Like, fast?!” I guess up to that point I assumed you could only kind of wobble around or idle while juggling. It opened a portal for me…

The other morning at 5.30, as I cycled past a guy on a shared pathway he shouted out “ I got two of those!” My delayed reply, You only need one!
I actually feel ok when I get comments, it’s all in jest and a humorous interaction for all.

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Maybe he was actually a unicyclist with two in the shed at home…

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Yeah, I did think about that and thought later my answer covered both scenarios… Although having more than one is nice. This rainy morning I went to the local skate park with the KH29 and an umbrella. Had the park to myself for idling and backward riding.

I was riding my 26x4 “fatty”
Lady: “wow! that requires a lot of balance!”
little girl: “No it’s easy with such a big wheel!” :smile:

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I think the “fall off and die” comment could have been meant sarcastically, as in, “you are doing something that makes me look completely incapable, ‘I hope you fall off and die’.” Or it could be that you just encountered a genuine asshole. I’ve noticed that there seem to be a few middle-aged men who have some genuine hostility towards people who do strange things regardless of how harmless they may be.

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I can imagine he was probably a fat idiot as well who gets out of breath just putting his shoes on in the morning!

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That’s been proven to be true, well almost…

Sex, aggression, and humour: responses to unicycling

(posted before)

Oh, sigh. I am pretty much at the end of middle age and that is when I started to learn how to unicycle. (I am 58 now, like unigeezer, but without the skill).

And I think it all depends on where you are riding and what gender you are too. I feel I tend to never get bad comments.

That’s an interesting read and one I can identify with.

My favourite response is the one where someone simply greets me (“Good morning”) and then carries on as if there was nothing unusual going on.

My least favourite is the false affirmation (“Well done” etc), as if somehow I live thrive and survive on their affirmation.

But then again, I am a grumpy old git.

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I’ve had a little of this lately - people congratulating me on how well I’m doing, when simply commuting into town, something which I’ve not struggled with for over a decade.
We’ve only recently moved house though so the locals aren’t used to it yet. From previous experience these comments will slowly diminish on my regular routes.

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Ditto!

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Thank you for sharing this report, it was very interesting and relatable.

Today,

“What are you doing on that stupid bike!?”

Plot twist, it was me who shouted this at my friend Erlend, who by chance unicycled past my office (no meeting was planned). Further twist, I was on a penny farthing at the time. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

P.S. Yes… yes a unicycle is not a “bike” but I was so excited about getting the chance to be the obnoxious asshole for a change that I messed up my line slightly. I probably should have gone for the classic, “Did you lose your other wheel?” :person_shrugging:

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To be honest I quite often use the word “bike” myself to avoid questions from people. :joy: ruari

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Yeah, Ed Pratt always does as well. :wink:

In Norwegian a bike is normally called a “sykkel” (cycle) and does not typically state the number of wheels, so in this sense it is easier to use it for both. Though in the above case I said it to Erlend as written (in English).

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Me too. When I’m discussing with people and I’m not with my unicycle, and I have to speak about my hobbies or something, I almost always mention that I often ride “my bike”.

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