Unicycling has come a long way in the last 30 years (see “Revolution One”).
I love that John Foss started the original “quote of the day (non riders)” thread.
That seems very appropriate being one of the key players in the sport.
I am throwing out another thread of phrases that could show up on a T shirt at a unicycle festival. The little quips we use to stand apart from others.
This may also help those out there as we promote and grow the sport!!
Let me start with a few:
*Lose a wheel, up the challenge -Muni --From STOMP Munifest
*Muni-it’s not for clowns
*Unicycle–all bikes 50% off
*No gears, no chain, no shocks, no brakes, no handle bars…NO PROBLEM! -Muni
Where There’s a Wheel, There’s a Way
Training Wheels are for Wimps
Lose the Training Wheel
(Those to be accompanied by an illustration of a unicycle, so people know what the shirt is talking about)
It’s harder to do for Muni shirts, because first the non-unicyclists needs to know what Muni is. If you’re trying to spread the word and educate the public, always spell it out (Mountain Unicylcing). That’s why all of the shirts I’ve done for unicycle conventions spell out the whole thing. Examples:
California Mountain Unicycle Weekend
National Unicycle Meet
USA Unicycle Team
This is a great thread idea. It’s like a subset (or side-set) of the Quote of the Day from Non-Riders thread, which is all over the place…
I think the best way to promote this “sport” is to get non-riders to start thinking. Why not me?
Within our community of unicycle riders, we “know” we are cool and have this “amazing super power”. However, to the non-riding public we must try to always stay humble, and never allow the “praise” of the non-riders to put us on a pedestal and thus intimidate people from “even considering” riding a unicycle themselves.
When they see us they need to think:
1.) Why not me?
2.) Inspire them to buy and try.
3.) Then get them “hooked”.
But people, for the most part, still say the same stuff when you ride by.
We did an earlier version of this for the 1998 California Mountain Unicycle Weekend T-shirts:
No Brakes.
No Gears.
No Handlebars.
No Problem.
It was super-cool at the time. But times change, and now my main ride has a 2-speed hub, a brake, a handlebar, and technically, more problems because it’s more complicated and there’s more to break.
But there’s an out:
No Brakes? Technically, no. It’s just a brake.
No Gears? Well, I can only change one.
No Handlebars? It’s just one bar. Ignore if there are two handles on the end; it’s just one bar!
I have mentioned on one of my other threads my mental struggle with the “purist” in me who wonders how far is too far before all we have left to add back is the second wheel.
Reverse argument–as we push the envelope, the tech has to be there to make the advances in the sport. Not sure there is a “real” answer–but love the journey!!
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