I wanted to hear about any problems people have had with riding in the streets. For example:
A while back my mate and I were riding on the sidewalk and a pedestrian with an attitude saw us coming and just stood right in our way. I managed to get around him without trouble but my frient bumped the bag the guy was carrying and they almost got into a fight.
A few times I’ve found myself having a car speed towards me because they didn’t have their turn signal on and I’ve ridden in front of them.
Once I had someone open their door from a parked car on the side of the road.
And now for the Shoe Laces portion of the thread. Do you find that your shoe laces become tangled around the crank, and do you then find that you fall off and look like a right goof? It has happened to me three times now, the most recent was yesterday. I’m so used to riding with a certain pair of shoes on that I feel awkward riding with a different pair. I can’t be asked to tuck in my laces everytime I want to jump on my unicycle. I guess I have to tuck them in, cut them shorter, or wear a different pair.
people do it all the time, you’r riding along, theyre walking looking at you then they stop and you cant get around them its so friggen annoying.
when theyre in the car they signal for you to go, you start going then they go then stop abruptly then you stop and fall off and theyre staring at your unicycles its like AHHH.
i hate it when people stop to watch and are in your way and you have to go around them.
my shoelace wrapped itself around the pedal/crank once, but luckily it just ripped my shoe off me and i was able to slow down to a stop. it was weird. i just tuck them in nowadays.
Fair enough. Hope you don’t hurt yourself the 4th time they get tangled and fall off. Or the 5th, 6th etc. I realise that tucking laces in is a particularly onerous task though.
As for hazards while riding - yup, sadly there will always be lots of obstacles (like people) in your path. If you’re riding anywhere slightly busy you have to pay attention to what’s going on around you to avoid them - keep an eye out for people in parked cars that might open doors, etc. They should look first, but not everyone does. The same goes for cars turning without indicating - loads of people do that, so sadly you have to be suspicious of drivers. Being in the right if you get run over won’t be much consolation.
As for pedestrians on pavements - that guy sounds like he was just being awkward, but lots of people when faced with a unicycle just won’t know what to do because it’s not a situation they’ll have encountered before. Two unicyclists on a narrow pavement might be slightly intimidating - you know you won’t fall off on them, but they don’t.
Try biking in traffic - same hazards, just approached at three times the speed.
ive never had someone stop in the middle of a walkway to watch me. most people walk off the side walk and try to get out of my way as much as possible because they don’t think unicycles are “safe” to be near. don’t know why though.
ive had my shoe laces get wrapped around the crank. i didn’t fall off. i just put my other foot down and un wrapped it. i havent done anything to stop it from happening again because im not really that worried about it.
I don’t have a unicycle yet but I wear Salomon shoes that have very small shoe laces and they are made of kevlar. They tuck into a little pocket so they don’t hang out and get caught in anything.
People always jump at me around downtown, and someone doored me a few days ago then yelled at me for denting their door. I have had my shoelaces wrap around the cranks a lot so now I just tie them around my ankles so the ends are shorter and aren’t next to the cranks. I had some one stop in the middle of the sidewalk with a friend and they blocked the whole sidewalk except the curb so I calmly moved to the edge of the sidewalk and rode right by, It was funny because they looked completely dumbfounded I waited until I was out of ear shot and laughed really hard.