My name is David Stone, and I live in Manhattan with my wife and two kids, ages
5 and 1 1/2. A couple summers ago I started unicycling my daughter to her camp
or school whenever I was able to take her; she sat in the stroller and I pused
while riding. When my son was old enough to sit in a stroller, I got a
‘skateboard’ attachment for the stroller. My daughter stands on that and my son
sits in the stroller. I got handle-extentions so I don’t have to hurt my back
anymore (I did a number on myself last year and ached for a day, twice). I ride
a 26" Semcycle (available at Unicycle.com) and we go pretty fast. Boy do we get
some looks! And last summer I gave a friend of my daughter a lift as well; he
stood in front of her on the bars you’re not supposed to stand on. That ride was
a bit of a chore: pushing 70lbs of kids in a regular umbrella stroller (with
those little wheels) uphill was a pain! I have also ridden down some pretty
ferocious hills with my two, and it was scary at first but now I feel safe.
I started riding at 13 1/2. I got my Schwinn 20" with the last of my Bar
Mitzvah money, the best $90 ever spent. My brother soon followed, and we have
been riding since. We were lucky enough to live across town from a museum
frequented by street performers including two unicyclists; we stole all their
tricks and added a few others.
Before last year, we would have qualified as level 4 (if you don’t know what
that means, check out the Int’l Unicycling Federation website). I was unaware of
a lot of the uni scene throughout the world until this past year, when my
brother and I began exploring uni things on the Internet. I got myself the
Semcycle. Then I ordered a few videos [from John and Amy Drummond (of Geirgia)
at Unicycle.com (1-800-UNICYCLe)]: “One Wheel No Limit” and “UniVerse,” both of
which will rock your world if you haven’t seen them yet. Then I got serious and
ordered a few more unicycles and some other things and also started a uni club
here in NYC (there hasn’t been one since ever, I believe, or maybe there was one
a decade ago, but I never heard of one before). The Internet is a big help in
spreading the word, and we have had over a dozen people ride with us in our
first two monthly meetings (outdoors in NYC in winter, once while it was
raining, so I imagine we’ll get a lot more people in nice weather when we are
more established). I hope we can find an indoor venue one day.
Having seen the “No Limit” video, I began practicing some pretty obscure uni
tricks, tho I ride primarily to get around (I have had years when I rode it 50
miles a week on average to get to work and back). I am on the cusp of mastering
walking the wheel (most paces achieved: 35 last night!) and will soon be able to
pass everything thru level 6. I also just learned how to do a 180 Uni spin
(where you bounce with the uni in front, jump off the uni, spin it 180 degrees,
and land back on the pedals), practicing for which made me look like an abuse
victim or heroin addict from the waist down.
I’ll be at the Toronto Unicycling convention and look forward to meeting lots of
other uni fanatics.
David Stone