Hey, that’s my article!
Snow tire
29 January 2009
Saskatoon Star Phoenix
Copyright © 2009 Saskatoon Star Phoenix
If your morning commute takes you along Redberry Road, keep an eye out for 17-year-old Curtis Hewlitt.
He’ll be the one on the unicycle.
The one-wheeled wunderkind picked up the hobby in the summer and has been happily unicycling his way to school at Marion Graham Collegiate ever since.
So far, he’s been undeterred by this season’s cold weather and icy roads.
Growing up, Hewlitt was fan of the children’s television show The Big Comfy Couch and he credits his interest in unicycles to the program’s unicycling mailman.
“I saw that and I always thought it was so cool,” he said.
His chosen mode of conveyance made him a bit of a celebrity at school, but Hewlitt says his 15 minutes of fame were rather fleeting.
“At first, kids thought it was weird or cool, but now they’re kinda used to it,” he said.
Despite the attention, Hewlitt admits the unicyclist’s road is a lonely one. He’s been trying to convince his friends to give unicycling a try, but has so far been unsuccessful.
It’s also a hobby that comes with it’s fair share of bumps and bruises, he says.
“You usually land on your feet,” he said, “but I’ve fallen once or twice.”
Unicycling in Fukushima, Japan
Back in late 2007 a TV station here in Fukushima, Japan saw me riding around on my 36" and ended up interviewing me.
At the time I had just moved to Japan and didn’t know the language that well, so one of my friends interpreted for me.
Workout on one wheelUnicyclist, 52, gaining fame in next extreame sport
Tom Berg
30 January 2009
The Pantagraph
SANTA ANA, Calif. - An alarm rings in most guys’ heads around age 50.
It is nature saying: You know, you won’t live forever!
Some respond with sports cars; some with trophy wives; some join the Peace Corps.
Terry Peterson?
“I said, My God, I cannot button my jeans anymore!” says the professional piano tuner. “It dawned on me I should start exercising.”
Running, however, was out of the question - hard on the knees. Swimming? Inconvenient. Biking? Boring.
“I mulled over the options,” says Peterson, now 52, “and they all seemed boring.”
Until he remembered a short-lived, 1960s fad he tried as a 10- year-old.
Since that day, Peterson’s waistline has shrunk from 35 to 29 inches. His weight dropped from 165 to 140 pounds. His online videos elicit responses like: You’re the coolest 52-year-old I’ve ever known!
And he’s virtually dropped the name “Terry.”
When people see him pass now, they point and holler: “Hey, there’s the UniGeezer!”
Pure music to his piano-tuning ears.
Air
The UniGeezer’s uni-verse is filled with uni-spins, uni-drops and uni-fests. He founded the Uni Psychos club. And he writes uni- poetry. Guess what he rides.
Peterson is not simply in love with unicycling. He is head-over- heals, madly, obsessively, compulsively in love with unicycling - specifically mountain unicycling.
That means no low-gear for going uphill - it’s all direct drive. And no coasting going downhill - again, direct drive. It means knowing how to jump, hop and drop off rocks, roots and ruts.
It means dealing with UPDs (Un-Planned Dismounts), and carving out a line to ride over the obstacles in your path.
“It’s a lot like life,” he says.
“I try not to avoid the obstacles. I like to confront them head- on and get over them.”
Yet even the UniGeezer has his limits. Seven times, he’s come to this 8-step stairwell in Redondo Beach, Calif., to practice a drop. And every time he’s backed out.
He is one of maybe 10 extreme mountain unicyclists in Orange County, Calif., one of maybe 300 in the entire country. But they’re not geezers. They’re young, with young legs and young bodies. Like the skate rats who’ve gathered to watch him pull off this stunt.
Peterson can’t jump as high as younger kids so he must compensate with more speed - to clear the bottom step. If he doesn’t fly out far enough, the last thing he’ll feel before crashing is his wheel catching the bottom step.
He backs up, he pushes off and this time, he launches into the air.
Born
Let’s pause here to discuss the dirtiest word in unicycling.
It is never to be uttered aloud. Never to be joked about. Never to be implied, particularly by humming big top music.
“Unicycling is not just done by people with frizzy hair and a big red nose,” says Peterson.
“Notice I don’t use the words circus’ or clown’ because we don’t want to be identified with that. It’s every bit as hardcore as mountain biking - even more, because we have much less to work with.”
Peterson’s $1,200 mountain unicycle features custom pedals, rim, seat post and seat base - made of carbon fiber and double-walled, aircraft-strength aluminum.
“It rolls over stuff like a tank,” he says, though he adds that it doesn’t feel particularly tank-like.
“It’s an extension of your body. It’s graceful, like a dance on your wheel.”
He’s pedaled up Iron Mountain in Poway and down Mammoth Mountain.
“I pass hardcore bikers a lot,” he says. “Going up, they’re in the lowest gear so I go ride right by them. Going downhill, they pass me, but they’re coasting. I have to keep backpressuring to keep from going too fast.”
Peterson rides every day, piling up 60 rugged miles a week through places like Aliso Woods Canyon and Sullivan Canyon.
Your grandfather’s unicycle was a novelty act. A toy. Something that would crumple under the feet of today’s extreme riders. That changed in the late 1990s - thanks to the Internet.
Suddenly there was a place to buy high-tech unicycles. A place to discuss the sport. To plan competitions. And post videos of tricks. Extreme tricks.
Into that world, the UniGeezer was born.
Forever
Peterson almost always rides with a trusty companion - a Canon video camera that he’s used to post more than 100 videos of himself online.
They show him dropping off 5-foot brick walls and 7-foot tractors, bouncing down bleachers and boulders, and jumping across five-foot mountain ruts and up 70-step stairwells.
“I’ve been riding since I was a teenager and he’s doing stuff I’m chicken to do,” says John Foss, former president of the Unicycling Society of America and a world champion unicycler. “I aspire to be where he is.”
Watch one Kris Holm unicycling video and you’ll see why it’s perched to be the next extreme sport. It’s daring, edgy and different enough to give riders an air of exclusivity.
The U.S. national unicycle championships now draw some 400 riders, according to former champion Jamey Mossengren, 29, of Fountain Valley, Calif. The international championships draw some 1,500 riders.
Meanwhile, the Moab MUni Fest - which started with two families in 2001 - now attracts more than 300 mountain-unicyclists every March.
“It’s a Zen feeling,” Mossengren says. “Once you get that feeling, it’s like you’re addicted. You can’t get enough.”
Which is why the UniGeezer pushes himself, even at age 52, to jump higher, hop longer and drop farther.
Back at the 8-step stairwell, he hears the skateboarders goading him on. No backing out this time.
He launches. His unicycle clears the bottom step but he pitches off the front, landing on his feet as his unicycle crashes to the concrete. Without hesitating, he runs back for another try.
“I’ve always been introverted,” he admits later. “Almost a loner. This has taught me it’s OK to have a connection with people. I don’t fear that.”
This time, the UniGeezer has the distance. And the landing.
And the feeling that he just might live forever.
That story is from 10/27/08. But the date, 1/30/09 must mean it was reprinted in something called the “paragraph” I had noticed that the story had been reprinted in a few other papers since it came out; I think the OC Register has many affiliates. The reporter, Tom Berg, was the coolest newspaper guy I’ve ever met!
He was just so into the story and said he was going to buy a uni from Jamey (uniproshop.com) and learn to ride! Initially, he asked me to come to the O.C. Register for a “brief” interview he told me should take only 30 minutes; I was there for three hours! We met two more times at places where he could see me ride and hopefully get some feedback from onlookers. I must say he did a great job with the story and there are hardly any mistakes, which is rare lol! 
(PS: this one pales in comparison; tons of factual errors and misquotes)
Look, ma, no hands! CPA-turned-unicycler performer having a wheel good time
Sandy Wells Staff Writer
8 February 2009
Charleston Gazette
You’ve booked clowns and magicians, balloon artists, puppeteers and deejays. Need a fresh entertainment idea for that birthday bash, school carnival or corporate picnic?
Rent a unicycle rider.
That would be 43-year-old Kevin Brown.
Most of the time, he sits behind a desk, a CPA crunching numbers in the state Treasurer’s Office. He’d rather be riding his wheel.
“I like my job,” he said. “But two or three years ago, I decided I wanted to do something on the side that I was really passionate about.”
That would be unicycle riding.
He thought up a name, Unicycle Performances Unlimited, had some T-shirts made and placed an ad in the Yellow Pages.
“Last summer was my second summer, so I’m really just getting started with this,” he said. “But it has started to take off. I’ve performed for church groups and Bible schools, in festivals and parades. All ages get a kick out of it.”
Apparently, there’s something about a unicycle that makes people smile.
“It’s such a novelty,” he said. “When I’m out just riding around, I get a lot of thumbs up, waves and honks. Sometimes I ride my off-road model in Kanawha State Forest. People are always surprised to see a unicycle.”
Performances run $100 an hour with a one-hour minimum. Loading up gear and props isn’t easy, he explained.
Neither was perfecting his skill.
Brown’s interest in unicycles started in the early 1990s when he discovered a motorcycling buddy, Mark Fuentes, also rode unicycles.
"He had an old one and I started playing around with it. He had several others and I bought one for $50.
“No matter how well you can ride a regular bike, the learning curve is pretty steep,” he said. “It’s so different. Even a professional mountain biker in all probability wouldn’t be able to just get on and ride off.”
His first goal was to conquer surface imperfections. The way he describes it, it sounds a little like breaking in a bucking bronco.
“At first, any small crack, the tiniest ridge, would throw me off the cycle. It was a challenge to see if I could get over those,” he said. “Then I wanted to see if I could do wheelies. If I could hop just a fraction of an inch off the ground, that was something. I just kept progressing. Finally I got to where I could hop up stairs and ride down.”
Now, he’s working on a juggling and riding routine.
“I’m always trying to improve,” he said.
His cycle collection has grown to seven, including a 6-footer called a Giraffe.
“The favorite one I perform on has a 20-inch wheel with sturdy tires that are meant for jumping and doing tricks,” he said. “I really put it through its paces.”
His off-road cycle has a 3-inch wide tire that resembles the front wheel of a dirt bike. When he wants speed, he uses a bike with a 3-foot wheel diameter.
He prefers performing outdoors, but school gyms work fine in the winter, he said.
When entertaining youngsters, he stresses safety considerations and the joy of learning new skills.
“I tell them they can learn to do anything if they set their mind to it,” he said.
Kevin Brown can be reached at 304-421-1817.
Lawrence Pierce | Sunday Gazette-Mail photo
Unicycle entertainer Kevin Brown maneuvers down the steps at Haddad Park on a trials cycle designed for jumping and other challenging maneuvers.
WHEEL POWER; New Smyrna dad shares passion for unicycling with wife, 2 kids
KELLY CUCULIANSKY - STAFF WRITER
9 February 2009
Daytona Beach News Journal
Copyright 2009 Daytona Beach News-Journal All Rights Reserved.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Leaves crunch, sticks snap and the carpet of ferns fold for the family careening down the slope on one wheel.
They stop short of the creek, sometimes taking a tumble, other times stepping off gracefully in the woodland alive with songbirds. It’s not the kind of place where you would expect to see a group of unicyclists.
That’s why the Levy family likes it so much.
Bob Levy, 43, got his kids and wife, Valeh, hooked on unicycling recently. Together, the New Smyrna Beach family is taking the one-wheelers to new places, moving beyond the stereotypical image of circus acts.
Ever heard of MUni ? That’s unicycle-speak for mountain unicycling. And even though there aren’t any mountains here, there are plenty of rough terrain and inclines.
Spending the afternoon at the wooded Cracker Creek Canoeing property in Port Orange, Bob and his children ride the trails and slopes, challenging each other to new heights.
Bobby springs off a wooden platform, landing steadily and then turns to his dad.
“You try. I wanna see you jump,” the boy coaxes, but on second thought adds: “No, you’re too big. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Bob takes the leap anyway, finishing with a not-so-elegant landing.
The interventional radiologist, who learned to unicycle as a child, is known as “Unicycle Bob” at his children’s elementary school for antics and performances. But now Sydney, 12, and Bobby, 10, are beginning to surpass him in skill.
“It’s amazing, because they’re pushing me to better my own unicycle technique,” he says. “My kids are really pushing the envelope and they’re challenging me to try things I never even dreamed of doing as a kid.”
After taking a 25-year hiatus, he took up riding again a few years ago. Inspired to go further, Bob recently started pedaling a “giraffe” unicycle that takes a bit of maneuvering to even climb and get on the seat.
“It still makes me scared,” he says.
Soon he’s taking it for a spin around the neighborhood and is comfortable enough to dunk a basketball.
Another family member, his wife, recently joined their adventures in unicycling.
Valeh, a general radiologist, practiced for a month and rode successfully by herself on her 49th birthday about a week ago. She says the family often attracts the attention of curious passers-by and from some who haven’t ridden in a while. These closet unicyclists share stories and soon borrow the Levys’ single-wheelers for a quick ride.
“Sometimes people say, ‘Oh you guys are ready for the circus,’ ” says Valeh.
But unicycling has moved far beyond that world.
As extreme sports grow in popularity, so has the challenge of taking unicycling to a higher level, says Josh Torrans, who builds custom unicycles in Georgia. Offroading on one wheel has been around since the early 1980s, he says, but it wasn’t until the last few years that the product started to get more durable and affordable.
“(Riders) are continuing to push the components and it’s starting to be more accepted in the cycling world, whereas, when I started about six years ago, it was the red-headed stepchild,” says Torrans, the general manager for Unicycle.com.
Besides riding around in neighborhoods, trails or to work — as Torrans does — unicyclists flock to competitions and new terrain throughout the world.
Professional MUni and freestyle rider Dustin Kelm, for example, has performed and competed throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.
“It’s expanding around the world. The Internet has a lot to do with that,” he says. “Once upon a time, I had to discover a unicycle club before I could learn there were other things you could do besides riding in a straight line.”
But in some ways, it remains an obscure sport, says Kelm, a world champion and three-time national champ. “The big thing about unicycling is that it has a little bit higher learning curve than most other sports, like inline skating. The initial effort usually stretches our patience.”
For the persistent beginner, it can take between 10 and 15 hours to learn.
There are obvious challenges.
“A lot of people think it is harder than riding a bicycle, because of course, you only have one wheel,” says Sydney Levy. “You’ll develop good balance as you’re learning, even if you don’t have good balance at first.”
Besides MUni riding, there are many styles, skills and stunts that are similar to those performed on bikes and skateboards. But for now, the family mostly rides on streets and off-road. The children plan to compete someday and hope to get more people into it.
“It’s not really just for circus acts,” Bobby says. “I think it’s the coolest sport anyone can do — cooler than skateboarding. You can do anything on it. I mean, you can’t go off-road on a skateboard.”
Not that he’s got anything against skaters. Bobby was recently the focus of attention at a local skate park, where he bounced down the steps on one wheel in front of BMX and skater kids who had never seen a unicycle at the park.
“I hope he lit a spark for all those kids in the park,” says his mom. “A spark was lit in Bobby’s heart for sure.”
Visit three8six.com to see a video of the unicycling Levys and Staff Writer Kelly Cuculiansky’s blog on what it’s like to try it.
Did You Know?
Unicycles are thought to have descended from late 19th-century penny-farthing bicycles, which had a large front wheel and a small rear wheel.
*These bicycles had pedals directly attached to the front wheel and used the much smaller back wheel for balance.
*If a rider stopped quickly or hit a bump, the rear wheel would go up in the air, forcing the rider to balance on the front wheel. It’s thought that some riders found that they could ride with the rear wheel up. Hence, the unicycle was born.
*Photographs taken in the late 1800s showing unicycles with very large wheels seem to support this explanation.
SOURCE(S): Compiled by News Researcher Janice Cahill from www.unicycling.org.
While it is only a quarter page, there is an article and photo of a MUni rider in the latest MountainBike Action Mag. It is a profile on a 16 year old from Nelson B.C. wich is also the home town of Kenneth Bancroft http://www.pinkbike.com/video/1664/. There must be something about Canada.
It is nice to see some exposure (however small) in a major publication for our most MUni related mainstream sport.
AOPA Pilot
The March 2009 issue had an article about Evan Byrne and friends (sorry if they’re on the forums and I just disn’t recognize their names) but it’s got a group shot of the four of them on their unicycles (page 74). The article is mostly about their flying though 
Balancing ACT – Unicycling offers benefits of fun fitness and some mind-clearing concentration
Gee Sharp Special to The Commercial Appeal
9 March 2009
The Commercial Appeal
At 50, Richard Wertz decided to embark on a new exercise regimen. College memories of a unicycle-riding friend motivated him to purchase what he believed would be his first, and only, unicycle.
Seven unicycles and six years later, Wertz reports that unicycling offers both physical and emotional benefits.
“Unicycling is the best workout you can get on one wheel,” says Wertz , a retired systems administrator for the federal government. “It requires concentration, so daily problems get pushed out of the way while you ride, and it provides a great physical workout, which helps me sleep at night.”
Like Wertz , Hugh Garner, 41, of Southeast Memphis, is a member of the Memphis Unicycle Club ( memphisunicycleclub.org ). Garner says unicyling is relatively inexpensive, fun and portable . He refers to it as “the great equalizer.”
“Unicycling brings together a pretty diverse group,” says Garner, information planning director for Naval Support Activity Mid-South. "We have kids and adults, blue-collar riders and white-collar riders, black unicyclists and white unicyclists. "
Radiologist and unicycle enthusiast Dr. Perry Gerard says unicycling can help with weight loss, muscle strength, body stability and stress relief. Gerard says riding the unicycle also teaches discipline and perseverance.
“It is a fantastic workout,” Gerard says. “It will build stamina, balance and coordination.”
Garner and Wertz agree that unicyling takes patience and practice. “In order to ride consistently, a new rider has to practice consistently,” Wertz says. "You can’t analyze your way into it; you have to be willing to put time into turning the wheel in order to strengthen your muscles and teach your legs to turn smoothly and with control. "
Unicycling has four main classifications: freestyle, trail , muni and distance. Freestyle is usually done on a smooth, indoor surface, on a 20-inch wheel with a skinny tire. Trail riding is generally outdoors on a 20-inch wheel with a fat tire, and involves jumping and hopping. Muni (mountain unicycling) is done on 24- or 26-inch wheels with fat tires off roads, ranging from easy bicycle trails through the woods to steep mountain trails with rocks or downed trees as obstacles. Distance, also known as road riding, is done on 29- or 36-inch wheels, which move faster than the smaller wheels.
The Memphis Unicycle Club practices on Thursday nights at First Congregational Church on South Cooper, where cyclists typically work on freestyle skills. On Saturdays, members ride trails at Shelby Farms or Nesbitt Park in Bartlett.
Tom Maxwell, 50, of Germantown, has been a member of the Memphis Unicycle Club and riding regularly since 2001.
“That’s longer and more consistent than any other form of exercise I’ve ever attempted,” Maxwell says. "I do it because it is so much fun.
“Unicycling is so varied. If you tire of one style of riding, switch to another style, and the fun starts all over again.”
Maxwell varies his unicycling workouts depending on the season, and sometimes his mood. Mountain unicycling involves climbing hills on the unicycle. “At the top of some of the tougher climbs, my legs are burning and my heart is pounding,” Maxwell says.
In winter, the trails are sometimes too wet and slick, so Maxwell substitutes cross-country and distance riding, often 16 to 20 miles an outing. Unicyling has no coasting, so the mileage is solid work with no rest. Maxwell says he has played unicycle basketball, a quick way to improve riding skills.
Garner says unicycling is exercise he has stayed with consistently since college . “It is my stress reliever,” he says. “When I am riding, I am able to put today’s problems aside.”
More info
Indoor and outdoor practices are held from 6-8 p.m. on Thursdays.
March 26 is the last indoor practice at First Congregational Church.
Beginning April 2, practice will be moved outdoors to Veteran’s Plaza at Overton Park.
Memphis Unicycle Club: memphisunicycleclub.org
Unicycling Society of America: unicyclingusa.org
A POSITIVE SPIN ON THE SCHOOL DAY
21 March 2009
The Nelson Mail (NZ)
© 2009 Fairfax New Zealand Limited. All Rights Reserved.
ALASTAIR PAULIN
When Brooklyn School principal Kelvin Woodley tells sullen 12-year- olds to “get on yer bike”, they only obey halfway.
That’s because the school has been swept by a unicycle craze that has transformed the attitudes of formerly reluctant pupils.
Mr Woodley bought two unicycles for the primary school after seeing them at an education conference last year. He put them in the playground with no idea whether the children would be able to ride them or what effect they might have.
They were a quick hit, and a dozen pupils have since bought their own unicycles, meaning the lunchtime playground resembles a circus big top, with kids doing jumps, pogoing, and forming one-wheeled conga lines. The school has just purchased two smaller unicycles to make it easier for juniors to join the craze.
Yesterday, visiting circus arts teacher Mark Syme taught workshops to help the children brush up their skills, and was impressed by how good they had already become.
“In a month, they’ll be better than me.”
Mr Woodley said a key principle of teaching older boys who might be disinterested in school was to ensure that they were good at something. For such boys at his school, unicycling has become that thing. “They’re consumed with the challenge.”
It had “put such a positive spin on their time at school”, and also helped in the classroom, because “kids say ‘This is hard, but I learnt to ride a unicycle and that is really hard, so I can do this’.”
He said no children had injured themselves while riding. It was easy for riders to simply step off when they lost their balance.
Now the teachers want to get in on the fun. Emma Ryder said her class knew that mastering a unicycle was her goal for the year, but to avoid humiliation, she was planning on learning at home.
Unicycle.com Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary With Gift of Unicycles to Boys & Girls’ Clubs
26 March 2009
PR Newswire (U.S.)
ATLANTA, March 26 /PRNewswire/ – “We believe unicycles strengthen and build self-confidence in children,” says Amy Drummond, Unicycle.com CEO. “Children are the lifeblood of our community; there is no better way to celebrate our success than by helping others.”
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090326/CL89310LOGO )
Unicycle.com was launched on March 31, 1999. Today, with locations in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, and sales of 10,000 unicycles per year, the company is the largest retailer of unicycles in the world. Unicycle.com is a pioneer in designing, manufacturing and distributing equipment for the beginner and the professional.
From humble roots in a garage in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, to the hallmark for the unicycle industry in 10 short years is a remarkable achievement. The American dream is alive and well.
Unicycle.com chose the Boys and Girls Clubs of America as the recipient of a pilot unicycle program because of its mission to help children. “Boys and Girls Clubs provide a safe and positive environment where America’s children can relax, learn, have fun and grow,” said John Drummond, president of Unicycle.com. “Unicycling is a fun sport than can be mastered in few short hours. It’s a great indoor activity when the weather outside is uncomfortable. It fosters happiness and promotes good health for a lifetime.”
Unicycle.com is sending unicycles, safety gear and a learning DVD to Boys and Girls Clubs in Chicago, Los Angeles and Newark. “We’re looking forward to receiving this unique gift,” said Kelly Ramos, development director of the Union League Boys and Girls Clubs in Chicago, “as an upscale activity for our Chicago youth.”
SET TO SPIN
Julie JACOBSON
28 March 2009
Dominion Post
© 2009 Fairfax New Zealand Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Once the vehicle of choice for clowns and buskers, unicycles are now the latest must-have for urban thrill- seekers. By Julie Jacobson.
JOE DYSON thinks it’s hilarious being able to describe himself as a “unicyclist”. It’s a play on words that perfectly sums up Dyson’s status; he is both university student and unicyclist.
A former competitive skier and mountain biker, the 23-year-old has also recently taken on another role - that of president of the New Zealand Unicycling Federation, paid up membership “around 80”.
Dyson is one of a handful - four, sometimes five - young Wellingtonians who, come a calm evening, can be found tricking out their single-wheel cycles on various structures along the waterfront.
The more awkward the ride the better; think skateboard moves on a large wheel. A recent “undercover” night-time foray saw Dyson up on a railing on the PricewaterhouseCoopers Building five storeys above Lambton Quay, while a mate filmed him for a 3D animation project.
The city isn’t his only playground. Off-road unicycling, also known as “muni”, is a globally recognised discipline. Locally, Makara Peak, Hawkins Hill and Red Rocks are the three preferred mountain rides. For serious munis, the 24-hour Moonride through Whakarewarewa Forest is probably the ultimate challenge.
Wellington’s Ken Looi, a world record holder in long distance unicycling is the current Moonride king, though Dyson reckons he may have a tilt at the title in May.
Dyson’s also “skunied” - ploughing down the snow - on the slopes of Whakapapa on his bike: “It was a really bizarre feeling, like riding in soft mud. You’d ride along like that for a while then hit a patch of ice and you’d be on your bum.”
He dismisses any suggestion that unicycling is freaks-only fare, though it was a former clown - his ex-boss at a Tauranga rock-climbing facility - who got him on the bike.
“Most people tend to see it as a circus act. I’m trying to change that, to have it seen as a stand-alone sport. It is huge overseas, particularly in France, and in Japan there’s something like a million and a half unicyclists. The Japanese teach it in schools, like we teach netball or soccer. They are into what we call artistic freestyle - it’s like ice-skating to music - where they have groups of 40 or 50 doing big choreographed routines.” Synchronised cycling, in other words.
It’s not quite so refined in New Zealand, possibly because of a dearth of women riders. Dyson knows of only three. Standard events at the nationals, being held in Palmerston North at Queen’s Birthday Weekend, include unicycle bullrush, hockey, basketball and high jumping. There will also be a night ride, fire and juggling workshops, time trials and various freestyle events. Dyson, already a capable juggler, is looking to impress with his street smarts. Replicating a top French exponent is high on his want-to-do list. “The French are pushing the boundaries in those disciplines. Some of the tricks are just jaw- dropping. There’s one called a Sejflip, named for the guy who first did it. It’s a combination crankflip (the basic flip trick) and 720 unispin . . . it just boggles the mind.” It takes an average of 15 hours for someone to learn to ride a one-wheeler. Dyson, who has two bikes - a basic one that cost him $150 and a top- of-the-range titanium stunt bike that set him back $1500 - reckons he’s seen only two people who have been “so unco- ordinated” they couldn’t keep balanced, and likens his first time to learning to ride a bicycle. “It’s a challenge to get it going, but you pick it up pretty quickly.”
There haven’t been too many nasty injuries; a couple of broken fingers, the “occasional pedal in the shin”, and one or two mishaps involving delicate body parts.
Nor has there been a lot of flak from other cyclists. “There’s actually quite a lot of respect from the road cyclists, and the BMXers. We get the most schtick from drunks, thinking they can do better.”
Aside from a one-off stint uni-waiting at a corporate function and a recent gig entertaining customers outside Bunnings hardware store ($100 an hour), Dyson hasn’t done a lot of performing. That may be about to change, however. The commerce student, who unicycles to and from his weekend job at Miramar’s Chocolate Frog cafe (and, no, he doesn’t serve lattes from his bike - yet) is thinking that in a recession, trick cycling could become a lucrative alternative income source.
Hop up for one-wheel adventure
By EMMA SHAW
10 April 2009
Illawarra Mercury
© 2009 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. www.fd.com.au
IF you’re out and about in Wollongong over the Easter weekend, you might be forgiven for thinking the circus has come to town.
About 80 unicyclists will be taking to the city streets for the Australian Unicycle Convention (Uninats 2009), which runs from today until Easter Monday.
But these unicyclists have taken the hobby far beyond a mere circus skill, with activities over the weekend including unicycle hockey, mountain unicycling and even track events such as relay, high jump and long jump.
Wollongong unicyclist Scott Griffin is one of the event organisers. He took up the hobby 14 years ago, after receiving a unicycle for his 23rd birthday.
“It’s a fun thing to do and it certainly is a challenge,” he said.
“The first time I sat on a unicycle it felt like an impossible thing to do but you stick with it, you learn to ride it and then you learn other skills as well.”
Mr Griffin said he had seen the sport grow in popularity over the years.
“There are more people taking it up but it’s like anything these days, it’s all influenced by the internet,” he said.
"Jump on YouTube and you’ll see amazing tricks - and you can find out how to do the tricks as well.
"Unicycling is an interesting thing because it has this family element. Kids try it, then dad gets into it, mum gets into it.
“From an outside perspective, it’s still got that circus element but people can take it quite seriously.”
The main venues for the weekend are Smith’s Hill High, Beaton Park Leisure Centre and Wollongong Mountain Bike Club.
Unicyclists put skills to test
By MICHELLE WEBSTER
13 April 2009
Illawarra Mercury
© 2009 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. www.fd.com.au
THEY may not be preparing to smash world records at the London Olympics in 2012, but unicyclists have been setting their own national records in the Illawarra throughout the Easter long weekend.
About 80 unicyclists descended on the region to participate in the Australian Unicycle Convention (Uninats 2009) and test their skills against the best in the country.
Wollongong unicyclist and co-organiser of the event Scott Griffin said a number of records had been broken during the convention.
“There was a new Australian record set for the open males 10km ride,” he said. “There was also a New Zealand high jump record set - 97cm, I believe.”
With activities such as unicycle hockey, mountain unicycling and track and field events, the weekend attracted unicyclists of all skill levels.
Mr Griffin said unicycling was much easier than riding a bike, a skill most people master in childhood.
“It’s harder to fall off and hurt yourself on a unicycle than a bike,” he said.
“With a unicycle, no matter which direction you fall in you can put your foot out to stop yourself, but with a bike there is a much bigger frame to get in the way.”
The four-day schedule concludes today with two fast-paced events.
A street unicycle event will be held at Fairy Meadow skate park, while an off-road competition at Appin will test riders’ endurance.
Not an article, but a front cover photo in the Albany, NY Legislative Gazette.
http://www.legislativegazette.com/back_issues/09-4-20_for_web.pdf
“Easier than balancing a budget”
One-wheel thrills: Teen cycles down ridges and into the big top
Scott Richardson
19 April 2009
The Pantagraph
NORMAL - It was a singular event when 15-year-old Duncan Harris of Normal rode his bike a couple of weeks ago at Moab, Utah, the Mecca of mountain bikers.
Experienced cyclists usually ride traditional two-wheel bikes on high trails along cliffs that feature drop-offs of hundreds of feet just inches away. Harris made the treacherous 12-mile journey on a unicycle. He had no brakes except his own legs, not even handlebars. And, he couldn’t coast. Pedals are directly linked to the wheel. Legs must constantly spin unless he’s perfectly balanced to stay still.
“It was quite amazing actually,” said Harris, son of Bruce and Mara Harris. “I got up there and there was no turning back. There was no other way down. It was an adventure.”
Harris will perform on the ground Friday and Saturday at the 80th edition of Gamma Phi Circus, the longest running collegiate circus in the world. The University High School freshman said his love of the single-wheeled cycle began while he watched a performance of the junior version of Gamma Phi when he attended kindergarten at Thomas Metcalf School.
“I thought it was really cool,” Harris said. “It’s just fun, interesting, not too many people do it.”
His parents bought him a unicycle when he was in first grade.
“When he first started cycling, he just took off,” said his mom, who traces the seed for mountain unicycling to the trails around Lake Bloomington where they lived at the time. “He became really good. He just loved it.”
Harris started appearing in the Junior Gamma Phi Circus in third grade. Unicycle performances combine tricks done individually with synchronized routines by other unicyclists. Gamma Phi director Al Light said unicyclists are a popular feature, a signature act.
“If you see a unicycle, you think of circus,” Light said. “Our unicyclists are very much a part of our program. It is not fluff.”
The circus attracts as many as many as 12,000 to 14,000 people over two days, he said.
The unicycle has evolved to become Harris’ standard transportation. A year ago after his traditional two-wheeled bicycle was stolen, he began riding his unicycle everywhere. He also explored more extreme ways to ride it. After Alex Chavez, a friend, bought a more durable unicycle, Harris bought one, too. It wasn’t long before they started to hop steps and do tricks at a skateboard park.
Harris and his mom headed to the 10th annual Moab MUni Fest, which is short for Moab Mountain Unicycling Festival, in March. Though he’d never ridden outside of relatively flat Illinois, he joined a group of seasoned riders who were bused to the top of a rugged mountain-bike trail.
The elevation was about 8,000 feet and dropped to about 4,000 feet. Along the way, the trail skirted a cliff face and narrowed to just a few inches in places.
“I was biting my nails,” said Mara Harris. “Only 20 guys rode the rim. But he finished. It was impressive.”
Harris has a sponsor, SIXSIXONE cycling gear, and is seeking others so he can compete in unicycling events some day. He and Chavez also have talked about doing a 300-mile unicycle ride in Nova Scotia.
Harris hasn’t decided what he wants to do after he graduates from high school and college. But he knows he wants to keep riding a unicycle.
“It’s a great cardiovascular workout,” he said.
Just don’t look down.
Circus on the way
What 80th edition of Gamma Phi Circus, the longest-running collegiate circus in the world
When 7 p.m. Friday,1 and 7 p.m. Saturday
Where Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena
Features Circus acts performed by ISU students and professional trapeze artist Tony Steele, 72, of Florida. Steele helped ISU Gamma Phi Circus develop a high trapeze act. The Central Illinois Youth Symphony will provide background music. Tiffany Thornton, a star of “Sonny with a Chance” on the Disney Channel, will appear at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets $12 adults, $10 students with ID and seniors; $8 for kids 5-12; $1 for kids under 5. On sale at Braden box office or Ticketmaster locations.
More information: www.gammaphicircus.ilstu.edu
Have wheel, will travel uniquely around world
William Jackson
6 May 2009
Diamond Valley Leader
TOURING north-eastern India on a unicycle was wheelie great fun, says Bundoora resident Daniel McIntyre.
The 26-year-old last month pedalled 400km from the lowlands near the Bangladesh border up, into the Himalayas and through to the mountain town of Darjeeling.
Mr McIntyre is among the growing number of ``unitourists’'; travellers who appreciate the unique perspective offered from the saddle of a unicycle. He was with six other cyclists from around the world and a motorised support crew.
``It was an awesome experience,‘’ Mr McIntyre said of the 12-day trip.
He said the slowish cruising speed of about 15-20km/h, faster than walking but not as quick as a car, allowed unicyclists to better appreciate the countryside.
``It’s not too fast that you miss stuff, but it’s still fast enough to get places,‘’ he said.
With the seven riders spread out, he often found himself riding through villages alone; the only westerner in a crowd of locals.
They were understandably fascinated by what we were doing,'' he said. They’d smile and cheer and clap. It makes their day and it makes you happy bringing a smile to their faces.‘’
Mr McIntyre, a geologist by trade, has been riding unicycles for about six years and last year competed in the unicycling world championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.
It's something different, quite a unique way to see the world and get around,'' he said. It’s not so bad once you’ve got some momentum, but heading up those hills was definitely a workout.‘’
He said was already planning his next trip, which would be spending three weeks next year in Mongolia.