Unicycle articles (but wait there's more...)

General
1206

Unicycler heading west to benefit Red Cross
12 May 2011
Bangor Daily News

PORTLAND Bob Mueller of Oakland will embark upon a 3,600-mile, trans-U.S. unicycle ride in support of the American Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund, “Bob Across America,” at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 17, at the Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth. He will depart the Portland area determined to arrive on the West Coast near Portland, Oregon by mid-August.

You can make your donation online at the Bob Across America Ride for Relief Web page at www.maineredcross.org, or send a check payable to the American Red Cross to the American Red Cross, 2401 Congress St., Portland 04102. For more information, call 523-5122 or visit www.BobAcrossAmerica.com.

1207

Unique path to finding adventure
yolande dupreez
31 May 2011
Pretoria News

The world’s top cyclist Lance Armstrong once said: “If you’re worried about falling off the bike, you’d never get on.”

These were the exact thoughts of Christo Coetzer, of Menlo Park, when he decided to get on a unicycle and become the first person to circumnavigate the islands of Mauritius and Jamaica.

Coetzer, who has been unicycling for the past two years, made his way around Mauritius in 2009 in just nine days, cycling 35km a day.

During his trip in Mauritius he slept in small towns, which provided the ideal opportunity to mingle with the locals.

He made such an impression |on them that he was appointed as |an ambassador of this paradise island. Mastering the unicycle was not easy, said Coetzer, but with the patient help and support of his mother, a ballet teacher, he did it in six weeks.

After Mauritius, Coetzer saw that “where there was a will, there was a way” and started to plan his next adventure.

Last year he successfully completed the Pick n Pay Cape Argus on his unicycle.

Then he decided to go to the island of Jamaica.

Jamaica was not a random choice.

“I have a passion for reggae music, in particular the music of Bob Marley,” he said.

It was a member of Bob Marley’s band who was also a unicyclist who inspired him to try it for the first time.

The plans for his trip all came together with the help of his father and mentor, Theo Coetzer.

On April 16, Coetzer became the first person to circumnavigate Jamaica on a unicycle.

His journey - One Wheel, One People, One Jamaica Adventure - started at the home of the legendary Marley.

Acting as a goodwill ambassador between South Africa and Jamaica, he rode his unicycle anti-clockwise through all 14 of the country’s parishes.

Coetzer said the people of Jamaica were enthusiastic about his adventure and he experienced real Jamaican culture, cuisine, music and hospitality.

Coetzer’s journey ended as he made his way through the gates of the Bob Marley Museum.

He was welcomed by Marley’s two sons, Rohan and Julian.

“It was a dream come true,” he said, grinning.

The project provided a unique opportunity for the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) to market the island |in a new and exciting way and be used as a tool to strengthen the bonds between South Africa and Jamaica.

Coetzer was honoured as a goodwill ambassador by the JTB and was invited as a VIP guest by the South African high commission to the Freedom Day celebrations held in Jamaica.

Asked what he planned to do next, Coetzer said he wanted to write a book on his adventures.

“I would like to give readers the opportunity to experience my adventure from the start through to the realisation of my dream.”

Coetzer said that hours of video footage had also been taken during his trip and he plans to make a documentary titled One Wheel, One People, One Jamaica.

Coetzer said: “I have now completed two adventures and they were by no means my last. The world awaits.”

1208

I was featured in my local paper. Sadly it was a few weeks before I got my KH, so I’m still on my Sun.

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110531/NEWS02/305319957/-1/NEWSSITEMAP

1209

I love the way they crammed the entire story into the photo caption.

1210

Nice one. Media coverage that puts you in a good light with all decent quotes (regardless of accuracy :roll_eyes: ) is about as good as it gets.

And +1 to Tak’s comment. :smiley:

1211

Unicyclist’s island odyssey
yolande dupreez
31 May 2011
Cape Argus

The world’s top cyclist, Lance Armstrong, once said: “If you’re worried about falling off the bike, you’d never get on.”

These were the exact thoughts of Christo Coetzer, of Menlo Park, when he decided to get on a unicycle and become the first person to circumnavigate Mauritius and Jamaica.

Coetzer, who has been unicycling for the past two years, made his way around Mauritius in 2009 in just nine days, cycling 35km a day.

Mastering the unicycle was not easy, said Coetzer, but with the patient help and support of his mother, a ballet teacher, he did it in six weeks.

Last year, he successfully completed the Pick n Pay Cape Argus on his unicycle. Then he decided to go to Jamaica.

“I have a passion for reggae music, in particular the music of Bob Marley,” he said.

On April 16, Coetzer became the first person to circumnavigate Jamaica on a unicycle.

His journey - One Wheel, One People, One Jamaica Adventure - started at the home of the legendary Marley.

Asked what he planned to do next, Coetzer said he wanted to write a book on his adventures.

He said: “I have now completed two adventures and they were by no means my last. The world awaits.”

1212

Heard the one about the unicyclist, the vicar and The the paediatrician?
Sam Dimmer
6 June 2011
Coventry Evening Telegraph

Trio to complete 1,100-mile bike ride to raise cash for charity

IF somebody said a vicar, unicyclist and paediatrician were planning on riding from Land’s End to John O’Groats you’d probably think it was the start of a very long-winded joke.

But father and son Peter and Joe Sidebotham and their vicar David Mayhew certainly hope to be laughing come September when they’ve completed their bizarre trek.

The trio leave Coventry in August after months of training in preparation for the 1100-mile feat.

The idea came after Joe, 16, decided he was bored and wanted something to do.

He enlisted dad Peter, 47, a consultant paediatrician with Warwick Community Health, before asking the congregation at Holy Trinity Church if anyone fancied joining them.

To their delight and surprise vicar David Mayhew, who celebrates his 60th birthday this year, chose to get involved with the challenge.

Joe, a student at Blue Coat School, Stoke, said: "It’s not the most common thing to do, that’s for sure.

"I came up with the idea last year. I’d just finished a really busy couple of weeks and I was a bit bored.

“We’ve done Coventry to Bristol as a practice, and that was tough, but this is likely to be a fair bit tougher.”

The trio are hoping to bring in thousands for three different charities close to their heart.

The cot death charity, the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID), was chosen because Dr Sidebotham is a trustee with the charity and an expert in the field.

RIDING PARTNER: Rev David Mayhew Joe, of Osborne Road, Earlsdon. decided to raise cash for Spark in the Park, a free week of activities for children and their parents in War Memorial Park, after volunteering with them before.

And Servants to Asia’s Urban Poor, an international movement that works in poverty-stricken slums, was selected because the family have witnessed the deprivation first hand.

Joe, who also lives with mum Helen, 47, and sister Esther, 18, took up unicycling three and a half years ago.

He said: "It’s difficult to compare a unicycle to a bike. There are no gears and you can’t just free-wheel down a hill, you have to keep going.

"I get back on a bike and I start wondering what these strange bars are in front of me.

Joe, David and Peter - who will both be riding more conventional bicycles - aim to complete 70 miles a day on the ride, which starts on August 14. They hope to reach John O’Groats by September 2. To sponsor the three go to mydonate.

bt.com/fundraisers/lejogunicycle .

1213

My company has cancelled the database I have been using to post articles here. All ethical questions regarding my own use of this database aside, I encourage all to continue to post their articles and those they find here.

This all, of course, in case anyone cares.

1214

This is begging for a poll.

1215

Has that poll been posted yet? I’ve been away for a few weeks and didn’t see such a poll on the first page.

1216

John in QLD:
http://helmetsarehot.net/2011/09/shin-scraped-and-tired/

1217

Riding on bottles

A friend just emailed this to me…Never occurred to me to try this stunt.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/unicyclist-lutz-eichholz-beer-bottles_n_989508.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003#s366143&title=Guinness_World_Records

1218

and again: http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/sports/Beer_Bottle_Unicycling_Record_Breaker/

1219

Posters are strongly encouraged to copy the text from online articles and post it here. Reason: most online content is short-lived, while unicyclist.com is forever :slight_smile: I’ll do it for you this time:

Shin scraped and tired
Posted September 25th 2011 at 10:00 pm by admin

I can barely lift my head from the pillow to introduce you to John – nine unicycles later the man’s ready for action. Katherine and I stopped with Tim and Ben for a lazy Sunday chinwag with John this morning at Daisy Hill.

Did you know they make unicycles with gears?

Katherine is a great ride companion – patient and helpful, but it’s random fellow travelers that help make a day a bit special. I’ve still a lot to learn before I can be properly hooked, but I have to say, mountain biking is something else. I’m still trying to put my finger on it.

Doing it on one wheel seems totally unfathomable. Power to you John.

I won’t give it too much hype, because Ms Meare’s timely generosity will speak for itself, but I am looking forward to answering the hard questions…

I’m sure that Anna doesn’t unicycle, but I’m pretty sure that she’d power the hell out of it.

1220

TEXT COPY:

That’s one sweet ride. A unicyclist with almost unshakable balance pedaled his wheel across the mouths of 127 beer bottles in a row.

The specialized skill belongs to Lutz Eichholz, 25, who slowly rolled his unicycle over the empties at an exhibition in Tel Aviv, CBS reports.

After a few false starts in which he fell from his glass tight rope, the German athlete successfully navigated the route.

Eichholz dominates the arcane field of unicycling atop beer bottles. Earlier this year he set a world record for cruising over 26 feet of bottles. His latest spin on Monday took him 29 feet. The World Records Academy already declared it the longest ride ever in the category, while its rival, Guinness World Records, hasn’t confirmed yet that the feat deserves a place in the history books, CBS said.

1221

Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Unicyclist scales Mauna Kea
Wednesday, September 28 1:09 am

Click the image to view gallery
On Sept. 12, Mike Tierney, 51, of Aspen, Colo., became the first unicyclist to attempt and succeed in climbing Mauna Kea on a unicycle.

Peddling his 29-inch unicycle, Tierney made his way safely from Hilo Bay to the Saddle Road with help from a retired Hilo police detective.

From the Mauna Kea access road turnoff to the summit, the climb becomes very steep, with 7,700 feet of evalation gained in those particular 14 miles, he said.

Tierney was the first unicyclist to ride up Haleakala, a feat he accomplished in 2008.

That ride was 36 miles and took Tierney six hours.

“I knew Mauna Kea, from Hilo Bay to the summit, would be much tougher than Haleakala,” he said.

Tierney’s wife, Annie, and his nephew, Ian, who flew over from Oahu to help support him, met up with Tierney just before the Mauna Kea Visitor Center. They met again on the summit, and enjoyed the spectacular sunset.

Tierney said he wound up having to walk a couple of the dirt switchbacks.

“It was just too steep and loose, I could not maintain traction,” he said.

But 44 miles and 11 hours after he started, Tierney reached the summit, becoming “the first unicyclist to ride from sea to summit on the world’s hardest hillclimb,” he said.

1222

Picture of the week

Not sure how to get this on here besides a link, any help??

This is from the Mauna Kea visitor center webpage, check it out. I am between a Supernova and Antares, very cool.

http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis/photo-gallery.html

1223

It seems like you can’t right click and save it. You could do a print screen, but what I did was to view the page source (bunch of html code) and saved the picture to my computer. Hope it doesn’t break any rules here… :roll_eyes:

mikeunicycle.jpg

1225

Unfortunately I missed the coloured edition, but here’s 2 photos I appeared in for ride to work day!


1226

The Age (Melbourne, Australia)
14th October 2011

The Power of One Times Two
by Rachel Wells

WHEN a cousin introduced identical twins Sophie and Amanda Fontaine to a unicycle several years ago, the pair, now 13, fell in love with it immediately.

‘‘It was a huge challenge at first, but it was also a lot of fun. We just wanted to persist with it and master it,’’ says Amanda. ‘‘Now it’s something we just really enjoy and can do together.’’

On their 10th birthday, the girls from Hernes Oak, in Gippsland, received a unicycle each.

Locals in the small Gippsland town are used to seeing the twins on their unicycles but it doesn’t stop the smart remarks.

‘‘They still get a few comments,’’ says the girls’ mother, Marianne Fontaine. ‘‘Like, ‘Can’t your parents afford a whole bicycle for you?’ The other day someone said to Amanda, ‘I think you’ve lost your wheel, you’d better go and chase it’, because they’d spotted Sophie up the road on her unicycle.’’

In recent weeks, the girls have been spotted around town more than usual as they train for this Sunday’s Around the Bay cycling challenge. For the second year running, the pair will join 18,000 riders who can choose a 50, 100, 135, 210 or 250-kilometre route. The girls will again ride 50 kilometres.

This year, however, they will ditch their Lycra for colourful clown outfits. ‘‘When people see us they often ask us if we’re from the circus, so we thought we’d dress up as clowns and have some fun while we do it,’’ Amanda says.

The pair will be joined by their mother on two-wheels. Their father and brother will also ride longer routes on their bicycles. The pair are aiming to raise money for the Smith Family, which is the charity partner of the event run by Bicycle Network Victoria.

Original article here, also includes a picture.