“too” bad! and yes you did.
I was bored so meh, have a read. I’d probably give myself a B.
…
I have decided to do my essay on unicycles as the essay should be on a topic I am interested in and passionate about and until now that would have been music, however right now I am not spending much time on music due to all the riding i have been doing lately on my unicycle. Perhaps after reading this you too will be as interested in unicycling as I have now become.
Unicycles, or uni for short, can sometimes seem a little mysterious, and as much as they seem to be similar to a bicycle they can also seem equally dissimilar. It must be remembered that though it has a wheel like a bike this does not in fact make it a bike. Basic knowledge of a uni that coincides with that of a bicycle includes : how to remove a tire from a rim; how to replace the tube; whether or not you are poking a hole in the tube during maintenance; tightening of the bolts without stripping the thread; and knowledge of appropriate air pressures for various riding conditions. There are plenty of other things that can be considered too, but which at an amateur level don’t really matter until the rider has progressed to a more advanced level, such as: rim truing; seat shaving; tire shaving; and part upgrading.
The overall motivation for unicycling is meeting personal goals and having fun with friends. Unicycling makes you feel good inside; moments like when you successfully complete a trick or land a jump that you have worked ever-so-hard to achieve. Watching and studying videos on YouTube is a great help in learning ways to achieve the different techniques and tricks as you get to observe how other unicyclists perform these feats. Forum discussions with other unicyclists helps even more because not only do you get to watch their video tutorials but you also get to read their explanations and are able to have a better understanding of the mindset of the rider and any particular quirks that each technique may have.
There are several different forms of unicycling out there and contrary to popular belief unicycles are not only for professional clowns. In fact, in our eyes clowns give unicycling a bad name. It is the most widely recognized form of unicycling, but it has inspired many unthinking people to make unnecessary and derogatory jokes and leads them to believe that it is an interest for only a few select people and will never catch-on to a wider audience and does not have further-reaching potential and possibilities. “Trials” is a form of unicycling where the goal is to find the easiest “line” through a sequence of rocks, logs, and just about everything else you could think of. “MUNI” is a type of unicycling that is similar to trials except where in trials you hop over and around urban objects in muni things are a little different like the setting for example which is usually hills or non-flat surfaces where there is a challenge to be faced such as riding over rocks or logs, and usually this requires a larger wheel than is normally seen on a Trials unicycle due to the terrain encountered and the ease this sized wheel provides compared to smaller ones. This unicycle powers through rocks and loose soil like no other unicycle can. The word “distance” is what comes to mind when speaking about the large wheeled variety of unicycles, usually referred to as a “Coker” and this form of unicycling as “Cokering”, and they are best-suited to long-distance journeys across beautiful scenery and roads. “Freestyle” unicycling is more of a contemporary style of riding where the unicyclist “glides” on the unicycle or “wheel-walks” all-around, and this is usually done in a gym or on another appropriately flat and smooth surface. “Street” unicycling has masses of tricks and manouevers that the rider performs across an urban terrain. Examples of this are riding on rails, grinding ledges or high curbs, flipping the unicycle cranks to form a trick called a “crankflip”, or twisting the body to the left or right while in the air to form a 180, 360, or 540 degree turn. All are very-possible feats to accomplish in this wide-varied and terribly enjoyable sport.
Unicycling has many possibilities and avenues for exploration and enjoyment. It can also be dangerous if taken lightly. It’s not uncommon for people to experience injuries when unicycling. In it’s basic form it is quite safe and falling-off almost always leaves you standing on your feet while the unicycle simply falls to the ground. When attempting more advanced skills like Muni or Trials unicycling then there are many more ways that a person can injure themselves such as falling from a height or crashing into an object like a log for Muni or a hand-rail for Trials. This is with most recreational endeavours though, so it all comes down to how much risk the unicyclist wants to take with their own riding and what they want to get out of it.
As you can see unicycling has it’s similarities to bicycling, but at the same time is a completely different sport with it’s own culture and at the moment is still fairly unique. It seems to be slowly growing in popularity and perhaps after reading all of this you too now feel that spark of interest that we all felt in the beginning of our lives as unicyclists. All it takes is the right unicycle and protective equipment, and lots of persistence and drive and knowing that after enough practice the ability to unicycle will seem like second-nature to you. The key to unicycling, as it is to all things, is that it should be fun and enjoyed. We, the unicyclist community, await your arrival to our ranks. Until then I thank you for your interest in my passion and look forward to seeing you on a uni sometime soon.
