had an argument with my friend the other day:
Do all unicyclers, in one form or another, like attention drawn to them?
They ARE choosing to ride a unicycle, which they know will elicit lots of stares, pointing and oohs and ahhs… but some unicyclists are reluctant to be seen by hoardes of people because they’re scared of what others might think, etc.
what do y’all think? Are you personally an attention-seeking unicyclist? why/why not?
me- I think I’m a bit of both. I think I like the idea of showing off much more than I actually like the act of showing off on my unicycle. Probably partly because I’m not that good yet!
My younger sister always says i’m showing off if I ride infront of anyone, when I go out and ride for LONG streatches of time by myself without any human contact, I will admitedly, say I like to share new things i’ve learned with other people, like if I learn a new trick or take a video of me going down a killer hill, i’ll want to share that experince with other people, I wouldn’t consider it showing off parse.
I’ve actually taught my younger brother to ride, and he seems fairly exited to learn, and is getting alot better, and now that i have him I find i’m, as my sister would put it ,“Showing off” alot less, and this is because I have another unicyclist that apretiates it more to “Show off” too.
I’m sure there are alot of unicyclist out there that enjoy grabbing attention, but they are probably people that enjoy attention as well, you get both sides in any sport, but unicycling draws attention itself, without your own effort, so alot of people get the wrong idea.
One of the things I love about muni-ing is it takes you to all sorts of fantastic places where there aren’t crowds of people shouting about handlebar deficiencies and suchlike…
i kinda started unicycling because i wanted attention in some ways.but that was years ago. i will admit i show off all the time. but not just with riding. i usually jsut do a wheel walk or somethin cuz it impresses em. im not really in it for attention now as much, but i like to impress people.
I just want to do a skill that’s a bit unusual but great exercise and makes me feel good. Without anyone telling saying anything to me unless I know them.
I starting to enjoy the postitive attention a bit more now - I might aswell.
But, NO, NO NO.
Why should doing something different mean you want attention. I’ve always been different/done different things and I have NEVER looked for ‘attention’. I just want to be different in peace.
In some ways, I’m an attention seeker, although much less than I was a few years ago.
Attention seeking was certainly NOT part of my decision making when I bought my first unicycle. I just wanted a unicycle.
On the other hand, I was a Morris dancer, and used to perform regularly on harmonica at several local folk clubs, and do a bit of busking. I always dressed unconventionally, and had a habit of drawing attention to myself.
As a unicyclist now, I would be perfectly happy if I could ride every day and never see a single person or receive a single comment. I don’t go out unicycling to seek attention. Often, i resent the unsolicited remarks.
But I do quite enjoy the fact that I do something unusual, and that it provokes interest. I would do it if it didn’t provoke interest, but the interest is an added bonus.
For me, it isn’t about attenion seeking per se. However, if I’m honest, it is partly a general statement about my attitude to convention. Whether it is my taste in music, clothes, hairstyle or sport, I always end up being slightly different. Even as a unicyclist, I find myself going for the skinny high pressure tyre when everone else goes for the fat low pressure tyre.
I wonder what it is deep in my personality that makes me so introspective.
As a newbie to unicycling, my answer is NO and goes along with Cathwood.
I had the time and the desire to learn unicycling. I want to get good enough to ride a 36" on the road. The population is fairly small here so it is pretty quiet. I ride my Trek on the road already so I want to ride my uni to the next town (one is 4 miles away).
Sometimes I wish that there weren’t any people around, so that I could just ride trials and street on any obstacles I wanted without people laughing if I stacked it, or without getting any trouble for riding on stuff. And when people say that I’m showing off, I just think to myself “I’d rather that you didn’t watch then, cos I don’t really care what you think of how I ride etc… I’m doing this cos it’s fun and cos I want to get good at it!”
I unicycle b/c I want to show everyone else that I am superior. I also like to give people the illusion that I am not confined by natural laws–this helps support the fact that I am superior; after all, who can defy gravity!?! So, it could be said that I unicycle for others, not for myself. Gosh, aren’t I just the wonderful altruist we’ve all been missing?
I’m definitely an attention seeker - my hair is the same colour as my tire, which is a primo ‘the wall’ in blue
I like to impress people, and to show off, or even to entertain them (long time improvisational theatre writer ) So it’s cool when they enjoy watching me practice.
But on the other side, I like to go to a nice quiet tennis court in the middle of the day (uni…versity student, lots of holes in my schedule) and practice for an hour. Usually I’ll get better at something small, every now and then I’ll learn something totally new, but regardless, I come back exhausted, relaxed, and usually in a better mood than when I left.
I think that unsolicited attention is one of the biggest
disadvantages of unicycling, I wouldn’t like to be shouted at in the street if I wasn’t riding my unicycle, and I definitely don’t want to be when I am!
I ride a unicyle because it’s fun, challenging and quite often the most convenient form of transport for me, not because I want attention.
Unless unicycling has a massive increase in popularity, however, it looks like we’re just going to have to put up with it.
