No, I don’t think so. Unicycling is a great way to keep active with great rewards in your over all health. I learned as a kid and after a 50 year break started riding a 36’er a few years ago. Now at 77 I put at least a thousand miles on a year and still going strong.
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Great Photo! Great t-shirt (I want one!). You are my inspiration!
The T-shirt won’t fit me yet. I’m only 50 years young 
Treat it like most others things: Realistically judge your ability. Give yourself a bit more time. Have fun with it.
You probably have more disposable income than disposable time to heal. Gear up as you feel is needed. As you improve shed any gear you feel has become excessive. But always wear a helmet, always.
The big wheel can be intimidating.
Cheeky dry humor
Think of it as a two week stay at the in-laws. Big potential to screw up. Unicycles, like in-laws, are naturally unstable. Plenty of fun when you succeed at managing it. You never thought it could be so much fun but it is. Once the in-laws learn about you riding at your age they may stop inviting you to family gatherings all together. Win-win.
I suggest if you can find a 20inch or 24inch to start again that is your best option. If possible find someone local and try any larger sizes they may have.
I do hope you return to riding. Lots of fun.
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To me, not only is it impressive that you are still riding strong at 71, but also that you do “extreme stuff off road” as well! 
I turn 49 next month (only been riding for 7 years now) but I would be incridibly grateful if I am still able to ride regularly when I reach my 70’s. My hat goes off to you and others on this forum, like JimT, who are inspiration to the rest of us that we can live our best unicycle life for many years to come!!
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I too am humbled by Jim T’s riding. I’d imagine that part of being able to still ride at 70 is to keep riding at 50 ;-). I don’t find many people to ride with, but I feel like all of you scattered around the internet encourage me plenty.
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I dunno about riding with others. I would always feel I’m not as good as the other. But at the same time it is also nice to talk with someone with the same hobby, instead of non-understanding regular peeps.
Today a dude on a moped rode beside be just to say “well done”. That is unexpected.
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I love your comment on keeping riding at 50 is the key to riding at 70. I am hoping that at 70 not only my skills and fitness are there but the Passion also is there.
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I don’t think you need to be afraid of the passion disappearing. Unicycling is very addicting. The feeling of balancing comes close to a feeling of flying, like when I fly in my dreams, more or less floating in the air. You will be addicted and passionate until the end.
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based on the number of people I have seen come onto this forum with passion and then quickly disappear as fast as the came I would say passion is definitely a rare commodity.
I think like a lot of you, I can just leave my uni in the back of my car. I can take it anywhere, and it doesn’t eat up my back seat. I’ll take it on errands and stop by some park or tennis court for 15 - 30 mins, or sometimes go for some longer ride. Skill-based hobbies have always been fun for me. I like diagnosing my problems and figuring out how to improve.
Unicycling has actually improved my juggling. I had stopped it for a while and now I’m back doing that again. Unicycling is also great for putting your mind off of whatever else might have been bothering you. You can focus on balance, new skills, and something witty to say to the next person who says “hey, you lost a wheel!”
Even if unicycling gets back-burnered for a while, we should all focus on doing something fun for sure.
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I still want that t-shirt.
I didn’t find the exact tshirt, but I did find some similar designs.
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Here is the one I have.
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I started this thread Sept of 2023 to communicate with other older riders and to learn from them. take a look at the stats on the bottom left after the last post , they are pretty impressive. my hope is that this thread continues and grows. please use it to share your experiences and encourage each other. if you don’t see an after 50 post for awhile throw something up to keep it going and never under estimate an old guy on a unicycle.
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15,000 views divided by 81 users means we have each viewed this thread 185 times.
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I won’t just give up on the thread. Never will I be below 50 anymore.
Are there really 81 peeps of 50+, I wonder (on this forum)
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or I looked at it 14000 plus times and the rest of you 12 times.
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That does sound plausible. At your age it is normal that you forget what you just read a moment later.
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I don’t think you’re nuts and sounds great.
That said, I would definitely wear protective gear and work up gradually.
You didn’t specify where you’re starting at. It is quite beneficial to learn free mounting on a 20 or 24" wheel. And each wheel size up is progressively more challenging for mounting and the fear factor.
Sure, you can just go directly to a 36 and have a bunch of major falls, but after 40 that is less than optimal strategy. On a 36 the distance to the ground is significant and it can hurt. That being said I think I had one crazy crash on my 36 when learning to jump mount and another learning to ride downhill, but in the 6+ years since have not had anything other than controlled dismounts on the 36.
I do technical downhill muni on a 29" and ride a 36" on the road with 125/100mm. I am quite fit but road riding is not my passion. I would describe myself as quite ambitious and calculated risk taker (steep downhill muni). However, riding the Schlumpf on a 36 presents 2 problems for me: 1) the psychological fear of riding faster than my runout speed of 24-26 km/h and 2) the slight play in the Schlumpf reduces my confidence and tirws me out.
So back to your question:
- If you don’t already have one, get a 20 or 24" to learn to freemount and hop
- the 36 is totally doable, but easier if your last wheel isn’t so much smaller. So optimal to first get proficient on a 20/24, then a 26/27.5/29 and then the 36
- start with long cranks of at least 150mm (I actually started with 170mm cranks after riding my 26" a lot).
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