As a 49er unicyclist in my 75th year here is my story. I was a mediocre rider as a kid when I learning at about 10 years old on a homemade uni. I made first unicycle using an old tricycle wheel (about 12” diameter), some scrap metal I could find around the farm and an old English bike saddle. The only hard surfaces I had to ride were in the cow barn where I learned in front of the hay mangor and a short concrete walkway between the house and garage. I never ventured away from home and never even considered riding on a public road. After riding that first homemade unicycle for awhile I completely wore off the hard rubber tire and was without a uni for a few years. At 18 years old I happened to find a beat up 24” Columbia unicycle at a local store. I rode that a few times but did not put much time on it.
This is the Columbia in 1967:
Then, fast forward 50 years without riding and I happened to see people online like Ed Pratt road riding a 36” uni and covering great distances with little effort. At 68 I wondered if I could do that. I still had the Columbia so I dusted it off and put on a new tire. I found I could still ride it about the same mediocre level as I could 50 years ago. Just as when I was a kid I could mount and ride but never did learn any “tricks”.
In my experience, once you learn the basics of riding, you never forget.
In July of 2017 I found a nice 36” Coker locally and I could ride it without much problem. At first I used a large block of wood to steady the wheel and as a step up to mount but was able to free mount without that aid in a couple weeks or so. It took a while to get used to the larger wheel and some dedicated mounting practice to become proficient at mounting.
After a few months on the Coker:
After a few months I was ready to try the open road on the Coker. Even though I was in reasonably good shape I could manage about ½ mile and then start to wonder how I was going to dismount without crashing. My legs were not strong enough and I likely did not have enough weight in the uncomfortable saddle.
I’ve had the normal bumps and scrapes when riding but nothing that prevented regular riding. The following photo is actually a re-creation of a planned dismount that went horribly wrong. When I first started riding my 36er I was not comfortable riding across the bridge. So I had planned to ride up to the start of the bridge and dismount. I hit a bump at the start of the bridge and took a header clean off the bridge. It was about 12 ft down to the ground below. Luckily the ground was soft and I sustained no real injuries.
This was my most exciting dismount to date:
About a year after I got the Coker I updated to a Nimbus 36er. I had built up enough leg strength and found a more comfortable saddle to do my fist longer ride of
50 miles.
Over the few years I have been riding the 36er I have got the point that I can jump on and ride all day with no adverse effects. My longest day ride has been 100 miles and longest nonstop ride has been a little over 26 miles (a marathon) using my front saddle support thingy.
My most recent longer ride was an easy 74 mile “ride my age” ride a few months ago. Year around I ride 10 to 20 miles a few times a week just to stay in shape.
I have been lucky and not noticed any age related issues or limitations yet. I know my legs are stronger then at any time in my life and I believe my general health is better because of my unicycling. If I do something that I’m not used to I may be a little sore for a day of so, same thing happened when I was a kid.
In addition to learning to ride/mount the 36er I have picked up a few other things in the recent years. I learned to idle, ride some backwards, jump mount, hop, ride comfortably with hands on a handlebar and ride for hours on end. An old dog can learn new tricks.
I hope I can continue to ride for quite a while and believe I have to use the ability or loose it.
