I remember a topic a while ago asking about pictures of someone riding a unicycle in Iraq…well…I did it.
I was the “middle vehicle” of our convoy for a good half mile. Riding a unicycle in 50 lbs of body armor is definatly different than riding normal. It might of helped my ego if I practiced a few times before I rode down the streets of Baghdad. I fell pretty hard twice…with the armor I didnt get hurt! But…Im not going to wear armor just to ride a unicycle.
Our interpreter was telling the Iraqi’s that our country is too poor and we couldnt afford gas for our trucks, so I was riding the “test vehicle” for the Army. Ahh good times.
The unicycle was a shiny chrome…and thats just not army style…so we camo’ed it with a little paint before hand.
From a former soldier: Congrats on having at least one or two people in your change of command who have a sense of humor. You’ll remember that ride for the rest of your life, as will your battle buddies. You also showed a few Iraqi that even US soldiers can be fun.
I tried to ride on base the other day and got a ration of crap from base security. They seemed really concerned about me not wearing a helmet, so the next day I wore a kevlar.
They were not amused and told me kevlar is not a robust enough helmet for unicycling. (Funny, they keep telling me it will stop bullets. . .)
You were lucky… my dad was fined out there for not wearing a helmet while riding his bike. He also got pulled over for riding down a rode that never permits cyclists. When I uni there I always wear a helmet and I smile “perty” at security.
Very interesting pics, unist. I have to admit I was shocked with the photo in Unimagazine. But I’m sure it was just my prejudice about unicycles and how they are seen as “props, toys, etc”. I didn’t realize until then that I was one of “them”.
Haha, I don’t think the guy that posted that exactly understood what a soldier was in Israel… An Israeli soldier is completely different from an American soldier in most aspects (like all Israeli citizens which reside in Israel must join the army by law, etc.)
I am going to tomorrow, i had a legal debate with my Flight Sergeant about the laws of wearing a helmet, i won, but then he used the PSR game (Paper, Scissors, Rank) and told me i have to wear a helmet when i ride on base…
My PL even put my pictures on his debrief to the 1SG and CO. They even had a good laugh.
We pasted by some big wig Iraqi commander and all the guards pulled out their camera phones and video taped me going along. The police here are known to send videos to their buddies. I have not seen my video, but I did see a video of someone I know dancing with the Iraqi’s…over 100 miles from where it was taken. I cant even imagine how far my video has made it with the Iraqi police.
(Funny, they keep telling me it will stop bullets. . .)