> After all, which came first – the wheel or the two-wheeler?
The bicycle came before the unicycle. Unicycles were discovered sort of by
accident, based on a flaw in the design of bicycles at the time. So if you look
at it that way, it’s also a bike with one wheel.
> In reality, a bike is a unicycle with two wheels, not the other way 'round.
My wife and I just bought a tandem. She’s telling all her friends something like
that. Now she can ride a unicycle, with her husband!
> On a similar note, I must say that as a teacher and parent, it has always
> amazed me that here in New York City, with all of the things going on and the
> circuses that come to town each year and so on, there are many kids (and some
> adults) who don’t know the word ‘unicycle.’
It’s true. Did you know Ringling Bros. spends about five weeks each year at
Madison Square Garden? Then it takes another month or so to get out the elephant
smell. Lots of circus fans. Plus Big Apple, Cirque du Soleil, and other
circuses. Lots of live entertainers as well, plus groups like the National
Circus Project in hundreds of schools, not just performing but teaching about
circus skills.
But putting information into a head requires energy. Some people just go through
their lives without applying any. There’s a great new TV show called Street
Smarts that demonstrates this. People are interviewed and asked questions on the
street. Contestants on the show guess whether or not the people on the street
will know the correct answers to basically EASY questions!
Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com www.unicycling.com
“Dad, I’m hypo-icecreamic.” – Woody Hooten, at the end of a long MUni ride
(Woody’s mom is a doctor, and this sounds like something his family probably
developed on long car rides when the kids were young)