I was working 18 hours shifts for the NYPD at ground zero (WTC) . I ran the morgue at the WTC site. I came home very depressed and saddened by seeing my friends dead on the ground in body bags. I got home took a shower and went to bed. I woke with smell of the morgue on my hands . I jumped up and washed my hands again to get the smell off of my hands. Until this day I still vividly remember that smell.
So,I could not sleep and I had to get up at 330 am to go to work. I turned on the tv and saw ripleys believe it or not. I had to laught. I saw this guy Kris Holm riding a muni unicycle. I was amazed so I wanted to learn as a child but never did. So, at 32 years old I called unicycle.com. Spoke to the owner John Drumond. Nice guy …kind of funny that the owner answered the phone. Anyway I purchased a unicycle and started to ride. just a nice way to avoid all the maddness of the morgue !
Years later I am trying to get my kids in riding a unicycle with me
Best to All
Tim.
Thanks for your service Tim. I started riding because there was an old Schwinn unicycle that my mom had bought at a garage sale in our garage. It had been there for years and one day I decided I wanted to ride it. I learned to ride it then stopped for several years because I outgrew it. I was too big for it when I learned anyways. Then at college I decided to buy a new 24 inch one because I did not like the long walks across campus. Now I just bought a Nimbus trials and can’t wait for the snow to go so I can start practicing.
Welcome to the forum and welcome to the wacky world of unicycling! And as Sycamore said, thank you for your service. I expect you have experienced more suffering than most people do their whole lives. Hopefully you will have as much fun unicycling as I have so you can tip those scales in the right direction.
One last comment - the better you get at unicycling, the more fun you will have. Keep us posted!
Tim… intreresting story! I like aggressive rollerblades at skate park then Rip Stik board. Its like two wheels skateboard and I was thinking about now the next is one wheel and hmmmmm ahhh its unicycle! I looked at youtube video and Kris Holm … WOOOOW! I went to a special bike shop on the way to work and the owner ordered a 24 inch unicycle for me! Hard to find unicycle even in Chicago! 3 days later and I got it!!! Cant wait to ride it … holy ****! I cant do it! It took me 2 weeks to able to ride only 10 feet! 2 months later that I able to ride over 800 feet and STILL LOT more to learn to go!!!
Even though all three of my kids ride I didn’t learn until I was 46, so there is plenty of time left. I find if I don’t go riding several times per week I feel crummy. Maybe it’s just the need for exercise, or maybe it’s the fun of riding. Either way it’s a great stress reliever
I was doing my job down at ground zero! Lots of maddness. But hey I am happy to be alive with my kids and wife!
I rode about one city block with the 125mm cranks …I like the 150 mm to get comfortable and than back to the 125mm .I am not so steady but I can go. Funny to watch a 44 year to ride a unicycle .
Most people look at me like I am out of this world ! Lol it is a big challenge to get back to ridding 2 to 4 miles at one time. The most I have done was 4 miles. just another fun healthy activity
Best to All
Tim
Tim Im so glad you chose to ride! And kris you really inspire me!
When I was 12 me and my friend had a unicycle we tried to ride, it was too big and could barely ride down the drive way, we both gave up. I never owned a unicycle until my mom got me a torker for christmas one year and said she would pay me 20 bucks if i could ride down the drive way and learn how to unicycle. I tried for about 3 hours and gave up once again.
My cousin Colby Thomas began unicycling because he was going through a hard time and didn’t have a whole lot of friends at the time. I never thought much about it until my senior year in high school when my two and only best friends started hanging out with my x-girlfriend and i found myself alone and depressed. After a week of hoping they would stop hanging out with her I realized they probably would never be my friends again and started talking to my mom who told me Colby went through something similar and began unicycling as a result.
For a week straight (around this time of year, a year ago) i continually tried to learn how to unicycle and finally had a breakthrough moment and rode down the whole street and from there on I have NEVER stopped unicycling. now im in college and I have met so many good people here who my cousin has met through facebook and told me to unicycle with. Colby told me to meet up with this guy Kevin Kartchner and since then, we have spent alot of time unicycling and i feel like he is a god when it comes to unicycling. we are now good friends and unicycling has become my LIFE.
people call me the unicycle kid and currently my saddle is broken in half, but that didn’t stop me from learning a rolling wrap just last week…which i thought was IMPOSSIBLE when i first started trying. But as i always say: “bleed all you need to make impossible dreams come true” and “nothing’s impossible, nothing!” haha im a little crazy when i unicycle and i literally uni to school everyday no matter how cold it gets.
eventually Colby Thomas made alot of friends again and so have I. We have grown closer together and i can honestly say im so proud of him and love my little cousin so much for inspiring me to find joy in unicycling. because im the type of guy who usually quits when things get tough. and im just so happy to say that i have come SO far in one year and can already do a number of tricks and started teaching younger kids how to unicycle! good luck to all you and thanks for the good thread idea tim!
sorry it was long…for any of you who cared to read.
