Writer doing unicycle research

Off-topic
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Hello all-

I’ve been fishing around the forum for a couple of days and thought I should introduce myself :slight_smile: I’m working on a short fiction manuscript for a cultural perspectives writing class, involving a young woman who uncovers part of her family history through investigating an antique unicycle she inherits after her grandfather’s death.

As the name of the class would imply, I’m looking at (or trying to look at) the culture of unicyclists, and frankly am having some difficulty getting a cohesive read on it. Can anybody recommend any useful sources that are quickly accessible (I don’t have time to order anything off of amazon, etc) on unicycle culture, or history, or even if there’s a connection to immigrant heritage?

Or if there’s anything you would want an outsider to know, feel free to share! :slight_smile:

Cheers!

ps. I have been looking for an organization in Denver, but have not had too much luck on that either, so if anyone can point me in the direction of an enthusiast group, etc, I would be very grateful.

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To understand unicycle culture you could look at nerd culture. That’s a lot of us, at least here in these forums. :slight_smile:

Antique unicycles are rare. Before the 1960s, most unicycles were handmade, rather than manufactured. Other brands were around before Schwinn made them “bigger” starting in 1967 or so. Your best bet as a fictional antique would be a handmade one, that could lead to researching the various bits and tracking down a custom builder. That could be interesting.

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Or talk to somone like Kris holm

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Interesting Topic!

Hello chaosfemme!

That sounds like quite an interesting writing class and topic!
I imagine a lot of folks here might be interested in your story.

You may have found the best place to do your research… right here.
This forum seems to be a cross section of unicycle enthusiasts, young and old, from beginners to highly advanced, from all over the world.

I’ve been on the forum a little over a year and a half.
My progress on the unicycle keeps getting interrupted, but I’m still at it, still loving it, and still determined to achieve more and more skills.

IMHO, most unicyclists possess perseverance! They are persistent and love a challenge.
They may enjoy doing something that seems amazingly difficult to people who do not unicycle.
It also seems that once the initial skill is mastered, most are caught up in mastering the next skill, and the next.

I just read the book One Wheel - Many Spokes, by Lars Clausen.
In 2002, Clausen unicycled from the southern tip of Alaska all the way across the northern United States to Maine, and BACK through the southern states, ending on the Pacific coast in California.
Clausen is/was a Lutheran preacher.
Talk about perseverance! But he is also a family man, and a person who cares about people.

People here on the forum are quite friendly and helpful, but they will also state opinions without hesitating.
Sometimes disagreements are pretty intense, but it seems that most people here consider themselves friends with everyone else here.

Some unicyclists are quite outspoken, and others are very quiet. They read the forum, but rarely post.

The forum is really like a cross section of the world, but I think unicyclists in general are just plain wonderful people.
If the world were more like this forum, it would be a better place! Thank you GILBY…for making it available to us!

So, chaosfemme, I doubt if I’ve helped your cause much, but maybe a few others will post some ideas, and you can glean some good from a combined effort.

Let us know how your story turns out!

Thanks!

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Chaosfemme -

If what you want is to know how unicyclists think, 57UniRider may have hit the nail on the head by suggesting Lars Clausen. He is quite introspective. If you don’t have time to locate a copy of One Wheel Many Spokes, you can download another of his books for free as a PDF. http://www.straightintogayamerica.com/.

And post a link to your story here. I’m sure lots of folks will want to read it.

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Hey MTMuni,

Yes! I thought about mentioning Clausen’s second book as well, but I haven’t read the entire book.

I found it most intriguing that this preacher unicyclist with a close-knit family took off on his uni again to support gay rights.

One thing is for sure, he loves adventure!.. and his 36".

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Wow, thanks for your help already! It’s so nice to get feedback from living people :smiley: I really like the idea of the main character’s research drawing her back to a craftsman (or woman, perhaps). And i’m in the process of trying to track down Claussen’s book. From what i can tell, unicyclists comprise a highly individualistic, persistent, and very enthusiastic bunch. Cheers to you all for taking interest in my little project :slight_smile:

I’ll definitely post a link to the manuscript once I have it all tidied Up (not for a little while yet).

PS - I’m thinking the country of origin for the unicycle will be Germany, so if anyone knows of any history there, please share.

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Hey chaosfemme,

What gave you the idea to link the story to an old unicycle?
Do you unicycle yourself?
Ever tried?
Maybe you should give it a go… as part of your research!

Do post your story when it’s finished… or parts… as “in progress.”

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I have an old German ‘kunstrad’, an artistic bicycle. That’s a sport you can look up; it’s doing tricks on a specialized bicycle, indoors. The sport traces its roots back to trick bike performers from the 1800s, and the skills demonstrated are very high, though that sport doesn’t involve much creativity.

Anyway, the brand of my bike is Bauer, and I believe mine is from the 60s but I don’t know an exact age. Mr. Bauer passed away, so Bauer bikes are no longer made. I’m pretty sure he also made unicycles. Germany actually has a history of organized unicycling that’s older than most countries. But even those unicycles were probably handmade, in small numbers, to supply the riders in the clubs that were doing it. Not mass amounts of people.

There’s a German language forum on here, but many of those riders also speak English. You might be able to track down some leads for old-time custom builders with those guys. Of course it might be easiest to use a fictional person, but learning about the real ones would be a great starting point.

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Thanks for the info JohnFoss, I’ll be sure to look up those makers. I think I might make up my own maker, but researching those is always a great place to start.

57UniRider - I got the idea from a fortuitous encounter (whiz-by) with a unicycle rider as I was pondering what my next topic was going to be. I’ve never tried to ride myself, and frankly, am a bit scared as I might be the clumsiest person alive :smiley:

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You should give it a try sometime, even if you don’t want to learn to ride.

I have NEVER failed as hard as the first time I tried to ride a unicycle. Yet, I’m glad I did. There’s something about unicycling that’s particularly humbling to me. Some nonsense like “the delicate balance of things” or something :smiley:

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IMO, if you have the coordination to walk, you can unicycle. Like walking, it takes a lot of time holding on to things and balancing as your body gets the gist of it. The key is being willing/stubborn enough to stick through those 20 or so hours of flailing and failing that nearly everyone needs to go through to learn.

If you think about it, that’s a lot less time than it takes a baby to learn how to walk, and nearly every baby does learn eventually. But being bigger and older we do fall farther and heal slower, so wear some protection as you learn.

Sam