What made you first pick this up?

I have always done random strange things in the past. I eat bugs and
climb things. I also was raised doing alot of road cycling. We have
always had about 15 bikes in our garage and the cars sit outside. I was
taught everything about bicycles and assembled mine from used parts from
garage sales and trash picking. I also enjoy running Ultra Marathons.
Naturally the type of thing between eating bugs, climbing things, and
bicycling is unicycling. I think I may have made a comment out of the
blue that it would be fun to ride a unicycle. I quickly forgot about
it. Months later i got a unicycle for Christmas. It was a complete
surprise. I was so excited that I forgot about all of my other presents
and went outside. I tried for eight hours that day, eight hours the
next day, the next day I was sick with a temperature of 102 so I only
rode for an hour because my parents prohibited me from getting out of
bed (nothing to do with being outside on a unicycle in an Indiana winter
for 16 hours i'm sure.), the next morning I got it. Two days later I
was riding on the street and freemounting. I am 18 years old, a senior
in high school and I have been riding for less than three months. I am
obsessed and I ride backward to school, as well as practice in front of
my house for at least an hour a day. I have not gone more than 10 miles
from my house without my unicycle since I pulled the wrapping paper off.


--
RangerForrest - Isolated Unicyclist
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The way i got started was similar to others. My brother and I recived
one for christmas and ever since then i have unicycled . I now own 2 of
my own. I enjoy it because i like challenges and i know that i can
allways learn something new on it.


--
JLthemanthelegend
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My reason is exactly as you say, how many people do you see riding a
unicycle? I'm in a rural area. I just love to ride around the quiet
roads and think of what the cars that drive by must be thinking! It
just kinda makes me chortle (chuckle and snort, uh never mind).

It's just the fact that it's such an eccentric thing to do. And hey,
I could already juggle! So why not?


--
asupercoolguy
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When I was just a youngin (6 years ago), i saw my cousin riding his
unicycle around his neighborhood and everyone stopped to watch. from
that day i knew i wanted the attention that unicyclers get. its great to
be recognized. how can you not stop to watch a unicycler? its
mesmorizing. when's the last time you stopped to watch some kid
skateboarding down the street?


--
tennisgh22 - Learning to muni

3 out of every 2 people have trouble with fractions
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digigal1 wrote:
*I hope this question is OK for this forum. What made everyone first
decide to try unicycling? ... Tell me your story - I know you want
to. *

Roadwork is *really* boring. Finding new ways to do it makes it less so.
Unicycling, very much less so.

Ever since I was little I've been looking for a hobby to keep me busy
but was never able to find anything very challenging. I was riding
around on my monkey bike when someone in a passing car screamed"yeah
thats right, the circus is that way!" Somehow at the time the circus
made me think of unicycling, so after my next pay check i went out and
bought one at the local bike shop and sure enough, its kept me busy
without getting boring.


--
Antimatter - Tetris Master

"I drink a whisky drink, I drink a vodka drink, and when I have to pee,
I use the kitchen sink"
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When I was 10 or so, my buddy next door got one as a present and soon
could ride. I tried his a few times, couldn't get it, gave up. Fast
forward 30 years. One day I'm thinking back to that friend and his
unicycle, and it suddenly hit my why he learned to ride and I didn't: it
was his unicycle, so he could practice more. Went out and bought one
the next day, got over the hump, and became an "around the blocker" for
a year or so. Then, right about this time last year, I started riding
off road, went to Moab, met tons of people much more advanced than I
was, and have been trying to keep up with them ever since. I think
unicycling and skiing are similar that way: lessons are okay, but
eventually the best way to improve is to hang with people that are
better than you are.

Condensed version: It was time for my mid-life crisis, and I was too
poor to afford a Ferrari or 'Vette, so I bought a uni instead.


--
tomblackwood - Registered Nurtz

Tailgate at your own risk.....

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On Thu, 18 Mar 2004 13:27:28 -0600, "bugman" wrote:

I heard that long hours in the saddle had a physical effect like Viagra.

Oops. Did it work out the way you wanted? :-)

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
"Heck, even my toes were aching from trying to grip the soles of my shoes! - Tommy Thompson"

In 1963 or 1964, I read an article in Popular Mechanics or Mechanics
Illustrated entitled, "How to Build and Ride a Unicycle." The riding
part intrigued me. I got one for my next birthday, a used, homemade 20"
with a straight steel plate seat padded with foam rubber and a crude
cover. I learned to ride it in three days. I did cut a 2x4 U, drilled
and cut the steel plate and screwed the 2x4 to it to make a reasonably
shaped unicycle seat. I wrapped it in foam and put the cover back on it.
The next year I bought a brand new 24" Oxford. That was high-tech.


--
harper - Statuesque

-Greg Harper

B L U E S H I F T

"Stoke your own thread as much as you see fit, no problem." - Klaas
Bil

"Ugh, the Harpers; The worst neighbours in the world" - Tony Micelli
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I went to China with some friends, and a couple of them could ride- one
had a basic 24x3 and they told me about off road riding and I thought it
sounded pretty cool. I figured it'd be one of those skills where you
learn to do it basically, then stop and just have it as a conversation
topic.

Anyway, after blabbing on and on about getting one, my girlfriend got
me a 20" for my 18th. I didn't really try to learn it for another 3-4
weeks, but as I was on a year out of school, I decided to really try to
learn it. It took hours and hours over the course of two days to free
mount (had to learn to do this, as my girlfriends shoulder was getting
sore!) and ride down the street. Then I decided to just learn to go
forwards and left and right. Then backwards, and then hop up curbs etc
etc. I thought "I'll just try and learn this" but when I learned it, I'd
want to learn something new and it just escalated!


--
one wheeled stallion - Getting There! :-)

OWS
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