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RIDING HIGH: UNICYCLE RIDERS HAVE A HIGH TIME; REDFORD TWP. CLUB MEMBERS
MAKE IT LOOK EASY AS THEY PERFORM AND COMPETE

BY CLARE PFEIFFER RAMSEY
FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER
694 words
14 July 2005
Detroit Free Press
1
English
(c) Copyright 2005, Detroit Free Press. All Rights Reserved.

With national competition just weeks away, a couple dozen members of the
Redford Township Unicycle Club polished their routine in a church gym
Saturday.

For two of its smallest members, the pressure was palpable.

"She wasn't going fast enough!"

"No, she wasn't!"

Cousins Katie Helton and Jenna Alexander, both 7, of Dearborn Heights
bickered like sisters after they took a spill while trying to cycle,
hold hands and keep up with the big kids and adults.

"It's very nerve-racking for them," said Jenna's mom, Carol Alexander,
40, of Dearborn Heights. "It's just tough for them. They just started
riding three months ago."

Just as quickly as they fell, the girls picked up their unicycles, and
sped off hand-in-hand.

To laypeople, three months may not seem long at all; to unicycling
enthusiasts, that can be plenty of time to learn to pedal these
one-wheeled contraptions.

It usually takes just a couple of months to get the hang of it, said
Carol Brichford of Farmington Hills, whose four sons founded the club
about 30 years ago when the family lived in Redford Township.

"In unicycling, all people are not created equal. So there are young
people there who have an amazing sense of balance who can ride in half
an hour, but that's not typical," she said.

The club, which has about 75 members, performs for parades, festivals
and special events. There will be a free performance at 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday at the Caroline Kennedy Library in Dearborn Heights.

The group also will compete this month in the North American Unicycling
Championships and Convention in Bowling Green, Ohio. Competitions
include a group performance, parade riding, a pairs artistic
performance, races and even unicycle basketball.

There is almost no end to what these riders will do -- play hockey, ride
6-foot-tall cycles called giraffes, juggle, hop, shoot hoops and dance.


Although they make it all look easy, the club doesn't require all of its
members to be experts, Brichford said. In fact, new members are welcome
and lessons are available for beginning riders.

The club is the only one in Michigan, so its riders come from as far as
Milan and from all over the metro Detroit area. Membership spans all
ages, shapes and sizes.

"When I was younger it was all kids, but now it's changed," said club
president Wendy Grzych, 37, of Garden City. "We've got grandparents,
kids, and grandkids all riding together. It's the fam thing to do."

She started riding when she was 9, and her two children, Dale, 9, and
Amanda, 11, started when they were about 5.

Grzych, who also rides a mountain-unicycle off-road, said unicycling is
safer than it might look to the uninitiated.

"We're much more dangerous in real life. We're much safer when we're
riding," Grzych said.

But aren't unicycling families frequent visitors to urgent care centers?


"No way," said Dave Holden, 41, of Redford Township, whose wife, Cathy,
38, and daughter Katie, 13, also ride. "You don't see many people
wearing helmets or safety gear, except for races."

One of the first lessons the group teaches is the right way to fall.
Because their hands are free to catch themselves, members said, the
worst most of them get is the occasional bump or bruise.

Although Holden had ridden on unicycles when he was younger, his family
really got started three years ago after seeing one of the club's
performances at a local library.

"My kids thought, 'That looks cool!' " Holden said, and soon they
started lessons through the club.

Holden said it's easy to get hooked on unicycling because it gives you
an immediate sense of accomplishment as soon you learn to ride.

"When you first try to ride, it's impossible. Then, at some point, it
becomes possible," he said. "It's like a fairy tale: Suddenly, the
impossible becomes possible."


--
JJuggle - Last of the Dogmato-Revisionists

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

I will now proceed to entangle the entire area.
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