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[the Earl of Whirl]

I have always heard about these unicycle gatherings.  They plan them the week after the big IJA fest.  It has been going on for years (30? 40? more?....I will find out).  It has been hard enough to get the the juggling festival every once in a while so I have never made it to the big unicycle event.  I will definitely be out of my comfort zone but I will come back with lots of new things to work on.

From their forum it sounds like people are already arriving and scaring the workers at the local motels.  They have never seen anything like this with all the unicycists and more.

My plan is to drive up on Monday night and stay there most of Tuesday (my day off) and drive back that evening.  Too many hours of driving for so little time there, I think.  I hope I am wrong.

There will probably not be too may top spinners there, so this will have to definitely stay in the NSTR section.

[the Earl of Whirl]

It took me a while to find any unicyclists but now there are unicycles everywhere.  I arrived late last night and drove around and around looking for any one wheeled wonders.  I finally gave up until this morning.  I did eventually find a unicycle.com trailer and knew I was in the right territory but the gathering of cars in the parking lot turned out to be people coming for football practice.  Arghh!  Finally I found some people getting ready for the marathon and started asking questions.  I think I understand more about what is going on now.

These people are serious about marathoning on unicycles.  I think some of their unicycles are worth almost as much as my car!  I am sitting at the finish line and watching four people finish under two hours.  The winner rode 1:42!  They started with three dozen riders.  It was an honor to be part of the finish line for that event.

Time to head to the gym and see some of the competitions going on there.

[the Earl of Whirl]

Ha!  A guy is warming up for his freestyle and he is doing two yo-yos!

[ta0]

Ha!  A guy is warming up for his freestyle and he is doing two yo-yos!

He is not John Higby, is he?

[the Earl of Whirl]

He definitely wasn't John Higby!  He was not as good of a unicyclist as Higby and not even close to what Higby does with yo-yos, but he was having a good time.  In fact, he was the only entrant in the adult male category.  It hit me a while later that, if I had known this, I could maybe have talked to the organizers and tried to do some top spinning on my unicycle for two minutes.  I could have used the experience.

I am now home.  It turned out that it was a full five hour drive there and then the five back now leaves me kind of tired.  The experience was nothing like at IJA fest but I still learned a lot of things.  I doubt if I go to one of these again, unless it is an hour or so away.  There are some other thoughts I would like to share but I will have to do that another day.

[the Earl of Whirl]

I wanted to write down some more things before I forget them.  I was hoping to get a list together to make myself feel better about all the hours in the car.  I didn't come home with the same enthusiasm as I did after the IJA fest.  I guess part of it was that there weren't as many people there (300 max and usually much less than that at activities).  There was only one vendor present (unicycle.com had a lot of nice items but I expected more sellers).  The gym was only open for a few hours each day (as compared to the 24 hour gym time of the IJA and yo-yo event).  I knew absolutely no one (I missed catching up on things with an old friend).  It was not as international (although there was at least one person there from Canada, New Zealand and Australia).  And I did not meet anyone for hours (part of it was my fault but it was still kind of hard to catch up with everyone). 

I did get to try some different size unicycles (I could ride a 29 incher right off but will have to practice some to get used to the 36 inch giant wheels).  I did learn some new tricks (so so many things for me to work on).  I saw some fun freestyles (they seem to be open to all kinds of possibilities).  I saw some new games (most popular seemed to be the challenge game with one person in the middle doing a trick and seeing if anyone can match it - if they can they can then do another trick).  I learned more about possible things that can be done to modify one's unicycle (mods are big like in the yoyo/top spinning world).  I heard stories about track events and possible things I could enter in the future and things I could train for (all kinds of track events are going on all day today).  I also met lots of new and friendly people.  Sadly, there was not much of a mix of people there.  I did see one mother and daughter who are African-American.  I did not see anyone of hispanic background.  I didn't even see anyone with Asian background.

I feel badly that I never registered but there was never anyone at the desk when I went by!  The freestyles were clever and fun but the sound was often too loud for a bit or too soft that the contestants did not know when to start.  We are fortunate to have the wonderful stage and sound people we do.   

I guess after looking at everything, I am still glad I went.  I just wish I weren't so tired today!

[ta0]

Thanks for the report.  I have heard that very weird unicycles can be seen in these events (off-center wheels, square wheels, etc.)  I guess I would be more interested in that part than in the track competitions.
Yes, it would have been a great chance to try your spintop routine on stage!

[the Earl of Whirl]

Well, my trip to the Unicyle Nationals is paying off big time.  Yesterday a brand new 36 inch unicycle arrived at the new Bike Way Bike Shop in Miamisburg.  The kind owner (Rick) put it together for me and last night I spent a lot of time sitting in the seat and idling in place.  It sure moves much much differently from any other unicycle I have been on.

Today I went to the track and finally got the thing going (with me on it).  What a ride.  It is just like they say......so smooth and it feels like you are flying because it can go so fast.  I did a lap, sat down and panted.  After some recovery I did another lap and sat down, still panting.  A third lap gave me the same results.  At least I was starting to feel more comfortable on the unicycle but I sure was wiped out after each lap.

I decided to end my workout with one more lap but with a big emphasis on keeping it easy and relaxed.  It felt so good that I kept going for a second lap.  Then a third.  I stopped at this point since I did not want to overdo it on the first day.  Maybe tomorrow I will try to ride a mile without stopping?

I still can't free mount and I have yet to try any juggling or top spinning on it.  This new unicycle should keep me busy through the winter!

[rusty]

Congratulations on your 36er. I have two 20", two 24" MUNIs, one 29" and one 36" unicycle. The 36" is really fun to ride, I ride it to work sometimes (8.5 km each way). But I find it most fun to ride off-road (MUNI or Mountain Unicycling).
Next you will have to get a unicycle with gears

[lincolnrick]

Just curious Earl, what size uni were you riding before?  And congratulations on your new glide ride!

[ta0]

With the 36er you should be able to easily smash your world record! 

[the Earl of Whirl]

I rode nothing but a 20 inch wheel for years and years.  Yikes, I just figured out that number and we are talking about 29 1/2 years!!!  Just in the last few months I started experimenting with an old 24 incher we had around here and became intrigued with the extra speed.  You can imagine my shock when I finally was able to ride the 36 incher.  Man, it can fly!

Rusty, I had no idea you were into unicycles like that.  Wow, that is a great collection of one wheelers.  When you got your 36 how did you do getting used to it?  I did a free mount for the first time yesterday and was wondering what kind of free mount you use on it?

[the Earl of Whirl]

Ahhh!  All this unicycle practice is paying off.  I did the Springboro Christmas parade and it went great.  Can you believe this is my 15th ride one my six footer in this parade?  I can't.  Where has all the time gone.

Now I am back to my new 36 inch unicycle.  I was having some trouble switching back and forth between that big wheel and the little 20 inch wheel on the giraffe unicycle.  I swore off the use of the giant for 10 days and now I am anxious to get back on it.

It snowed today so it will be interesting to see how long I can ride this through the winter.

[Kirk]

http://www.wimp.com/bicycletricks/

Mike,
I thought of you when I saw this.
Kirk

[ta0]

http://www.wimp.com/bicycletricks/

Mike,
I thought of you when I saw this.
Kirk

Wow! I absolutely loved it! Thanks for posting.

Mike may be on to something.  I need to start practicing with my unicycle again.