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David • 08/06/04 • 12:57 PM:

One blog points out - when riding down a mountain or ramp, the guys must continually pedal - really fast. No coasting and no such thing as ‘free wheel’ on a unicycle. [ps. turn on the sound too to hear the industrial metal]

Dad • 08/08/04 • 8:40 PM:

I know it sounds funny, but I’m not sure if I ever tried a unicycle. I have a vague feeling I tried one once a long time ago (and got nowhere) but I can’t be sure. Anyway, I have not doubt how hard it is. But people do ride them and they’re not all spectacular athletes, are they?

I’m reminded of a couple of other things I did years ago that took only one day to learn. The first was riding a bike backwards; you know, sitting on the handlebars and pedaling backwards. Ed and I decided to do it one day and found it was not as hard as it first seemed. I can’t remember how long we practiced, but I know we did it in a single day and had plenty of time to ride around once we learned. One incident I remember is each of us taking off around the block going opposite directions. We met on the other side by slamming into each other! Makes sense, since we were mostly looking backwards at the time. The key to backward riding is to reverse your learned balancing skill and turn away from the direction you’re tipping.

The other skill I learned in one day was juggling. I did it, along with a few other guys, as a freshman in college. We all learned 2 ways of juggling; one the typical way (alternately throwing the balls from one hand to the other while the third ball is in the air between the hands), the other the less popular method of throwing all the balls up from one hand while the other hand catches them and quickly transfers them the the throwing hand. (OK, you try to describe juggling!) Like riding a bike (either way) or swimming, juggling is something you never completely forget, although you can get mighty rusty.

Come the think of it, I learned to swim in one day too. And somewhere in there I learned to ride a pogo stick and walk on stilts. A few hours is all it takes. I think I’m a little old and brittle to learn to ride a unicycle, but I think you young ‘uns should keep trying. Take off a day and “just do it.”

Patrick • 08/09/04 • 11:07 AM:

My roommate Dave Bergman rode his unicycle all over the place. He’s kind of nerdy looking, but he was actually very cut (did a bit of weight lifting and grew up on a farm). I have never learned to ride a bike backwards or to juggle, though I’ve made attempts at both (how couldn’t I, with Dad’s subliminal suggestions every summer?). I did, though, learn to walk on my hands and ride a bike with no hands. I do feel, however, that I should learn more things like this. It’s a lot better than, say, learning to finish Castlevania on Nintendo (which I did one Christmas break).

David • 08/09/04 • 3:30 PM:

Let me tell you, unicycling is not a one day event. It took my buddy, Dave, a week or so, and he’s quite athletic. Still, it’s doable and would have to be on my short list of very cool/essential things to know how to do in life. Some of the others include knowing how to: fly a helicopter (you never know when this will be handy, and I’m fairly certain that if you can fly one, you can also fly a regular plane/jet), play piano (remember how crucial this was in Goonies?), and scuba dive. Now, surely there’s more, but that’s just the short list.

Thank goodness for track practice, where I learned to do handstands. And I don’t know when/where I learned to juggle, but Pat, you can learn it quick fast. Another one of my ‘skills’ that comes in mightly handy is the ability to break dance some and do a nasty worm. People love it. If only I could do the windmill (the one one your back/shoulders with your legs flailed out and around - like a windmill). Go ahead and add that to my short list.

Pat, you were also the best at MegaMan, don’t forget that!

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