28 riders showed up to take advantage of a lovely fall day.

One of the biggest (and tallest) hits of the day was Bob’s 5’ giraffe. It’s a well-built unicycle, and that’s a good thing because everyone seems to want to ride it. XIA spent a lot of time on it (and eventually convinced her dad to buy one), and so did many others. Even BOB got to ride it a little. He’s one of the few people in the club who can freemount a giraffe. There are several ways, but he does the climb-mount. I haven’t mastered that one, so I do the jump-mount.

SPENCER spent time on that giraffe, too, and on lower ground he showed me that he can now idle. Way to go, Spencer!

My brother JOHN showed up on his Coker 36” uni as usual. JASON was able to reach the pedals, so he finally had a chance to zoom around on THE BIG ONE (as it is called), and of course, it was love at first ride. Now Jason is looking to buy a Coker 2nd hand. Jason also worked on riding down the stairs, tho not on the Coker!

Also riding on the stairs and pulling off many cool tricks was new member TYSEN, from nearby Hartsdale. He says that there is some good muni’ing to be done up there. I never knew.

We had some solid young riders on the day: EMELE did his usual amazing stunts and also went really high on that super-pogo stick that occasionally graces the Tomb. WILL also worked on some cool tricks, and as usual, they also ventured across the street to the playground there. And joining them for the first time was ERIC (14), who mainly rides vert (as it is called). He’s new to the club and has only been uni’ing for a short time, but he’s already quite good.

Eric’s dad, WILLY, is also a rider, and he came out to ride a bit. Other dads included our great pal KEN (sans Darius) and ME (but with only one kid on the day because Emmett hurt his knee recently and is just now recovering).

As for me, I didn’t work on too much but did attempt that pogo stick a bit. It’s kind of scary to bounce that high. MAEVE and I drove down in the Smart Car, so we could only manage her bike and three unicycles (ok, that’s more than you’d think could fit in the back of my tiny car). She mostly zoomed around on her ‘new’ bike and also did quite well on her unicycle, tho she has not quite mastered it yet.

Our other big family of the day was PHYLLIS and her three daughters, two of whom are riding. LAILA is getting used to the 20”, and MIA has just begun riding on her own. Well done, girls!

We had some new riders, as is usually the case. MICHAL is just learning, as is ISABEL, who is 6.

New member (long-time rider) MARKUS came by once again and has begun talking about riding in next year’s Turkey Day parade. That could be a lot of fun. It usually involves many tall unicycles, a real crowd-pleaser. Others in the new-member/long-time rider category were ERIC L of Park Slope, who rode years ago, and CHARLES, who started riding in the mid-70s but stopped for a long time. Charles showed up on a sweet, new KH 24”. Ken had been trying to convince him to join us for some time, and now he’s back in the saddle!

Another of the long-time riders was ANDY (working on high-level skills and also on those weird one-wheel skates of his).

It was also nice to see our good buddies IRA and ZACH (the grizzled), both of whom have made good progress in the past year or two.

We had an overdue visit from our old friend CRISTINA and a first visit from new friend CONNIE, who joined us all the way from Massachusetts.

JIM came by to ride with us once again. Much of our riding was captured digitally by our pal JOEY, who was filming us for part of a movie he’s working on. It’s about unicycling, and it focuses on our club and on last year’s Nova Scotia race, “Ride the Lobster” (which I participated in).

Let’s hope the weather holds up this weekend – the forecast is somewhat bleak. Normally I’d have ignored this info, but we’ve had bad luck this year, so I hope that changes!

The mid-September NYUC meeting was a blast. We had a huge turnout, saw a HIndu wedding, and met some great new members.

As I drove up, I noticed a white horse. Later, Martina (Emele’s mom) explained that this was connected with an Indian wedding ceremony. Since elephants in New York City are hard to come by, the families had apparently gone with another awesome choice in the white horse. We later saw the family milling about Grant’s Tomb in all of their finery. It was a beautiful sight. And all of us were the beneficiaries of wonderful weather. So despite it being a Jewish holiday, there were 28 club members in attendance for much of the afternoon.

MAEVE (5) was seen zooming around on her ‘new’ bike, a hand-me-down from her sister by way of her brother. I had to switch out the seat and clean it up, but she took to it right away. It’s got 16″ wheels (instead of the tiny 12″ wheels of her old two-wheeler), making it much faster, but despite its increased size and speed, she handles it like a pro. She also spent time riding around on a skateboard and practicing her unicycling, which she still hasn’t quite managed. She’s getting close, and having a new seat post made for her was a big help.

EMMETT (10) has been enjoying his big sister’s 24″ uni. Like Maeve and her bike, he appreciates the additional speed of the larger wheel. He and I played a lot of basketball and also worked on idling and some other fun tricks.

We had our usual gaggle of young street and trials riders. JAMES was there with his orange wheel and frame. He was working on a variety of amazing skills, some from the standard skill levels and some from the pages of the street-rider’s bible. EMELE, likewise, worked on a bunch of cool tricks, and their pal WILL made many painful attempts to master some tricky skill I can’t even pronounce. Will’s friend KEVIN joined us for the first time. He’s only been riding for 2 months but is already quite good. Another friend, GARNER, came by to hang out and to film his buddies, but he tried unicycling a bit and found it to his liking; in no time, he was riding and even freemounting. Wow. JASON, riding with new orange pedals, was working on a body varial. That’s a skill like a 180 unispin, only the body spins around the uni before the rider lands on the other side of it (so that the seat is now facing the other way).

James’s mom, BONNIE, worked on the basics. The big question is who is going to learn first, her or Maeve. My money’s on Maeve. Kids tend to learn so fast! Other learners who came out were MARIANNA and her pals JOSEPHINE and SALVATORE.

More experienced riders included…
* MIRON, who is learning fast. He can also ride an ultimate wheel, if I recall correctly.
* LOUISE, who is getting back to riding around; she also worked on idling,
* Her dad, PETER, who is not quite as good as Louise, and
* ZACH the elder, who spent almost as much time coming up with new nicknames for himself as he did on actual riding. It’s tricky because we have more Zachs and Zacks these days. But Zach the more worldly and experienced actually did quite well on the day, and it’s only a matter of time before he’s taking his uni around for errands.

We did have another Zach on the day: ZACH Z. He’s been riding for a short time and seems to be getting pretty good already. Other young’uns included our pal XIA and her friends Ewa (pronounced Evva) and Anna (pronounced Onna). I believe they were the only ones on hand this day who regularly have to tell people how to pronounce their names. When I was a kid, I always wanted a name like that. I guess the grass is always weirder on the other side.

Our young buddy SPENCER came by, as well. He spent some time racing with Xia and Emmett and also worked on some skills. Later, he, Emmett, and I played tag. That’s a fun way to get good at the sorts of quick turns and stops that are useful in uni-basketball and -hockey. We also had a long-overdue visit from NATHAN and his dad LEV, tho it looks like they’ve both been getting better on their own.

Older dudes made up the rest of the riders on the day. I practiced crank idle and worked on some other tricks that I should have learned by now. My brother JOHN came by to chill and to see his nephew and younger niece. He’s been eying my 29″ guni lately. How long before he buys one? BOB showed up with his well-made giraffe and his smaller uni; good to see you again, Bob! Newish member TOMMY was there, too, and as usual, our great friend KEN was on the scene to take photos, lend a hand, and generally and generously give smiles to everyone within 25 paces.

We’re on again for Sunday, and the weather report forecasts a lovely, warm day — the sunniest and hottest of the week. Come out and ride with us (again)!

For a change, I thought I’d write this the same day as our actual get-together. It makes it much easier to remember the day. And it was a lovely day.

Unfortunately, the gorgeous weather and long weekend kept some of our riders busy with barbecues, beaches, and baseball games. But just as my kids and I were about to start packing up the car, the multitudes arrived. We ended up with 17 bona fide members and a bunch of others who might start showing up soon. On the whole, it was a great turnout.

First on the scene was TOM. He had joined us last time, too, but I had already left, so I failed to mention him in the notes. Tom has recently rediscovered unicycling after a hiatus of nearly 30 years. That is, he’s been not riding as long as I have been riding. His 24″ Schwinn, older than most of our membership, has all of its original parts including those awful Schwinn pedals. It brought back quite a few memories — mostly good.

Our next arrival was new member CHRIS from Ohio. He’s only been at it for less than a year, so he missed out on having a unicycle convention in his home state. My family drove out to that one in 2005 and had a blast. Thanks for coming by, Chris, and welcome to NYC (and the NYUC).

Moments later we were joined by JOANNA, 12, and her big sister GABRIELLA. Joanna is quite a competent and confident rider. She even tried a giraffe later in the day and ended up zooming around on it. Gabriella, meanwhile, spent a good part of the afternoon on her slack-rope but also put in some time learning the basics, and not surprisingly, she’s picking it up very fast.

KEN came by later than usual, but I’m glad he arrived because it’s always great to see him; in addition, our club has the benefit of his photos for our website. Make sure to click on our flickr link to see all the snaps.

ANDY P came by once again. He’s the one you saw pulling off those awesome handstands. Like Gabriella, he can walk a slack line, so he put some time in by the trees. He’s also made good progress lately with wheel-walking.

New member JIM almost made it across the quad after only limited practice since buying his Nimbus 20″. He’s already contemplating a larger wheel for some commuting and exercise. Great, Jim! And thanks for joining us.

We also met a relatively new member, DANIEL C. He was there with his cute little son who must have been 2. That little guy was dying to learn to unicycle! Daniel got some tips (for himself) and will no doubt be riding soon.

As noted above, we had a giraffe on hand, and that belonged to BOB, who rode over on one uni while pushing the giraffe and carrying a third uni. That reminds me of how I used to get to the club when we met in Central Park. Bob looks really smooth riding that giraffe backwards — something I’ve never liked to do.

CHRISTINA joined us for the first time in 2 years. She’s still riding around pretty nicely. Good to see you again!

IRA came over to the tomb as well. It’s always great to see you, Ira. And our good pal, SHANE, showed up just as I was putting 9 unicycles back into my car. He worked a bit on whatever unis were still lying around at 4pm. Good to see you too, Shane.

NINA brought HEIDI (4) and JULIAN (6). This was the most serious uni practicing day for Nina, and she seemed quite content with her progress. And the kids had fun with their bikes and skateboards. My Maeve was happy to see them because she can always count on having fun with both of the kids.

Speaking of MAEVE, she made really good progress on her puny uni when I made it less puny by raising the seat about 6 inches. I hadn’t realized just how short her uni had gotten for her — the kid’s growing like a weed — but when I swapped out her older sister’s seat post for the tiny one she’d had, it was like night and day. She’s almost able to ride a bit on her own — I can see that she’ll have it down soon.

Her brother, EMMETT, had fun riding both of his sisters’ unicycles and also spent time playing uni basketball with me and working on bouncing with his new trials uni.

And their big sister, FIONA, worked on riding backwards, idling, idling one-footed, and riding down the stairs. She even took a turn on the giraffe. Like me, it’s not her favorite beast of burden to ride. She was happiest when she was riding her 24″ uni with its new Union Jack seat, which I picked up at the recent convention.

As for ME, I didn’t put much time in riding, having gone on a 20-mile ride the day before. My … ahem … seat was still a bit sore, something that I have to address before attempting next week’s 100-mile ride. The problem wasn’t severe, but I still took it easy. I did manage to practice gear-shifting on my Schlumpf, and that went about as well as expected. It mostly shifts fine, but occasionally it accidentally goes into coast mode, and that can be very dangerous. I’m going to try to avoid shifting on the fly next week and will be happy just to dismount from time to time. It helps with the … ahem … seat.

Sign-in sheets work great unless I go on vacation the next day and only have limited access to a computer or the Internet. Without further delay: the notes on August 15th’s awesome meeting. We had 32 riders!

NYUC “STREET FESTIVAL”
Straight off, I should mention that, thanks to WILL RILEY, we had a street festival. But this street festival didn’t involve musicians or other performers. No tchotchkes were on sale; there was no fried dough, no funnel cakes. This street festival was a collection of “street unicycle” riders from all over. We had ELI BRILLfrom Pennsylvania (whose dad – and chauffer – had found out about our meeting only the night before!), PAT LALLY (also from PA), ALEX ZELLER from Minnesota (his mom was responsible for running the recent uni convention!), and LUDWIG FELHOFER from Austria! These young guys were working on tricks most of us haven’t heard of and will never be able to do:

Monkey flip (Alex)
Hick-tripleflip (Eli)
Fifth backflip (Pat)

In addition to these guys and Will, we had EMELE working on a huge spin and on fifthflip and James, who was working on coasting and rolling wrap.

It was fun watching these fantastic riders as they competed with each other for coolest skills and worked on tricks that I can only dream of pulling off one day.

We also met MARCUS STERNBERG for the first time. He’s been riding for ages and was a huge part of the success of the RTUC club (according to RTUCers I spoke with a month earlier). Marcus has recently moved to the area, and we’re really lucky to have him. If we ever organize a club routine or find ourselves riding in parades, that’ll be Marcus’s doing. He’s also a pretty high level rider. He was working on side riding (level 6, I think) and loves to teach.

We had such a large turnout that I’m going to write abbreviated notes for the rest.

DAVE B and his daughter REBECCA were on hand once again. Dave had his poi as well as his two-wheel unicycle (the one you have to pedal backwards to ride forwards!). Rebecca worked on idling.

Chris G worked on freemounting. Like Dave And Rebecca, he’s from New Jersey.

LEAF came by again. She’s working on the basics. The same could be said for VIVECA and SERRA (both from Brooklyn. Go Brooklyn!). Another beginning rider, JAIME, visited us from Queens.

Our old young pal DANIEL came by with his bright pink uni. He’s working on rolling wrap, one of those street tricks. Wow.

We had a short but sweet visit from the Gottlieb family. MARTY was working on back rolls, zero plants and other street stuff while his sons WALT and ZACH worked on their own skills. Little SLY, 3, has a unicycle of his own that’s even smaller than my daughter’s, but he’s not quite riding his, either. As soon as we can get those two to ride holding hands, we’ll have some excellent cuteness to film. It was also nice to meet Jeri, the non-rider of the family.

TOR (Brooklyn!) joined us for another afternoon. She’s working on mounting but is doing quite well with that. ANDREW R and FORREST were working on freemounting, too.

LESTER (who sometimes goes by Laszlo) came by, working on backwards figure-8s.

Nina brought her two adorable kids once again. HEIDI is working on riding a 2-wheeler. For a 4-year-old, she’s doing well, and she’ll have it down soon. Her older bro, JULIAN, was zipping around on his bike along with my little daughter on hers, and Julian also rode his scooter and worked on a unicycle. He tried Dave B’s rollabolla (teeter-totter) and a thing called a pedal-go which is a precursor to a unicycle in some ways.

ROURKE was with us for the first time in awhile. He worked on wheelwalking while his dad, PETER, worked on learning the basics. It was nice to see you again, guys!

As for my family: EMMETT had fun riding around on his big sister’s 24” uni – his first time trying out the speedy and softer ride of a 24. He loved it! He also rode his brand-new 20” trials uni. MAEVE mostly rode her bike but also put in time with Dave B’s toys and her own puny uni. I worked on my usual bag of dull tricks, like crank idling, but I really didn’t get in a lot of riding time. I was having fun watching the street festival and meeting many new members.

A medium turnout on a gorgeous day. I guess we’ve lost some of our younger riders to camp and some of our older riders to gardening and other pursuits. Come back soon!

JULIAN (6) and HEIDI (4) were back with their mom, Nina. Julian zoomed around on Heidi’s bike after Nina removed the training wheels, but those little wheels went back on when Heidi decided she wasn’t ready for two wheels. Heidi tried my daughter Maeve’s little unicycle, too.

MAEVE and Julian raced for awhile — that was cute to watch! — and Maeve also worked ever so briefly on her unicycling. I’m hoping she’ll learn before she’s 6. Maeve and I also rode together on the STC, with her sitting on the handlebars as I rode in a wheelie. Julian rode his bike no-hands for a second, and Maeve was successful in riding her bike no-feet (fast!) and also one-handed (well, not so successfully, but at least she was unhurt!).

JAMES and EMELE both worked on their routines for next week’s unicycle convention. They’re flying out with James’s mom, Bonnie, whom my son Emmett can’t wait to see. We’re all going to have a great time! Em was with his mom’s parents for the day, so he missed the club. He’s also missing his blue unicycle — it seems we left it in New Paltz somewhere. Hmmm. Looks like he’ll be getting a new one real soon!

JEFF, an experienced rider up from Maryland for the weekend, joined us for his first time. He’d recently gotten hold of an old (and I do mean OLD) Schwinn. That brought back some memories. He’s riding at about level 4, which is where I was before starting the club 8 years ago. He’s interested in all sorts of different riding and is considering a Coker and maybe a muni.

SPENCER joined us again, along with his dad. They’d built a seesaw type thing for riding over, and it held up pretty well. Julian rode over it on his bike, which was impressive, and Maeve tried it on hers, and many younger riders made it over on their unis. James tried it with my impossible wheel with nearly disastrous results. Luckily by now he knows how to fall with grace.

LOUISE came out once again, still working on idling and on riding backwards. I love that red hair! Great to see you again, L!

From the long-time-no-see department, we had visits from BOB, who has lost weight and some hair (both by choice), and MICKEY, who worked on sidemount and who is at least 5 inches taller than the last time we met.

XIA was also on hand, working on idling and backwards-riding.

We welcomed a new PETER (and we miss our old Peter), and we had a visit from DARIUS and his dad, the indomitable KEN. Darius worked on riding backwards, and Ken entertained small children by singing, “I like to move it move it.”

As for me, I worked on a few tricks and was happy to see my brother JOHN once again before his upcoming trip to Prague, where he’ll be joining a small family of unicyclists on a tour of Eastern Europe. It was supposed to be a larger group, but it whittled itself down to just a few riders. John’s been training for the ride by attacking the northern (and extremely hilly) mile of the Central Park bike loop. You should see his legs!

Our next meeting is slated for Sunday, August 2. I’ll be coming back that day from the NAUCC, but many people are planning to be on hand, so have a great time and tell me all about it. I’ll be around the following time (Aug 15), the day before my annual mecca to Martha’s Vineyard.

We had a pretty good turnout considering how many people leave The City for the 4th of July weekend. The weather was lovely, for a change — after all, June was finally over — and people were just itching to get outside and ride!

Two of our amazing street- and trials-riders, JAMES and WILL were there. James pulled off many cool tricks, partly while planning and practicing for his expert-level skills routine at the upcoming NAUCC (the convention, which is in Minnesota at the end of this month). Will worked on rolling wraps, among other things, and recently mentioned that some awesome street riders are coming to the club for the August 15 meeting, so mark your calendars!

In fact, there were many young riders on the day. XIA worked on idling and riding backwards. SPENCER kept improving his skills and is rapidly approaching level 3. Now you just need to work on stomach-on-seat.

New member JOANA, 12, had fun riding the Super Trick Cycle (STC), while her 9yo brother, BEN, enjoyed pogo sticking.

ROURKE came by for the first time in a long time. He worked on the impossible wheel (IW) while his sister ELSA had fun trying different rides.

Also coming out for the first time in months were LEV and NATHAN. This father and son team had been to the NAUCC of 2008, and I have a medal for them somewhere, but I couldn’t find it. Are you guys going again this year?

Great to see you again, LOUISE! Thanks for bringing her around again, Potter. And nice to see you, too, ELEANOR.

We also had visits from KURT, THOMAS, ELLEN, and JENNA, but it took me so long to write this that I can’t recall what they were working on (sorry!). I’ll have to resume my sign-in sheet; that was really helpful.

It was also nice to see SETH for the first time in nearly a year. Great to have you back, albeit briefly. Thanks for coming by!

Also appearing for the first time in awhile were SONG FEI and JIAN YU. It was good to see both of you again. Their friend, my sister-in-law, YUXIN was also on hand, along with my brother JOHN. They were happy to see my kids, all of whom made it for the special occasion of having my wife SHIRRA attend a meeting for only the 2nd time since her store opened two years ago. EMMETT worked on idling and riding the STC, and his sisters had fun, too. FIONA rode her uni a bit but mostly hung out with her mom (including a lovely walk to our old nabe for some coffee), and MAEVE zoomed around on her bike before putting some time in on her puny uni.

We had a visit from David Bagley, aka D5 (we had so many Davids that we numbered them before I lost count after D9). Dave has been bringing lots of cool toys including his sideways-riding crab-cycle and various juggling apparatus. Thanks for coming out, Dave!

ZACH the GREY (we’re still working on a nickname — I like this one) was out again. I’m always suggesting ways he can practice when he’s not at the club. It was also nice to see almost-new member TOR (hi, Tor!). I’ve been teaching her a few skills, like side-mounting.

As for me (D1), I worked on crank idling (which is now easy thanks to my larger pedals) and the usual assortment of level 7 tricks. I’m not getting any better, so I’m trying not to get any worse. So it goes.

We were victim to the rainiest June since 1903. A few hardy souls came out in hopes of some clear moments and got to ride around a bit, but for the most part, everyone stayed away. I believe Ken was on hand to meet Heidi (4) and Julian (6) and their mom, but that was pretty much about it.

Happily the weather has been better since. Read about our two July get-togethers (above).

It only took eight and a half years, but it finally occurred to me to ask people to sign in. Whew — that made life easier. We had a big turnout. I’d anticipated a large group because of the nice weather as well as the invitation to see one of the world’s best jugglers, my high school friend Cindy Marvel. Cindy was a bit rushed, but she had time to juggle pins with a few of our members before rushing to catch her plane back to Colorado.

EMMETT and MAEVE and I were the first to arrive. I brought a ton of unicycles and other one-wheel apparatus. For a change, I brought my spin-cycle, the uni with a turn-around seatpost. It pretty much makes everyone look like a beginner (or worse). I practiced crank idles with juggling expert ANDY PETERSON when he arrived. He was impressed that I mastered that skill after only two or three years. It all came down to the pedals; skinny pedals make crank idling really hard, so I finally changed them, and voila! Andy also worked on wheel-walking. He finds it much easier to do it with two feet; I prefer the one-footed version. And he also worked at wrap-arounds, which are really hard for both of us (especially me — he gets them pretty often). Finally, Andy is the guy with the ‘freeline’ skates, the ones that look like they shouldn’t be rideable. So far he’s the only one who can manage to make them look useful. Thanks for coming out, Andy!

Maeve biked around a good bit — man, is she speedy on that thing! — and actually rode a full rev on her puni uni. Go Maeve!

Emmett and I played lots of uni basketball, joined for awhile by my brother, JOHN. John played his uni-basketball on his Coker! Emmett also worked on idling (regular, that is) and made good progress.

Also working on idling was SPENSER. Spenser worked on freemounting, too, and did well.

EMELE, who is an excellent young juggler, worked on an extremely difficult unicycle trick: a 540-degree uni spin. Dang!

New member LUKAS worked on a 180 uni spin (I have actually done that one, tho I’m too afraid to these days). Also working on this skill was new member NIJA. Thanks for coming out, guys!

Another new member, JOHN B, rode his 24″ Torker and worked on jumping. That’s not the ideal uni for hopping, but it’s ok. Just avoid doing any really high drops! [BTW, John, I couldn't read your email address from the sign-in sheet, so email me with it.]

Wow, we had a lot of new folks today. Another was TOR. She worked on freemounting and finally got the hang of it. That’s one skill that’s pretty easy to learn if you get some good advice. Otherwise, people tend to keep making the same mistakes. She got the hang of it right away.

Old member DAVE BAGLEY came out with his crab-cycle as well as his poi and a bunch of other toys. We were also playing with his rolla bolla.

KAREN V came sans unicycle but worked on juggling and had fun with that.

We had a visit from an old amie: CLAUDE NOELLE. She also arrived sans uni but worked on a few basic skills with a borrowed one.

Another long-ago member who made a long-overdue appearance was GOOGLE MATT, accompanied by his girlfriend, HAYLEY. She did well for a beginner, and I was impressed with her tenacity. Great to see you again, Matt!

Newbie ANDREW R (our 10th Andrew, but who’s counting?) worked on basic riding and did quite well.

Fellow newbie KURT had a 20″ uni and worked on basic skills, too. Thanks for coming out.

MARGARET and FORREST joined us once again. Margaret is still working on the basics, but Forrest is getting quite good. He spent time on freemounting.

SHANE impressed all with his BC wheel skills. Lately he’s been working on riding backwards and on zipping from forwards to backwards (by spinning). It’s all amazing.

Bathsheva brought SHALOM and his brothers, as well as one of his sisters. Shalom worked on idling on his giraffe. That tall uni of his may need a minor repair or a part-replacement because it sometimes slips, which can be scary! Shalom’s brothers zoomed around on their bikes.

ZACH the ELDER and IRA were on hand once again. Both of them are getting good at the basics, and Zach has promised to ride more often than twice a month (while we’re meeting, that is). Ira exacted that promise. Thanks, Ira! Zach also worked on freemounting.

New member MIROU came by again. He is good at riding an ultimate wheel.

Non-member JOSH came by to see his friend Cindy Marvel. Josh is a very good juggler who can also ride a uni and who was seen on a giraffe. Nice to meet you, Josh!

Finally, our good friend KEN was there to document everything with his camera. As always, a pleasure to see you, Ken. Thanks for everything.

Our next meeting is the day before Fathers Day. Bring your dad! At least you know what to get him. I’d suggest a Schlumpf muni hub, heavy duty wheel, with the KH frame and seat. Throw in a handle and a brake. Under $2,500! Stimulate that Swiss economy!

BTW, our next meeting is going to include a lot of ultimate wheels — bring some long pants and give them a try!

Note: Due to bad weather, there was no uni meeting of Sunday, May 3. This marked only about the 9th time the club has ever NOT met due to weather in about 8 years… a pretty good record for an outdoor club!

A small but dedicated group came out on a lovely day (with a questionable forecast). I wasn’t able to make it, but KEN took great photos and reported that we had three father/daughter combos.

DAVID B was on the scene with his new toy, a double-unicycle. Don’t ask me to describe it, because the photos tell it all. I would call it a double-wheel unicycle, tho he may have a better name for it. Dave also toted along his daughter MEGAN, who worked on some cool stuff including that spinny ball thing (called a ‘chakar’) from last month.

LOUISE, 12, came out with her dad, POTTER. I’m not sure if he’s putting much time into riding, but he’ll do that soon enough. Louise worked on riding around and freemounting, which she’s recently gotten the hang of. Also working on freemounting was…

XIA, who came out with her dad as well. XIA has only been riding a short time but has made good progress already.

JAMES was able to take Dave’s schmancy unicycle and do some impressive tricks with it. He rode it in a wheel walk and even a hand-wheel-walk. Check out the snaps that Ken took. He also came out with his two half-brothers, but they’re not quite riding unicycles yet! Soon…

Our good pal PETER came over from the unicycle nexus* of 94th and West End Ave. It was nice to see you (in photos!) again, Peter. I hope I’m there the next time you come out. Give my regards to the family.

Finally, there were a few riders whose names I didn’t catch. I can fix that if I find them out soon enough. I was impressed with the mustachioed gentleman riding the ultimate wheel — who WAS that? And there were at least two other riders I couldn’t name from the photos. Sorry, fellas.

As for me, I did a lot of riding that day — just not in Manhattan. And this morning, I rode my Schlumpf 29″ alongside Fiona as she biked to school for the first time. It was a fun four miles each way for me!

* There is a unicycle nexus on the Upper West Side around 94th and WEA, where three unicycling families live within one block of each other.

We had another fine turn out for such a new club. It was lovely weather, and even tho it was also Mothers Day, we managed to get 8 riders to the Teen Scene for a couple hours. I brought along an assortment of unicycles including my spin cycle, which has a spinning seat post and makes everyone look like a rank beginner.

Our guest-from-afar for the day was KEN C from Poughkeepsie. He’s been to my Manhattan Club (newyorkunicycle.com), so he was happy to avoid such a long drive now that we have a new club in New Paltz. Ken brought his 36″ Nimbus (Coker-style) unicycle, so a few people got to try out a big wheel. He also brought his Schlumpf geared unicycle. It has a for-sale sign on it — he is asking a very fair $1050 for the hub and some add’l parts — but we got to try it out, and it rides great. Thanks for coming out, Ken! We hope to see you soon, and I hope we can help you sell that hub.

DAVID H was out again, trying various unis and working on his juggling. He got the hang of Ken’s unicycles right away, and he did pretty well with my spin cycle.

JAKE, whose mom works with my wife in the knitting store, came out to try his hand at unicycling. He found out that it’s even harder than it looks, but he put in a good effort. We need to ‘borrow’ a shopping cart for our club — that would really help new riders. I wonder if we can buy one.

JAMES came out again, this time with his 5′ giraffe. He’s still learning to freemount it, but he can ride it fine. He loved trying out the 36″ wheel and the spin cycle.

CHRISTOS came out again, putting in another hour in his attempt to master the basics. I think I forgot to mention him last time, so we had ten riders two weeks ago (sorry, Christos!). He’s getting pretty good!

Another learner, DANNY, came by to try out unicycling. He’s getting the hang of it. It took me about 9 hours to learn to ride 100 feet, so all of you are on course to learn a LOT faster than I did.

DREW came out with his 24″ Schwinn. I had one of those when I was a kid — brings back good memories.

As for me (DAVID S), I was really psyched because I finally mastered crank idling. That’s where you get on and idle (rock back and forth) on the SIDE of the uni, both feet on the same pedal and crank. It’s not that hard, but I didn’t have the right pedals for it, and that made it really tough for me. So I swapped pedals, and sure enough, it got easy!

Next time, I’m going to have the Super Trick Cycle, a fun ‘bike’ that’s really a unicycle with a front wheel attached. Check it out! And Joe F, a rider I know from Manhattan, is likely going to meet with us soon (maybe next time). If I recall, he likes his wheels big, so maybe we’ll see another Coker (36″).

We are slated to meet the 2nd Sunday in June, and I’ll send out a reminder ahead of time. See you then!

David