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NYUC history, by David Stone
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
The club first met way back in 2001, but it was formed a few weeks
earlier after Joe Merrill and I decided that New York needed a unicycle
club again (there had been one which met irregularly back in the late 80s
and early 90s, but the founder, the great John Foss, moved to California,
which made club meetings extremely difficult to schedule). Joe knew that
there was a good database on the Internet which could help us get the
names and e-ddresses of some local riders. I printed up cards and notified
unicycling friends, and less than two months later, we had our first club
get-together.
THE NAME
I spent hours ruminating over a clever name for the club. Gotham
Unicyclists? Unicycle Club of NY? I also considered naming the club to
create some cute acronym, to little avail. Finally I mentioned my
frustration to my wife. She immediately came up with "Unatics" (rhymes
with lunatics, and not by accident). Problem solved.
Or so we thought. Two years later, members complained that folks often said the name incorrectly (accenting the NAT syllable so that the name would rhyme with 'rheumatics'). For that and other reasons, we decided to change the name to New York Unicycle Club (NYUC).
But now that we include so many folks from New Jersey and Connecticut at each meeting, maybe we should go with Tri-State Unicycle Club (TSUC). Nah.
WEATHER
One problem we've had since the first day is that we don't have an indoor
venue. We've tried over the years to get space in a church or school, but
we've never really pushed it. There are certain advantages to the
outdoors, too, and the weather's been surprisingly cooperative since we
started meeting. It is no fun riding around for 5 hours in the rain, so
we've had to cancel or reschedule a few meetings, but that only happens
about once a year. And it's a blast riding around in the snow! There is no
better way to learn to do pedal grabs than using a solid snow bank about
two feet high.
Our first meeting, January 20, 2001, came on a cold, wet day. We knew that the weather called for sleet, so we met under a construction overhang in front of the Starbucks on 93rd Street and Broadway. The first attendees included the two founders as well as two of our young friends (James and Noah), a guy named David Kaplan, my brother John, and a woman named Sky who is better known for her juggling skills. We rode around till our hands froze, got a few hot drinks, and then rode around some more. Within a few weeks, we were getting turnouts of 15-20 people, and when the warmer weather came, we frequently had groups of over 30 people.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Two weeks later, we began meeting at Central Park's Bandshell, which is
around 72nd Street. It was a great place to hold the club, but sometimes
there were major events which kept us from riding there. The last time we
met there was Easter Sunday, 2002; it was so crowded with Easter egg
hunters and face painters that we had to abandon the 'Shell in favor of
the much less crowded area of Grant's Tomb. Up at the Tomb, there is a
huge and well-paved quad where we can practice tricks, and parking around
there is a breeze. We'll probably return to the 'Shell on and off, but for
now, the Tomb is our home twice a month.
MEMBERSHIP
The club has grown from 7 hardy souls to a membership of around 65
frequent visitors, and on a typical day, we see about 25-30 unicyclists
(and about 40 unicycles) at Grant's Tomb. Our e-mailing list now has about
200 names. People come from all over NYC as well as Connecticut and New
Jersey. We've had a few special visitors, too, including Andy Cotter
(founder of the Twin Cities club, the largest in the country, and fellow
Minnesotan Irene Genelin, the best overall female rider in the world.
Folks have also visited us from places as far away as Tennessee and Turkey.
SKILLS
The overall skill level of the group has improved dramatically. There are
several kids in the group who are close to passing level 3 and one who is
near level 5. The adults have gotten a lot better, too. Joe and I are now
level 7, and several other members are nearing levels 4 and 5. In
addition, co-founder Joe has discovered his inner muniac and is usually
found riding mountain unicycle (muni) trails in New Jersey with his
friend, Scott Bridgeman, originator of the Muniacs. My brother, John, on
the other hand, found that he prefers long-distance riding; he's completed
rides of 1,100 miles (the European Unicycle Tour) and 600 miles (Norway),
and he and I also rode for over 12 hours one day last year during the
Century Ride. I completed 102 miles on my Coker, and he rode 89 miles on a
29" wheel.
NOTARIETY
The club has been featured in a Time Out New York article (12/4/03), and
various members have been asked to perform in different places over the
years including the Queens Museum of Science (a show about the history of
cycling) and Good Morning America, where I demonstrated a bike-unicycle
hybrid. Thus far, however, we have shunned parades and other performances.
Our get-togethers are totally relaxed. They are about having fun with a good bunch of people, on unicycles. I'm looking forward to our fourth year together.
Page last updated on July 17, 2005