Time Out NY Article about our Uni Club, 12/18/04

I originally wrote this during the Xmas season of 2003:

Today in Time Out New York (Dec. 18, 2003 - Jan. 1, 2004), there was an article about my unicycle club, the NYUC (also known as the Unatics). It features a great photo of my brother with our young friend Emmy riding a giraffe in the background. The article is titled Balancing Act, by Mina Hochberg. Here it is:

* * * * * * * * * *

Regardless of the weather, the New York Unicycle Club rolls on.

Comments like "Hey, faggot!" and "What happened to the rest of your bike?" are just a few of the jeers David Stone endures on a daily basis. Stone is the cofounder of the New York Unicycle Club, a close-knit, family-friendly group of unicyclists who meet year-round at Grant's Tomb (122nd Street and Riverside Drive) every first Sunday and third Saturday of the month, from
1 to 6pm.

Given its association with circus clowns, the unicycle is widely regarded as the freak show of the bicycle world. And although New York is teeming with outrageous characters of all stripes, the sight of a unicyclist never fails to elicit stares, giggles, and heckling. "Some people even sing circus music," Stone, 37, laments.

But you won't find any red noses or rainbow wigs at NYUC gatherings. Ironically, the joke is on the bystanders who watch while group members show off fancy tricks such as mounts, figure eights, hops, spins and pirouettes. More important than dazzling the onlookers, though, the goal of NYUC meetings is for its members to learn skills, share tips and practice stunts. And one-wheelers offer a more strenuous workout than bikes: Unicycles don't have gears, so the rider must pedal at all times, even downhill (expert one-wheel riders can cruise as fast as 25 miles per hour).

NYUC's roots trace back to 2000, when Stone, an elementary school learning educator, and fellow unicyclist Joe Merrill, 40, met at their daughters' gymnastics class. The two men started riding together on weekends and eventually decided to hunt down other uniriders to form a club. After networking on the Web, seven curious riders joined them for NYUC's first meeting, at the Central Park band shell on a chilly afternoon in February 2001.

More than two years later, the club counts as many as 200 members, from ages 5 to 60, and is just one of the 60-plus similar organizations in the U.S., Canada, Japan and Europe. Despite its remote location, NYUC's current meeting place offers an ideal variety of surfaces, including smooth cement, dirt, grass, inclines, and even stairs. Membership is free, and you don't even need to own your own cycle, since there are usually a few spare wheels hanging around.

"For me, a typical NYUC meeting means socializing and helping out neophytes," says Stone's younger brother, John, 33, a freelance musician and writer who pedaled 1,100 miles from Germany to Spain for the 2001 European Unicycle Tour. "The atmosphere is warm, and it's always a pleasure to see so many young riders."

It also helps to bring along a sense of humor: Curious passersby might think you look kind of silly. During a recent NYUC meeting, a double-decker tour bus unleashed a herd of snap-happy tourists, who promptly aimed their point-and-shoots at the group as if they were photographing exotic creatures for National Geographic.

Of course, unicycling isn't just a ride in the park. Since impediments such as speed bumps and potholes are more likely to fell unicycles as opposed to bikes, and because the single-wheeled contraptions don't include brake pedals (though most models are equipped with hand-brakes), it's important that riders learn safety techniques, like making quick turns. "Even if you can ride really well, you still have to keep your reactions sharp and be much more aware of your surroundings than when on a bike," says NYUC member Anne Benkovitz, 38.

Yet surprisingly, while New York City traffic laws address everything from bicycles and tricycles to horse-drawn carriages, unicycles aren't mentioned, which is why their riders aren't legally required to wear helmets, knee pads, or other protective gear -- though it's highly advised. (The city's lack of unicycle laws enabled Merrill, a computer security consultant, to beat a ticket he received for riding his uni on the sidewalk.)

Still, unicycles are quite practical for city living. Benkovitz, an art director for Scholastic, says that one-wheelers are not only more portable than bikes, but also two to three times faster than walking. "Once I rode by a group of guys who were walking on Spring Street, and one shook his head and said to his friends, 'Talk about inefficiency,'" she recalls. "But I got to where I was going faster than they did."

* * * * * * * * * *

Well, it gets off to a bleak start (it's pretty rare that we get heckled, especially as rudely as getting called 'faggot'), but after that, it's pretty accurate. I liked how the group was called family-friendly (and it certainly is), and the description of what goes on at a typical meet was pretty spot-on. The information was accurate too, except for the part about uni-brakes (most of us DON'T have one!), and the little anecdotes, about the tourists, the ticket, and John's ride, were a nice touch.

I am sure that this article will bring a lot of people to our website and to the club.