Unicycling as Chess

When I was a teenager, I began to get pretty interested in chess. I'd been playing games against my dad for years and steadily getting better, but once I hit my teens, I also began reading books on chess tactics. And once I got to high school, I began to realize that chess can teach us about life: Both involve planning ahead several moves and always weighing your options. And in both cases, when you make a mistake, you learn from it and then try again. I think that all teenagers should be encouraged to take up chess.

At 13, I also started getting heavily into unicycling, but it wasn't until many years later that I realized the connection. Again, you have to plan ahead several moves, and if you make a mistake, you learn from it and try again. The only real difference is that chess is about attacking your opponent by colliding one piece into another. With unicycling, you try to AVOID colliding with anything!

When I ride on the street, I'm like the queen in chess, able to move in all directions as far as I want. All around me are slower-moving pieces around which I have to navigate. Some of these pieces have fairly immutable patterns. That old lady who just passed a store on her left probably isn't going to make a sudden turn towards the street on her right, tho there is a small probability that she'll stop and go back towards the store; I'll pass on her right. Some pieces are unpredictable. This kid on a trike might stop or might turn quickly to either side; I'll slow down until I have a clearer idea.

Sometimes I have to make split-second decisions, but they're always based on the same unicycle chess. Should I ride along that tiny space between the curb and the subway stairs? It depends on whether the traffic has started moving again.

I've been riding for 25+ years and have only had to apologize for bumping into someone a few times. Most times, those were harmless taps that the person didn't even notice, but one time I did bump rather hard into someone who had made a rather unexpected decision to dart to one side. Had I been running down the street rather than riding my 24" uni, the result could have been the same.

People walking with their backs to me pose almost no risk, but those walking towards me tend to get nervous and sometimes move quickly to one side. Lately I have developed a way to signal pedestrians which way I intend to veer. As I ride towards someone, I point to myself with my thumb and then to my direction with my index finger. This has worked well and allows me to ride my Coker on crowded sidewalks without incident.

This all may change after we move 'up-city.' The sidewalks are tiny or non-existent, so it remains to be seen whether I get to continue my unicycle chess. Maybe I'll have to take up unicycle leap frog.