Emmett, the Youngest Unicyclist on the East Coast (officially, at least)

The New York Unicycle Club met yesterday, and I brought along my tribe (Fiona, Emmett, and little Maeve). We had a decent turnout, in large part because about 6 riders had shown up to join Brian MacKenzie as he filmed a Coker ride to and thru Central Park.

As soon as I arrived at the Tomb, Emmett started riding (quickly!) around the quad, going in big circles and zooming around with great skill (and abandon). This was the best he had ever ridden, and he was enjoying himself tremendously. When I got back, Emmett was still having a blast. In fact, he even won his first 'race' (against another little boy who was also riding a 16" wheel). He had gotten to the point where he only needed to freemount in order to pass level 1. I gave him a piece of advice, he tried it, he got it the first time, and voila: He is level 1!

And in other Emmett news, I got a call asking if he can audition for a commercial this Tuesday. An agent had seen him in a video about our club that was made a few months back. His tryout is tomorrow.

Not to be outdone, Fiona passed level 2 (go, Fiona!), finally freemounting with her left foot to pass that last required item.

Just to be on the safe side, I took Maeve's future uni out of storage, a sturdy little 12-incher that's hard to ride because the pedals hit the ground if you turn too sharply. Still, I know she'll have a great time trying it out.

NAUCC 06 Racing Results

Written July 5, 2006

Hey, gang!

We're leaving town this afternoon, but first there are a few more races. Most of the remaining ones could be considered somewhat silly (unicycling while juggling, uni'ing on one foot, etc), but there is one more 'track' event that we're definitely doing, the 100m.

Yesterday saw the running of the 400m race and the 1500m and 800m races (the adults do the 1500 and kids under 11 do the 800). In the 400, I came in first in my age group by 13 seconds (a large marge) and qualified easily for the 'expert' heat later on. In the 'expert' heat, inspired by a young man in lane 2, I raced faster than ever before and earned a great time, nearly falling twice before the finish, placing 4th among all competitors.

The 1500m (mile) race is 4x around the track. I elected not to run in the expert heat because it seemed like I'd save some time if I just went in the earlier running of my age group. The upside is that I got to leave a couple minutes earlier after a long day filled with more Maeve-minding than racing. The downside is that I didn't have any competition to inspire me to greater speeds, so my time, while very fast, was slower than some of the times from the expert heat by the guys I usually beat. Still it was 10 seconds better than my previous best, and I was thrilled about that. My new racing-uni has to be partly responsible.

In the 100m race earlier today, I again won my age group easily and made it into the 'expert' heat later on. The track was only 7 lanes wide rather than the usual 8, and because my time was only within the top 6 or 7, I was placed in lane 7, the right-most lane. What often happens in these expert heats is that the racers go all out, as a result of which some of them lean too far forward and fall. As we got to the midway point of the short race, I could tell that I'd be in about 5th place at best, but a few meters later, two riders fell (several lanes apart) including the guy in lane 6. Luckily I was able to ride around his unicycle AND him, because he made no attempt to move either one, and amazingly I finished in 3rd place. I also lowered my time from 16.95 in the earlier heat to 16.72 in the expert heat. It really does help to have faster racers all around you, and I only wish I'd run in the expert heat of the 1500m race as well, because I'm sure I'd have done even better.

Yesterday, Fiona ran the 400 and the 800 with different results. She fell off in the 400, an automatic DQ, but it didn't change her outcome much since she would have been near last place, and in the 800 she was the last to finish in her age group. The nice thing is that she didn't lose her balance in that long race, so now she can compete against her own time in next year's race. Today she managed to stay on for the 100m race, tho again she finished close to the back (one other girl DQ'ed, so Fiona came in 10th or so). I was glad to see that she was upset about losing so badly, and later she said that she would like to do better next year and is willing to put in more practice.

Emmett has nearly mastered the basics, but he just couldn't put together a long enough ride to manage the 100m today (barring miracles). He was a bit disappointed, but he's thrilled about his prospects next year. If only he'd learned to ride just a bit sooner! He was the only one in his age group and could have gone home with all the medals!

Shirra's events, of various distances, consisted of chasing Maeve in a series of 'come back here young lady' races.

After the long day, Fiona, Emmett, and I had a long night. We went to 'flaming puck' hockey, a late-nite game played in parking lots with regular hockey sticks and with (you guessed it) flaming pucks. The pucks are made from steel wool soaked in a flammable mixture. Fiona got to play a few rounds and shrieked when the puck hit her wheel or zoomed right past her a few times. I scored my first flaming puck goal after several years of play. Emmett got to be the puck-boy, shooting in a new puck when the old one had run out of fuel; he also got to hit the puck back into play if it came too close to the side. In all, he got to hit it 7 or 8 times and was ecstatic.

Back from the Races

We got back from the unicycling convention a few days ago. It was in Memphis, and the 1,100-mile trip took about 1,100 minutes each way, which means we averaged well over 60 mph on account of our breaks. Everything made it back except for one stuffed animal that has not yet been missed and one racing unicycle that will eventually be sent back from its caretaker in Tennessee.

I participated in all of the races I could. For my age group, I set personal records in all three speed races that involve normal riding (two feet on the pedals). I didn't manage to finish the wheel-walking race, and I had a poor time in the one-footed race, though I still managed 2nd place in my bracket. I also had a 2nd place in the slow backward 'race' and a 3rd place finish in the slow forward race. I also came in 2nd for the obstacle course, which I have always done poorly on. Overall I finished 2nd in 'racing points' for men in their 30s, losing out to a talented but slow rider who managed to do pretty well in the speed races and won all of the other ones.

What I was happiest about was how much faster I rode than in previous years. It's been funny to me how I've gotten faster as I've aged. Certainly that racing uni helped a great deal. And I think that I'll do even better next year.

Next year I'll be in a higher age category. I expect to beat all of my old times, but I'm pretty sure I'll come in 2nd in racing points again because my strongest competitor is John Foss, who is really good at all of the races where I struggle. He'll win the slow races, the one-foot race, and the obstacle course, and I'll win the speed races. My goal is actually to get into the expert heats again.

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188'

Emmett's Continuing Success

Emmett is really excited about his riding. He's now got a personal record of 45 revolutions and has also ridden 30, 40, and many other long runs. Since his 16" wheel rolls out about 50 inches, he rode about 188 feet. Now all he has to do is learn to freemount (he's working on it) and he'll have mastered level 1. He can already dismount gracefully most of the time, tho of course some of his unplanned dismounts (and most of them are still unplanned!) are quite scary.

What's really nice for Emmett is that he's so thrilled about his success that he wants to show everyone. And unlike most things that 6-year-olds show grown-ups, this one is truly impressive (unlike, say, a stack of Yu-Ge-Oh cards*). One of the things I've said over the years is that unicycling builds confidence. Emmett will always be known as the boy who unicycles, and it's wonderful to be known for something positive like that.

What's nice for me is that I now have two children who love unicycling (and Maeve will clearly join them as soon as I give her a unicycle her size). Shirra has enjoyed knitting with Fiona for several years now, and over that same period, I've loved riding around with Fiona. We rode home from Packer one day, a nearly-five-mile ride that was quite rewarding for both of us. We got to do a lot of chatting, and it was fun just spending time together. It was also nice for Fiona since it was the longest ride she'd ever made -- by far!

Shirra just phoned me from home to report that Maeve is running around the yard while the big kids ride around on their unicycles. That's a nice picture.

Groundhog Day (the movie)

If I had to watch the same movie everyday for the rest of my life, it would be have to be "Groundhog Day."

Of course, that's a joke within a joke, but it's also true because "Groundhog Day" is one of my favorite movies, along with "Brazil" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark." For the extremely small number of you who both read my blog AND haven't seen the film, it is, in short, about a man who has to relive the same day until he gets it right; only once he has become the best person he can be is his life allowed to continue. At that point, he finally appreciates his life.

The movie is sublime. It never hits you over the head with its message, but if you've watched it enough times, you won't be surprised to learn that it has been called the most spiritual movie of all time or that there was a conference to discuss its Buddhist implications.

I've already written about how unicycling has led me to appreciate life in a way I never did before. Mainly that's from the time that I could have died had a schoolbus not swerved at the last second before hitting me (not my fault!), but also because unicycling has opened certain doors for me or has otherwise changed my direction in life. As Fiona Apple sings: "If there was a better way to go then it would find me./ I can't help it, the road just rolls out behind me." Groundhog Day is a way of seeing how the road could have rolled out differently.

One Wheel at a Time

Well, it had to happen. Emmett has just learned how to unicycle, and he still can't ride a 2-wheeler. He turns 7 next month.

He was hoping to master his unicycle before racing day here in Memphis, and recently he'd gotten close, riding two or three revs on his own. But today, practicing in the gym where the convention holds many of its indoor games and competitions, he suddenly managed rides of 5- to 7-revolutions! He was as thrilled as a kid who gets a unicycle for Xmas.

Now if we can just teach him to ride his bike....

And his big sister was the same way. She mastered uni'ing a week before her 8th birthday, and it wasn't till a few months later that she could ride a bike.