Unicycling with My Son

One of the few things I miss about NYC is that I could ride around town doing errands, and what makes this even worse is that I could be riding around town with my kids. Emmett has been riding for over a year, and Fiona learned nearly four years ago, and when we lived in Brooklyn, we often rode around in Manhattan when we'd visit for the weekend. Nowadays, it's quite rare for me to have a unicycling day in The City with the kids. I ride there by myself nearly everyday, but it takes a special occasion for me to ride with one of them.

Happily, a few days ago was a uniclub Sunday, and as we've done for a few months, we made a sleepover out of it. I drove down with Emmett and Maeve on Saturday (Fiona was having an overnight with a friend in the Noop; Shirra stayed home to woman the store). That day, we parked 5 blocks, or just over a quarter mile, from my mom's place, and then Emmett and I rode our unis to my mom's place, me pushing Maeve in the stroller. We had arrived with just enough time to drop off our stuff before heading to the Danny Kaye Theater on 68th St and Lex -- about 1.5 miles from Mom's. On his 20" wheel uni, that's quite a ride, and he was doing his best to pedal fast, so I was really impressed that he only had a couple UPDs. The ride back was even more fun, since we weren't in a rush, and again we rode thru Central Park with me pointing out different landmarks.

The next day was uni club, and I was excited because Shirra's mom had volunteered to take Maeve for the afternoon (lunch and the Children's Museum). Unforch, this plan fell thru when Maeve panicked upon seeing her grandparents. She decided she wanted to spend the day with me instead. I coaxed her into going to the lunch, and that meant that Emmett and I had to ride from 75th and Amsterdam, where we'd met up with Shirra's folks, to 87th St, where the favored diner is. They didn't get into said diner, but luckily there were tables at the one next door. Unluckily, Maeve was still pining for me, so before Emmett and I had made it back to 75th St (for some shopping), we had to head back to retrieve Maeve. Then we went to unicycle club. In the end, we rode about 8 miles over the weekend. Emmett confided that he was experiencing a little pain -- the kind that girls don't get, he said -- and I acknowledged that this happens to every guy who rides enough. [Some seats are better than others, but still -- it's hard to avoid some of that. Apparently our bodies weren't meant to cycle.]

Anyone who can ride as many miles as his age -- on a 20" uni no less -- is impressive in my book. Go Emmett!