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Old July 21st 03, 09:18 PM
JJuggle
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UNICYCLE UNITY DRAWS MEMBERS OF NEW VISION

SHIRLEY DANG - The Oregonian
757 words
17 July 2003
The Oregonian
SUNRISE
10
English
Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All
rights reserved.

BEAVERTON

Summary: The One-Wheeled Wonders come together for practice before their
performance in a Beaverton parade

The church that prays together, unicycles together.

That philosophy led 11-year-old Laura and 9-year-old Allison Millar to
the One-Wheeled Wonders, a unicycling group from the New Vision
Fellowship church that will take its place July 19 in the Beaverton
SummerFest Parade.

The group debuted at the event two summers ago, a trail of streamers
fluttering from the cycles' spokes. Laura recalls falling off her yellow
Jugglebug model nearly 10 times last year when she tackled the 2-mile
route for her inaugural ride.

"You definitely get tired after a 2-mile parade," Laura said.

They meet regularly

The Wonders count about 25 members, many of them groups of young
siblings or whole families. They meet regularly at 3:30 p.m. each Sunday
to practice.

Pastor Gene Grass started the group four years ago, channeling his love
of the unicycle to his parish: one wheel, under God.

Occasionally, Grass delivers sermons while idling on his unicycle and
juggling balls. He uses his props to demonstrate various life lessons:
balancing one's responsibilities or having patience.

"I just did it a few weeks ago on endurance," Grass said. "The unicycle
isn't something you learn overnight. It takes endurance."

Laura learned to ride from Grass two years ago on a church loaner. The
seat is swathed in the requisite towel, for comfort, and wound with duct
tape.

Each week, Grass came to the Millar driveway in Hyland Hills.
Eventually, Laura started holding on to her father's car as he chugged
slowly down the street. At the end of her journey, she marked the curb
with chalk, leaving a series of tick marks on the street.

"Every day would be a new record," Laura said.

Stopping takes skill

After learning the crucial skill of stopping -- which essentially
consists of falling forward and catching the seat before it hits the
ground -- Laura is learning to turn, idle and pedal backward.

On a side street near the Millar house, the girls' mother, Anne, holds
out one hand. Laura grasps it, tucks the seat under her blue stretch
pants and pedals haltingly in reverse.

"If you've been unicycling forward for a long time, it feels really
weird going backwards," she said.

Many church members live near the Millars, bringing a whole fleet of
unicycles to the quiet suburban streets.

"It's not unusual to see a one-wheeled rider in this neighborhood," Anne
Millar said. "We're just infested with unicycles."

Friend Julie Liggins counts three boys out of her five children as
unicyclers, with another rider on the way.

"My daughter, who's 6, said she wants a unicycle for Christmas," Liggins
said.

Her son R.J., 13, pioneered the family's obsession four years ago when
he started his one-wheeled hobby. He has mastered the skill so well he
can play saxophone at the same time, as he did in last year's parade.
His 11-year-old brother, Rob, picked up the unicycle soon after, and
8-year-old Alex began in kindergarten.

Rob, an athlete, said unicycling does not compete with his love of other
sports. In fact, he likes to combine them.

"I play basketball and football," Rob said. "I've played both on a
unicycle."

Grass said unicycling helps give families time together to learn
something new, sometimes about each other. And mastering an obscure
skill can be great for kids.

"It's a confidence booster," Grass said. "Maybe they haven't excelled at
something, or maybe they're real studious and kids make fun of them."

All that disappears when the congregation pedals duct-taped vehicles
behind the church each Sunday afternoon, he said.

"One of the neat things is I've got people at all different levels,"
Grass said. "The others encourage them and say, 'I've been there.' "

Laura loves unicycling in a group, to pick up tips or see who's learning
to do tricks such as the bunny hop. It's nice that just being on one
wheel can get you attention, she said.

But she takes an almost Zen view of riding mono.

"I don't think there's a best or worst thing," she said. "You just get
up and go."


--
JJuggle - Last of the Dogmato-Revisionists

Hey punk where you going with those beads around your neck?
Well, I'm going to see my shrink so he can help me be a nervous wreck.
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