Unicycle articles (but wait there's more...)

'*Unicycle club up and running*' (http://tinyurl.com/2w87g) - Provo
Daily Herald, March 31, 2004

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ


--
JJuggle - Last of the Dogmato-Revisionists

'6th Annual LBI Unithon - Sat, June 5, 2004'
(http://jjuggle.unicyclist.com/lbiunithon)

"Bad art, while often quite bad, is much better than no art at all"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
JJuggle's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/24
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148

'*A pair of New York unicyclists take the sport to the masses*'
(http://tinyurl.com/25ucg) - AZcentral.com - March 29, 2004

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ


--
JJuggle - Last of the Dogmato-Revisionists

'6th Annual LBI Unithon - Sat, June 5, 2004'
(http://jjuggle.unicyclist.com/lbiunithon)

"Bad art, while often quite bad, is much better than no art at all"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
JJuggle's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/24
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148

Thanks Raphael for digging up all these stories! As you may guess, I
often get contacted by reporters, but I never see many of those stories.
That Roanoke one was a typical example. A little background info for a
local story.

A million unicyclists in the US? Ten million worldwide? I don't know. I
believe the six million in Japan, and that most of them only did it in
elementary school. For the US, figure one in 300 or so people knows how
to ride. Does that sound believable to you? And as for the rest of the
world, I took an even more wild guess. But the press asks that all the
time. It's time I started making up some impressive numbers. But I guess
those might be a little high. Don't want to make it sound like our sport
is mainstream or anytyhing...


--
johnfoss - Home of the Garage Page

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"Wow, I'll never complain about hills ever again!" -- Bicyclist on the
American River Bike Path, watching me pass on my Coker on my way to work
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148

Personally I think the 1/300 is high. When I think about my general
local area, maybe 2 or 3 for many, many square miles. Even though this
is rural, there have to be at least 10-20000 people in that range, so
perhaps 1/(5000-10000). Of course, that too is just gut feel. And
rural areas may be different from urban, etc.


--
U-Turn - Member of Generation XO

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.

'29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)

'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)

'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)

-- Dave Stockton
------------------------------------------------------------------------
U-Turn's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/691
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148

U-turn is right in that we seldom see unicyclists out in public. I
certainly don't. What we do not see are all the people who *can* ride
unicycles. All the dormant ones that learned when they were kids and
then stopped doing it. Certainly these are not active riders, but they
are unicyclists.

When I lived in New York, I was always running into people who used to
ride. They would see my jacket, or the stickers on my car, and tell me
they used to ride. In most cases, they knew Bill Jenack also. He sure
made an impact in Nassau County. All those people are unicyclists, but
dormant (retired).

This comes down to the meaning of the statistics. Bicycling is often
listed as one of the most highly participated sports or recreational
activities, with participation by 50% of Americans. Huh? This was based
on people reporting that, yes, they did get on a bike at least two times
a year. So is that enough to count?

That's more riding than the majority of those closet unicyclists out
there. So I'm sure my estimate of one million is high. But I do believe
it's between 500,000 and a million.

As for *active* riders, we have to go back and define what we mean.
Without a basis of what counts as active, we can't guess at a number. I
sometimes go a couple of weeks between rides, so we have to be careful
there. But people who ride at least monthly? Those are the truly active
riders. I don't know how many there are of those, other than that the
number is growing faster than it used to.


--
johnfoss - Home of the Garage Page

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"Wow, I'll never complain about hills ever again!" -- Bicyclist on the
American River Bike Path, watching me pass on my Coker on my way to work
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148

johnfoss wrote:
*U-turn is right in that we seldom see unicyclists out in public. I
certainly don't. *
Actually I didn't say that. I didn't specify.

However, for someone to qualify as a "unicyclist" they should need to be
current to some degree. I certainly don't qualify as a "stamp
collector" even though I did that at some time as a kid.

My last post on this so we don't hijack Raphael's fantastic thread.


--
U-Turn - Member of Generation XO

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.

'29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)

'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)

'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)

-- Dave Stockton
------------------------------------------------------------------------
U-Turn's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/691
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148

see

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/
displayNode.jsp?nodeId=133188&command=displayConte nt&sourceNode=133171&contentPK=9393801

for the pictures to go with the text below.

A write up from the Plymouth Herald about the Calstock Unicycle clubs
Tamar bridge ride.



UNI-RIDERS BALANCE THE BOOKS


12:00 - 30 March 2004



Cyslists cross the Tamar bridge to raise cash for their club

Motorists driving into Cornwall on Saturday could have been forgiven for
not believing their eyes when they saw a group of unicyclists making
their way across the Tamar Bridge.

The unusual sight was not a figment of the drivers' imagination, but a
fundraising effort by Calstock Unicycle Club.

Nearly 20 adults and children rode across the bridge to raise money to
buy unicycle hockey sticks, and raised nearly £150. The club, which
meets in Calstock on a Saturday morning is run by Alison Knight, also
known as circus performer Ali Oops.

She said: "I have always wanted to unicycle across the Tamar Bridge.
Nobody has done it as a mass unicycle before."

Starting from Saltash, the unicyclists took about 25 minutes to cross
the bridge, before rounding the event off with a pub lunch. The group
has been running for two years in Calstock, and is always on the look
out for new members.

Sam Taylor, aged 10, from Calstock was one of the youngsters to take
part. He said: "It was brilliant. There were loads of people watching
us."

For information on the club, ring Ali on 01822 834017 or logon to
www.circusintoschools.co.uk.


--
sarah.miller - unicycist
------------------------------------------------------------------------
sarah.miller's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1694
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148

johnfoss wrote:
*U-turn is right in that we seldom see unicyclists out in public. I
certainly don't. What we do not see are all the people who *can* ride
unicycles. All the dormant ones that learned when they were kids and
then stopped doing it. Certainly these are not active riders, but they
are unicyclists.

When I lived in New York, I was always running into people who used to
ride. They would see my jacket, or the stickers on my car, and tell me
they used to ride. In most cases, they knew Bill Jenack also. He sure
made an impact in Nassau County. All those people are unicyclists, but
dormant (retired).

That's more riding than the majority of those closet unicyclists out
there. So I'm sure my estimate of one million is high. But I do
believe it's between 500,000 and a million.

As for *active* riders, we have to go back and define what we mean. *


While all surveys and statistics have a range of error, it does not hurt
to attempt to gather information. Lots of good ideas here, and it is
certainly a good question to ask. A good starting place would be to
survey those who sell unicycles in North America to find out how many
are SOLD each year. Then estimate that many are sold to non-riders
(unicycle.com told me they sell mostly to novices) who never become
riders, and very few are sold to riders who already have unicycles. But
still, sales figures would be useful....

If any students need a project, email your fellow students with a poll
like Do you ride? When was the last time? How often have you ridden in
the past month? Better than an email poll would be to ask the first
question to EVERYONE entering the student union/coffee
shop/airport/train station, recording number of people asked and the
number of YES responses.

My bet is that uni riders are also distributed unevenly geographically:
much higher rates in the Northeast (DC to Boston) and the West Coast,
pockets in Minnesota, and far fewer down south, even taking into
consideration that these are denser population areas. Unicycling is
probably overrepresented in the denser population areas, and
underrepresented in the sparser population areas.


--
BillyTheMountain
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BillyTheMountain's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/5357
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148

UP, UP AND AWAY - ON ONE WHEEL

292 words
2 April 2004
New Zealand Press Association
English
(c) 2004 New Zealand Press Association

Whangarei, April 2 - Skinny, bespectacled and riding about on one wheel,
Tony Melton is not your classic schoolyard idol.

But at Opua Primary School, 8km south of Russell, where pupils have
taken up the art of one-wheel cycling with fervour, he has something
approaching rock-god status.

One of the country's premier unicyclists, Mr Melton - a laboratory
technician from Auckland - thrilled pupils at the school yesterday with
a range of one-wheeled tricks and stunts.

The pinnacle of his performance came as he prepared to jump off a table
over four pupils lying side-by-side on the ground below him. He cleared
the group with ease and cycled around the courtyard to the applause of
parents and children.

Quickly he was surrounded by children wearing fancy dress requesting
autographs and advice on unicycling.

"It's like, wow, you feel like a celebrity," he said.

Mr Melton was introduced to unicyles while an exchange student in the
United States.

Yesterday's rapturous reception came because his audience were more
appreciative than most - Opua pupils don't just play the usual games
during their breaks, they juggle, walk on stilts and ride unicycles.

His exhibition was part of an All-Fool's Day celebration of the skills
the children had learnt during the past six months.

The school adopted the concept of teaching children to juggle and ride
unicycles from another Northland school Paparoa where principal Paul
Underwood introduced his passion for juggling to pupils to help build
their confidence.

Students from Paparoa were also invited to do a demonstration of their
own.

Opua teacher Johnny Ryan said the children's new-found talents had done
wonders for their confidence. NZPA WRA mgr dj.


--
JJuggle - Last of the Dogmato-Revisionists

'6th Annual LBI Unithon - Sat, June 5, 2004'
(http://jjuggle.unicyclist.com/lbiunithon)

"Bad art, while often quite bad, is much better than no art at all"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
JJuggle's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/24
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148

UNI-RIDERS BALANCE THE BOOKS

By HELEN PEARSE.
205 words
30 March 2004
Evening Herald
3
English
(c) 2004 Evening Herald

Motorists driving into Cornwall on Saturday could have been forgiven for
not believing their eyes when they saw a group of unicyclists making
their way across the Tamar Bridge.

The unusual sight was not a figment of the drivers' imagination, but a
fundraising effort by Calstock Unicycle Club.

Nearly 20 adults and children rode across the bridge to raise money to
buy unicycle hockey sticks, and raised nearly £150. The club, which
meets in Calstock on a Saturday morning is run by Alison Knight, also
known as circus performer Ali Oops.

She said: "I have always wanted to unicycle across the Tamar Bridge.
Nobody has done it as a mass unicycle before." Starting from Saltash,
the unicyclists took about 25 minutes to cross the bridge, before
rounding the event off with a pub lunch. The group has been running for
two years in Calstock, and is always on the look out for new members.

Sam Taylor, aged 10, from Calstock was one of the youngsters to take
part. He said: "It was brilliant. There were loads of people watching
us." For information on the club, ring Ali on 01822 834017 or logon to
www.circusintoschools.co.uk.


--
JJuggle - Last of the Dogmato-Revisionists

'6th Annual LBI Unithon - Sat, June 5, 2004'
(http://jjuggle.unicyclist.com/lbiunithon)

"Bad art, while often quite bad, is much better than no art at all"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
JJuggle's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/24
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148