[supermax]

I've now logged close to 1500 km on my unicycles (the real deal, not the electric ones ), with most of those miles being logged on asphalted bicycle paths.

Some stats about my hobby

Riding since: 2018
Cumulative kilometers ridden: 1489
Number of unicycles owned: 5 (1 x 20", 1 x 24", 1 x 29", 2 x 36)
Unicycle of choice: URC Roadrunner 29-er unicycle, 808 km logged thus far.
Longest single ride (distance) on a unicycle: 30.5 km
Longest single ride (time) on a unicycle: 4 hrs 58 minutes.
Highest speed on a unicycle: 17 km/h
Trivia: Unlike bicycling, downhills can be harder than uphills, when unicycling, particularly if there are no brakes on the unicycle.

A few pictures I've snapped while on my rides

My URC Roadrunner, which has a hydraulic disc brake. Pic taken on my 30 km ride.


The smaller Nimbus II 24" unicycle. No brakes on this on this one. Slowing down while riding downhill can be a bit hard on the knees. The bigger the wheel, the harder to slow down without brakes.

Resolution for 2023 and new challenges

Last year was one of the years I logged the least mileage on both bicycles and unicycles and so my resolution for 2023 was to be more active, and to log more hours outdoors, whether on two wheels or one. Ever since I bought my car, I've gotten lazier and I often get tempted to drive to work, if the weather is even a tad unfriendly, unlike earlier, when I bicycled whether it rained or hailed or snowed, so I'm also hoping to commute more on my own power, and drive less.

The other new challenge for 2023 is to explore riding offroad on my unicycles. The world of mountain unicycling is utterly fascinating, but it's also been a bit too much for my skill level so far, but I finally decided to work towards improving my offroad skills.

Driving to fun locations

When I didn't have a car, my rides stared from my apartment, thereby limiting my range quite a bit, but now that I can drive, I'm beginning to explore new fun locations to ride. The 24" unicycle can simply be tossed into the cavernous boot of my Octavia, and I can drive to wherever I wish to ride, and ride much harder while there, without worrying about saving some energy for the ride back home, so it's the ultimate win-win. My latest discovery is a wooded area that's less than 10 km away, which has many different MTB and running tracks, with everything from very simple and non-technical tracks to those that are more complex and technical. I'd like to start from the simplest and try and work my way up the order.

[UniMuni]

Originally Posted by supermax

Riding since: 2018
Cumulative kilometers ridden: 1489

The other new challenge for 2023 is to explore riding offroad on my unicycles. The world of mountain unicycling is utterly fascinating, but it's also been a bit too much for my skill level so far, but I finally decided to work towards improving my offroad skills.

Absolute Salute ...keep riding

[am1m]

Wow! This is amazing and something so far outside my usual frame of reference, I hope you'll indulge so many questions!

What does a unicycle offer over a regular bicycle? Seems harder, or is that the point? More fun also I guess?

How on earth do you use that brake lever while cycling? How stable is the machine under braking?

(Thanks in advance, and happy cycling!)

[Samurai]

This is very interesting. The only time I have seen unicycle riders was in the circus. So I always thought of it as an acrobatic performance. And here you are acting like it is a commuting option.

Care to share some videos of you unicycling?

[supermax]

Originally Posted by am1m

Wow! This is amazing and something so far outside my usual frame of reference, I hope you'll indulge so many questions!

What does a unicycle offer over a regular bicycle? Seems harder, or is that the point? More fun also I guess?

How on earth do you use that brake lever while cycling? How stable is the machine under braking?

(Thanks in advance, and happy cycling!)

I'm used to getting a lot of questions, even when I'm out on rides. It's harder, but actually quite excellent for building a strong core, and is a really fun way to get fit. I'm just not a gym rat and this is a nice alternative for me. It's also very satisfying. A 20 km unicycle ride gives the same endorphin high as one could get from say a 100 km ride.
With experience, one learns to ride straight and both hands are free all the time, so using one for the brakes is totally easy. The only thing to keep in mind is that the brake application must be very smooth and gradual, else you will do a faceplant on the road! The idea is to slow the unicycle whirly putting a heavy strain on the knees. Very useful when you want to control the speed while riding downhill.

Originally Posted by Samurai

This is very interesting. The only time I have seen unicycle riders was in the circus. So I always thought of it as an acrobatic performance. And here you are acting like it is a commuting option.

Care to share some videos of you unicycling?

Oh, I've commuted to work on occasion on my unicycles, so that's already 'fait accompli'

Here's a video of me practicing some climbing, on my 29-er..

https://youtu.be/OSoAvjt5rcU

[RT13]

Can’t be too many Indian unicyclists pottering around Sweden. What’s happening PC?! Fancy connecting here. Although I shouldn’t be too surprised I suppose. That skill is seriously progressing dude!

[Musafir_AA]

I appreciate that Indians are trying different things such as Mountain Biking, Bikepacking, Unicycling,etc.

I think you should search about 'Ed Pratt'. He has a YouTube channel. He travelled around the globe on a Unicycle in order to make a world record.