Goodbye to the Unicycle

For a few years, I've wanted a unicycle. My interest spikes every year just before my birthday. A unicycle just seems like such a grand present, and though I don't generally hope for grand presents, the unicycle is my exception. May seems like a good month for cycles of all sorts, and I am intrigued by the portable versions of most things. I like things that fit in my pocket -- harmonicas and jack knives -- and I like tents and backpacking stoves. The allure of a cycle with one wheel instead of two is huge. I could carry my transportation right into the library instead of locking it! I could hop off of it, sling it over my shoulder like a knapsack, walk into a coffee shop and come out with a warm brew in one one hand and a newspaper in the other! Today I stopped by Velocipede Peddler and asked some friendly guy how hard it is to learn to ride one. Hard, he said. In support of this opinion, he mentioned that he rides hands-free on his bike for great stretches and turns corners no-handed all the time, but he can't ride a unicycle. I always figured that was the prerequisite -- the hands-free test -- and sensed that I was well prepared for the unicycle experience. He said if I could pop a wheelie and ride on my back tire (only) for a long way, I might be able to ride a unicycle. I can pop a wheelie and ride on my back tire for about the length of a sidewalk square. It was enough to impress Tommy a couple of years ago but I think he stopped noticing, or I stopped modeling that behavior for my sake and his. I broke my collar bone doing this many years ago, and landed by a curb in that part of the street where trash sometimes collects. I may have landed on an empty coffee cup tossed away by a unicyclist. They seem like the sort of folks who travel light. I don't think I want a unicycle so much anymore. It's a shame to come to terms with how easily I can be discouraged. You might wonder if the friendly bike salesman talked me out of the unicycle so easily, what did he talk me into? A tandem bicycle with a sidecar? No, I walked out hands-free. Which is not the same thing as riding a unicycle, apparently.