The Northerner

Issue date: 9/13/06 Section: Features

Freshman Stephen Wall rides his unicycle for spectators.

In 1866 a mechanical oddity, the Penny Farthing, was invented. It was a unique bicycle with an extremely large front wheel and very small back wheel. When riders would lean slightly forward, the rear wheel would lift off the ground, a glitch that quickly spun into a 19th century version of popping a wheelie.

This glitch ultimately led to the invention of the unicycle-a permanent wheelie.

Stephen Wall, a freshman forensic chemistry major, is one of few, if not the only, practicing unicyclists at Northern Kentucky University. "I bought my first unicycle on eBay at the beginning of last summer." Wall chuckled and said, "My parents didn't want me to have it because they thought it was dangerous."

Wall might snub his own experiences, but considering that there are extreme unicyclists out there-his parents could've been right. Wall said, "I have to wear pads like they do in soccer because if you miss the pedal it swings around and hits you in the shin."

When he's not laughing in the face of fear, Wall is showing off in front of young impressionable minds. "I don't like to ride around at the park that much," Wall said, "but when I do the kids around are always really excited to see my unicycle. They run to get their parents so they have to see it too."

"I think it's neat to have around," Wall said. "People are always saying that I should ride it to class but I only have classes in three buildings so it would be kind of pointless."

After learning to ride on his not-so-great eBay uni, Wall was ready for an upgrade. He said, "I found out that there were some unicycles in storage under the gym floor of my high school. They were all broken and unused, so I took all three and fixed them up."

Wall kept one for himself and gave the other to his best friend. "I like to teach people to ride. I taught some of my friends and other people who just want to learn … It's a lot of fun."

Although being a unicyclist has helped Wall make friends, it wasn't always as easy as it sounds. He took his uni out on the first day he got it but said he was a little nervous. "I couldn't exactly ride it yet, but I wasn't worried about looking stupid … nobody wants to fall."

When Wall started to take learning more seriously, he began in the basement where it was relatively safe. At first he just sat on the unicycle. "I held onto the wall and just tried to balance. I rode around the basement just holding onto the walls." When he had mastered that, the next step was poles. "I used two long poles like they do in skiing. I'd lift up the poles and try to balance."

"It takes about twice as long to learn a unicycle as it does a bicycle," Wall said. "It took me about a week to get good at it." He likes to ride his uni on the grass, but his favorite place is in the snow. He said, "I don't know why but when you ride on the snow over the concrete your traction just feels better."

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