Also, the internet has exploded since I was a kid, and unicyclists from all over the world are networking online, communicating through forums and youtube, and finding each other to meet up in real life.
This weekend, I was able to meet up with paxuni, a fellow unicycler who lives just minutes from my bff! While we were in town visiting my friends, I was able to meet up with pax for a ride around a local park on Saturday afternoon. Pax is relatively new to unicycling, but is doing terrific. He has a wicked sweet 29" uni he let me try out, and I just loved it! It rides SOOOO SMOOTH! And so quiet!! You just fly on that beautiful thing. I so have to add one of those to my collection someday, and it makes me want to try one of the 36" wheels if I ever get a chance!
Pax enjoyed trying out my 24" MUni, which, with its big knobby tire, wasn't too much smaller overall than his big 29" cruiser. I was amazed at the noise coming from that knobby tire on the roads we were riding on compared to the silence of his smooth tire. It was really amazing how different the two unis were, and how different from the other unis I had there--Habeeb's 20" Nimbus II freestyle uni and Michelangelo's 16" trainer. You would think a uni is a uni, but that's so not true!
The other particular excitement of the afternoon was my out-of-nowhere UPD (unplanned dismount) face first on the asphalt. Boy, was I ever glad to be wearing a helmet! Wow! But it would have been much nicer if I had remembered to wear the new wrist guards I left sitting in the back of the truck. They never even crossed my mind, and didn't even enter my mind until a bit later after the initial shock of the fall wore off. As it turns out, I had my worst fall ever by far on a uni, but fortunately only ended up with some good road rash on each hand, some minor road rash and a nice bruise and some puffiness on my left cheek bone, and a couple of mildly bruised knees. I was able to get right back on and keep on riding, enjoying the rest of the afternoon, and later kicking myself for not remembering those gloves! Ah well, at least it was all minor injuries.
On the other hand, when I consider the fall I had, and survived with only minor injuries, I actually feel quite a bit freer and emboldened to push my limits a little further or a little faster, perhaps. I mean I already had a bad fall, unexpected, and it really wasn't THAT bad falling flat on my face and scraping myself up. I can deal with it okay. And that makes me more comfortable with the idea of falling. Like I told Michelangelo, the first thing you learn how to do is FALL. Well, Saturday, I relearned how to fall. Now I'm ready to learn how to REALLY ride this thing!! :)
However, I AM going to remember to wear more safety gear from now one!
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