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I posted this to the unicycling mailing list on 30/08/94:
Well, I posted the news on rec.juggling, but I didn't write much about it. I rode my uni (DM Ringmaster, 20" wheel) 30 miles along the cyclepath from Bath to Bristol and back at the weekend.
I'm a 21 year old biochemistry undergrad. I started juggling during the Christmas vacation, 1992. I started unicycling in July this year. I was lucky enough to have excellent conditions for learning to ride a unicycle. I got the uni on a Friday afternoon and spent that weekend at the Wessex Juggling Convention, so there were plenty of people around to give me advice. I spent hours practising in the car park. The following Tuesday was the first time I unicycled to work.
I've ridden along the Avon Valley Cycleway a few times by bike. I decided it was time to do it by unicycle. It was a bank holiday weekend, so I could do the ride on Sunday afternoon and then rest on Monday. The weather was good, so there were quite a few people around. Fortunately though, the path tends to be busiest on bank holidays themselves rather than at the weekends.
I meant to leave by noon, because I wanted to visit the Bristol Exploratory. But, when I got up I couldn't remember why I had planned to leave early. So I finally left about 1.30.
After a few miles I started to ache a little, despite my padded lycra shorts, but I only had to get off for a few seconds and I was ready to go again. In the first few miles I had to cross a couple of bridges, both of which were unsheltered and windy. On the second I got off for a rest, so I had loadsa fun trying to get back on again. :-(
At one point it started to rain. Fortunately I had my umbrella (the major advantage of a uni over a bike) and I was sheltered from the wind by trees on either side.
In the middle of the cyclepath there is a stretch of a few miles which is unpaved. A fair portion of this is unsheltered. I was glad to see the end of that stretch.
All the way I heard comments along the lines of "that's doing it the hard way." A couple of groups of cyclists slowed down to talk to me, both wishing me luck after asking if I was going all the way. The only "where's your other wheel" joke I had while on the cyclepath was from a girl in one of the groups who slowed down. The comment was met with some scorn from her friends ("where's your originality?"), and she followed it with "I bet people say that all the time." One bloke asked what possessed me to ride to Bristol and back on a uni, I told him I wanted to see if I could do it.
Pedestrians occur all the way along the cyclepath, but they are most common towards the Bristol end. As I entered Bristol a group of teenage girls walked past and called back "Nice legs!" Who am I to argue with their opinion? :-)
The path crosses roads at a couple of points, so I had to get off and remount. I take on average 3 tries to free mount, and I wanted to free mount as much as possible. One time I was particularly lucky - I managed to free mount on the first try in front of a group of 3 teenage girls. Not that I was trying to impress, but can you imagine if I'd taken a dozen tries? Hell hath no fury and all that. They asked how far I'd been. I told them "From Bath to Bristol and this far back." At this point that meant about 20 - 25 miles. One of them said "you're mad." Naturally, I thanked her.
The ride took about 3 hours there and 4 hours back (I was taking it really easy riding home). It was getting dark by the time I got home, but I had my lights with me. Overall, I reckon the ride was worth doing once but I doubt I'd do it again without a bloody good reason.
Danny
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