My bikes are surely my fountain of youth. They brought me back from the severity of my heart attack (incurred at age 53, but I wasn’t well enough to attempt bicycling until age 20 months later in mid April of 2011 at age 55).

My father presumed it would be easier to pedal a unicycle 100 miles compared to a typical two-wheeled bicycle simply because the unicycle can be made lighter. However, I was quick to remind him that a unicyclist never gets the opportunity to rest their legs while in motion because their legs are constantly powering the unicyclist while additionally maintaining their balance (my legs burn just thinking about it). I can’t imagine pedaling a unicycle 100 miles for that fact alone.

Naturally, if I could actually ride a unicycle (though I’ve never had the opportunity to try, so I’m a face-plant just waiting to happen ), I could take breaks here and there to give the old “pork pistons” a break as needed over my long distance rides, but that comes at the cost of extending one’s trip time (hence, burning valuable daylight). Conversely, when I’m riding a typical two-wheeled bike, I can take occasional momentary “coasting breaks” (which don’t bite into my trip time) and I can even achieve some fairly high descent speeds (52.6 MPH my highest descent speed thus far) without pedaling at all during those mountainous high-speed descents.

So I give you a TON of credit for keeping the old “pork pistons” in constant motion as you do over the distances that you’ve traversed particularly at the speeds you tend to maintain. You’re my unicycling hero!

As a child, I remember watching some of the talent shows that would occasionally feature a unicyclist, but they never had to pedal far nor pedal fast on stage. I never imagined anyone would travel as far and as fast as you have on a unicycle. There may be others that have also traversed long distances on a unicycle, but one thing’s a certainty; unicyclists are unique and their numbers are small relative to us two-wheeled bicyclists.

On the 32 miles of the Schuylkill River Trail (SRT)—which I commenced riding mid summer of last summer—I encountered a wide variety of interesting human powered vehicles; arm powered, arm & leg powered, a back-to-back bike (one facing forward, the other facing rearward), pedal cars, trikes, recumbents and even a dual recumbent, but I’ve yet to encounter a single unicyclist on the SRT or for that matter, anywhere else in my 11,649 miles of bicycling. Needless to say, I really look forward to viewing your videos and thanks for posting them for us!

Stay safe out there and as always, enjoy your riding adventures.