Trina Machacek
Can anyone explain to me, why are there unicycles? I was just cyber shopping and for some reason my shop-o-box put me into unicycles. Then of course I had to look at them. Seeing that I, well not me but maybe you, can get a unicycle for under $100 still does not make me want to drop one in my shopping cart. But! Yes, a single wheeled “but.” There seems to be a unicycle world that I didn’t even know existed.
Just think if we all zipped here and there on one wheel. It’s really kind of funny to imagine. Close your eyes and think of who you know and what they would look like squiggling around on a teeny tiny seat on top of one wheel. Oh, I know I would pay to see some of my friends giving this that old college a try. A dollar. I would pay a whole dollar. Then of course they could put that dollar toward any medical bills that would surely come about after trying to scoot around on that one skinny seat above that one skinnier wheel and tire.
Sometimes I just can’t let it go. Like this unicycle idea. I mean come on. Even Fred Flintstone knew he needed four wheels under his Yabba Dabba Doo two-foot powered canopy car. Can you imagine the first caveman that discovered that the funny looking round thing in front of him could make moving things easier? After much thought and finishing his brontosaurs burger and fries, he tried to move his leftover pile of bones with just that one wheel? Why, even the earliest drawing of man and wheel together have the guy pushing a two wheeled cart full of nicely chain saw cut pieces of wood for the fire down a nice smooth graded road. HAHA OK, Trina, back to reality.
A unicycle might be the perfect ride for some, I like at least two wheels to keep my back side up off the ground and moving forward. Since it is summer, I am pretty sure there are little ones just learning how to ride a bike. When I learned to ride it came down to me, the bike, my sister and a box of Band-Aids laying on the sidewalk. Saved time to have Band-Aids out there since we were spending a lot of time going in the house to wash off my knees, elbows and other appendages that got ripped to shreds as I oh so gracefully fell and fell and fell off our Huffy Bike, the Blue Tornado.
But I learned. Thankfully the saying, “It’s just like falling off a bike,” didn’t dampen my desire to stay upright on that same bike. That and thankfully once you learn to ride a bike you will always know how to ride a bike. Well so far, so good for me and it has been a long time and a lot of Band-Aids ago that I learned the skill.
It is summer and there seems to be so many ways to get around. Cars and trucks aside, there are some amazing four-wheelers or quads. Then upscaled side-by-sides. Ones that are made for speed and some for getting to the highest peak of any mountain. And motorcycles. Again, built for speed or rugged mountain climbing terrain. Or some really nice motorcycles for couples to ride in the fresh air. In comfort and oh such shiny chrome style.
Of all those things the one thing they all have in common: ride. They are all different ways to ride from here to there. We are a riding society. We ride everywhere. My goodness some ride to the best places just to take a walk. Don’t get me wrong. We learn to ride at very early ages. That wheel invention, to me, is one great invention.
I love to ride. Other things we ride are horses, camels, mules, boats, airplanes. At a rodeo you see riders on the backs of bucking broncos or huge bulls and little kids’ mutton bustin.’ Now that is fun to watch. Littlest cowboys and cowgirls dressed to the nines in jeans, pearl snap western shirts and little cowboy boots. Doesn’t get much cuter. Riding. We all ride something.
Now that we are full swing into summer get outside and ride something, somewhere at some time. Don’t wait until you finally get up enough gumption to take that old bike out and push off towards the sunset. Hurry before you miss the whole summer.
All those rides and I haven’t even brought up roller skates or roller blades, scooters and skateboards. Each and every one, except for that first unicycle rider has more than one wheel. So again, can anyone explain to me why there are unicycles?
Trina Machacek lives in Diamond Valley north of Eureka. Subscribe to her newspaper, The Eureka County Star for a glimpse into her Nevada at www.theeurekacountystar.com.