NYC Unifest 2012

I made the 18 hour drive up to New York from Florida to attend the 2012 NYC Unicycle Festival. Beforehand, I thought I was insane to travel that kind of distance to play on a unicycle (furthest I've traveled for a skill was North Carolina), but afterwards I have no regrets about going. It still could be the freshness of the festival at the time that I'm writing this, but right now I would rank the Unifest among my favorites when it comes to juggling/circus-skill festivals that I've been to.

The first day involved a 13+ mile ride starting in Manhattan, over the Brooklyn Bridge, through Prospect Park, and eventually ending at Nathan's in Coney Island. I borrowed a 26" unicycle for the ride, so the beginning was a bit shaky while I got used to the new size, but once I got going it was all good. Riding in city traffic was a bit interesting though. Being hyper-aware of surrounding cars whizzing by was very different than riding on a suburban bike trail in Florida. Once in Coney Island, we rode the Wonder Wheel and people showed off their tricks on the boardwalk.

The next two days were at Governor's Island. The activities here included unicycle basketball, hockey, workshops, games, and shows. I learned a couple new mounts, set a world record, and was inspired to get way better on a unicycle. Some of my goals that I was inspired to learn from the festival are juggling consistently while idling, hula hooping while riding, riding backwards consistently, hopping with no hands, jump roping on a unicycle, the hands free kick-up mount, and wheel walking. I have a lot to work on...

I wrote about the unicycle festival and posted some pictures, but I know whoever is reading this wants to see video. Well, here you go:
Would I make the trip back up to the NYC Unicycle Festival again? Most definitely...

Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, Part 1

Another interesting place that I unicycled was along a section of the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail. This trail technically goes all the way around Lake Okeechobee in a 110 mile loop. As I was driving along 441 by the lake, I did notice much of the trail was closed due to construction on the Herbert Hoover Dike. Once the whole loop is open, that would be a pretty cool ride to say you rode around the second largest lake completely in the United States (camping would be required).

I started out near a dam outflowing into a canal called Nubbin Slough. I crossed the dam and headed south along the trail. I rode for about 1.5 miles until an afternoon thunderstorm started approaching very quickly across the water. The ride up to this point was very interesting, with the huge lake to my right and drainage canals and houses on my left. Since the trail was elevated on the dike, I decided I best be turning around before the storm was over me and I would be sitting on the only metal object 100 feet above ground level.

I want to ride more of this trail, regardless of whether its on a unicycle or a bicycle...

Quarry Lake in Pikesville, MD

I decided writing a food blog wasn't enough. I decided I should have a blog about unicycling as well. The blog isn't about any unicycling either, it is specifically about unicycling in places that I deem interesting. Thus the result is a blog titled Unicycling in Interesting Places.

The first interesting place that is worthy of this blog is Quarry Lake in Pikesville, MD. One of the best things about unicycles versus bicycles is the ability to fit in the trunk of my car. That means when I go on a road trip up to Maryland and find that one of the deepest lakes in the state has a trail surrounding it, I can easily hop on my unicycle and ride around.

As the name implies, Quarry Lake is an old quarry that was filled with water. Apparently the lake is approximately 500 feet deep and the surrounding land was sold to build a strip mall and condos. It would have been way cooler if they just turned the area into a park instead of ruining it with $600,000 condos, but at least they put a nice trail around the lake. The development hasn't scared away the wildlife either. This deer seemed totally undeterred that I was taking its photo.

There were lots of geese in the lake too. We don't get these down in peninsular Florida.

As I was riding around, the weather began to change pretty quickly and a nasty storm started to roll in. Soon it was drizzling and I was only about halfway around the lake. When I started hearing thunder, I decided to stop in one of the stores before it started pouring really hard.

Just as I stopped into a restaurant called Pizza Blitz, the rain started pouring down really hard. The people working in the restaurant were completely oblivious that I walked in carrying a unicycle...

After pizza, the storm was letting up so I continued my ride back to the car. The rest of the ride was uneventful, besides getting yelled at by an old Russian man that unicycles are dangerous. I didn't get very good GPS signal on my phone, but this ride around Quarry Lake tracked about two miles and was the first unicycle ride worthy of being on this blog...