I’m a little over three months into my year of not driving and things are going well. As the weather continues to get colder and rain comes more regularly, I’m going to have to modify how I ride, possibly even taking Andy’s suggestion and get fenders. For now, I’m still enjoying the new bike.

A few weeks ago, the school I work at finally got the official go-ahead to move into our new building. When we did, several of the students decided we should have a Spirit Week. For anyone unfamiliar with this tradition, each day of the week (typically leading up to the Homecoming football game) gets a different theme and everyone is encouraged to dress to match the theme. We’re a small school with no football team (we only have 32 students) so moving into our building was as good a reason for Spirit Week as any. Our week was (in order) Crazy Sock day, Twin Day, Aloha Day, Plaid Day and finally PJ Day.

As you can see, I rocked Plaid Day (I’m second from the left, in the kilt)

As part of Spirit Week, I wanted to do something a little different for my transportation as well. So for one day only, I decided to leave the bike at home and commute to work on my trusty unicycle. It’s been two years since I rode it for any distance farther than about 25m and it’s 2 miles into work. Rather than practice and train, I just decided to go for it. That morning, I pulled it out from the back of the bike barn, inflate the tire and head out. The first half mile went great: no falls, good speed, only a few strange looks from passersby. Unfortunately, I hit a bump and fell off right in the middle of Hyde Park, the spot with the most people to see me fall on the whole ride.

Quick clarification, falling on a bike is a big deal. Your legs are on opposite sides of a large piece of metal, the handlebars mean you can jump off the front and so far, lack of advanced coordination has prevented me from jumping off the back of a moving bike. Unicycles are different. There’s nothing to get in the way when you fall. The vast majority of times you fall off a unicycle, you land on your feet in a standing position. Just pick up the unicycle, hop back on and you’re good to go. Falling isn’t a big concern, but it is annoying to do it in front of your favorite coffee shop.

Anyhow, after three attempts to get back on, I finally got correctly seated again and rode off. Most of the rest of the ride was uneventful, although the people turning to get onto the highway seemed to think I was very off for riding such a strange contraption. The ride home also went well. This time, I was able to ride past the coffee shop without falling in front of it. Overall, it was a fun way to commute. Most importantly, I learned that my legs were able to get me to and from school just fine. I also learned that the saddle for a unicycle is very different and rubs in unusual place… Luckily that only took a few days to get over which means I’m ready for the next time we decided to have Spirit Week.