By Jake Shiner –
As we advance as a society, so do our sports. But one new fad around Penn Manor High School went back to basics -simply a seat, two pedals, and one wheel.
This technological wizardry is known as the unicycle and it’s the new craze for a small group of Penn Manor students.
“It’s about two or three years ’til it goes mainstream,” proclaimed senior Cody Goldberg, a member of the new unicycling club.
What began about two-and-a-half months ago, spawned from an idea by student Jerome Lynch.
“He’s (Lynch) has been unicycling since he was 3 or 4, and then recently Ryan Krause, Mike Stokes, Alex Murr and the rest (joined),” noted Goldberg.
The club members cycle around the school’s parking lot and Millersville and even claimed to have found some “pretty sweet” tricking spots in the area.
The specific spots weren’t mentioned because they said that they were top secret, members only.
Goldberg and fellow unicyclist Ben Crisman consider themselves average at their new-found sport.
“I can do basic tricks, but not any advanced stuff,” said Crisman, “It’s more of a hobby than a pursuit.”
There is some good-natured competition over who is the most proficient unicyclist of the group.
Goldberg said that while Lynch started the craze, has been doing it the longest and has the best overall control, he can’t pull off some of the more difficult tricks.
Crisman believes that it’s a toss up between Krause and Murr, but Goldberg believes that Murr is the best in the group.
While reflecting on their unicycling accomplishments, they also mentioned some of their goals and why they even got into the sport.
“It’s a silly sport and it’s really fun to do… and how many people in the world can unicycle?” asked Goldberg.
Ben Crisman added with a smile, “My ultimate goal is to play unicycle polo competitively in the Olympics.”
Recently a battery operated electric unicycle was released.
Might this be the future for unicycle enthusiasts?
“Oh yeah, that Japanese piece of garbage,” said Goldberg, “Yeah right.”
Guess not.
Dood! I totally saw that video, it was epic!