Here is the article from the Times, at least the part I was able to snag
from the NYT website. There were two photos: One of my brother from the
waist down, seated on his Coker, and another of a club member riding a
BC wheel. To my mild dismay, there will be no need for Sharpies: I'm
not mentioned in the article despite having given the reporter two
interviews to furnish most of his information and in spite of the fact
that he profiles my brother and could simply have noted that I founded
the club. The only thing I'm really bummed about, tho, is the prospect
that someone from the Parks Dept. will read the article and decide that
unicyclists shouldn't be permitted at Grant's Tomb.
The article:
JOHN STONE is a composer and an athlete in Manhattan, and he has never
been in a circus. This last fact is an important but often
misunderstood aspect of his life, but perhaps one of the drawbacks of
commuting to work in Midtown from his home on the Upper West Side on a
unicycle.
“It gets tiresome that people see me on my unicycle and they only think
of that,” he said on a recent Sunday while holding a tall black
unicycle with special features to accommodate long-distance rides.
“Sometimes people will see me riding and start singing circus music at
me.”
Mr. Stone, 37, was with others who understood his plight. Every other
Sunday, unicyclists who call themselves the Unatics and say they are
New York City’s only unicycle club, meet at Grant’s Tomb in Riverside
Park to ride, learn new tricks and bond with others who share their
love of balancing on top of one wheel. The club, which was founded in
2001, has more than a hundred members.
On this particular Sunday, about 30 unicyclists rode along the concrete
entrance to Grant’s Tomb. Club members arranged metal barricades into
three rows, so that beginners could find their balance with handholds.
James Sui, 14, impressed other riders by hopping down a set of four
stairs at once and remaining upright. Ted Piltzecker, a jazz musician
and professor, traced lazy circles while juggling three balls. And
Shane Hope, an artist who lives in Brooklyn, glided by on what he
called a BC wheel, which is essentially a unicycle without a seat or
pedals.
For club members, these Sundays are one of the few chances to feel as
if their hobby is a mainstream sport. “This is a friendly world,” Mr.
Stone said, adding that riders often know one another’s names and share
stories. He said that asking to borrow someone else’s unicycle was
understood and encouraged.
But those who don’t ride unicycles also orbit this one-wheeled
community. So, Mr. Stone said, unicyclists must sometimes curtail their
space when tour groups descend on Grant’s Tomb, where it is generally
frowned upon to ride on the monument.
Throughout the afternoon, two rangers from the National Park Service
stood at the door to Grant’s Tomb and watched the Unatics. “I thought
they were part of the circus the first time I saw them here,” said one
ranger, who did not give his name because he said he was not allowed to
speak with reporters. “I think they should go down to the trapeze
school on the West Side and put a hat out and make a mint.”
Club members have often offered to teach the ranger how to ride a
unicycle, he said, but to no avail. “I would break my head open,” he
said.
--
David_Stone
Dictator for Life,
NYUC
Check out my blog (or else):
http://newyorkunicycle.blogspot.com/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
David_Stone's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/3834
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/62286
Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com
