I have noted in the past that I occasionally see odd things on my way to, from, and around work. This morning’s walk would have been unremarkable (but glorious– perfect weather and that wide, bright New
Mexico sky) if not for the unicycle.
On a typical day I usually get passed by a handful or perhaps a half-dozen cyclists on the way in each morning and on the way out every evening. Bicyclists, that is. The unicycle commuters, on the other hand, are a rare breed. It may in fact be a breed of one. Either way, I was passed by a unicyclist this morning. Huh.
I had a friend in high school who was a unicyclist/juggler. And when I was in grad school, there was a guy in my neighborhood who rode around on a giraffe unicycle. But I had no idea that there are such things as mountain and even extreme unicycling, which, judging from the photos and videos is really pretty cool.
The more I think about it, though, the less surprising this becomes. Extreme ironing makes offroad unicycling seem downright logical by comparison.
I have to say, after witnessing an extreme eating contest and realizing people participated for “fun,” extreme unicycling sounds like a reasonable sport. I’m not sure I want to know what extreme ironing is 🙂
Wow, I’ve never had the, um, ‘thrill’ of spectating at an eating competition. I would guess that seeing that kind of thing in person would put a damper on one’s appetite… What contest did you witness?
But I have to admit, with perhaps a little bit of shame, that I do follow the hot dog eating contest held on Coney Island every July Fourth. I’m rooting for The Tsunami to regain his title after last year’s stunning reversal of fortune [Caution: link contains still-frame video of what can go wrong at an extreme eating competition… which is probably pretty much what you’d guess.]
But I sure wouldn’t want to see it in person. I don’t think I could stomach seeing anybody eat 50 or 60 hotdogs in 12 minutes. I don’t even like hot dogs to begin with…
No matter how strange it might be, extreme ironing has got to be less disgusting. 🙂
I don’t know…all extreme eating can give you is a stunning “reversal of fortune.” Irons have a lot more potential to permanently damage a person. Consider if they made contestants iron things while in weird positions or while juggling hot irons–you get the picture. The burns would be quite nasty…and the smell when they burned themselves…well, I’d rather not witness it in person.
Then again, I like eating, but I don’t like any kind of housework, so watching people iron FOR FUN might simply make me feel like a domestic anti-goddess.
Many reasons to avoid extreme ironing, you see.
I have not personally indulged in Extreme Ironing, but a snippet of info about an Australian underwater reef ironing contest drifted past my ears while I was, er, ironing. I think it would be a true test of spray-on sizing (starch), is what I think.
And people say Los Alamos is dull! Where else would you see a unicyclist making his way to work? And a place where all the restaurants close at 8:00. Make that 7:00 if business is slow.
Actually I nearly starved to death in Los Alamos. I drove up the night before I was singing a concert to find all the restaurants had closed, and even the 7 to 11 was closing at 9:00. I begged and the clerk stayed open long enough for me to buy a stale ham and cheese sandwich, a can of coke and a bag of chips. A fine dining.