By Casi Herbst
Unicycles aren''t just for the circus anymore.
BYU students have been seen cycling around campus as a form of transportation.
The sport, which is guessed to have stemmed from the penny-farthing bicycle, according to www.unicycling.org, is not as hard as it looks.
'Unicycling really isn''t that hard. All it takes is a few days of practice and a little determination. So go find a unicycle at a garage sale and learn how to ride a unicycle,' said Chapin Smith, 18, a freshman from Michigan majoring in neuroscience. 'No one learns because at first it''s hard. Don''t be discouraged because it''s not as hard as it looks. It just takes a few days'' practice.'
A person can learn to unicycle in about five days practicing a half hour a day Smith said.
Smith, who has been riding for two years, first started what he calls 'extreme freestyle expert unicycling' when his father brought home a unicycle one day just for fun.
'He just bought it,' said Smith.
His friend started to show him how fun it was and he began to really work at it. At first they wanted start a unicycle gang. However, that did not work out because of their numbers.
They started riding in parades and Smith still does. He rode in Homecoming Spectacular this last October, and Be Extreme has sponsored him.
Unicycling has many different sides. There is off-road cycling and even world championships. The world championships are similar to ice skating, Smith said. Cyclists do axles and pirouettes.
Smith said his favorite part of the sport is 'defying all reasonable bounds of sanity pertaining to unicycling.'
If interested in a unicycling club, most on campus cyclers go to the Y Juggle club, Smith said. He says most unicyclers juggle anyway.