London life: the big wheel keeps on turning...
...but they don't tell its direction.
Not every evening, but often enough to make it seem regular, a man rides past my window on a unicycle. He's not a clown, or a juggler, or any kind of entertainer. His unicycle isn't a ridiculously tall one. It's not painted a primary colour. It has no stripes. It's just a unicycle. Judging by the 20" wheel it's not a stunt unicycle, and judging by his backpack and cycling clothes he's not a stunt unicycle rider. He looks just like every cyclist commuter, except he's riding a unicycle.
You have to respect a unicycle commuter.
Not every evening, but often enough to make it seem regular, a man rides past my window on a unicycle. He's not a clown, or a juggler, or any kind of entertainer. His unicycle isn't a ridiculously tall one. It's not painted a primary colour. It has no stripes. It's just a unicycle. Judging by the 20" wheel it's not a stunt unicycle, and judging by his backpack and cycling clothes he's not a stunt unicycle rider. He looks just like every cyclist commuter, except he's riding a unicycle.
You have to respect a unicycle commuter.
posted by Damian at 3:54 PM
3 Comments:
But... but... but... without two wheels how did the black cabs know that he deserved extra bile and that bit of extra speed to run him down?
Like you say... respect.
The black cabs terrified me when I first started riding bicycle and motorbike here. But slowly I learned that they're not trying to scare you, they just know precisely how much margin for error they need, and don't give you a centimetre more.
I always console myself that all London Cabbies have spent at least a year riding a small motorcycle, or riding a bike, around London. Personally it's the agro drivers in cheap Mercedes that I find the most aggressive. Oh, and small BMWs that like to try to take the motorcycle at the lights. Like it's a challenge to beat 90kg of me on an old 125 when you're driving a BMW M3!
If you lived in Liverpool the simple explanation would be that the man isn't riding a unicycle at all but an ordinary two wheeler - but one of the local population has pinched his front wheel. I'm not sure if Londoners are as light-fingered though.
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