Unicycle!

 The current exhibit downstairs at the Benton County Historical Society's Philomath Museum is entitled, “Walk, Ride & Roll.”  You can see the different ways people travel without cars whether it be walking, riding horses, boating, or riding a train. Bicycles are included in the form of an early (1867) bike known as a “boneshaker” on display and in photos of locals riding their bikes in different settings.

One other early form of bicycle was known as the penny farthing as the shape reminded people of two coins --a penny (large) and a farthing (small) -- side by side. You can see one of these on display in the “Hats and Chairs” exhibit in the Society's Corvallis Museum.

What has not been included is a related item less commonly used:  a unicycle.  These developed as riders on penny farthings discovered that they could ride keeping their weight over the front wheel and not even use the back wheel.  Patents for a unicycle were issued in 1869 and 1881.  Unicycles feature the pedals and a bar supporting the seat attached to the axle of the one wheel. 

For a time, unicycles were associated with clowns and other performers.  In this photo from the Bicentennial Celebration in Corvallis (1976), Brian and Gary Martin are riding unicycles during a clown workshop. Gary, on the right, is riding what is sometimes called a giraffe-- a unicycle with a long shaft supporting the seat and a chain connecting the pedals.  

Unicycles, clown workshop, bicentennial folk festival,
Brian Horner (L) and Gary Martin (R),
Corvallis, Oregon. Photo by Judy Carlson.

In the 1980s new forms of the unicycle were introduced as people found new ways to use them.  The free style unicycle has a small wheel and high seat for doing tricks or clowning around.

These cycles are also used for unicycle basketball and other games.  There's a mountain unicycle (muni) (similar to a mountain bike) with wider tires for riding on rougher roads. The touring bike is made for riding long distances and has a larger wheel.  Both are used in unicycle races. In unicycle “trials” competitions (or street unicycling), riders attempt to navigate a course of obstacles without the rider touching the ground. Sometimes this means hopping or jumping the unicycle.  People seem to be using unicycles in some of the same way they do skateboards. Wonder when these events will be added to the Olympics!

By Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon