Only one way to go: Riding around on a unicycle

Most students either walk or use a bicycle to go to class. Others, like Tim Allen '04, prefer a one-wheeled mode of transportation.

You might see him ride past you on campus and think the circus was coming to Princeton. But if you take a second look, you would see Allen — a member of the Princeton juggling club — positioned gracefully on the unicycle's seat.

The unicycle is Allen's primary means of getting around campus. "It generally gets me to classes a lot faster than walking, and it's a lot more portable than a bike," he explained.

Allen said he began riding the unicycle about a year ago, when his family moved to Atlanta from South Africa. While browsing the Internet late one night, he came across the Website, unicycle.com.

"It was the last semester of high school when there wasn't much to do," he said. "I thought it would be something fun to do."

Since Allen arrived at the University in the fall, his unicycle has become a large part of his daily routine. He rides it to class everyday and usually puts it on a bike rack — except when rain forces him to take it with him inside the classroom.

As one may expect, Allen said he and his unicycle encounter different reactions from onlookers.

"The most common thing is people whistling circus music when I ride past," he said.

The strongest responses were at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters, when some people saw him on the unicycle for the first time. After a while — as he got into the daily grind of the semester, taking the same routes on the same days — more people became accustomed to his riding and fewer heads seemed to turn.

Even so, some strangers still have bewildered expressions on their faces, while others express interest in the unicycle. For these people, he offers rides and mini-lessons in unicycling, Allen said.

Mini-lessons may not be enough to learn the art, but — for him — it took only a couple of months to get the basics of riding the unicycle correct.

"If you're willing to put in a lot of practice, it doesn't take long," he noted.

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The unicycle can also be a lot safer than a bike, according to Allen. Because the unicycle has no frame, there is much less risk involved in falling, and one can escape injury by simply letting the unicycle fall out from under himself.

Besides riding his unicycle to class, Allen performs — or rather rides — in shows. During the intermission of this fall's Expressions show, he played the "hell's angels" unicyclist in a performance by the juggling club.

Originally, however, Allen only intended the unicycle to be a means of transportation. "It wasn't originally intended for entertainment; I was surprised when the juggling club asked me to join," he said.

A unicycling bud

But Allen is not the only unicyclist on campus. Mati Chessin '04, also a member of the juggling club, is a skilled rider as well. Chessin, however, does not use his unicycle to get around campus.

Strangely enough, he prefers a bike.

"Unicycling is too much work. It's much more work than walking and it's just not efficient. I think Tim's crazy for doing it," he said, smiling.

Chessin started riding four years ago when a circus program, run by Barnum & Baily Bros., visited his summer camp. Unicycling and tightrope walking were several skills taught by the program, and after the summer, he continued teaching himself and bought his own unicycle a year later.

"Most bike stores have one in the back room that they've had for a long time and they want to get rid of," Chessin noted, speculating that the unicycle he purchased had been sitting in the store for 10 years.

In high school he tried to start a unicycling club and found a few people who had old unicycles in their attics.

"I taught a few people how to unicycle but it fell apart after a month or so. They just lost interest," he noted.

So it wasn't until coming to Princeton that Chessin met another person with as great an interest in unicycling. He and Allen now practice with the juggling club regularly.

And both have spent the last four weeks preparing for tonight's women's basketball game which will feature the juggling club in several time outs — and Chessin and Allen displaying their dribbling and passing skills on the unicycle.