Exclusive interview with Unicycle Guy: Freewheeling local legend

If you haven’t seen him skimming through Woodhouse Moor or circling campus, you’ve probably heard of him.

Unicycle Guy has ignited the curiosity of thousands of Leeds commuters – there’s even a Facebook fan page dedicated to his so-called “offensive against the two-wheeled tyrants”. And yet, to most of us, he remains something of a mystery. This, it turns out, is how he wants it. “I prefer it when people I don’t know, don’t know me”, he tells me via Facebook. Thankfully, although he prefers to remain anonymous, he’s happy to talk about unicycling, and even agrees to a slightly dangerous photo shoot: dangerous because two friends keep daring him to try and cycle along the wavy, foot-wide benches outside Roger Stevens. He also almost runs me over at one point, but that’s beside the point – hazard of the job.

Unicycle Guy’s answers are mostly short, cryptic and to the point, but he becomes surprising poetic as the interview goes on.

When did you first start unicycling?

At my last square birthday (I assume this means his 16th. I do History, not Maths).

What made you want to learn?

Receiving a unicycle.

Do you have any other circus-related skills?

Yes.

He actually succeeds when I dare him to juggle and unicycle at the same time, although admittedly not for long.

A standard post from the Facebook fan page

How do you feel about the fan page and the attention you attract when unicycling around?

Bewildered.

What’s the hardest part about unicycling compared to normal biking?

Being expected to justify myself to people who only go places to get there.

Why do you choose this quirky commuting method?

I cycle because it feels like flying. I don’t mind people seeing me because it reminds them that another way [of travelling] is possible. I want people to know that they don’t have to do what is easy or what is efficient. Be yourself and don’t worry about what others might think.

How do you steer?

Leaning into the curve, or swiveling on the spot using the point of contact with the earth as a pivot.

What’s the longest distance you’ve ever unicycled?

As far as I can without running out of land.

This seems to be his way of saying Land’s End to John O’Groats. Anyone who felt smug after doing it on two wheels can stop gloating right now.

And, I am very sorry to report, he’s not friends with Penny Farthing Guy.  That’s all the questions I had for him, but it turns out that Unicycle Guy has one for me.

“Have you ever rolled a two pence coin down a hill? You watch it gather speed and wobble in one direction or another; it always seems on the point of falling over and you don’t know how long it will go on for. Eventually, when the momentum runs out, it gracefully swerves to one side, rolls a short lazy spiral, and finally, still spinning, it lowers itself to the ground till it’s lying flat and motionless. Do you sometimes wonder to yourself what it would be like to be, for a moment, perched on top of that coin on its free and uncontrollable journey down the hill? I do.”