A flock of unicyclists pedaling in a parade inspired Irene Genelin at age 10 to hop on one herself.
Almost a decade later, Genelin was on her steed “flying” through Minneapolis when she turned the head of bicycle enthusiast Dan Hansen. He was moved to buy his first unicycle the same day and began to commute to work year-round on his one-wheeler. He taught his three kids, too.
On and on it goes, like the one wheel underneath them, this unicycling subculture of the Twin Cities.
A metro area rich in bicycling, the Twin Cities is also home to one of the largest – and most accomplished – unicycling communities in the country.
There are the parade performers, the commuters and even the mountain unicyclists. You can find them playing hockey, landing tricks beside skateboarders or in school and church gymnasiums teaching beginners of all ages and shapes.
How the Twin Cities area became the American capital for unicycling is not something there is much consensus around. And why anyone would go through the trouble of learning to ride one into adulthood puzzles many onlookers.
But one wheel equals many opportunities, riders say. They maintain the sport is about far more than just circus tricks. And although it is legitimately difficult to learn, they insist it is accessible for all kinds of people.
“It seems like the kind of stuff that you might not ever try because it looks ridiculously hard, but once you try it, it’s actually really fun,” said Grace Wilske, a 44-year-old who began riding three years ago.