Warning: This site has been determined to be "surreal" by those smart enough to know and worth listening to.
Unicyclism - One guy, One God, One wheel,...
You can see the full slide show from the last camp (2007) here.
...and the video from the follow-up trip is below:
People often ask me "How long have you been riding that". I generally answer in terms of minutes or hours reflecting how long I have been on that particular ride. Some people find this funny, but I honestly prefer the looks on the faces of the people who just barely seem to miss it. If you were one of those people, let me apologize now.... (shame on me!)
I have actually been riding unicycles for a long time; longer than I care to admit. While away at college, my unicycle often served as my primary transportation. It was common for me to ride a small 16 inch wheel down to the local Wal-mart for supplies.
Other people want to know what got me started. I was first introduced to unicycling by a bunch of clowns at a clown party (believe it or not.) I found I was able to master a twenty foot ride with just a couple tries and a wall to lean on. I told my mtoher I was going to get me one and learn how to ride it. Early the very next morning I was driving her to work and spotted a pawn shop with a unicycle in the window. I went back later that day and traded some old electronics I had for what became my first unicycle. I still have it, but it's become a bit of a Franken-cycle with the various repairs made to it over the years. I don't ride it any more and often wonder how I ever put up with that horrible seat...
I used the long hallways of our dorms at Stephen F. Austin to master the skill. If you attended Stephen F. Austin and rememebr the guy on the unicycle, you may be able to actually guess how long I've been riding. For the rest of you, it will have to remain a mystery...
Recently I have increased my riding to improve my physical fitness but I hope that much more will come from it.
For me, the unicycle provides a cardiovascular workout I believe to be comparable to jogging (including the "runners high") without the impact damage of running. It is a much better workout than regular bicycle riding for many reasons.
People often say "You must have good balance to do that." The truth, I beleive, is that the unicycle developed my balance.
My unicycle riding is dedicated to the children served by H.O.P.E.S. from the Father and the memory of Tracy Tramel who started the work of H.O.P.E.S. nearly seven years ago. H.O.P.E.S. from the father serves oprhans and social orphans in overseas children's homes ("orphanages"). My hope is to use this as an opportunity to spread the word about the orphan problem and give people a way to make a difference.
If you are interested in Unicycling, I would recommend the following sites:
Unicycle.com is the best place to buy your Unicycle and they have a lot of great accessories and information too.
Unicyclist.com is a great place to find other unicyclist.
Visit Unicycling.org for lots of good information including this list of standard skill levels for Unicyclist.
Wikipedia has additional information.
The estimates vary greatly, but one way to put in into perspective is to realize that there may be enough oprhans in the world today to equal about half the U.S. population.
There are many things you can do to help with this growing problem:
- Consider being an adoptive parent
- Consider finding and helping a family who is adopting
- Considering volunteering your time to work with and help orphans
- Consider making a donation to H.O.P.E.S. from the Father to help children who won't be adopted
- Invite one of the H.O.P.E.S. representatives to your local church group, Sunday school class or organization to share the story of these children and what we are doing to help
If you have questions, you can send me a message by using this form:
One man I know made it his personal mission to do everything he could to help one group of these children. He gave his life in pursuit of that goal. As part of his work he created H.O.P.E.S. from the Father.
You can find out more information about H.O.P.E.S. from the Father here.
The pictures on this page that are not of unicycling are from H.O.P.E.S. from the Father events in Russia. (They are displayed randomly from a large selection each time the page loads. The next time you come back the pictures will be different.) The mission of H.O.P.E.S. continues even though Tracy has been called home.
Tracy Tramel spent more than six years of his life serving these children and died while he was serving them. In a very real way, Tracy gave his life to serve orphans. Tracy's last trip into Russia was to provide Christmas to children in the orphanges. Shortly after handing out Christmas gifts to the children of an orphanage in a remote village, Tracy died of a heart attack.
You can see pictures of Tracy's last trip into Russia here.
Tracy's work continues today through his family, the work of H.O.P.E.S. from the Father and the H.O.P.E.S. sponsors.
I recently had the privledge of leading the first trip back to Russia following Tracy's death. The pictures from the summer camp can be found here. Soon, we will be carrying on the tradition Tracy started by providing Christmas to the children you see here (and more). To do this we need help.
Donations will provide gifts for the children such as coats, toys, candy and personal hygiene items.
So, if you see me riding my unicycle, let it remind you of these wonderful children and just how much they could use your help. Thank you.
