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How to get into MUni

Are you Muni curious and ready to be made fun of by your friends? Are you ok feeling like a total beginner? Do you enjoy a challenge and are looking for a way to keep your familiar trails interesting? Did you see a mountain unicycle and realize that it's a legit way to travel, and now want to add one to your quiver?

Here's how to get into Muni.

1: Buy a mountain unicycle. Just do it. Spend $400 on this Uni from Unicycle.com A 24" mountain unicycle is what you want to learn on. Can you learn to ride before owning a unicycle? Possibly, but it's far easier to have your own, and spend ten minutes a day teaching yourself.

2: Stop comparing your progress to other things you are good at. It's very easy to just give up and jump back on your mountain bike and maintain your sense of mastery and control over your life. But if you don't care about being a beginner again then perhaps you will keep after it, and soon discover a new way to go through the world.

3: Get gloves. The KH Gloves are your most important piece of gear. Unless you have kitty cat genes and always land on your feet, sometimes the unicycle will body slam you out of nowhere. And you'll catch yourself with your hands, and you'll want wrist protection.

4: Knee Pads and/or knee/shin guards will go a long way in your learning process. It's easier to try hard and do stupid things when you know that you are padded up and protected.

5: Go out and ride. Pick three to four miles of trail (approximately 5km) and go ride it. Fall down. Get up. Get on. Try again. Repeat.

6: Ride with others. When I started riding I spent my first year riding almost entirely by myself. Going to my first Mountain Unicycle Gathering, the 2006 Moab MUni Fest, opened my eyes to what was possible. I didn't get better right away, but I went home and sections of trail that I thought were unrideable were now possible, because I had seen what was possible. Plus, the comraderie of fellow unicyclists is hard to beat.

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