Story by Amy Turner, Staff writer
Photo by Nora Crafton/The News
On a dreary Monday morning, not much will cause a sleepy student to take a second glance. That is unless you see someone riding a unicycle to class.
Tanner Hall, junior from Chesterfield, Virginia, is known by most students on campus as the “unicycle guy.” Hall said he decided pick up the unique skill the summer before he arrived on campus two years ago.
According to accounts on the origin of the unicycle, which can be found online at madehow.com, it came from a 19th-century bike called a penny-farthing. Since then several developments have been made to bring us the modern version that Hall rides. Unicycles have a long history of entertainment, as they were primarily ridden by performers in circus shows and street festivals.
Hall had no prior experience with them and decided to learn the skill for a few laughs.
“I thought it would be completely hilarious, and it was,” Hall said. “I could have brought a bike, but I thought this would be funnier so I did.”
It took Hall three weeks of daily practice to really master his one-wheeled bike. He estimates that after a month of daily practice most people could be unicycling around.
As expected, Hall normally gets lots of reactions while riding around to classes and across campus.
“Usually it is lots of hooping and hollering,” Hall said. “I wave or do the finger guns.”
Hall said he loves the attention, especially from prospective students touring the campus. He even admitted to riding a few times simply to impress the tour groups.
“New people seeing it is one of the most fun things for me,” Hall said. “They all start hooting and hollering. I’m a horrible show off.”
Tour groups aren’t the only people surprised by his hobbie.
Jenny Karraker, junior from Shelbyville, Illinois, also noticed him around campus. Karraker said the first time she saw it, she was concerned for Hall’s safety.
“He was riding up a hill and I thought ‘Oh my gosh, I hope he doesn’t fall,’” Karracker said. “I thought he was crazy for doing it and I had no idea how he was doing it. I laughed about it. It was really cool.”
Hall isn’t the first student on campus to ride the unicycle. Hall knew a student that has since graduated who rode a mountain unicycle.
“He had a mountain unicycle which is a thing,” Hall said. “He could hop from step to step on.”
Hall plans to continue his hobby until he moves off campus or graduates. He said he would love to see more people on campus with unicycles.