by Lindsay Nash, LNASH@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
published July 28, 2006 12:15 am
ASHEVILLE – You may have seen him pedaling through West Asheville — or more likely, on the trails through Bent Creek.
And you’d remember him, for sure. Pedaling on one wheel, with one arm flailing in the air to balance and the other gripping his seat, he definitely garners some raised eyebrows.
Adam Masters, 26, an Asheville real estate broker by day and fiddler for fun, has broken into the sport of mountain unicycling, a relatively new trend that involves riding a unicycle on mountain terrain.
“Most people think it’s crazy, but it’s really a lot of fun,” said Masters, never a stranger to the outdoors, especially since his father Bill Masters was the founder and former owner of Easley, S.C.-based Perception Kayaks, the largest and most successful kayak company in the world.
“You can do it anywhere,” Masters admits as he speeds ahead down a Bent Creek Experimental Forest single-track trail. “And it’s always an adventure.”
Original fixed gear
With no brakes and only one gear, Masters says it’s sometimes a little wobbly aboard the 15-pound mountain unicycle — often called a “Muni” by those familiar with the one-wheeled sport.
Mountain unicycles have fixed gears, which means you only go as fast as your feet will pedal, Masters said. Brakes are used by some, but generally not needed. The 26-inch knobby tire is similar to that of a mountain bike, but a bit larger.
Is it dangerous? Most curious onlookers want to know.
“It seems like the most extreme sport, but it’s really one of the safest,” he said, attributing it to how easy it is to hop off and all the pads he wears to prevent any bumps and bruises.
The real estate company owner has been mountain unicycling since December, when his brother, who lives in Santa Fe, N.M., taught him the sport that he had learned in Colorado.
Masters bought his first unicycle for about $350 and practiced by leaning up against his car, figuring out how to balance. His girlfriend, Anna Woodruff, would hold his hand,
keeping him upright. He got the hang of it quickly, and before long, was commuting via unicycle to the grocery store.
“I have a regular unicycle that I like to ride around and talk on my cell phone,” he said with a laugh. “It’s an unlikely combination … I love commuting with it. It’s just a big time.”
Woodruff, 26, of Marshall, admits she questioned his attraction to unicycling.
“I was a little bit like, ‘You’re nuts. Why don’t you do something that normal people do?’” she said, jokingly. But after a few lessons in the sport, she can see why he likes it. “It’s so fun,” she said.
There are hundreds of mountain unicyclists in the world, Masters said. The sport is most popular in the West, where mountain unicyclists convene annually for the California Mountain Unicycle Weekend and for the Moab, Utah, Muni Fest.
While Masters says the sport is the next big thing, there are some who have done it for years, such as Asheville unicyclist Bill Spears. “Before it became popular, I took a unicycle and put a big knobby tire on it,” Spears, 5o, said. “When I met Adam (on the trails), he told me that this was cutting edge. I was like, oh really?’”
Now the two are trying to get the sport started up in the mountains.
“I think with the interest we’re striking up among people, it just might very well get off the ground here,” said Spears — affectionately known by Masters now as the grandfather of mountain unicycling.
“It’s a great place for it,” he said. “We’ve got all the woods in the world to go out and fool in.”
