Sami Joubert
Staff Writer

It’s no secret that the unicycle club is one of the more outlandish extracurricular activities offered at Westford Academy. For approximately two years now, the club has met regularly and practiced at the street adjacent to the football field. It’s still going strong. Video included.

The unicycle club has been mainly a student run organization ever since it’s inception back in the fall of 2007. This means that the students play a big part in decision-making and come up with many of the ideas, one of such being the club motto:

“It takes twice the skill to ride half the bike.”

Learning how to unicycle for starters is one of the main things that the club focuses on. Because of this, potential members don’t have to be skilled unicyclists to join; they can spend their time with the club learning how to ride.

“We’ve got about 10 unicycles that kids can use to try it out, and you’re always welcome,” said John Wysokowski, the club’s advisor. “Anyone who wants to try it can try it as long as you bring a helmet.”

Unicycling should take an average student no more than a month to learn if they practice regularly. However, it is harder to become skilled at than riding a bicycle is, and requires more balance.

“It’s harder than a bike, because on a bike you only worry about going left and right, while on a unicycle the seat isn’t stationary on a wheel. You can go left and right but also forward and backward. It does require more balance,” said Wysokowski.

As far as using a unicycle as a means for transportation, there are pros and cons. Although a good unicycle can cost less than a hundred dollars, it is simply not a very realistic method of travel. A skilled unicyclist can ride faster than the average walking speed, however it is also more tiring.

The unicycle club at Westford Academy is the only known club of it’s kind in this area. The club doesn’t compete in any local competitions – because there don’t seem to be any. However, should an enemy team of cyclists ever challenge Westford Academy, the club would triumph.

“There is no rival unicycle gang that I know of,” said Wysokowski. “If a rival unicycle gang were to challenge us, I’m on the record as saying we would put them to shame.”