How I started: After one month, I could ride around the block (about 1/2 mile) falling about 3 times. It took me several weeks to learn how to freemount. I taugh unicycling to my brother, and to a couple of my friends. I used to take my unicycle everywhere I went. I have pictures of my first days as a
unicyclist where I was pretending to be sleeping with my
unicycle.
Well, I started riding the unicycle when I was 11 years old (only a couple of years ago) :)
My mother gave me a unicycle as a Christmass and I learned how to ride it. I have never been a good athlete, so it took me a long time to learn how to ride, but with a lot of persistance, I learned. At first, my mother used to fight me because all the walls of my house were decorated with my fingerprints.
Joining the Federation...
One day, my mother was shopping in a sports equipment store, and she saw a picture of a guy, running a 15' unicycle on a basketball court, hanging on the wall. The picture was labelled "Club de Uniciclos de Isabela" (Isabela Unicycling Club) and it had a phone number. We called right away and they invited me to ride a parade with them.They also told me where to buy a giraffe (6 feet unicycle).My father gave me the giraffe as a birthday present and Ilearned how to ride it right away (with a lot of practice, of course). Since the first day, my father was extremely
supportive and always found ways to keep me involved in
different unicycling activities.
The day that I met them... They were very nice to me, they were telling me about the different international unicycling competitions. They invited me to join the national team at the next international Unicycling Convention, UNICON II, to be held at Nassau County, New York, USA.
It was a sunny Sunday morning in February, 1986.I went to a parade in Dorado, Puerto Rico, and I finally met them. I was expecting to ride the parade in my new giraffe... but I didn't know how hard (and long) riding a parade is. I rode the parade in my standard unicycle and I met some of the best unicyclist from Puerto Rico(and the world). Some of those riders were Jose Rom˙n, Charles P,rez, Daniel Dumeng (ranked 2nd in the world by that time), David Ramos, among others.I was amazed of some of the tricks that I saw like wheel walk, riding with the seat in front, riding backward, and with one foot. They said that I was a very good rider, considering that I learned everything by myself.
Training... He (David) used to wake me at 5:00 a.m. every morning, to run 5 miles. At first it was very hard but since I was inIsabela, I didn't had a choice. I was not sure if the whole thing was worth it... now I know that it definitely was.
Training for my first unicycling competition was interesting. I went to Isabela (where the big unicycling club is) for a couple of weeks to practice for the convention.I stayed with Larry Ramos (the president of the Puerto Rican Unicycling Federation) and I trained all day with David Ramos, Larry's brother, the one pictured on the15' unicycle.
My First International Unicycling Competition (UNICON)...
I saw unicyclists from several countries and met a lot of
interesting people. I could also see saw different kinds of unicycles
including a unicycle with
half a wheel, a unicycle with no wheel (just the seat, the hub and the pedals),
a miniature unicycle, a miniature bicicle, ultimate wheels (with no seat) a 16 footer,
a 20 footer, 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers, etc. I was having a lot of fun.
After getting registered, the races began. My first race was 800 meters. As I was
waiting at the starting line, I was getting nervous. I had to start pedalling on
the right timing... I did not wanted to get disqualified for getting a false
start but I did not wanted to start last either. When the race
started, I decided to do what my trainer, David Ramos, told me, I had to follow
the first rider (whoever is winning the race) in order to have him (her) cut the wind.
At the end of the race, I discovered that I could go faster than the first rider and I
decided to pass her. As I was passing her, I fell from my unicycle but I managed to
get back on and still win the race. I was VERY excited. That was my first international
race and I won!!! I could not believe what I was seeing. I was looking forward to call
my mother and tell her.
My second race was 400 meters. During that race, I also fell but I was not allowed to
get back on, so I got disqualified. When I rode the 100 mts. race, I was being more
conservative and I got a 3rd place (not bad). On the (10 mts.) wheel walk race I got
a second place... most people fell off. Winning one gold, one silver and one bronce
medal on my first day was a lot better than I expected and that motivated me to
practice harder for other events.
A few months later, I went with my father to Nassau County, in Long Island, New York.
I was very insecure about the whole thing. I never thought I was good enough to
compete in an internatioal competition but I did liked the idea of travelling
with my father and spending quality time with him.
During the training, I used to practice with the other Puerto Rican unicyclists
and they used to beat me up in every race.
Come back soon...