Australian Unicycle Society

A young unicyclist has just moved to Newcastle, NSW and is looking for other riders, particularly anyone interested in setting up a hockey team. If you are in the Newcastle area and want to link up, contact the aus_newsletter [at] unicycling [dot] org [dot] au (Newsletter Editor) to be put in touch.

Change of time and venue for Revesby Unicycle club!

Unicycle Revesby meets every Saturday in School term time from 9:30am-11:00am, at:

Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre
150 Belmore Road
Riverwood NSW 2210
(next to M5)

The cost is $5 - bring plastic pedals and maybe a helmet. Come along for a ride around and then, hopefully, a half hour friendly hockey game. All unicyclists welcome! Contact Ashley Curtis - abcurtis_au [at] yahoo [dot] com [dot] au - for more information. Map:

Time to get those big wheels in training for the 10th International Unicycle Marathon Competition to be held on 29th April 2012 in Duesseldorf/Germany. As part of the METRO Group Marathon Duesseldorf (run on foot), each year organisers hold a separate unicycle competition, the only event of this kind in the world.

2011 saw more than 70 unicyclists from Germany and abroad taking part. In 2012, unicyclists will have the unique opportunity to ride in front of more than 400,000 excited spectators right across the city center and some suburbs of Duesseldorf, without care for traffic lights and road rules. Unicyclists from outside Germany are very welcome to take part.

The registration fee for the event will vary between 45 and 70 EUR, depending on the time of registration. Registration is due before 15th of April 2012.

For information: www.metrogroup-marathon.de
and afterwards at: www.rmsv-duesseldorf.de www.rmsv-duesseldorf.de
See also: http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90521

Ok, so this is seriously crazy.  Lutz Eichholz, a 25 year old German, has made his bid for a world record attempt of riding a unicycle over an 8.93 metre line up of beer bottles.  The story was picked up by the The Sun in the UK and has some fab photos of Lutz' attempt.  Great stuff!

After last year’s successful video competition the AUS is proud to announce we will be holding another competition for the 2012 edition of UniNats. The videos can cover any aspect of unicycling. We will hold a movie night at the UniNats where the videos will be judged by the audience.

The video should be no more than five minutes long and in Standard Definition format. High Definition format may not work with our equipment. To enter simply bring your movie to the competition and notify the organisers of your intention to enter.

Just a last reminder that registration prices for Unicon 16 will increase after 30th September.

Visit the Unicon 16 website to register now!

By registering early you lock in the early bird price - you can still change the individual events you want to be in after this date, but you must register by 30th September to get the €160 eary bird price.

You can even get a full refund up until April 2012 if you find you can't attend, so it's worth registering now even if your plans are not yet firm!

Note that the main reason you are asked for qualifying times when registering for events is to select only the top riders from each country when there are too many. Some events are limited to 20 or 50 riders per country - this is very unlikely to apply to the Australian team!

Thank you to all the people who entered the competition. Congratulations to Tiffany for her winning design.  For her efforts Tiffany has won free entry to the 2012 UniNats being held in Melbourne, 9th - 12th March.

Please feel free to post it up on your school, business, community notice boards or even a local bike shop.  The more people who know about the event the better.

Click the image to see full size, or click here to download.

Well the Yunnanuni Tour is over and congratulations to all the unicyclists who took part. A diary of the tour with photos of this gorgeous trip through China can be accessed on the official Yunnanui web site and the 2Tyred web site.  Check out the photos and video of the amazing countryside! 

Welcome home to the Australian team from the Asia Pacific Unicycle Championships held in Seoul, Sth Korea this August.

This was a wonderful and huge event that has continued the tradition initiated in Singapore in 2007, bringing together teams from five Asia Pacific countries – Australia, China (Hong Kong), Japan, Korea, Singapore.

Team Australia boasted Ashley Curtis, Cris Bailiff, Matt Price, Rochelle Braaf, Ty Peters and Tynan Rollo from Sydney, George Cara from Melbourne, and David Buchanan, Rod Lambert and Tom Lambert from Canberra.

Day 1

The athletics competition on the first day was an impressive sight, held in a beautiful sports stadium. With over 400 unicyclists competing, the vast majority of whom were Korean youngsters, there was a fantastic energy to the competition.

Given the number of competitors, races were mixed by gender but had designated age categories including open and masters age categories. The Australians competed in every event - the 100m, 400m, 400m relay, 30m wheel walk, 50m one footed, obstacle course and slow-board - with ability not being a criteria in some events!

Despite the hot and steamy conditions, Ashley Curtis won his 100m heat to compete in the final. He came in 4th overall (showing just how fast some young members of the Japanese team were!) in a time that set a new Australian record. 

Stop Press - earlybird registration has been extended until 30th September

If you're interested in competing on an international stage, want to learn some new skills or just interested in meeting unicyclists from around the world, registration is open for Unicon XVI. This UNICON will be held in the beautiful Italian Alps in Brixen between 20 - 31 July 2012.

There are many events for competitors and non-competitors alike. Non-competitors can register to take part in workshops, courses and social events. Entry fees to all events, shuttle services, shows and more are included in the price of registration.

Competitors can enjoy all the advantages that non-competitors receive, as well as participating in their favourite events.

Register before the end of September 2011 to save with early bird prices. Prices are given in Euros:

Competitors

Phase 1 - 1 January 2011 to 31 July 2011 - €160

Phase 2 - 1 August 2011 to 31 December 2011 - €200

Phase 3 - 1 January 2012 to 30 April 2012 - €240

Non-Competitors

Phase 1 - 1 January 2011 – 31 July 2011 - €80

Phase 2 – 1 August 2011 - 31.12.2011 - €100

Phase 3 – 1 January 2012 – 30 April 2012 - €120

Check out this video of 'the JoltJoker' entertaining Tanzanian kids and adults alike with his unicycle - the locals had some moves of their own...JoltJoker

Mal from Unicycle.com Australia is organising another Muni weekend. This time it will be held in the snow on Saturday and either the snow on Sunday or in the Mountains around Mt Beauty depending on the rider’s evaluation of the Saturday riding. Bring your own Muni but Mal will also have the new Nimbus Oregon on hand for riders to test ride, plus his Surly with a Large Marge tyre. The wide tyre and disc brake on the Oregon should be in their element in the snow. Mal has been living in the Mountains at Mt Beauty/Falls Creek for years and knows the area well, so he can organise some downhill rides to suit riders’ ambitions on the Sunday if Falls Creek is too cold or unsuitable.

If you are not a current member of the Australian Unicycle Society you will need to join for insurance purposes. See www.unicycling.org.au for details. Mal will also have a thread on www.unicyclist.com

RSVP: Mal via info [at] udca [dot] com [dot] au (email )or phone 1800 864 292.

Several months ago, the AUS posted a story about David and Smanna who were unicycling across the country for charity - no mean feat - especially unsupported. Well, they made it! Seventy-eight days (and many sore muscles later!) after they set out from Darwin, they reached Glenelg in South Australia, raising money for the Little Heroes Foundation. You can read more about their trip and check out some great photos at Cycle Sports News.