Australian Unicycle Society

The organisers of the Three Ring Circus MTB competition at Exeter, NSW have added a new "Unicyclist" category this year, and are keen to have riders to compete in either the individual or team events.

The event is on July 25th in the Wingello state forest (between Goulburn and Moss Vale) - all the details at the event website.

The ABC documentary show, Stateline, is preparing to do a story on the Canberra unicycling club, ACTURs, in the lead up to the national convention to be held on the October long weekend.

Stateline plans to film different riders performing a range of unicycling feats – so polish up your best acts. A hockey game would be great – if you are interested in playing, let organisers know.

When & where: initially (and perhaps only), this will be a Wednesday night session at Canberra High School, likely to be the last week of term (Pizza Night), 30 June 2010.

How to get involved: If you want to participate and get on the telly, get along to as many ACTURs meetings as you can leading up to the 30 June. Also think about whether you would like to be interviewed - Robert Armstrong will be coordinating a list for the TV crew. If you are stuck for transport etc, let organisers know.

Who can participate:  All ACTURs members and friends are welcome. Beginners are welcome - that’s a story right there.

Contact:  Robert Armstrong (rob @ bullseyegraphics.com.au)  Mobile 0412 923 367

Calling all unicyclists to take part in the Great Unicycle Challenge at the Maryborough Mary Poppins Festival.

Come along and participate in a magical fun day as Maryborough celebrates its unique connection to Mary Poppins.

When: Sunday 4th July 2010

Maryborough is located 250km north of Brisbane and is the gateway to the Fraser Coast. There will be two heats during the day at 11am and 2pm where unicyclists will compete in races including:

• 50m Sprint
• 50m Backwards race
• 50m ride and juggle
• 10m Slow race
• 30m Sky race (competitors must freemount a giraffe unicycle (5’minimum), race to the end and then dismount gracefully).

Great prize to be won and all participants will receive meal vouchers and cold drinking water on the day!

See the website for details of the competition and registration forms.

Any other questions, please contact: Melissa Evans, P: (07) 4190 5631, E: mel [dot] evans [at] frasercoast [dot] qld [dot] gov [dot] au

Following previous successful unicycling tours of Laos, Vietnam and India, Ken Looi will be leading a unicycling tour of Mongolia in 2010. When: Monday 2 August 2010 (Day 1) to Friday 13 August 2010 (Day 12). Price per person: US$1850 ($1850 + $150 to be donated to OXFAM for registrations after 1 May 2010, pending places still being available). Details are available at: http://monguni.adventureunicyclist.com/

Yahoo!7 Sport have an article on the "Top 10 sports that shouldn't be"

Starting out with Slam Ball (trampoline basketball) in number 10, it works it's way through Ultimate Frisbee, Chess Boxing and guess where Unicycle Hockey comes!

FTW!

Triple J Extreme Sport of the week this week was - you guessed it - Unicycle Hockey!

The station asked for Australian players to call in, and Tom Lambert was quickest off the draw and was interviewed about the joys of the game on-air.

The full episode of "The Doctor" is on the Triple J website (unicycling from 0:20 to 0:27), but we've got the interesting section excerpted for you here.

Here's the current rough outline of the Uninats 2010 timetable.

All venues are confirmed except for the street venue and Garema Place booking, however remember all Uninats venues and timetable are subject to change!

Friday 1st October

Saturday 2nd October

Check out this ABC's Behind the News show in which reporter, Sarah Larson, recently interviewed Brandon about his street unicycling.

Ok, I am posting this just for fun. Gizmodo reports that a Corbin Dunn has developed a tandem unicycle - two unicycles, one wheel – it does not look easy to ride! You can read the article, see the video and download the construction instructions – if you like doubling your fun ...

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2009/12/unicycle-built-for-two-cool-design-and...

And the winner is .... Canberra!

With Australian riders full of enthusiasm after the Unicon World Championships in New Zealand, the AUS has received a firm proposal from the ACT Unicycle Riders Association to hold Uninats in 2010 in Canberra, ACT.

The proposal has been accepted by the AUS committee, so lock in October 1st-4th for Uninats 2010!

Canberra is the birthplace in 2001 of both the AUS and the Uninats event. The number of different disciplines and events at Uninats has grown a lot over that time, but Canberra is ready, with the new Mount Stromlo Forest Park mountain and trials courses a key part of the weekend, plans for a larger hall to accommodate freestyle, basketball and hockey and workshops.

The venues and schedule are close to being confirmed, so look out for more news soon.

Uninats is the Australian National Unicycle championships and festival, the biggest event on the local unicycling calendar, so put it in your diary, and spread the word!

Remember, if you are keen to host Uninats in your part of Australia in 2011, start planning now and bring your proposal to Uninats 2010!

Head to Canberra this Easter for the Australian Mountain Unicycling Weekend 2010, organised by Mark Lavis.  The program at this stage is as follows:

2nd April

5pm onwards - meet and greet BBQ (BYO) at 52 Williams St, Watson (for those that arrive earlier in the day, a casual ride at Mt Majura will be organised).

3rd April

9.00 start @ Mt Stromlo.

7.30pm - Mt Stromlo - Night time ride - BYO lights and gear.

4th April

9.00am start Mt Stromlo.

Afternoon - Awards handed out at Mt Stromlo and weekend close. (Riders rider competition sponsored by Unicycle Online)

Night- Possibility of a social event in Canberra Civic for riders. Open to suggestions here.

Please note:  All riders for the weekend need to be current members of the AUS for insurance reasons. Fill in the membership form, or renew online if your existing membership has expired.

Organisers are looking for T-shirt designs for the event so if you have any creative flair, Mark needs to hear from you.

Please contact Mark if you plan to participate so that he can make appropriate arrangements with the Mt Stromlo administrators.  Interested parties are more than welcome to contact him for further information or to pass on ideas to this email address. 

Contact:  Mark Lavis - m [dot] p [dot] lavis [at] gmail [dot] com or (if you are stuck/lost), call on 0403048631

If you like to mix circus and juggling with your unicycling, then make sure you're at the Sydney Juggling Convention next weekend - 23-26 January 2010. If you can't make it to the Convention, don't miss SirkusCircus show, featuring many top performers from SJC - now on  Saturday 23 Jan 2010 at the Factory Theatre (Bookings:  (02) 9550 3666 or on the Factory Theatre website).

By Rod Lambert, ACTURS club president

Congratulations to Canberra riders on a very successful year in 2009. The club had a lot of new riders in 2009 who have all done very well while experienced riders have continued to learn new skills as well. Unicycle hockey continues to be very popular each week and sometimes it has been a tight fit in the school hall. The younger riders have learnt to do “thread the needle” with a nice turn of speed and can now include it in their routine at displays.

ACTURS gave displays at Floriade and the Canberra Multicultural Festival in 2009, as well as a number of fetes. Highlights for the year included club members competing at the Asia Pacific Unicycling Championships in Hong Kong, the Revesby weekend and at Unicon XV in New Zealand.

Congratulations to the 2009 Club award winners:

• Mai Liney - Best 1st year girl rider
• Lauren Van Oosten - Most improved girl rider
• Darcy Matthews-Nally - Best 1st year boy rider
• Koh Bouckaert - Best Male Rider
• Karl Denton - Best Senior rider
• Rob Armstrong - Club Member of the Year

 Photo: Mai and Lauren with their certificates from Rod

A message from Nic Vevers (AUS President) for all Unicon Participants!

I thought I would make a Australian Team Tshirt for Unicon. Picture is below:

If you want one you will need to pre-order within the next week, and pay by the 19th Dec 2009.

You will need to send your order to:

balance-ent [at] hotmail [dot] com

I will then get back to you with my details for payment by Bank Account Transfer.

You need to tell me:

• How many you want
• What size(s) you want (s m l xl xxl) or a chest measurement may help

They will be exactly the same size shirts as Uninats so if you have one tell me the size on that shirt.

• It will be around the same price as the Uninats one depending on how many order (around $25-$30).
• The shirts will be available to collect on the first day of Unicon.

ALSO: If you are in the Australia A Hockey Team and Australia A Basketball let me know if you are interested in a team jersey.

Sorry its late, but if you want to be guaranteed a t-shirt you will need to put in an order quickly.

Nic Vevers

The AUS has received an update from Sid Rajan, who is unicycling from Perth to Sydney (yes, that's right), to raise funds for Australia's Humour Foundation Clown Doctors and an Indian Art of Living Foundation project. A little over three months ago, Sid Rajan rode into Adelaide after 58 days on the road. Since then Mimi the Unicycle hasn't received too much attention. But that's about to change.

Sid is back on the road, having set off from Adelaide on 11 November 2009, in what seems to be the middle of a heat wave. While Part 1 of the ride involved riding through remote areas in winter, this section is going to have a lot more people and traffic, and the heat... One pedal stroke at a time is what they say. Sid sends his thanks to all his friends for their support in getting him back on the road again and raring to go (special mention to Jack O' Neill). We wish him well and smooth roads....

Check out Sid's blog to receive updates on the trip.