Unicycling Through the Halls of CHS

is right: unicycles are all around us. Just before the CHS Class of 2003 grad and I talked on the phone, I received an email alert, a twitter that announced a unicyclist was traveling west on South Orange Avenue.  Petersen was far less surprised that I was. “There are a lot of unicyclists out there,” he said. “And the numbers are growing.”

Petersen and his unicycle have been seen in the media recently, including speaking to David Letterman and on a “The Enemy Within” segment of The Colbert Report.  It’s a long way from the halls of Columbia High School, where Petersen recalls unicycling.

“I wasn’t always on a unicycle then,” he recalls. “But I took a photography class where we had to leave the room to take photos. I rode my unicycle around the front entrance. There are pictures of it somewhere.”

Petersen recalls that the security guards at the high school laughed, but that’s not always how authorities react. Twice Petersen has received summonses from New York City police, and twice the complaints have been dismissed.

Both times, recalls Petersen, he was unicycling on the sidewalk in the middle of the night. Bicycling on sidewalks is prohibited by New York City law, which specifies two and three-wheeled vehicles.

He’s now taking unicycles further, to the courts, with action against the city of New York that aims to recognize unicycles under the law.

The process is expected to be lengthy, and Petersen will keep us informed. “I first got into unicycling through BMX riding, and I’ve definitely seen the numbers grow in terms of kids who unicycle.  I’m not surprised that it’s growing in South Orange and Maplewood.”

Indeed, Petersen may be the first who unicycled the halls of CHS, but he’s not likely to be the last. Senior Jonathan Schneider, says Petersen, is another fine unicyclist. Whether Schneider has unicycled through the halls or not, Petersen can’t – or won’t – say.

 Do you have photos of Petersen unicycling through the halls of CHS? We'd love to see them: marciaw@patch.com