Since I bought my 24” Nimbus II unicycle, I’ve had more options for outdoor riding. The 24” is my default choice when I ride along, accompanying my wife on her evening walks, as it’s way more practical and easier to control at low speed than the 36-er. I’ve been riding the 24” pretty much everyday, and that’s helped me improve my finer control skills. I’ve on occasion even cycled on a bit of snow, but today was different as it had been snowing heavily all day, resulting in a big buildup of snow.

After briefly toying around with the idea of doing an outing on the 36-er, I decided that it would perhaps be both safer and more enjoyable to ride the 24” instead, and I think it was the right call. The deep snow and odd patches of ice under the snow meant that mounting was at least a bit different. I had to be extra careful not to apply too much weight on the first leg, to prevent the wheel from skidding out from under me. The feeling of the tire sliding without much traction was also something that took a bit of practice, getting used to, but wasn’t a skill very hard to pick up. The increased inefficiency due to the extra slippage is apparent, and the effort feels like a continuous climb, even while on flat land. Unicycling perhaps feels safer than riding a bicycle, as there are no two wheels to go in different directions in a skid; the fact that there is but one wheel means you stay in better control, or so it seemed to me!