There is a certain golden-haired, one-wheeled maverick that has seized our imaginations recently. He is ‘Unicycle Boy’. Half man, half machine, he can be seen riding majestically up and down Headingley Road, to and from the University that we call Leeds.

I’d like to make the case that he is more than just a novelty. To date, the ‘Lupton Unicyle Boy Appreciation Society’ has 1051 members on facebook. This is not simply because he is funny or entertaining. He is something much more than that. He is a living manifestation of all that universities are for, that is: enlightenment, progression and acceptance.

The university environment is in a lot of ways quite homogenous. People aim to dress quirkily and uniquely, but end up dressing the same way as everybody else. People, on the whole, do similar things to their coursemates and flatmates. Almost every show of individuality is an attempt to look cool or ironic. In other words, very rarely do we see anyone do anything for the pure joy of the activity itself, rather than for the admiration of those around them. Unicycle Boy is the closest actualisation of that which we thought impossible: the unselfconscious person.

What is so refreshing about Unicycle Boy is the fact that he employs his unusual mode of transport for no other reason than the sheer love of unicycling. He shuns the limelight that has been thrust upon him, lest it soil the sanctity of the ancient bond between man and wheel. In no way is he seeking attention, nor trying to impress anyone, nor fit in with a certain crowd. Unicycle boy is the living embodiment of that old cliché: it is OK to be different. It is OK to do what we enjoy and not look around to see if anybody is judging us. Every single one of us that has ever felt stifled, surpressed or even just bored with the sameness of the student lifestyle rides vicariously with Unicycle Boy as he sails down Headingley Road. A bit of Unicycle Boy lives in all of us. Release your inner Unicyle Boy.

I would also like to dispel some myths surrounding Unicycle Boy. Here are a few:
That he goes by another name. He doesn’t. His first name is Unicycle, and last name Boy. His name is written with a silent ‘K’ before Unicyle but he omits it so as to avoid confusion. His middle name is Stephanie.
That he knows about the Facebook page devoted to him. He considers all computers to be witchcraft and only communicates with other people in the form of jazz haikus.
That he’s actually cycling. This is a common misconception. He is in fact completely legless. The bottom half of his body is composed entirely of wheel.
That he has long, golden, curly hair. It is in fact a wig. It was gifted to him as a child by Chief Windwhisper of the Ratabini tribe as a token of appreciation for having single-handedly liberated his people from the neighbouring Darabana tribe. The wig is the source of his perfect balance. If you remove it, he will simply topple over.

 

Wez Milligan