August 8, 2002
Sp 11
Contact: Sarah Maxwell
Director of Media Relations
507.646.4184
Written by Danny LaChance ’01
National Mountain Unicycling Champion Joins Class of 2006
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Northfield, Minn.— Extra-long bedding, flip flops for the shower, rolls of quarters…the items on Julie Young’s list of stuff to bring to college would probably sound familiar to the typical first year college student—with one exception. A mountain unicycle, at the top of Young’s list, probably won’t be in most college-bound U-Hauls this September.
Young’s unicycle is as essential and familiar to her as her toothbrush. The 1999 National Champion in women’s mountain unicycling, Young grew up in a family of unicyclers. Her father took an interest in the sport when he was in college, and her younger sister and her older brother, a Carleton senior, have both cycled since they were old enough to pedal.
Living along a ridge in her hometown of Cle Elum, Wash., also helped her to maintain an appetite for the often solitary sport. "I’ve done most of my cycling on my own," she said.
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Young began competitive mountain unicycling as a teenager and eventually decided to enter the 1999 national competition for mountain unicyclists held at Snoqualmie Mountain, Wash. Competing against approximately 30 other women in the 1999 competition, she was the first to cross the finish line of the mountain’s long, deep, zig-zagging cycling trail. "I was exhausted when I finished," she said.
Mountain unicycling differs significantly from traditional unicycling, she says. In addition to the balancing ability and dexterity that regular unicycling demands, mountain unicycling requires sharp focus and learned endurance. "There’s a whole other awareness you have to have about the terrain, about where your pedals are," she said. All cyclists wear helmets, knee pads and wrist guards to protect themselves from the inevitable falls that occur. Even on her winning ride down Mount Snoqualmie, Young estimates that she fell about two or three times.
For Young, the appeal of the sport lies in the subculture of people who practice it. "The people involved are really friendly and always willing to offer advice," she said. Unicyclists even have their own lingo: pedal bites, for instance, refer to the nasty scrapes unicyclists get when they tumble from their one-wheel perches.
Young hasn’t decided whether she’ll petition the Carleton Student Association, Carleton’s student government, for funding to start up a collegiate unicycling club, but she does intend to share her avocation with fellow first-year students in the fall.
Young is one of the 506 new students Carleton will be welcoming to campus this fall. Students in the class of 2006, representing 48 states and 24 foreign countries, arrive on campus September 11th.
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