I started riding unicycles in 1972 after finding one hanging in a friend's garage. He showed me how to ride it and after a couple of weeks of trying, I was off and riding. In high school I rode a lot with another friend on our 20" nearly indestructible Schwinn unicyles. We rode them everywhere: around the neighborhood, over obstacles in vacant lots, and once for what we thought was a very long ride, a seven mile round trip. On a 20" wheel, it felt long but it was lots of fun! Over the years there was always a unicycle somewhere around the house. I'd get on once in a while to see if I could still ride, but really didn't do a lot more with it for a long time. I got married, we had a two sons, bought a farm, raised a few llamas, life was good. About two years ago the state rebuilt and widened the road in front of our farm. While the road was closed we would go out for walks as a family and I would ride the unicycle. They were fast walkers! The new road was built with wide shoulders which allowed me to get to all the quiet country roads without tangling with traffic. I bought a new unicycle with the larger 36" wheel for touring. The speed was amazing compared to the smaller wheel and even more fun! With my wife, Caren, accompanying me on her bicycle, I've put hundreds of miles on it over the last year in the beautiful hills & creek valleys of southeastern Indiana. I'm looking forward to riding the Lobster and meeting folks from all over the world. I've met many interesting people unicycling, and I'm sure the Lobster will be no exception!
Morgan Griffith, near Vevay, Indiana, USA, March 2008, Photo by Caren Griffith
Morgan Griffith, Vevay, Indiana, USA, October, 2007, second day of the the Hilly Hundred in Bloomington, Indiana, qualifying for the Lobster, Photo by Steven Wallace.
Morgan Griffith, Llamas checking out, or ignoring, the unicycle, March 2008, Photo by Caren Griffith
Dan Hansen
I've been a bicycle enthusiast since I was a kid. Perhaps my most formative distance cycling experience was a three day bike trip through northern Minnesota with my father when I was 14. The year after High School, I made a 30-day solo bicycle trip from Minneapolis to southern Colorado and back on a tight budget. Then, a couple years after that, a friend and I rode a 45 day, 4300 mile trip from Seattle to Minneapolis. Logging big miles on the road has long had a great appeal to me. So, when I saw a unicyclist speed down the street in front of my house on an enormous wheel about six years ago, I was immediately galvanized into action. I could tell that it was a touring speed machine! That afternoon, I found a used 24" Schwinn unicycle for $40 and spent the weekend learning. Less than a year later I bought my first Coker. Instant joy!
Dan Hansen, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, March 2008, Photo by Shannon Williams
Dan Hansen, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, March 2008, Cold weather unicycling, Photo by Shannon Williams
Dan Hansen, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, September 2007, Lobster qualifying ride, me at center (helmet) with my kids, Photo by Shannon Williams
Dave Krack
After 31 laps around the sun I'd accumulated a collection of scars from crashing nearly everything I could find with a set of pedals and two wheels. My health coverage was good, so I decided that I needed to answer 'Absolutely.' to the question: "Can you ride a unicycle?" That was 4 about years ago. It took me a couple of years to finally realize: "Hey, riding a unicycle in the middle of winter keeps me a whole lot warmer than riding a bike!" I considered it an epiphany; my wife considered it a reason for me to seek psychological help. After I purchased my 24inch wheeled unicycle a couple of years ago I headed for the woods and attempted to ride the local cross-country mountain bike trails- in the middle of winter. This proved to be VERY challenging to say the least- so much so that I began analyzing other options for my fledgling skills. Flat, smooth surfaces sure looked a lot less frustrating. Around this time I discovered a 20 mile unicycle ride, the Annual Long Beach Island Unithon. I decided that 20 miles on a unicycle sounds like a really good bad idea. I rode my first Unithon on a 24inch wheel in slightly more than 4 hours of saddle time. I didn't actually attend the event, but paid my entry fee and rode the local rail-trail. That painful experience convinced me not to do 20 miles on a unicycle ever again, or at least for another year. By the time my second Unithon (the 9th Annual) rolled around I had a 29inch wheel and had spent most of the winter riding around on snowy sidewalks and most of the spring actually dodging trees in the woods and updating my scar collection. I still can't juggle, but I can stay upright on some of the local trails. Now I've found my destiny- Ride the Lobster. What an idea- 800 km of teamwork over one week in Nova Scotia. I qualified on my 29inch wheel and decided it was time to go as big as I can. Moby, my 36inch wheeled unicycle, joined the stable of pedal powered vehicles and I've started really 'training' for the event (well, as much as I can in the ice and snow of western PA). Since none of my friends warmed up to racing one wheel for hours at a time, I found (actually- they found me) a team of strangers who met over the internet. Dan, Morgan, and I (with Mike as support) hope to finish the week as legends in our own minds.
Dave Krack, Butler, Pennsylvania, USA, February 2008, Portrait on the way home from work, Photo by Marcia Furman.
Dave Krack, Butler, Pennsylvania , USA, October 2007, Day 2 of the RTL Qualifier, Photo by Lisa Krack
Dave Krack, Butler, Pennsylvania, USA, February 2008, Wintry mix on the afternoon commute, Photo by Marcia Furman
Michael Sabourin
A 52 year old anti-entrepreneur. Who works part time for the post office and does other odd jobs to support his activities as a lepidopterists and civil rights activist. His primary activities are fighting against the disparate treatment of and for the rights of individuals with psychiatric conditions; in addition he does systematic work in the lepidoptera family of Tortricidae. Though not known as a cyclist or athlete he has experience in coaching and officiating athletics and supporting individuals in their in daily life.
Michael Sabourin, Ppring in Peacham, Vermont, USA, March 2008, Photo by C. E. Weyland
Michael Sabourin, Riding in Nantucket, Massachusetts, July 2006, Photo by C. E. Weyland