Terry "Unigeezer" Peterson

Unicyclist, 52, finds audience on YouTube, but longs for competition

Tennis was never his thing. He had been a runner, but he was not sure his knees were up to that any longer. Mountain biking did not much appeal to him.
 
But Terry Peterson, a piano tuner by trade in the Los Angeles suburb of Lomita, was closing in on 50 and needed something. He loved his work but not the fact that it's sedentary. And while he was not exactly heavy, his weight was sneaking up a bit and his pants were getting a little tight around the waist.

Enter unicycling. Again. "I started riding on a basic Schwinn unicycle in 1966 when I was 10 years old," Peterson said.

Got pretty good back then. Forty years later, he took it up again. "I figured why not try unicycling and see what comes of it," Peterson said.

Turns out riding a unicycle is like riding a bike: You don't forget. Peterson not only remembered. He got hooked, on mountain unicycling in particular, partly because he discovered a website: unicyclist.com. "That opened up a whole new world and it kind of snowballed from there," he said. "It changed my life forever."

Now, a couple of years and about 100 unicycling videos full of drops off rocks and over stairs and rides up steep ascents later, Terry Peterson is the Unigeezer on YouTube.com and a one-wheeled inspiration to kids half -- heck, a quarter -- his age. Click here to see a Unigeezer video on the Masters athlete home page.

"Terry is always challenging himself and trying to improve," said Adam Brody, organizer of the Orange County Unicyclists in California. "He comes along on a lot of our rides and brings a lot of energy to the group."

Peterson turned 52 on Jan. 15: Most of the riders in Brody's club range from the second grade to the ninth. Like many mountain unicyclists, Peterson rides mostly for fun and fitness. He's on one of his several unicycles -- he has different models for different uses -- usually seven days a week.

But he's also on the lookout for competitions and a chance to test himself against others, as well as against rocky trails and over and off obstacles both manmade and natural.

There aren't many chances, though, to go up against riders his own age, since there aren't a whole lot of them in the first place. Peterson plans to be at the ninth annual Moab Muni Fest in Utah on March 28-30 this year and likely will compete in events such as che challenge ride competition against all ages. "I've decided at the next event I'll compete against the younger riders on their own terms," Peterson said. "I'm pushing the envelope so much more this year, I'm willing to do so much more."

One of his most recent videos -- he calls it Crazy Eights -- showcases one of his most impressive achievements: dropping down over eight stairs. "I can't do that," said Brody, 22. "I'm not sure anybody in the club can."

Yes, Terry Peterson is always pushing. "The fact he's 51 doesn't matter," said John Long, who rides with Peterson. "He's young at heart and he's very fit. He's getting good, no question about it."

Long, who is well-known in the rock climbing world, knows a little about fitness and getting hooked on extreme sports. Mountain unicycling is right up there with the toughest of them, Long said. "It's super addictive," he said.  "It's another of those full absorption things. It's such a focus thing. It's so quick and it's so fast and it takes full concentration. You're pressuring like crazy. Your body is always under a lot of tension. Sweat pours off you. . . . If your mind drifts a little bit, you're going to fall."

And tumbling downhill off a mountain unicycle in a rock field is not a good thing. That's at Long and Peterson's extreme end of things. Most anyone, most any age, can learn to unicycle, Peterson said. "The hardest thing is getting over the sense you can't do it, the fear that someone is going to kill themselves on it," he said. "That's an unfounded fear. Ninety-nine percent of the time if you come off it, you walk off it."

A helmet and shin pads are always recommended, though, and a good shoulder, or bench, to lean on is very helpful at the start. "If you can ride a bicycle and have a basic sense of balance, anyone can learn," Peterson said. "All you need is a little determination and focus and to not give up. I tell people they can learn how to ride a unicycle -- basically ride it in a straight line back and forth -- within a week with practicing 15 to 30 minutes a day."

Starring in a UniGeezer video -- or riding up or down a steep mountain pitch with Peterson -- takes a tad more time and practice.