Butler Wobble

First up- New News: Lumber Cross, the indoor cyclocross race at The Wheel Mill will have a unicycle division.  We will be racing a bit later in the evening.  The uni race will be sometime after 7pm.   http://www.thewheelmill.com/lumber-cross-2016/ That means our Y session most likely will only be from 4:30-5:30 on the 5th so we can head to Pittsburgh to catch some of the bike racing fun as well. The next weekend, March 12, the YMCA will be having an evening event requiring both gyms so we will not be meeting to ride indoors. Now- The Wood Fest Recap: To say this was an AMAZING event would be an understatement.  The contests were a blast for both the bikes and unis (sometimes both at the same time), the uni demos were a success, and the hanging out was off the hook- and went well into the next morning.  Since this was year 2 with camping, it's looking like it's an annual event.  If you ride unis or bikes or both, you should plan on making the ...

Join us at  The Wheel Mill  for Wood Fest.  The late breaking details are: There will be Uni Demos from  THICK Bikes  (they're a  Unicycle.com  dealer), a learner session, and Uni Categories in the contests throughout the day.  As of now that will entail a Skinny Contest, a XC Loop Time Trial, and a Foot Down.  We may even have another contest or two as well. We'll also be camping out. We went to the inaugural Wood Fest last winter, and it was the BEST DAY EVER (at least for the middle of winter)! For more details (and to snag a camping spot), follow the link:   http://www.thewheelmill.com/wood-fest-2016/ Join the fun of one!

Save the dates.  Nothing too fancy yet. Just prepare to ride your face off at the first ever Butler Wobble muni weekend. What you need to know (for now): Friday night: Wheel Mill Extravaganza. Saturday morning and early afternoon: Moraine.  After we're tired of riding we can throw disc golf.  We'll be a couple months ahead of the Disc Golf World Championship stop at Moraine. Saturday evening: Grab some grub at someplace awesome.  Then some more shenanigans. Sunday: Heading Towards the 'Burgh.  We'll hit some trails to the south.  Which ones? TBD at this point.  Too many choices. Cost?  Pretty cheap.  You need to support the Wheel Mill on Friday and we may have t-shirts available.  Probably $25ish for all that fun plus you'll need money for food.  We can most likely find a place for you to sleep if you're not a local. This weekend will be focused on fun.  No formal racing.  If you want to do that, we've got those in the que...

First, a video of some tricks from our Canadian friends Ed, Emile, and Hugo.  They're not only great riders, but great guys as well.  You may have seem them in our region before.  They were here for NAUCC 2013 when we hosted it in the Harmony/Zelienople/Portersville area. Next, a quick documentary: Hopefully these inspire you to get off the couch and get on the wheel (yes, we do some tricks and play basketball).  As always, we meet at the Butler YMCA on Saturdays from 4:30-6:30pm until late April.  Friday nights (around 7 or so) we ride at  The Wheel Mill  in Pittsburgh.  Occasionally we even break out the hockey sticks there for some crazy uni hockey. If you don't have a unicycle, we have you covered at both venues.  The YMCA keeps all riding free, and The Wheel Mill offers discounted admission for unicyclists on Friday nights. Winter is still here for at least a bit.  Might as well pick up a new skill or two.

Last night was Jesse's first time aboard a 36.  Finding one to fit him at this stage of his life is a bit of a challenge.  Thanks to  Unicycle.com  and Chris at  Thick Bikes , the planets aligned and a Nightfox was available for demo.  The world won't ever be the same. As you can see, the week before was chocked full of good times too. You can join the fun.  We are at The Wheel Mill most every Friday night.  There's a discount for uni riders. We've got free loaner unis available (Trials and 24" muni) all the time. Last night we got to meet a new rider who has been riding for less than a week.  Ashley's already riding around the nice big open Beginner Room upstairs and working on her freemounting. We're at the YMCA in Butler on Saturdays from 4:30-6:30pm as well.  It's FREE to learn there too. Can't ride yet?  It's time to learn.  Why?  IT'S FUN!

In April of 2013, Pittsburgh officially got it's own indoor bike park.  Well, Pittsburgh actually got a lot more than that.  From the start, The Wheel Mill  not only welcomed mountain and BMX bikes  but unicycles and even Striders for the wee ones too. It's been a home for all things cycling since.  From being a stop during other local cycling events, to being a birthday party venue (wear a helmet)  to just plain being the place with the coolest pump track on the planet. It boils down to this: The Wheel Mill has been ALL about cycling since its inception.  Now it's time cycling is all about The Wheel Mill. Summertime in Western PA is not the time we think of heading indoors for a ride.  The weather's (FINALLY) nice.  There are other things to do. However, it IS Western PA and Winter will inevitably return.  We speak from experience when we say that in spite of the craziest winter we've seen in a long time, we ke...

Thanks Liz Wilson for the photo! It's been a bit since you've seen some news here.  Rest assured, that's NOT because we've been inactive.  Quite the contrary, we've been too busy riding to keep the virtual end of things up to date. The picture above is from the  6 Hours of Brady's Run  race on May 10th.  We're all smiling because this was before it went all down.  Yes, we had a unicycle class with 8 total entries.  It was definitely a FANTASTIC experience.  Not only because we had a great group of riders- including Liz and James from out of state, but because the organizers do an amazing job of putting on an event that welcomes all levels of riders.  6 Hours is a long time to ride a unicycle, but it's much easier when you're sharing the experience with other cycling brothers and sisters- even if they have 2x as many wheels. The weekend immediately after Brady's Run we went to Dirt Rag's Dirt Fest .  We've been there in some ...

What's wrong with this picture? Hopefully we're heading out of Winter soon.  Very soon.  If you're not looking forward to it being over, you might want to see a doctor. With Spring come a few changes to the routine.  We'll be heading back outside a whole lot more.  That means our YMCA indoor time will taper off (typically in April) and we'll hopefully have more group rides outside.  Until then, it's business as usual- Friday Nights we're at The Wheel Mill , and Saturday afternoons from 4:30 to 6:30 we'll be in the gym.  Thanks to the many new riders who joined us and learned to ride this Winter.  It's our hope you'll continue to ride unicycles throughout the snow-less months and join us for some other rides. If you've enjoyed unicycling with us at the Butler YMCA, please consider giving back.  The YMCA has been gracious to keep unicycling absolutely FREE to those in the community.  In appreciation, as the unicyclists, we...

Last night's overall winners of the Skinny Contest were Daniel Collins (for the males) and Danielle Millett (for the females).  A huge thanks to The Wheel Mill and G-Form  for inventing and sponsoring the event.  G-Form awarded a set of pads for each winner! The 15 minute jam format was a lot of fun, but the contest was only the beginning of the evening's good times.  Hopefully we'll get to see the official pics from the contest sometime soon.  Friday night mUni nights at The Wheel Mill have indeed turned out to be fun for the entire family.  Last night we had riders ages 10 and up.  Up didn't stop at 40 either. As much fun as it was, many of us are going to be taking a break from The Wheel Mill this Friday the 24th to be part of a 21+ Night at The Carnegie Science Center .  The theme is Circus Science!  While we don't personally do many circus-like activities with our unis, we do see the connection.  We also can't resist the cha...

First up, the schedule: we'll be at The Wheel Mill tonight and every Friday night (unless the weather gets too dicey to make the drive) from 7pm to close.  You are welcome to start earlier as unicycles are welcome when the doors are open.  If you only have one uni, you may also want to note that we have loaners available for FREE while you're there.  Ask at the desk.  There are two Trials unis and two 24" mUnis in stock at all times. As far as the Butler YMCA time goes on Saturdays- we'll be there every Saturday through at least early April from 4:30-6:30pm.  It's free to ride.  A waiver needs signed and a helmet needs worn.  We have extra loaner unis there too. That brings us to the next point: the Y time has been extremely popular the last few weeks- so much so that we've had almost all of our dozen loaner unis in use!  That's AWESOME!  However, please be patient with us as sometimes we have to share the loaner unis.  We'...

Tomorrow is the ONLY Saturday we won't be at the YMCA for practice.  We will be in the Spirit of Christmas Parade for Butler Light Up Night . Next week we'll be back to the usual shenanigans: If you can't wait that long, we'll be at The Wheel Mill on Friday Nights.  Rumor has it there may be some uni hockey in the works the first or second Friday of Dec.

It's about that time of year again.  Daylight Saving Time kicks in this Saturday.  Looking for something to do to stay moving?  Interested in staying warm?  Every thought of riding a unicycle? Join us.  We start our weekly meetings here in Butler, PA at the YMCA every Saturday from 4:30-6:30pm.  If you have your own uni- great!  If not, no problem- we have extras.  You will need to wear a helmet (we have extras of those too, but you should bring your own).  You will need to sign a release too (parents need to for those under 18).  We welcome all ages- especially 12 and up.  For those under 12 we often accommodate, but a parent will have to stick around while we practice.  So Mom and Dad you might as well give it a try! Unicycling is for everybody.  It's fun.  It's relatively safe- on a 20", you're about as high up as standing on a stair. If this isn't your first time to our site, you've heard all of this before. ...

It's not secret we like the Butler Family YMCA and  The Wheel Mill .  From the top down both have not just tolerated unicycling, but welcomed it in their facilities.  It's been a bit of a paradigm shift for some to see unicycles as not just clowns, juggling, and the circus (although there's nothing wrong with those things), but rather an activity that people of all ages and abilities can enjoy. The Butler Wobble was founded on the principle that unicycling is fun and you should do it.  It can be incredibly athletic if you want it to.  You can enjoy a cruise around the neighborhood or local rail trail or you can enter charity events and races populated with bikes.  We've tried to keep an open mind to what those who join us to ride want to do so we end up in many places with our unicycles- including some parades and basic demonstrations. But what most of us who are heavily involved in the Butler Wobble like to do is ride unicycles for sport. The YMC...

September has just begun.  The days are getting shorter (and hopefully cooler) and we're entering our 3rd season of the year.  For us, that means several things: Item #1- The Month of Mud  race series begins.  In the past we've had several riders compete in this series.  We've had good times.  Hopefully this is the year we can get 5 riders to each race to make an official unicycle class. Check the link for dates.  Note: you should be an Advanced level rider to race all but the cyclocross race.  As far as cyclocross goes, you must be able to control your uni and freemount.  If you can do those things, join us on Oct. 20th! Item #2- The Wheel Mill  mUni Mondays are shifting to Fridays to join Family Night!  This is exciting as we can get the whole family to try unicycling at The Wheel Mill.  For September and October we're committing to being there every other Friday (the odd dates), although the discounted admission and we...

The 2013 edition of the North American Unicycling Convention and Championships is over- minus the cleanup.  As far as that goes, after we get a few trailer loads out of a school parking lot, we'll be good. For those who have been part of the shindig: Thanks for staying, thanks for playing.  Thanks for making it all happen.  Please take some time over the next few weeks to post your pics and videos.  Facebook and YouTube are great sources along with unicyclist.com  forums.  If you have video and pics from The Wheel Mill  field trip, please use #thewheelmill.  If you don't know what hashtagging is, that's fine, spread the word how you can. We (as the Butler Wobble) put on the best possible NAUCC we could imagine.  The hundreds of hours of work putting into getting the ship out of the harbor were well worth it from our perspective.  We're glad it wasn't the Titanic.  We hope you agree.   We wanted to make this t...

The pic above is from our first NAUCC 2013 promotional stop at the Carnegie Science Center .  A raging success- not just because we got to ride our unis around the Center, but because we piqued the interest of attendees.  Speaking of that, we had over 80 people sign the waiver and try unicycling for the first time.  Instagram was busy that night.  Over 2 Night + BIKES exhibit + unicycles = Good times. This is what Kevin put together from our most recent mUni Monday at The Wheel Mill: As you can see, we're aiming to spread the word that unicycling is fun and you can do it if you want to. Our next appearances are at the Miracle Mile parade with Pro Bikes on July 4th- with another appearance on the Butler Freeport Rail Trail at the new stop in Herman.  We'll also be at the Science Center again on July 6th. It's all about this:   www.uninationals2013.com .  July 21st-27th. That's where the real fun will be!

We've always dreamed of a place to brush up on our off road chops regardless of the weather.  Now it exists.  The Wheel Mill  is Pittsburgh's indoor mountain bike park.  And, thanks to Harry and crew, unicycles are welcome too! So, what better way to celebrate this than a weekly uni gathering there?  That's right, mUni Mondays are BACK!  Who's it for?  EVERYONE!  We're looking to increase unicycle ridership in the region.  By now you may have heard that the North American Unicycling Convention and Championships are going to be right here in Butler County from July 21-27 2013.  We want to celebrate this event and encourage people not to give up their bikes, but to expand their horizons.  Unicycling is fantastic for balance and core strength- necessary attributes for biking as well.  As a matter of fact, their great skills for most humans to possess in spades. We want to give people the chance to try unicycling and brush u...