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All about the 1

Unicyclist Jared Stoltzfus explores the valley’s narrow trails on one wheel. Jason Kauffman joins him on his hair-raising exploits. Photos by Craig Wolfrom.

Riding the Wood River Valley’s backcountry trails can be a challenging, hair-raising adventure—just ask Hailey’s Jared Stoltzfus.

On any given ride, the 18-year-old may come across hidden tree roots, formidable rock gardens, loose sand and gravel, steep switchbacks and errant canines. Any one or a combination thereof has the potential to send the tall, lanky rider spinning out of control.

It’s a risky obstacle course for any rider—but especially so for a rider minus one wheel. You see, for Jared, mountain biking apparently isn’t challenging enough—he travels the valley’s single-track trails on a unicycle.

On a recent ride with Jared out Adams Gulch, the young adventure seeker gave me a glimpse into his one-wheeling passion.

For nearly two hours, I rode second in line behind Jared. Whether it was the steep, rocky stretches, the downhill, winding switchbacks or foot-deep creek crossings, he skillfully negotiated each impediment on his beefed up, off-road unicycle as easy as you please.

A 2006 Wood River High School graduate, Jared has been unicycling since he was 11. His father, Joe Stoltzfus, has been a unicyclist for nearly 40 years, and it was he who got the junior Stoltzfus into this challenging, albeit relatively unknown, sport. Still, beyond his father’s influence, Jared likes to ride on one wheel for another more personal reason.

"It’s very cathartic," he said.

Jared says he doesn’t focus well on other organized sports such as baseball, but excels at the intense focus required for unicycling. Simply put, lose your focus while riding a unicycle and you’ll quickly fall flat on your face.

"I can ride some really difficult rocky downhill, and I’ll get to a level road and I’ll just fall because I’ve lost my focus," he explained.

Unicycling is an individualistic sport, Jared said, while we rested for a moment at the top of Sunnyside Trail mid-way through our ride.

"It’s all about the one," he quipped.

A decidedly less-technical affair than regular bicycles, unicycles have no brakes, gears or controls beyond those your hips and core strength naturally provide. On Jared’s mountain unicycle, a 26-inch tall, three-inch wide knobby tire designed for downhill mountain bikes provides the traction, while the simple contraption’s padded hourglass-shaped seat and small wooden handle underneath gives the leverage needed to negotiate rough, winding trails.

Slowing down is achieved by pushing back on the pedals and cranks, which are directly connected to the specially made unicycle hub. Because of the direct crank-to-hub connection, there’s also no coasting. Think the constantly rotating pedals of a fixed-gear bicycle.

Despite his eye-popping, one-wheeling skills, Stoltzfus says he’s pretty good at falling. "I tell people falling is my real hobby," he said.

But don’t let his modesty fool you. From what I could gather during our ride, he doesn’t fall all that often.

Out on the trail, Jared’s presence often attracts inquisitive stares as well as humorous remarks. "The most common is people asking me if I’ve lost a wheel," he said. "If I’m unicycling with somebody who’s in front of me I can tell the passerby that they stole it."

Watching Jared mature as a unicyclist, since he began the sport as an 11-year-old, has been enjoyable, his mother, Judy Stoltzfus, said. "I was really proud of him."

For the past eight years, the Stoltzfus family has attended the Moab MUni Fest (www.moabmunifest.homestead.com), an annual get-together of mountain unicyclists in Moab, Utah.

Judy said that in its first year, only 11 people showed up at the event. Today, more than 200 mountain unicyclists typically attend, a significant number given their individualistic tendencies.

"Someone once said it’s like herding cats," said Judy. "They’re pretty interesting people."