Usually when Mark Miller enters a bike race on a unicycle, his policy is to fly under the radar and ask forgiveness rather than permission.
Miller, astride one of his many off-road unicycles, is a common sight on local trails and at mountain bike races around the region. With his head on a swivel and his ears perked, Miller is careful not to impact races for his two-wheeled brethren, and he’s happy to pull over and cheer anytime a biker overtakes him.
But in the Ski to Sea cyclocross race guide, a unicycle does not meet the explicit equipment criteria, and Miller didn’t want to jeopardize his teammates’ experience by risking disqualification.
Fortunately, Ski to Sea organizers approved his single-minded, single-wheeled pursuit and he’ll be racing on mixed rec team Flotsam.
Miller can hit a solid 15 mph on flat ground and in his past efforts in 2019 and 2023, the cyclocross course took him around an hour. Some elements of cyclocross racing, like twisty chicanes and long obstacle sections, are very unicycle-friendly, but he admitted his vehicle of choice doesn’t give much of a competitive advantage.
“It’s inherently really unstable,” he said. “If I don’t have at least one good crash during a race then I’m not pushing myself.” In unicycling, a crash is euphemistically called an “unplanned dismount.”
Miller rides in a “bubble of positivity,” giving encouragement and receiving plenty of cheers (and sometimes astonishment) from bystanders and fellow racers. No other riders have followed his lead and ditched a wheel, but that doesn’t diminish the fun environment of Ski to Sea.
“It’s such a great display of athletes coming together as a community,” he said.
Miller stores one, lonely mountain bike in his garage alongside his 20-plus unicycles, but when he’s trail riding two wheels, he wishes he was back on his unicycle.
“I just enjoy it more than bike riding. It’s such a physical and mental challenge to be on the cusp of failure at all times,” Miller said. “To duplicate that experience on a bike would require breakneck speeds. There’s something really satisfying about landing a jump or drop or completing a technical trail without an unplanned dismount.”
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
