The fans of one-wheeled biking are showing-off at their national championships in Palmerston North this weekend.
The nationals are a warm-up for the world event, which New Zealand will host for the first time later this year.
Unicycling originally come out of the circus, but Wellington rider Joe Dyson says he still likes clowning around in front of an audience.
“Everyone always stops and looks at you especially when you jump onto high things and do tricks and grinds. It's kind of like being the centre of attention I guess,” he says.
Many of the competitors at the event have migrated from two wheels to one.
Joe says a lot of the competitors are university graduates also.
“I would call myself a geek. I'm doing a computer science degree and a lot of people here have similar degrees or ‘sciencey’ things,” he says.
The stereotype doesn't fit May Ng, a mother who is coached by former world marathon unicycle champ Ken Looi from Wellington.
She said it took her almost a year to finally attempt unicycling and since then she has never looked back.
The international unicyclist community say they want to see the sport recognised at bigger events, with a long term goal of the Olympics.
Joe says it will still be a while before the sport is taking seriously.
“Things like the Coast To Coast, I think they're quite puritan and only want serious athletes rather than clowns I guess,” he says.
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