Recap: North American Unicycle Convention and Championships 2025 in Rochester Hills, Michigan

By JoAnn Ireland
(Text, Photos, and Videos by JoAnn Ireland)

The Unicycling Society of America (USA) and the Redford Township Unicycle Club (RTUC) hosted the North American Unicycle Convention and Championships (NAUCC). As of 2024-2025, the USA had 441 members and over 130 competitors attending NAUCC 2025, along with many additional non-competitors and spectators.

The NAUCC took place in Rochester Hills, Michigan (population approximately 76,000) from July 20 – 26, 2025. Rochester Hills is a suburb about 30 miles north of downtown Detroit, MI. This year the RTUC also celebrated its 50^th birthday at NAUCC.

The NAUCC is an annual unicycling competition in which riders from any North American country can compete in six unique disciplines including: freestyle (individual, group, and x-style), muni (mountain unicycle) races (cross country, uphill, downhill, and cyclocross), road races (criterium, 10K, and marathon), team events (basketball and hockey), track (100m, 400m, 800m, one-foot, slalom, and wheel walk), and urban (flatland, flatX2, jumps – high and long, street, and trials).

The NAUCC is also the qualifying event for competing in freestyle at UNICON, which is the unicycling world championships. NAUCC is also referred to as the Unicycle Nationals and sometimes referred to as the North American Unicycle Competition and Convention. Registration for competitors was $100 (early) – $200 (on-site). Registration for non-competitors was $40. Membership to USA is required at least for competitors and that’s $40 for an individual, or $75 for a family or club of up to 20 members.

 There was an incredible schedule of competitions and events over the one week convention and championships. The convention and championships events were mainly located at Avondale Middle School in Rochester Hills (basketball, freestyle, hockey, jumps, slalom, track, trials, x-style, and some of the workshops, as well as the public show), but also at nearby Bloomer Park (cyclocross), River Bends Park (criterium), Stoney Creek Metropark (muni and 10K), Romeo Trailside Park (marathon and half marathon), and Modern Skate & Surf (flatland, flatX2, and street), as well as at the DAV Hall in Rochester Hills and Riverside Skatepark in downtown Detroit.

I didn’t attend the entire convention; however, I definitely thoroughly enjoyed the events that I was able to attend as well as the lovely surrounding area. I’m basically a unicyclist who can ride forward, make wide turns, without being able to consistently free mount and anyone at that ability can definitely participate in some of the NAUCC events. If you don’t know how to ride a unicycle, there are plenty of people at this convention who will be able to help you learn. Like juggling, unicycling is also a challenging form of exercise, especially to maintain or even increase your balance for lifelong physical fitness. Riding a unicycle could also be another versatile skill to add to your performance repertoire. Finally, it is also a relatively inexpensive environmentally friendly alternative means of transportation and anytime you ride a unicycle or have one with you, it is observed to be unique and very socially interactive, something that brings a smile to people’s faces and also is a conversation starter.

Criterium event at NAUCC 2025

Criterium event at NAUCC 2025

Here’s some details about some of the competitions. The criterium is a shorter event that is characterized by its tight turns and agility elements, like having to make an 180 degree turn followed by an acceleration and was located at River Bends Park.

Hockey at NAUCC 2025

There were plenty of people playing hockey and for beginners there was also a workshop on how to play.

X-style event at NAUCC 2025

X-style event at NAUCC 2025

 X-style is where riders can show off their most difficult skills and performance and falls do not count. There were numerous individuals participating in the x-style event.

X-style and Freestyle group events at NAUCC 2025

 Freestyle is like artistic figure skating or gymnastics on a gym floor while on a unicycle for individuals or pairs, and is more analogous to synchronized swimming for the group or club freestyle events. These events include elaborate costumes, often makeup, and are set to music and riders are judged on how well they put on a show.

Muni events at NAUCC 2025

This was my first time getting to watch the muni cross-country, uphill, and downhill events and the location was in the beautiful Stoney Creek Metropark with plenty of trees for shade. The uphill course was challenging with some sand and gravel.

FlatX2 event at NAUCC 2025

FlatX2 was a new urban event to NAUCC this year held at Modern Skate & Surf, which was a unique location and very well suited for the event. Riders faced off in a 2 vs. 2 format with two riders on each team. Riders are judged based on the level of technical difficulty and variety, as well as combinations and transitions between skills. The judges determined the winning team of each battle immediately after the battle ends. Riders also determined whether to take a risk and have both riders complete a skill at the same time or have one rider complete the skill.

FlatX2 event videos from NAUCC 2025

Track events at NAUCC 2025

The track and slalom events took place on Thursday, it was a hot day, but many competitors and spectators beat the heat by bringing their own tents to provide shade. Refreshments and snacks were always available for competitors at this and the other events. The track events are great for individuals of all ages and abilities to participate.

Flatland event at NAUCC 2025

Flatland is where competitors demonstrate various tricks, combinations, and attempted tricks on flat ground during a timed run, and is edgier and more urban in feel than freestyle. Competitors also attempt a best trick. It has been my absolute favorite event to watch and you can see some examples of the highlights in the videos below, so plan to park yourself at this event and be completely astounded by the skills of the riders. The winner was Trey Haun and his final trick had to be replayed for the judges for them to wrap their heads around it; it was an awesome competition held at Modern Skate & Surf.

Flatland event videos from NAUCC 2025

 

Road 10K event at NAUCC 2025

Like the muni events, the 10K was also at the Stoney Creek Metropark and depending on your wheel size the race looped the Stoney Creek Lake either on the bike trail for standard unicycles or on the road for unlimited unicycles.

Trials and High Jump events at NAUCC 2025

Trials were located at the Avondale Middle School and competitors have one hour to complete as many challenging sets of obstacles (e.g., narrow wooden beams, wooden pallets, logs, pipes, steep climbs and descends, and tires), also known as lines, as possible. This is a must watch to see serious unicycling skills and thought in how the rider will complete each line, as well as the occasional spills. Because the trials are held outdoors, the preliminary event was able to take place, but the final event had to be canceled due to the possibility of thunderstorms. Fortunately, there was enough information from the preliminary event to determine winners. While I didn’t compete in trials, there were a few obstacles that I’m certain I could have successfully completed, so again, it was very appropriately designed for all skill levels, plus you had the option to have an assist with a small point deduction. Realize though that at UNICON the trials are designed to be much more challenging. The high jump and long jump events took place at the same time.

Extensive explanations, complete rules, judging criteria, and required safety gear can be found in the USA Rulebook Amendments, which is used in conjunction with the International Unicycling Federation (IUF) Rulebook. At all of the events that I watched and throughout the championships, the unicyclists truly made an effort to support and help each other. Other NAUCC activities included: a movie night, flaming puck hockey, and an opening ice cream party and closing dinner.

There were over ten scheduled workshops that covered a range of topics and occurred on multiple days throughout the convention, “I’m new to NAUCC,” “Freestyle judging,” “USA Skill Level Testing,” “Leading a Unicycle Club,” “How to play basketball,” “Flatland Levels,” “How to play hockey,” “Street in Detroit,” “Advanced Flatland,” “How to build trials,” and “What is flatland.” While I didn’t take the opportunity to attend any workshops, I really did appreciate that the effort was made based on the workshop titles to teach beginners new skills. For any NAUCC, I would suggest trying to bring a unicycle, because other than the sale of the convention t-shirt, vendors weren’t in attendance, although there were some used unicycles and spare parts for sale at the events. However, often individuals bring multiple unicycles, so if you know how to ride, you might be able to borrow one, but be sure to bring your own safety gear if you do want to compete in any the events. Unlike IJA conventions and juggling festivals, there isn’t an official gym space where people go to just practice for the entire convention, NAUCC is a very competition-based convention for the entire week.

Since the one week schedule was designed and set in advance, daily email newsletter communications were distributed to participants to provide more timely updates regarding the schedule, locations, or any urgent volunteer requests. It takes a lot of effort to put on the events and the volunteers play a huge part in the overall success.

Detroit, Michigan

While Rochester Hills is a suburb of Detroit, I did spend a few hours downtown and found it to be lively with plenty of restaurants and summertime activity, especially due to a baseball game.

The Unicycling Society of America does sponsor other upcoming events, including the STOMP Unifest in Pelham, Alabama that is taking place October 16-19, 2025; the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade that is taking place November 27, 2025; as well as the annual Moab Munifest in Moab, Utah that typically occurs in March.

The location for NAUCC in 2026 has not been officially set yet, but the Madison Unicyclists out of Madison, Wisconsin have submitted an application to host next year’s NAUCC in the summer of 2026. After having attended the Madison Area Jugglers Madfest in January 2025, the one thing I heard while there is if you liked Madison in the winter, which I did, come back to see it in the summer!

If you are interested in other upcoming unicycling events, the location for UNICON22 is in the mountainous city of Steyr, Austria (geographically located between Munich, Germany, 155 miles (260 km) to the west; Prague, Czech Republic 170 miles (283 km) to the north; and Vienna, Austria 100 miles (165 km) to the east) and it will be taking place July 24 – August 8, 2026, which is sponsored by the IUF. For 2028, the UNICON23 location is Australia. To get a perspective on the size of UNICON, last year’s 2024 UNICON21 in Bemidji, Minnesota had 906 attendees, with 560 competitors, and 346 non-competitors with 26 countries represented. Because UNICON21 was in a relatively unknown town in the United States, UNICON22 is expected to be a larger event in 2026. And for another perspective on unicycling and unicycling conventions, check out the IJA’s “Drop Everything with Dan Holzman,” podcast episode 140 with Mark Wilder.

Last, but definitely not least, incredible volunteers put together the NAUCC 2025. The USA President is Kirsten Goldstein and directors included Nick Braun, Connie Cotter, Harrison Hsueh, AJ Kinsella-Johnson, Ali Martin, and Richard Tharrett. There were also numerous volunteers at each of the events to help make it a very successful convention and championships.

The Unicycling Society of America has since announced that the Cal Poly Unicycle Club will be holding the NAUCC 2026 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Links:

North American Unicycle Convention and Championships (NAUCC) https://www.unicyclenationals.com

Unicycling Society of America (USA): https://uniusa.org

USA affiliated clubs: https://uniusa.org/Clubs

UNICON22 https://www.unicon22.at/en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UniUSAInc

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uniusainc

Redford Township Unicycle Club (RTUC) https://www.rtuc.org

JoAnn Ireland is a longtime hobbyist juggler who especially prefers juggling beanbags, joggles (running and juggling), and occasionally rides a unicycle. She is grateful for the opportunity to have been able to attend many IJA and regional juggling festivals.