UNICON 21 Unicycling Convention and Championships in Bemidji, MN

by JoAnn Ireland

As a juggler, I’ve been introduced to many skills, art forms, and sports through juggling and one that I am grateful to have been introduced to is unicycling. I learned earlier this year that UNICON 21, an international unicycling convention and championships hosted by the International Unicycling Federation (IUF) and the Unicycling Society of America (USA), was taking place in the lakeside city of Bemidji, Minnesota (population estimated to be approximately 16,000) for almost two weeks from July 14 – 26, 2024. Bemidji is located approximately 230 miles northwest of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN; 130 miles northeast of Fargo, North Dakota and only a few miles from the start of the Mississippi river in the heart of beautiful northern Minnesota. I knew I wanted to check it out to improve my unicycling skills and have a great time; this was like a trip to the Olympics for me.

UNICON occurs every two years and out of the last twenty, 15 have been outside of the United States, with UNICONs 1 and 2 taking place in Syracuse, NY and Uniondale, NY in 1984 and 1986, respectively; Aquadilla, Puerto Rico in 1988; Minneapolis, MN in 1994; and North Bend, Washington in 2002. Other UNICONs have been located in Europe (7), Asia (4), Canada (3), and New Zealand (1). Registration for competitors was $300 (early) – $520 (late) and would allow you to enter any of the competitions and do all things that a non-competitor can do. Registration for non-competitors was $80 (early) – $100 (late) and would allow you to watch all competitions, participate in any workshops and convention activities, purchase dormitory lodging and/or a meal plan, and unicycle at all venues. Show tickets were also available at $15 per person for selected more popular events and were often attended by members of the public. The people of Bemidji were so enthusiastic to have all of the unicyclists visit their city, the convention was really well advertised downtown, and it was so wonderful to hear residents talk about the events and how they had plans to take their upcoming day off from work to go out and watch some of the unicyclists. There were over 40 sponsors for the unicycling convention and championships.

Banners advertising UNICON 21 with Paul Bunyan with Babe the Blue Ox on his shoulders and Paul’s girlfriend, Lucette, both on unicycles, located in downtown Bemidji, MN.

There was an incredible schedule of competitions and events over the two week convention, which made me even more excited to go. The convention and championships kicked-off with the opening ceremonies at the 4,373 seat Sanford Center on Sunday, July 14th that included the Ojibwe drum and dance and land acknowledgment, integral parts to the cultural significance for the Bemidji community. Jamey Mossengren, the Unicycling Unicorn, followed with his juggling and unicycling comedy show, who also made a Guinness World Record attempt for his finale that is in the process of being verified by riding a 44-foot high unicycle while using a safety harness. While I didn’t see the show and record attempt in person, UNICON did livestream many competitions and events on YouTube, including the opening ceremonies and they are available for later viewing for subscribers. The parade occurred after the opening ceremonies, with the route starting at the Sanford Center and traveled along the sidewalk for approximately 1.5 miles with views of Lake Bemidji along the way, ending at the downtown at none other than the very popular tourist spot to take a group photo with the statues of American folk hero Paul Bunyan, who comes in at 18 feet tall, and his ox, Babe the Blue Ox. There was also the option to take a photo with the ever popular and equally blue in color #BEMIDJI sign. Posters of the post-parade group photo were later made available for purchase, a very cool souvenir.

44-foot unicycle designed and built by Tommmi Miller at the unicycle museum at the Sanford Center.

For the unicyclists in attendance, and there were over one thousand of them at the two week convention and championships, the city of Bemidji affectionately became known as the pretty little town you’ve never heard of and is home to Bemidji State University serving approximately 5000 students, where optional dormitory housing and meals were offered at great rates to competitors and non-competitors. Dorm rooms ranged in price from $325 to $574 per person for two weeks depending on whether a single, double, or triple room was chosen. Optional meal plans included breakfast for $100 and dinner for $150 for the two week convention, with a limited number of individuals meals available for those who did not order a meal plan for $9, $12.50, and $14 for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, respectively. No worries if the meal plan wasn’t for you, Bemidji had a vast selection of wonderful, independently owned and familiar chains for dining options with great food and very friendly service. There were also plenty of hotel, camping, and resort options (i.e., staying at a traditional Minnesota lake cabin) available located in the area and near the convention venues. Also during many evenings there were social events at different local restaurants that often stayed open to the unicyclists after normal business hours.

The convention and championships were located at the: 

• Sanford Convention Center (193,000 sq. ft.) that is typically home to college ice hockey games and community events (criterium, flatland, jumps: platform, high, and long; speed and time trials, street, and unicycle games),
• Bemidji High School (IUF slalom),
  • Outdoor track (100m, 400m, 800m, and 4x100m relay; 10m and 30m wheel walk; 50m one-foot; coasting; and still stand)
  • Indoor gymnasium (basketball 3×3 and 5×5, individual and pairs freestyle, hockey, and X-style),
• Bemidji State University gymnasium (small and large group freestyle),
• Giants Ridge and Buena Vista ski area for mountain unicycling (Muni) (cross-country, downhill, and uphill Muni), and 
• Nymore City Park (cyclocross).

A unicycle basketball game at the Bemidji high school gymnasium.

The road events included the 10 km, Double Loop the Lake, and criterium with each event having two categories for wheel sizes, standard and unlimited. The 10k course started at the Sanford Center and was located on the Paul Bunyan State Trail, which at 115 miles is the longest continuously paved rail-trail in the country, and ended at Bemidji State Park. The 10k covered much of the eastern edge of Lake Bemidji and offered occasional views of Lake Bemidji and was mostly shaded by quintessential northern Minnesotan trees. The Double Loop the Lake event was a total distance of 34 miles, which exceeds the IUF Rulebook requirement to have a marathon distance road event and honors the cultural significance of Lake Bemidji for the people of Bemidji. The final road event was the criterium, 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.

Many of the aforementioned events are self-explanatory, like the track competitions, road events, jumps, basketball, hockey, and Muni, but here are some brief explanations for the others, and extensive explanations, complete rules, judging criteria, and required safety gear can be found in the IUF Rulebook. At all of the events that I watched and throughout the convention, the unicyclists truly made an effort to support and help each other, a pleasure to see.

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

X-Style – this is where riders can show off their most difficult skills and performance and falls do not count.

Flatland – competitors demonstrate various tricks, combinations, and attempted tricks on flat ground during a timed run, edgier and more urban in feel than freestyle. Competitors also attempt a best trick.

Competitors practicing for the flatlands competition.

Street – like skateboarding or BMX, competitors demonstrate tricks during a timed run over an urban landscape (e.g., jumps, ramps, rails, stairs) and also show off one best trick.

Trials – takes two forms: speed trials and trials. In speed trials, competitors are paired to clear the same set of identical obstacles (e.g., jumps, wooden beams, stairs, ramps) and the winner has the fastest time. Whereas, in trials the competitors have one hour to complete as many mind-blowingly challenging sets of obstacles (e.g., narrow wooden beams, wooden pallets, wooden cable drums, steep climbs, rocks, tires, a trampoline, a car – a silver Mustang this year with the Minnesota license plate UNICYCL, a slackline), with one set of obstacles (or line) this year coming in at ten feet high. In trials all competitors of the same gender compete at once with the winner determined by who completes the most obstacles. This is a must watch to see serious unicycling skills and the occasional spills.

A competitor in the speed trials at the Sanford Center.

Cyclocross – a Muni competition that is a multi-lap event featuring cross country trails, grassy fields, and natural and synthetic obstacles.

Other UNICON 21 activities included: a movie night, one-day field trips to Duluth, MN or Mississippi Headwaters, a triathlon, a Red Cross blood drive, firefighters fundraiser dinner followed by flaming puck hockey, tubing on the Mississippi, and opening and closing parties. There was also a photo scavenger hunt sock quest where you had to take 25 photos with activities ranging from “You thanking a UNICON director,” “A photo of you doing a volunteer shift,” “A photo of you with someone from Bemidji,” “You trying to ride a weird/unusual unicycle,” “A photo of a piece of public art in Bemidji,” “A photo of you and a current or past World Champion unicyclist,” and “A photo of 30 or more unicycles all in one photo,” to receiver a pair of Paul and Babe UNICON 21 branded socks. A limited number of these socks were also available for purchase.

An incredible highlight and a first for this year’s UNICON was the unicycle museum set up by Jamey Mossengren, who drove over 5000 miles to bring together over 90 unique unicycles with historically descriptive signage and unicycle related items (magazines, videos, t-shirts, and memorabilia) for individuals to observe or ride with collateral provided. Some of the highlights for me included: the newly manufactured 44-foot unicycle by Tommmi Miller of the Unicycle Factory, two different recumbent unicycles, an off-center wheel unicycle, a reuleaux triangle (a curved triangle with a constant width) unicycle designed by Evans Harrel and Paul Hartman, a tandem unicycle for two riders, a wheel barrow giraffe unicycle – filled with dirt and four plants of course, a one-handed unicycle – where the rider pedals using one hand, so many of the rugged mountain unicycles, and ultimate wheels – where there is no seat or seat post. Jamey has said that he would someday like to make it a permanent museum. The convention wouldn’t have been the same without his efforts to bring these unicycles together for attendees to appreciate, observe, and ride.

Volunteering is a huge part of UNICON and competitors and non-competitors are asked if they would like to volunteer when they register and again after they arrive onsite. Volunteers had many different role options (including: setup, tear-down, checking-in competitors for events, wheel and crank measurement, timing, spotting, photography, and videography) and also received a red t-shirt this year that of course included Paul Bunyan carrying a unicycle with Babe the Blue Ox doing a unispin on the back of the shirt, as well as one of the very cool UNICON 21 logos on the front that had a Muni wheel, evergreen trees, and the state of Minnesota. Photography was very important at the championships and convention, they wanted to ensure competitors had great quality photographs and videos of their achievements in the competitions, so much so that they had a photograph sharing site that resulted in over 30 gigabytes of photographs and videos.

Workshops, while limited in number, covered topics for beginners who were learning to ride and occurred on multiple days throughout the convention, spins, to the more advanced for those who wanted to learn about unicycle frame materials, or long-distance road uni-touring. The unicycle marketplace vendors were also more limited than I was expecting; however, it included unique patches, t-shirts, snacks, and some replacement parts. T-shirts and unicycle club branded shirts are a huge part of UNICON, so much so that there is a workshop for t-shirt trading, and quite a few downtown store owners also took part by creating unique designs, including Luken’s grocery store, the Big River Ice Cream shop, and the Lumberjack Shack gift shop.

Since the two 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, and there was also an official UNICON 21 app. There was also quite an effort in the newsletters to communicate other activities going on in Bemidji, like a weekend arts festival, which was a great way to reinforce the synergistic economic impact that the unicylists had on the city.

The location for UNICON 22 in 2026 has not been officially set yet, but 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) has been discussed at the IUF public meeting. For 2028, the rumored UNICON 23 location is Australia.

Last, but definitely not least, incredible volunteers put together the UNICON convention and championships and UNICON 21 was directed by a core team of eight incredibly dedicated unicyclists, led by Kirsten Goldstein and Connie Cotter both of Minnesota, along with 21 directors for the aforementioned unicycling competitions and events, all longtime unicyclists. There were also additional individuals who coordinated the aforementioned extensive number of volunteers, awards, builds for certain events, convention, food, videography, and information point. A huge thank you to both Kristen and Connie, the entire UNICON 21 core team, the event directors, the numerous volunteers, the UNICON 21 sponsors for their support of the convention and championships, the unicycling competitors, and the city of and people of Bemidji, MN for creating a welcoming environment for unicyclists from around the world. More information on UNICON 21 can be found at: https://www.unicon21.us/.

Links:
IUF https://unicycling.org/ 
USA https://uniusa.org/
UNICON 21 https://www.unicon21.us/
Jamey Mossengren, the Unicycling Unicorn https://www.theunicyclingunicorn.com/ 
Sanford Center https://www.thesanfordcenter.com/ 
City of Bemidji, MN https://www.ci.bemidji.mn.us/ 
Bemidji State University https://www.bemidjistate.edu/ 
UNICON on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@unicon-unicycleconvention9298

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