Riding Bike Trails with an Electric Unicycle (A Single Wheeled Adventure)

On a cool afternoon, I decided to take my electric unicycle (a Kingsong 16x) on a ride through the neighborhood. I packed my camera in my favorite backpack, threw on my helmet with a few other protective measures, and glided off. As I listened to a podcast on a pair of bluetooth headphones, I thought about where I was going…

…And realized, I had nowhere to go. No destination, no plan. All I knew was that I wanted to capture a few nice photos. Even this goal felt vague because I didn’t know what I would see.

Isn’t this an adventure?

An electric unicycle is the perfect companion for a photographer. A peak design backpack and nature.
My camera bag, electric unicycle, a bottle of water and off I went… who knows where?

What is adventure?

I used to think that adventure required some plan, some purpose. But, after a while I realized that you don’t need to step very far from your home’s front door to discover new-ness. Adventure doesn’t even require that you leave your bedroom.

A landscape photo of a bike path with autumn leaves and fall weather
Using a fast lens, I was able to use the shallow depth of field effect to create this image. I like it!

Open a book. Talk to a friend and there you’ll find a vast open territory. Are you antsy for something different in your life? Stuck in a rut? I’ve been there, and now, too, I get bored easily. I want more.

Shallow depth of field landscape photo of the bike path with fencing and the leaves on the paved roadway. Captured with a sony a7r3 and 90mm macro lens
A multi-use path goes to the nearby town that I don’t know the name of.

Then, I stop and listen. There is a sense that you can discover a great many things when you look closely at things. And, that’s what I tried to do as I headed out on my journey to nowhere.

Adventure is quiet, and so is electricity

As I floated past the trees, I heard only the wind and the rustles of leaves below my rolling monowheel. The electric motor pushed me onward as the lithium polymer battery slowly released its energy. In the machine I trust. I had faith it would carry me the 30 or so miles I think it could go before dropping me on my face.

The electric unicycle against a fence with helmet and camera bag. Cruising along nature with this vehicle pev is amazing for quiet adventures through the neighborhood.
An electric unicycle is a magic carpet

What about the photos?

Of course, I stopped when a photogenic scene emerged. Pulling off to the side, I laid my vehicle against a tree. Snatched my camera from the bag, flicked the switch, and composed a few shots. Following the rule-of-thirds, I placed my subject (the path) below the lower horizontal line.

Shooting with a fast lens (a 90mm f2.8 macro) I played around with the depth of field. Who knew you could take nice landscapes with a telephoto macro lens. For this outing, I only had this one focal length. It would have to do!

And, what you see is what I got. The colors on this pleasant afternoon were sublime. The orange, the green, oh my words fail to describe what the images show.

The pathway here used to be a train railway turned into a bike multi use pathway for pedestrians. Using a PEV along this path is a lot of fun and safe.
Vertically composed for my iPhone wallpaper. Share it!

This is adventure

On a day like this, a two hour glide through the neighborhood on a local path brought me some amazing images and a few new insights into how adventure isn’t too far away. Just go outside and take a walk.

You don’t need to go anywhere in particular. Bring a friend and amplify the experience. I found a perfect moment in this solo glide through nature. The decisive moments came upon me one after another as I discovered a few photogenic spots.

And, there you have it. Adventure happens without a destination.

One of my favorite photos of the Fall this year in the Autumn season. The overcast sky helped diffuse the sunlight to bring out some of the colors in the top of the trees. These are wonderful colors for photos and leaf peeping.
This will be my computer desktop wallpaper for a few weeks. I love this image.

Final Word

When I arrived home, I plugged my electric unicycle back into the wall. The battery drained to nothing. Of the eighty or so exposures my camera memory card held, I only kept 6 images. And, if you noticed, there aren’t any other people in my photos.

Well that’s because most of the time, they were photographing me while I rode along on the electric unicycle. What a sight I must have been cruising along at 15-20 mph. Maybe next time I should wield a selfie stick like a jousting knight. Though I might poke someone’s eye out….

Thanks for visiting!

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