Unicycle gives Liberty University student burst of fame

By Christa Desrets
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: March 17, 2008

Two summers ago, Liberty University student Kurt Collins rummaged through the basement of his parents’ Maryland home and found a toy that would later gain him semi-fame on his college campus.
A unicycle.
It was an old and long-forgotten trinket that his father had never
mastered.
But Collins was determined to excel where others hadn’t.
“No one else knew how to ride it, so I figured I’d teach myself,” he said simply, holding his transportation recently while resting on the steps of the university’s DeMoss Hall.
He started out practicing mounting and dismounting the contraption against a wall, also in his parents’ basement.
“I had no idea what I was doing,” he said, but after about six hours, he started to
understand.
Collins traded in the older model for a newer, heavier one with a cardinal-red seat and a thicker wheel.
Now the freshman, a graphic design student, braves the sidewalks of his college daily while wearing a signature grey-and-red, jester-like snowboarding hat. He can balance atop the unicycle throughout the hilly campus even with a heavy backpack and, if needed, while holding an umbrella to guard him from the rain.
As he rolls past his classmates, he gets honked at by passing cars and stopped by students who want to learn how to ride.
He’s adjusted to the unicycle, but not yet to the fame that comes with it.
“I was pretty much labeled ‘the unicycle guy’ in the first week (of class),” he said. “So many people know my name, and I don’t know who they are. I’m not used to that at all.”
Collins tilted the ride’s seat toward him, climbed on and pushed off the ground, holding his arms to the side for balance.
As he headed back to his dorm, he paused at a crosswalk and teetered his feet back and forth on the pedals to maintain balance.
A car turned, then he continued forward as those around him turned to watch