Bedford Unicycle

I am such a nervous driver that, despite having passed my test 20 years ago, I still won’t go on the motorway. Yet here I am on a wheel, with no brakes, no steering column and no safety belt. What could possibly go wrong? My adventure began at the company’s base in Basingstoke, Hampshire, where the team showed me the ropes. The makers say you can get the basics in a couple of hours, and be proficient in a day or two. You turn it on via a button on the wheel. The idea is that you stand your feet on two pedals either side of the wheel and simply lean forward to move, back to stop and left and right to turn. Sounds simple — but it isn’t. Just getting on is impossible. It’s so unstable, I need to lean on Fabio, one of the Air Wheel team. The instructions suggest leaning against a wall at the beginning, but I find a handsome Italian man always works better. And when I say lean, I mean cling on for dear life. Even though the pedals are only three inches off the ground, I am terrified. I feel as wobbly as you’d expect from a novice on a unicycle. Balancing seems impossible and for half an hour I do more squealing than a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert. After mastering standing on the Air Wheel, the next ‘step’ is to start moving for a respectable distance. . it feels thrilling, fast, and dare I say it fun. I get confident enough to up the speed — the faster you go the more steady you feel, like a bike. The cold air is rushing through my hair and actually, I love it. Glide to work with the quirky new AirWheel electric unicycle

But after a few minutes, it is possible to safely navigate on the high-tech device which is imported from China But after a few minutes, it is possible to safely navigate on the high-tech device which is imported from China There is only one problem: stopping. You’re supposed to be able to slow down enough that you simply step off and grab hold of the wheel before it falls but going slowly means wobbling, so I panic and jump off instead. As for turning, the theory is you simply lean in whatever direction you want to go, but every time I try, I panic and jump off. Fabio tells me it can take a few days to get the hang of that, so for now the Air Wheel and I will be going in a straight line only. Fabio boasts he regularly goes shopping on his Air Wheel and even navigates the London Underground on it. Inspired by his claims, I decide to give the Air Wheel a go on a busy pedestrianised street. There are people, and benches, and broken glass, and I am on edge. There are shop windows to bang into, signs to knock over, children to injure. Fortunately, those in my path are all taking one look at me and stepping far away. And you do get looks on this thing. A bloke munching on a sausage roll says: ‘You’re not gonna lose any weight on that, are you?’ Charming. Unicycle Pedals, Freewheel Unicycle, Unicycle Kinematics