Balancing Function and Joy, All on One Wheel | Bellingham’s Unicycling Community

Every one of Christie Scollon’s neighbors had seen her practicing, so backing down wasn’t an option. Christie quickly learned that there were only two ways this could end: either she would land herself in a cast, or learn to ride the unicycle.

Christie’s fascination with the circus arts started when her son, Owen Scollon, learned to juggle in his fifth-grade P.E. class. He started juggling at the Bellingham Farmer’s Market in middle school, and his career took off. Owen was introduced to the Bellingham Circus Guild and was given a unicycle. Now a high schooler, Owen simultaneously juggles, unicycles, and solves a Rubik’s cube as part of his act.

Owen inspired Christie to try juggling. As a professor at Western Washington University (WWU), she wanted to learn a new skill to help her understand the minds of her students who are constantly taking in new information. More recently, with Owen’s encouragement, Christie took up unicycling.