Riding into Success: Wai Ming Yap's Unique Unicycle Commute

Singapore partner Wai Ming Yap talks about his love of unicycling and its health benefits, the value of perseverance, and falling on his feet.

Tell us about your unusual commuting method.

For a few years, I had been cycling in Singapore, but then about 10 years ago, I took up unicycling. It was hard to learn but it’s been a lot of fun and it’s good for your fitness, so now I ride my unicycle all over the island and occasionally commute into the office, a trip of about 15 kilometers. You can watch a vlog of me and unicycling friends.

What inspired you to unicycle?

When I was approaching my 50^th birthday, I saw YouTube videos of people riding unicycles and was intrigued. I am an outdoor person and liked the idea, so thought I would give it a go. I bought a 20-inch wheel unicycle and tried to learn by myself. It was really tough and so I gave up after a few weeks and put the unicycle in storage. Three years later, I moved, found the unicycle again, and decided to give it another try. After cleaning up the unicycle, I made a resolution: to ride it properly before my 53^rd birthday. In the mornings, I practiced my tai chi and also practiced on the unicycle. Once I got the hang of it, it was really satisfying, so I just kept riding more and taking on further challenges.

Is Singapore well-suited to unicycling?

The Singapore government wants to make the city cycle-friendly, so we have what is called the Park Connector Network (PCN), which is a system of paths that connects the various parks and other green spaces. It adds up to a few hundred kilometers of walking, running, and cycling routes all over the island, which is perfect for unicycling. My house is very near a former railway line from Malaysia to Singapore which has now been transformed into a PCN, so I use that to link up to the PCN, and from there I can get to the office without using roads at all. 

Where else do you ride your unicycle?

Once I got into unicycling, we found new friends who share the same unicycling interest. I will join them occasionally for unicycling trips together. They are good at “muni”—mountain unicycling. I joined them for some muni activities. You can watch on YouTube my first attempt at muni with my friends. There is a YouTube channel of a British man called Ed Pratt who spent four years unicycling around the world, but I’m not ready for that commitment yet!

How difficult is unicycling? Have you ever had any accidents?

When you start riding, you fall off thousands of times, but beginner unicycles are more manageable with the smaller wheel so when you do lose your balance, you are not far from the ground and can usually just land on your feet. By the time you are on the bigger unicycles, it is more instinctive and you rarely fall off. My largest unicycle is now a 36-inch wheel. With the saddle four feet from the ground, if I did fall off I could get hurt. But thankfully it rarely happened on this unicycle, which is named Nightfox!

Are there health benefits to unicycling?

Because the unicycle has no steering, you have to use your whole body to direct the unicycle, which gives you a very good workout, and is especially good for your core muscles. It is also hard work, as there are no gears, so it is good for your legs, and you get to do a proper aerobic workout when you go for a ride. I have done some very long unicycling trips, including recently cycling 60 kilometers for my 60th birthday and topping that with a 100 kilometers challenge soon after that. Riding my unicycle has kept me fit for years and hopefully will do so for many years to come!