Unicyclists Unite (to form a JPL Club)!

May 22, 2024

Black and white image of three individuals (one woman in the back and two men in the center and front), each riding a unicycle on a paved area of Lab, each with a hockey stick in their right hands, playing a game of unicycle hockey.

Clubs have historically been a crucial element of JPL’s culture – from sports clubs, to car clubs, to social clubs, employees could find a group on Lab no matter their interests! New clubs could even be formed by popular opinion, like that of JPLers Don Gray, Hal Gordon, Bonnie Kerr, Steve Wissler, and Jack Lorell, known as JPL’s unicycle enthusiasts!

Black and white image of a paved area of Lab, with two buildings and a truck in the background, and five individuals (two men on the left, one woman in the center, and two men on the right), all on unicycles, linking arms in the center of the frame.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

According to an August 1979 issue of Universe, this group published a call to action: “You cyclists out there who find that one wheel is enough are invited to help form a JPL unicycle club…By forming the club, a group of JPL unicyclists hopes to gain wider participation in the activity and a new offshoot, unicycle hockey. Unicycle hockey, its proponents say, is more intense than jogging, more competitive than golf, more social than tennis and more challenging than skateboarding. At the very least, it’s different.” CL#24-1056

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