Electric unicycle draws stares

When little youngsters see him whizzing by, they suppose he’s a Energy Ranger.

Adults don’t know what to suppose. They need him to cease and clarify himself, however he likes to maintain shifting — on his one motorized wheel.

Meet Tony Roberson, a personable, 68-year-old from Twinsburg who rides an electrical unicycle.

The place does he journey it? All over the place. Western Cleveland suburbs like Rocky River. Jap exurbs like Chardon. In Creston in Wayne County. On highways by means of parks. On the Ohio& Erie Canal Towpath.

On one journey, he rode all the way in which from his Twinsburg residence to downtown Cleveland and again.

Roberson is a diminutive with an enormous white beard. However when he fits up, it’s arduous to inform what he appears to be like like, as a result of he discovered the arduous means that carrying a full helmet and padding makes a whole lot of sense.

When he began driving 10 months in the past on a less expensive, smaller unicycle, he was carrying solely a bicycle helmet when he went down arduous. He didn’t break any bones, however he did a face-plant that required stitches above his eye.

As of late he wears a full face helmet, together with elbow pads, knee pads, hip pads and shoulder pads.

“If you happen to’re driving, you’re going to fall,” he says. “Even the perfect fall. It’s just one wheel. You don’t have the luxurious of constructing a mistake.”