bengaluru astride a vehicle that balances on just one wheel and carrying a backpack containing a tent and some healthy snacks siddharth rajan a 31yearold bengalurean unicycles across countries when he isnt climbing mountains for a living it started in 2004 when i spotted a couple of boys of my age playing hockey on unicycles in singapore where i was studying i instantly wanted to do the same the first time was incredibly awkward though however after about six months of practice and hard work i was as good as those hockey guys says sid who was 18 then sid along with his hockey friends formed the singapore national team and played against hong kong my interest in endurance sports only increased with time and the thought of riding long distances on my unicycle seemed very attractive he says two years later sid came across a post on facebook that was organizing a trip to laos we were a group of 17odd unicyclists and we cycled across the country i was quite serious about unicycling after the laos trip he says in 2007 sid embarked on a oneofakind journey he unicylced all alone from delhi to lahore my parents were astonished but they supported me nevertheless it took me about seven days to cover the entire stretch and i met some really nice people i was content being on my own after finishing another unicycling group trip to vietnam sid moved to australia for higher studies there he finished a 5700km cosmo australia trip he followed the coast and covered perth melbourne sydney going further down after completing higher studies sid moved to alaska where he works as a mountain guide i never carried a mobile phone and often my parents would be clueless about me there were times when we werent in touch for two months at a stretch says sid his most memorable trip is the one where he unicyled through the oil fields of us crossing paths with grizzly bears and bisons it was a muddy stretch with no town in sight there were just a few trucks that appeared now and then to supply food to people working in the fields i spotted a couple of bears which made me nervous but i spent two and a half months in their habitat and was lucky enough not to be attacked he says back in bengaluru on a long break sid is now contemplating unicycling and climbing mountains in india but as the next climbing season is nearer he will return to alaska unicycling is not so popular in india and there is no access to highend unicycles that are only meant for long expeditions but itd be nice to see other people try it here he says