Senior explores unicycling ability

If you’ve ever driven down Highway 9 in the evening, you’ve likely seen a ginger-haired boy making his way down the bike lane on a unicycle.

More than likely, that boy is senior Zayne Khouja.

Though he is now a dedicated unicyclist, he picked up just last year. Khouja’s uncle first bought him a unicycle for Christmas in 2011.

“I just stored it in my garage, because who rides a unicycle, right?” Khouja said. “But then I found it again when I was cleaning out my garage and I was like ‘Oh man! I’m going to learn how to unicycle.’”

Armed with a newfound motivation, Khouja began to teach himself how to unicycle, using YouTube videos and trial-and-error. It took him about two weeks to get comfortable enough to ride around his neighborhood, but a full month until he was fully confident atop his unicycle.

“I used to ride up and down Highway 9, and I got a lot of really weird looks from people, which was great,” Khouja said. “It’s a great workout, and it’s honestly really relaxing. I even wrote one of my college essays about my unicycle.”

As Khouja’s love for the unicycle grew, so did his abilities. He taught himself how to do tricks, including jumps, 180s and almost-360s, although he has yet to master full spins. He hopes to continue to augment his repertoire through college, which is why he’s looking at schools that boast unicycle organizations, like Harvey Mudd, well-known for its impressive and expansive unicycle club and high number of unicyclists.

“This jogger stopped me once while I was unicycling down the highway and asked me if I went to Harvey Mudd because he had only ever seen people on unicycles down there,” Khouja said. “It was awesome because I ended up getting his business card and we’ve been in contact about Harvey Mudd ever since.”

Generally, Khouja’s favorite places to ride are side streets behind his neighborhood and mountain trails, which he says give him the best workout. He attributes his thigh muscles to the steep incline of some of the paths that he favors.

“The best places to ride always say no bicycles, but unicycles aren’t bikes, so I ride there anyways and feel really cool,” Khouja said.

Khouja is imparting his love of unicycles to his friends, including senior Kai Donez, who is in the process of learning how to ride.

“Zayne just messaged me one day with a link to a unicycle and he was like ‘here’s a good deal for unicycles!’ so I bought it,” Donez said. “I can ride like 20 feet on my own now.”

When asked what the appeal of unicycles were, both Donez and Khouja claimed that being unicyclists helped them to “get ladies.” Donez’s girlfriend, senior Sarah Jin, later denied the claim, but his hobby obviously didn’t scare her off, either.

“I wanted to start a unicycle club at SHS but then I realized that nobody really wanted to join, so I gave up,” Khouja said.

He does feel, however, that his acceptance of the unicycle may encourage others to bring their unusual talents out of the shadows.

“I brought my unicycle to school on Halloween as part of my costume, and I found out that a bunch of people actually do ride unicycles,” Khouja said. “Maybe one day we’ll start a unicycle army.”