BURNABY, B.C. — Although it’s not unusual for Chris Bjeldie to walk around his parking garage on rainy days, what he witnessed there a while ago was. “He’s crazy!” Chris recalls with a laugh. “Is he nuts?” Chris noticed a fellow tenant trying—and failing—to ride a unicycle. “To be frank, he was scared,” Chris says. Onil Heppel was also frustrated because after decades of riding his bike everywhere, on one wheel, he couldn’t go anywhere. “To just get on [is a challenge],” Onil says while attempting to step up and balance before having to step-down. “It seems like it doesn’t want to cooperate.” So, Onil asked for help and Chris said, ‘Sure’. “It was interesting to see him trying to use it,” Chris explains. So instead of walking alone in the parking garage, Chris had Onil holding his shoulder for balance and cycling alongside him for support. “Some days I didn’t want to do it,” Onil says. “But I still did it. I never give up!” Cue the inspiring soundtrack and play a sports-movie montage, because after the duo practised daily for more than three months, Onil found the courage to go solo. “I got really motivated,” Onil says before cycling around the parking garage on his own. “That’s a great job! Great job!” Chris claps. “It just feels awesome!” Onil smiles as he rides out of the underground parking and on to the street. Now Onil regularly rides his unicycle all around the neighbour—up to 25 minutes non-stop—the same way some people walk their dogs. “This is my pet,” Onil smiles. “My unicycle pet!” While Onil considers his unicycle to kind of be like a canine, he says Chris is definitely now a friend. “Because without Chris there, I probably would have said, ‘Forget it,’” Onil says. And although Chris considers himself kind of like a coach, he says Onil definitely taught him a lesson in being positivity and perseverance. “Don’t give up,” Chris smiles. “As the saying goes, practice makes perfect!”
