Most teenagers wish for a car to appear in their driveway on their 16th birthdays. For marine science senior Jacob Hinshaw, his preferred method of travel became a unicycle after he received one for his milestone birthday. It was an unexpected but life-changing gift that gave him a whole new meaning of transportation.
Now, across campus, many recognize his rubber ducky helmet before being greeted by what he calls his “security blanket” as he admits he doesn’t go anywhere without his unicycle.
As former president and current vice president of the Cal Poly Unicycle Club, and a director of the Unicycle Society of America board, what started as a “silly” birthday wish quickly turned into a passion built on inclusivity. Hinshaw joined the unicycle club shortly after his freshman Week of Welcome, and helped grow it into what is believed to be the largest collegiate unicycle club in the world, doubling in size every year. This July, Hinshaw will bring the national unicycle stage to San Luis Obispo as a director for the North American Unicycling Competition and Convention.
One word that best describes you: Weird
One thing you would bring to a deserted island: Solar-powered flashlight
Your future plans: Hopefully, a job in aquaculture, state parks or fisheries
One object you can’t do your job without: Unicycle, “It’s like my safety blanket.”
A Cal Poly class that shaped your life: Applied Experimental Design and Regression Models (STAT 313)
Q and A:
Fiona Hastings: How did you first find unicycling and why did it become such a passion?
Jacob Hinshaw: I’m one of the few people that started unicycling before coming to Cal Poly. It took me a few hours trying every weekend for like a month or two and I could eventually ride it. I could just barely ride it though. I wasn’t confident crossing the street with it. Until I got to Cal Poly and found the Unicycle Club, which I did know about beforehand. That’s where I really got to learn with other peers helping me. It’s just so much faster with other people. And then I was riding to class. I was riding down mountains. My first weekend the club brought me up Bishop to go rock climbing.
Archana Pisupati: What does it mean to you to bring a national event like NAUCC to San Luis Obispo?
JH: It means a lot to have the North American Unicycling Championship Convention in California in general because it’s normally held in the Midwest like Michigan or Minnesota. The main clubs in the nation are in the Midwest, which makes it hard for clubs on the West Coast. We drove 40 hours each way, seven of us from the Cal Poly club up to Michigan last summer.
FH: What is it about the unicycling community that brings people together?
JH: The community makes me feel really included and happy. It’s very inclusive, especially to like beginners because everyone was a beginner at this at some point and had someone help them. Someone having to learn to unicycle is a good filter for a good kind of person because they have to be willing to look silly, fall in front of other people, get back up again and keep trying even while people are watching.
AP: How do you think your 16-year-old self would react to you being a director of a national competition?
JH: I think he’d be pretty impressed like, “What? I going to do that?” I don’t think I ever would have saw it coming because I didn’t know anything about the unicycling community until I got to Cal Poly. I was the only unicycle guy and now I’m part of a larger community and even in a leadership role, helping get others involved.
For the final Peak issue this year, the Peak team chose to hold exit interviews with nine students on the horizon of impact. Whether it’s going pro in a less-than usual sport, starting a cheesecake business or transforming the music marketing scene, nine seniors in the class of 2026 stood out as those led by influence. Check out the rest of the features here.
