Alexandra Acevedo | Contributing Photographer

Mike McHaney is a man of many roles. He is a juggler. At the age of 10, he picked up three balls and taught himself the technique for throwing and catching them. For 50 years, he has never found a reason to stop. Not long ago, he became an artist. He started working in his own form of abstraction, where he manipulates and photographs ferrofluid (ferromagnetic particles suspended in oil). He is a handyman, a biker, and a longtime St. Louis local with a love for all the city’s parks and festivals. He is also a popular face at WashU. 

For several years, wearing his red St. Louis hat and iconic in-ear headphones, McHaney has zoomed through campus on his motorized unicycle while juggling. Since his presence is so fleeting, however, he is like an urban legend. To many students, he exists only through the testimony of those who swear they saw him passing by. He is talked about with a series of adjectives (“captivating,” “strange,” “fast”). It is possible that students have never before been able to use his name.

McHaney’s prevailing anonymity has been heightened by the fact that he is not affiliated with WashU. While his consistent appearance has earned him a reputation here, WashU’s campus is only one stretch of his ride. He lives 10 miles away and has racked up incredible mileage on his onewheel.

“In about four-and-a-half years, I’ve done 12-and-a-half thousand miles,” he said. “I get out as often as I can.”

McHaney and I talked on the South 40 stairs leading up to Bear Necessities. A little out of breath, I admitted that I had been trying to get to him for half a mile, starting at Olin Library. He didn’t recognize the name Olin Library, and I quickly realized why I had been able to catch up: While he was 30 miles per hour faster than me, as a senior at this school, I was well-trained in optimizing paths to get to class in a hurry. I had a stronger sense of the terrain. 

After he was caught, the interview became a public affair. “He stopped the guy,” a student nearby commented to his friend. Another student interrupted to ask for a selfie.

“I’m like, a little famous,” McHaney said with a smile, enjoying what was likely his first chance to talk to a couple of fans. 

McHaney does not mind the attention, nor does he mind when people watch and take pictures of him riding. “I’ll come over and perform for you, if you want,” he said. 

He finds it funny when people try to be sly, holding a phone at their side to sneak a photo.

“I see them,” he said, laughing. “I’ll be bombing along, and I’ll see them out of the corner of my eye, and I’ll go right at them and swerve away at the last minute.” Finding joy in being a public spectacle, he mentioned that during the Great Forest Park Balloon Race, “I ride through the crowd, juggling and stuff.” 

He also finds the motorized unicycle to be a truly convenient means of transportation.

“I pop back up and I’m gone … I’m home before most people are even trying to get out.” And speaking of convenience, “A trip … in my van would cost me three, four bucks in gas, right? This is like 15 cents,” he said.

McHaney isn’t training for anything, but he has, unofficially, completed a world record. He told me that back when he opted for a mountain bike over an electric onewheel, “My record was 15 miles an hour average speed for a solid hour, without dropping it. I’d set the world record on this for juggling and riding, but I just hadn’t applied.” 

Just because he isn’t caught up in competition, though, doesn’t mean he hasn’t faced other challenges.

“My worst accident was right over at the football field … I had just changed the tire, was kind of on a test ride, and just came off it and ate it. But it was amazing because I barely got up and I’m bleeding and everything, and all of a sudden the EMT guys that are going to school here — I guess they’re right there for the football team, so they were out there — they’re patching me up. I’m like, ‘Oh, this is kind of nice.’”  

Why does he get back up and continue to go out as often as he does, riding and juggling simultaneously? The answer isn’t any more complicated than exercise and mental health. 

“People are like, ‘Oh, that’s not exercise.’ I’m like—” He pointed to his abdomen, suggesting the core workout required of balancing on the onewheel as he twists and turns through sidewalks and roads. 

In talking to him, I could see that he has a true love for his unique sport — all the equipment required of it, the entertainment it brings to others, the feeling of the wind brushing past him while “dodging squirrels and dogs, people and bikes.” McHaney is happy to talk about the right shoes to wear and the best shops to go to for anyone interested in getting their own onewheel.  (He recommends Alien Rides.)

Giddy about his gear, showing me how he can go just as fast backward as he can forward, he said, “After a while, I feel like a cyberman or something, and when you get on a nice piece of asphalt, you’re just like, chilling.”

Now, McHaney is no longer a mystery to me, but he will no doubt continue being a source of wonder and inspiration to the WashU community. His go-with-the-flow, youthful, curious, and daring personality is one we can all look up to. 

“I’m 60. If I can do it—” He gestured into the air, inviting me to fill in the end of his sentence and imagine what could be.