Playing hockey on a unicycle while the puck is lit on fire? Racing down M Hill's mountain biking trails on a unicycle?

These are two of the many extreme events taking place this week as Rapid City hosts the National American Unicycling Championships and Convention. Local unicyclists will defend national titles on their home turf as more than 300 unicyclists from all over North America roll into Rapid City.

"It's unusual and it looks a lot more dangerous than it actually is," said Sydney James, a 13-year-old who has been unicycling for about four years. "It's really just like taking training wheels off a bicycle."

Sydney began unicycling with a friend when they were bored one day and she spotted a unicycle in his garage. Sydney said that they pushed each other to persevere at unicycling until they became more experienced.

"When you are learning to ride you get really frustrated when you can't go anywhere and you're trying really hard," Sydney said. "But it's worth it because once you learn it everything opens up and there's all of this stuff you can do."

This will be the third time for Sydney to compete in nationals. She said that in Rapid City, teenage boys are the most likely to unicycle.

"Even at age 20, people think, 'I'm too old and I could never do that,' when really they're not," she said. "When you look at a lot of people at Nationals, they're older and they still do it. It's safer than a bike, and it's cooler and more exciting."

Interest in the sport has grown locally since the formation of the Black Hills Unicycling Club through the YMCA 4-½ years ago, according to Shawn Hayford, event coordinator.

Hayford said the attraction to unicycling is the perceived risk, just like mountain biking or rock climbing. He said unicycling builds confidence and self-esteem and that anybody can ride, but it takes perseverance.

"I don't know anyone who has gotten hurt unicycling," said Zac Semple, a 16-year-old who has been unicycling for four years and holds a handful of national titles. "As long as you have someone who knows what they are doing to teach you, there's no way you are going to get hurt."

The locals competing at the championships this week specialize in muni (mountain biking for unicycles) and trials (obstacles courses with a set line of travel).

"One of the main reasons why we were able to get the competition is because of M Hill," said Hayford. "It is centrally located and has some of the best trails in the U.S. right in our backyard, and a lot of locals don't even know that."

Hayford and Semple both said that muni is safer than mountain biking.

"On a unicycle you have more control and you won't be going as fast," said Semple. "And it's easier to ditch a unicycle if you are going to wreck."

Local unicyclists frequent M Hill to practice for the upcoming muni events.

"We like to go to M Hill quite a bit because you are never going to really master it," said Sydney. "There are some parts that you can never really ride so you always have to find the best path. It's awesome and so we do a lot more mountain unicycling and trial stuff than other teams; they do a lot more artistic. We aren't really in to that."

Besides the muni and trial events, the competition will also have track and field events such as high jump and 100-meter dashes, long-distance races, basketball, flaming hockey and many others. Hayford said one of the best events to watch is the artistic events, where unicyclists perform a routine choreographed to music that looks very similar to figure skating.

"We want people to come and check out these things at no cost," said Hayford. "We just want people to see what those crazy unicyclists are all about and why there are over 300 unicyclists invading their town."

Hayford said that in the United States, unicycling is more of a novelty, but in other countries and especially in Asia, it is used as a mode of transportation. In some Asian countries, unicycling is even part of the school curriculum.

The competition began Sunday and events will take place at the YMCA's Rapid City gym, Sioux Park track, M Hill, Bethel Assembly of God Church and the Mickelson Trail through Saturday, July 12. All events are free for the public to watch.

Want to try unicycling? Hayford says that it takes the average person 10 hours to learn how and that the best place to buy a unicycle is at ACME bicycles or on-line. The Black Hills Unicycling Club is free for YMCA members and meets from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays. They have extra equipment available for beginners.