Bits ‘n’ Pieces: Camas man hops a ride to “MythBusters”

Sunday, May 17 | 5:49 p.m.

Top from left: “MythBusters” co-host Jamie Hyneman and Bobby Wood. Bottom from left: “MythBusters” co-host Adam Savage, Daniel Wood and Jordan Thompson.

It typically takes people 45 minutes to get the hang of the Self-Balancing Unicycle, a motorized unicycle created by Camas entrepreneur Daniel Wood of Focus Designs. But Adam Savage, co-host of the Discovery Channel show “MythBusters,” took to it right away.

“He did great,” Wood said. “He’s been unicycling since he was a kid. He didn’t really have any learning curve.”

Wood, along with brother Bobby Wood of Battle Ground and Vancouver videographer Jordan Thompson, travelled to San Francisco in January to meet Savage and Jamie Hyneman, another “MythBusters” host, and bring them one of 30-year-old Wood’s unicycles. Wood’s invention could appear on “MythBusters,” he said.

Wood said Savage had contacted him after seeing a video he put on YouTube of himself riding a Self-Balancing Unicycle.

“He’s geeky. He’s a big kid. He likes to try new things,” Wood said.

Wood designs and builds the unicycles himself. They retail for $1,890 and are sold through Focus Designs’ Web site, focusdesigns.com. Wood hopes to lower the price as production ramps up.

Unlike traditional unicycles, riders do not peddle Wood’s creation. It’s battery-powered, which takes care of forward and backwards movement. So all people have to do is twist their bodies as they ride to balance from side to side.

“It’s like a trainer for a regular unicycle,” Wood said.

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