Wizards 50th Birthday

Quote: Evenbob

You're right, I would win. Never mind.

Weak sauce.

Half an hour would be more like a challenge.

I just signed up for the 40-mile Tour de Summerlin on April 18. This should be about equally as hard as a level 50-mile ride, because the section to and from Blue Diamond is steep.

Probably the smartest thing would be to up and down the hill on a 26", and switch to a 36" unicycle for the second half. But you may consider that cheating.
Presumably you are using the 29" and switching crank length halfway.

Are you riding friends going to be joining you? Are there a lot of children doing the 40 mile ride? Do they get a lot of unicyclists?

How will this result feed into your decision tree? If it takes you 7-8 hours, are you going to shift your 50 mile ride back to California? If it takes you 6 hours you can feel a lot better about doing your birthday ride in Vegas.

Quote: Pacomartin

Probably the smartest thing would be to up and down the hill on a 26", and switch to a 36" unicycle for the second half. But you may consider that cheating.
Presumably you are using the 29" and switching crank length halfway.

Are you riding friends going to be joining you? Are there a lot of children doing the 40 mile ride? Do they get a lot of unicyclists?

How will this result feed into your decision tree? If it takes you 7-8 hours, are you going to shift your 50 mile ride back to California? If it takes you 6 hours you can feel a lot better about doing your birthday ride in Vegas.

I plan to do the whole thing on the 36". I'm getting quite used to it now and the 29" is starting to seem like a toy. The question is the crank lengths. I have holes for 150mm and 135mm. By April I hope to be used to the 135mm setting for fairly flat rides.

I'm pretty sure some of my new unicycling buddies will join me. I won't expect them to ride with me, as they are all much stronger than I am.

If I comfortably can do this 40-mile ride, then I'll keep the 50-mile in Vegas. However, if I don't finish, or I find it extremely difficult, then maybe I'll have to do the 50 miles in California. I'll play it by ear.

This looks like a "serious" event. Looking at the pictures, I didn't see a lot of folks who appeared to be doing a "fun" ride. Everyone had matching jerseys, shorts and jackets. I did see one shot of two women on a tandem, but even they had matching gear. I would have expected to see shots of families with trailers, recumbents, or Penny Farthings if it was more casual.

Maybe you should confirm that unicycles are allowed before giving them your money. It would be a bummer to get turned away at the safety check the day of.

Quote: Ayecarumba

This looks like a "serious" event. Looking at the pictures, I didn't see a lot of folks who appeared to be doing a "fun" ride. Everyone had matching jerseys, shorts and jackets. I did see one shot of two women on a tandem, but even they had matching gear. I would have expected to see shots of families with trailers, recumbents, or Penny Farthings if it was more casual.

I've seen this event before and yes, it is pretty serious. Hopefully a unicycle or two will add some levity to it.

Quote:

Maybe you should confirm that unicycles are allowed before giving them your money. It would be a bummer to get turned away at the safety check the day of.

I'll demand to see something in writing that specifically prohibits them. Even if they can produce something I'll just take off my number and ride the course as a non-participant.

In unicycle news, I rode to Blue Diamond on my 36" today, for the first time. Strava entry. This was one of my longest rides on the 36" and had almost 1500 feet of elevation gain too.

I haven't been following this. But I'll likely be in Vegas in May, from the 11th til the 27th. I'd be happy to bear witness. So, when's the big day?

Quote: Wizard

I've seen this event before and yes, it is pretty serious. Hopefully a unicycle or two will add some levity to it. I'll demand to see something in writing that specifically prohibits them. Even if they can produce something I'll just take off my number and ride the course as a non-participant.

I doubt very seriously they could object to a unicycle in the 40 mile event. A lot of children are capable of 40 miles on bicycle, so that should be more of the family race. They may appreciate the publicity of some shots of unicycles.

Quote: Wizard

In unicycle news, I rode to Blue Diamond on my 36" today, for the first time. This was one of my longest rides on the 36" and had almost 1500 feet of elevation gain too.

That ride is fricking impressive. If you can do 25 miles with that kind of elevation in 3:20 then you have plenty of time to work out any serious pains that you may feel for the first time riding farther than 40 miles.

I'm thinking you are on track 6:30 for the 40 miles race, and 7:30 for the birthday run. I am assuming you won't put major hills on your birthday run.

Quote: Nareed

I haven't been following this. But I'll likely be in Vegas in May, from the 11th til the 27th. I'd be happy to bear witness. So, when's the big day?

Thank you! I think the big day will be the day before or after WoV on 5/16. I still haven't decided on a route but the more people that express an interest in bearing witness the more I'll be inclined to end it in downtown LV.

Quote: Pacomartin

I doubt very seriously they could object to a unicycle in the 40 mile event. A lot of children are capable of 40 miles on bicycle, so that should be more of the family race. They may appreciate the publicity of some shots of unicycles.

I doubt they will object as well and agree that a unicycle or two would be good publicity.

Quote:

That ride is fricking impressive. If you can do 25 miles with that kind of elevation in 3:20 then you have plenty of time to work out any serious pains that you may feel for the first time riding farther than 40 miles.

I'm thinking you are on track 6:30 for the 40 miles race, and 7:30 for the birthday run. I am assuming you won't put major hills on your birthday run.

Thanks! Remember that Strava doesn't count any time against you that you're not moving but I took only about 30-40 minutes total on three breaks on that trip. An urban ride though will go slower for street crossings. Correct, no big hills on the birthday ride, but there will be street crossings.