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Seattle To Portland On A Unicycle (July 2009)
I am considering the STP in July 2009. I have a lot of decisions to make about training and gear. If there are any veterans of similar long distance unicycle rides that feel inclined to comment on gear and/or training and their own personal choices I would find value in it, maybe some others here would as well. -- Straightarrow ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Straightarrow's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/18777 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/75225 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
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#2
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Seattle To Portland On A Unicycle (July 2009)
'Here's an old thread I dug up' (http://tinyurl.com/8rjwce), there was a really really long ride-report post in there somewhere. Maybe it had something about equipment in it... I was too lazy to read it all the way through. I keep considering doing STP this year... 200miles in 2 days sounds like a fun challenge. There's a few riders here who have done STP quite a few times maybe they'll chime in. -- Ducttape '-*buy my shirts*-' (www.zazzle.com/ducttapesunicycle*) '*watch my videos*' (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ducttapesunicycle) '*uniman comics*' (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53444) '*original thread for uniman*' (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49862) *'sigged quotes' (http://tinyurl.com/29b744)* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ducttape's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12006 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/75225 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#3
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Seattle To Portland On A Unicycle (July 2009)
Straightarrow;1163795 wrote: I am considering the STP in July 2009. It is on my list. I didn't make it last year. Decide now. Buy your bib early. It will help keep you from backing out. Start training today. See the finish. JM -- bungeejoe ------------------------------------------------------------------------ bungeejoe's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/11677 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/75225 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#4
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Seattle To Portland On A Unicycle (July 2009)
I did the STP in 2005, shortly after my 40th birthday. Bungeejoe did it in 2007 (shortly before his 50th birthday?), and various other people have done it other years. I also tried it in 2008, as a spontaneous post-Ride-The-Lobster event, but I didn't finish that time. I rode 121 miles the first day and then decided that the hotel pool was more tempting than riding the remaining 83 miles on Sunday. I think we've had exactly one unicyclist attempt it every year for the last 5+ years. Good equipment is certainly crucial. A 36" unicycle is the minimum you should try it on -- that's what every successful rider has used. A geared 29" or geared 36" is a more expensive option but would make the ride significantly easier. If I do it again it will definitely be on my geared 29". This lets me ride 10-20% faster, and really confuses the cyclists. A comfortable seat is crucial. Some people like air seats, but there's a new KH seat that is supposed to be better. Handlebars of some sort are recommended. They let you climb and descend hills easier (not that the STP has any real hills) and I find my riding is slightly more reliable when I'm holding my handlebar. Experimenting with different crank lengths is important. I find I can go a bit faster with a bit less knee strain with 125 mm cranks on my Coker, but switching to 150 mm cranks when you are exhausted is a nice option to have at the end. And then, it's all about training. Your limiting factors (assuming that riding skill is sufficient) are likely to be leg strength/endurance, saddle soreness, and nutrition/electrolytes. For leg strength/endurance there is no substitute for putting in the miles. I like doing a combination of commuting (~15+ miles per day on lots of days) and long rides on the weekend (40+ mile rides on the weekend). This is also what lets you know whether you're ready. You need to be doing 80+ mile day rides and 120+ mile weekends to know that you're ready. Preparing for saddle soreness is a mixture of putting in the miles and having the right saddle. Pedaling faster also helps minimize saddle soreness by reducing the amount of time you are riding and by putting more weight on your legs. Nutrition/electrolytes management is, for me, the trickiest part. Despite riding STP and RTL I still haven't figure this one out. On long rides on hot days I get nauseous and it makes it hard to eat, hard to ride, and generally not as much fun. Some day I'll figure out the right balance of salt pills, bananas, grapefruit and other food to keep my body happy. The STP organizers strongly encourage riders to not have a support vehicle, because support vehicles increase traffic and danger. I've always assumed that there is a blanket exemption to this rule for unicyclists. Unicyclists should have a support vehicle because we are doing a more demanding ride, we need more food, we have less time to spare and, we can't predict as accurately how far we will ride the first day. My wife drove support both times I did the STP. We'd meet up three or four times throughout the day to replenish my food and drink, get moral support, and get a ride to the hotel at nightfall. I'd also stop at the official stop points and grab some of their food and drink, but it wasn't enough by itself. Start early. Both times I rode until darkness. It's nice to get in as many miles as possible. Traffic getting to the starting line is bad, especially 'later' in the morning (after 6:30?) so you have to get up earlier than you think, or stay near the starting line the night before. Buy your number and book your hotel early. You can always sell the number and cancel your hotel if you can't do it. It's really hard. It's the hardest athletic endeavour I've ever done. Then again, some riders find that sort of distance trivial, so you may have a different experience, but you're safest assuming that it's a serious challenge until your training proves otherwise. It was incredibly satisfying. My goal was to prove that another birthday didn't mean I was getting old, and I did that, setting a ton of personal best riding records during the training. The moral support from the cyclists is incredible -- you are a superstar to them and you will be told that hundreds of times. That was an amazing part of the ride. For more details my full write-up was linked to earlier, and I think bungeejoe has a write-up somewhere. -- Bruce Dawson ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bruce Dawson's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1299 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/75225 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
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Seattle To Portland On A Unicycle (July 2009)
Bruce Dawson;1164365 wrote: Buy your number and book your hotel early. You can always sell the number and cancel your hotel if you can't do it. Decide to do it, buy your number, and make a little noise about it. Then drive the route to see what you got yourself into. Bruce Dawson;1164365 wrote: It's really hard. It's the hardest athletic endeavour I've ever done... It gets easier if you are well prepared, trained enough, and things go good each day. Bruce Dawson;1164365 wrote: It was incredibly satisfying... Even doing only half of it is rewarding. JM +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Filename: 07STP07.jpg | |Download: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/30722 | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ -- bungeejoe ------------------------------------------------------------------------ bungeejoe's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/11677 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/75225 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#6
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Seattle To Portland On A Unicycle (July 2009)
Has anyone here every thought of(or attempted) making the entire route in one day on a 36'er? I'm considering it... if you were to average 11-12mph you could finish the ride in about 17-18 hours... with enough training it shouldn't be impossible right? -- Ducttape '-*buy my shirts*-' (www.zazzle.com/ducttapesunicycle*) '*watch my videos*' (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ducttapesunicycle) '*uniman comics*' (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53444) '*original thread for uniman*' (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49862) *'sigged quotes' (http://tinyurl.com/29b744)* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ducttape's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12006 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/75225 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#7
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Seattle To Portland On A Unicycle (July 2009)
Ducttape;1165181 wrote: Has anyone here every thought of(or attempted) making the entire route in one day on a 36'er? I've thought about it, but I haven't done anything that put me in danger of succeeding. Doing it in 17-18 hours would be a world-class ride. I only know of three riders who have done 200+ miles in 24 hours, and one or two that might be able to do it in 17-18 hours. But hey, go for it. If your training tells you it might be possible then make sure you start as early as possible and have your support vehicle prepared to tailgate you with floodlights so you can ride into the dark if necessary (they'll kick you off the course if they think it's not safe). It would be an awesome achievement to do it in one day. -- Bruce Dawson ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bruce Dawson's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1299 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/75225 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#8
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Seattle To Portland On A Unicycle (July 2009)
Bruce Dawson;1165187 wrote: I've thought about it, but I haven't done anything that put me in danger of succeeding. Doing it in 17-18 hours would be a world-class ride. I only know of three riders who have done 200+ miles in 24 hours, and one or two that might be able to do it in 17-18 hours. But hey, go for it. If your training tells you it might be possible then make sure you start as early as possible and have your support vehicle prepared to tailgate you with floodlights so you can ride into the dark if necessary (they'll kick you off the course if they think it's not safe). It would be an awesome achievement to do it in one day. that's what I've been thinking... I'm going to keep pumping out the miles and we'll see as the date approaches if it will be possible for me. -- Ducttape '-*buy my shirts*-' (www.zazzle.com/ducttapesunicycle*) '*watch my videos*' (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ducttapesunicycle) '*uniman comics*' (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53444) '*original thread for uniman*' (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49862) *'sigged quotes' (http://tinyurl.com/29b744)* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ducttape's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12006 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/75225 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#9
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Seattle To Portland On A Unicycle (July 2009)
Ducttape;1165199 wrote: that's what I've been thinking... I'm going to keep pumping out the miles and we'll see as the date approaches if it will be possible for me. Sounds good. You should come up to Seattle some time and do a training ride with a few of us. PM me if you want an e-mail address, as I don't read RSU very frequently. -- Bruce Dawson ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bruce Dawson's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1299 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/75225 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#10
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Seattle To Portland On A Unicycle (July 2009)
Bruce Dawson;1165208 wrote: Sounds good. You should come up to Seattle some time and do a training ride with a few of us. PM me if you want an e-mail address, as I don't read RSU very frequently. Sounds like a plan, PM sent -- Ducttape '-*buy my shirts*-' (www.zazzle.com/ducttapesunicycle*) '*watch my videos*' (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ducttapesunicycle) '*uniman comics*' (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53444) '*original thread for uniman*' (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49862) *'sigged quotes' (http://tinyurl.com/29b744)* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ducttape's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12006 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/75225 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
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