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FAQ's 800km International Unicycle Race - 16-20th June 2008 - Nova Scotia, Canada
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Ride the Lobster Rider Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Rules Are Subject to Change:
The RTL racing and event rules are evolving over time. This document represents the current state of the rules as of May 29, 2008.
All rules are subject to change before the race, although we will do our best to avoid any changes after June 1, 2008 and any substantive changes after April 15, 2008.
FINAL rules will be available on the website on June 13, 2008 and each team will be issued a printed version at check-in before the race.
Event Overview
Ride the Lobster is a unique, international unicycle race, unlike any other ever held, scheduled for June 2008 in Nova Scotia, Canada.
The distance will be 800km in stages, over 5 days with one day having a time trial during that time.
With 35 teams of 3 riders each from around the world competing for well over $10,000 CDN in prize money and equipment, it will be one event you won't forget.
Teams will be tracked and mapped so their positions in the race can presented around the world via the internet.
Date: Monday, June 16 to Friday, June 20, 2008
Where: Nova Scotia, Canada (Eastern Canada, also known as "Canada's Ocean Playground")
Website: ridethelobster.com
International: There are many international teams participating
Why: Edward Wedler would like to do his part in promoting his area of Nova Scotia, Canada. Nova Scotia is recognized as a great province to cycle. There has been a push recently in Nova Scotia to increase tourism and awareness of the area. Edward lives in Nova Scotia and is in the publishing business.
RTL email list
If you aren't already on the RTL email list, fill out this online form: RTL Email Sign-up List
If your email has changed, you can email Nathan Hoover and Andy Cotter at to have it corrected.
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Qualifying Ride
- Two consecutive days with the first day rating 125 and the second day rating 150 (see the rating calculator below). This roughly works out to be 75 km with 500 m of elevation gained for both days. Or, with little or no elevation it is 87 km the first day and 90 km the second day.
- Each team member (excluding the support person) needs to do a qualifying ride before the team can register. This is to make sure that riders who sign up for the event have a minimum ability of long distance riding skill.
- There is no minimum time requirement for the qualifying ride. Each ride can take as long as needed, as long as the rides are done in two consecutive days. If you need 6 hours or 14 hours to get your rides done, both are allowed and acceptable.
- The qualifying ride can be done anytime after September 1, 2007, until May 1, 2008 or the maximum number of teams is reached.
- While it is recommended to do a pre-registration ride with your teammates, the team does not need to do the pre-registration ride together.
- After the qualifying ride is finished each rider submitted their results and they are posted at: Qualifying Ride Page
- Long distance rating calculator: http://www.unitours.org/Unitours/tours/MUT/Rating.aspx
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Team deposit
- Each team has sent in a deposit of $500 CDN
- While this may seem like a lot of money, it works out to $125 per team member.
The deposit will help ensure that teams will be serious about the event before they sign up.
- The money will be used to handle administrative costs and to help defray the cost of the jerseys.
- The team deposit will be made via a PayPal invoice sent to one of the team members
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Team Registration
- Registration is open from January 1, 2008 to April 11, 2008. Registration is currently closed.
- If there are unforeseen circumstances, a team member may be substituted up until June 1, 2008. After June 1, teams cannot be changed.
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Team Information
- A team consists of 3 riders and 1 support person (who is not allowed to ride). Each team is in charge of their own support and the support person is considered a full team member.
- Teams can be of mixed gender but there is no "Men's" or "Women's" competition. While teams should be from the same country or geographic area this is not a requirement. The idea here is to avoid one team cherry-picking the best riders in the world to make an unbeatable "Dream Team". This demotivates the other teams and makes the whole competition less interesting for spectators and sponsors.
- While this will be a competitive event, all levels of ability for long distance riding are encouraged.
- During the race, it is up to each team to decide how to divide the daily distance. This means that after the first 10k, team members can switch off riding at any distance interval.
- There is no age limit for team members but any team member under 18 will need to have a designated guardian.
- Each team member needs to do a qualifying ride before the team can register.
- During the race, each team needs to be self sufficient and can not get any physical support from outsiders. But they can help other teams (i.e. giving food, water, or stopping and lending support). Teams can receive items from the organizers or buy items while the team is racing. This rule only applies when the team is racing. The reason for this rule is to avoid a team having additional support people or resources during the race.
- Each team member will wear a team racing number while racing.
- It is recommended that each team have a uniform to wear.
- A team can get their own sponsorship. The individual team sponsorship, for example, can help a team pay for transportation to Nova Scotia, clothing and equipment.
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Team Support Person
- Your support person is really your team Captain - the person who pulls it all together and makes it easy for the riders.
- Support person minimum age is 18.
- Support person will be in charge of all administration duties and will be the main point of contact for the organizers. If the support person is unavailable, then the team will assign one of the riders to handle the support duties.
- The Support Person is not required to be in the support vehicle. He/She could ride along with the riders providing they do not disrupt any other riders.
- Your support person must attend mandatory race meetings each morning of the race, before the start time.
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Team Vehicle
- Each team will have a vehicle available for the entire tour.
- No extra people allowed in the vehicle unless approved by the organizers. Some exceptions would be approved media.
- If there is a mechanical failure with the vehicle, it is up to the team to deal with the problem.
- For the start of the race each day, the teams can not switch riders within the first 10km unless there is a mechanical problem.
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Lodging in Nova Scotia
- Free lodging for the team members will start on the night of Sunday, June 15 in Yarmouth and continue through Friday, June 20 at Sydney.
- For more information view the
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Team Expenses
- All lodging and transportation is covered during the event.
- Some food will be covered. See the following
- Everyone needs to pay for their own transportation to Nova Scotia.
- All other costs associated not listed above will be up to the team.
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- Ride the Lobster is very inexpensive for teams because of sponsorship. Sponsorship pays for all the race costs, lodging, food, and even airfare for some teams. If there were no sponsors, this event would be very expensive. With sponsors having such an important part of this event, we want to make sure sponsors get as much return on their investment as possible without limiting what teams can do to raise money. As organizers, we ask that all teams respect the RTL sponsors and do their best to not promote any of their competitors that are not sponsors.
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Official RTL sponsors - An Official RTL sponsor is one that has a contract with RTL to deliver cash, services, or goods (support-in-kind) to help the race in any number of ways. They will get priority media coverage before, during, and after RTL. Official sponsors are classified: Event, Stage, Team, Rider, Service/Promotional and Volunteer. Detailed information can be found at: ridethelobster.com/sponsors
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Unofficial RTL sponsors - Unofficial RTL sponsors are sponsors that have not made a formal agreement with RTL. This could be a local sponsor for an individual or team. It could also be a corporate logo on a t-shirt or item. While a team is not racing during RTL, they are not restricted what they wear or what sponsors they would like to promote. When any member of the team is racing we ask that all unofficial sponsors only have logos that have an area no bigger than the area of 64 sq cm (8cm X 8cm) - 9 sq in (3in X 3in). There is some gray area just before and after each team starts and finishes for the day but the organizers ask that people respect official RTL sponsors and use their good judgment.
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Example: A Team has a local bike store to sponsor them, but that sponsor does not want to become an official RTL sponsor. With that sponsorship the riders have a team jersey created and as they are planning to race with that jersey they need to keep the logo of the bike shop within the guidelines. The team name and other art work on the jersey can be any size. The team also makes a t-shirt that they will wear when not racing. The t-shirt can have the bike shop logo any size as long as they don't wear it while any member of the team is racing.
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Prize Money
Cash and cash equivalent prizes totaling CDN $10000 will be broken down like this for the overall team standings:
- 1st place $4000 cash + $1000 Unicycle.com shopping vouchers
- 2nd place $1000 cash + $1000 Unicycle.com shopping vouchers
- 3rd place $500 cash + $1000 Unicycle.com shopping vouchers
- 4th place $250 cash + $250 Unicycle.com shopping voucher
- 5th place $250 cash
- 6th place $200 cash
- 7th place $175 cash
- 8th place $150 cash
- 9th place $125 cash
- 10th place $100 cash
In addition, the following extra prizes worth over $3000 will be awarded to stage winners:
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Stage 1: Team, $250 Unicycle.com shopping voucher
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Stage 2: Team, $250 Unicycle.com shopping voucher
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Stage 3 Time trial: Team: $250 Unicycle.com shopping voucher; Individual: First place, Choice of Schlumpf shiftable hub or Kris Holm Unicycles KH36 voucher. Second place: Schlumpf shiftable hub or Kris Holm Unicycles KH36 voucher.
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Stage 3 Criterium: Individual: 1st, 2nd, 3rd: $250 Unicycle.com shopping voucher; $250 Unicycle.com shopping voucher; and 36" wheel bag from Unicycle.com
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Stage 4: Team, $250 Unicycle.com shopping voucher
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Stage 5: Team, $250 Unicycle.com shopping voucher and 36" Unicycle voucher from Unicycle.com
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Race: Unicycle Type
- The unicycle must have only one wheel.
- Due to the distances involved, the recommended minimum wheel size is 29" but there is no maximum size.
- There is no restriction on crank length.
- Gearing of any type is allowed.
- A brake is allowed.
- Multiple unicycles of any type can be used, swapping out at any legal transition point.
- There are no special classes based on unicycle type or any characteristic of the riders.
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Race: GPS Tracking Unit
- Each team will get a GPS tracking unit and the progress of each team will be visible live on the RTL website. The GPS unit is sealed in a case and cannot be read or tampered with during the race.
- The information will be supplied live to a website.
- It is up to the team to make sure the GPS unit is working before the start of each day.
- If the GPS fails the team needs to contact the organizers and get it fixed or replaced at the next check point.
- The GPS unit has to be handed off (CAREFULLY) to each rider. If the GPS unit is not handed off, the team needs to go back and ride that section over. No exceptions.
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Race: Course Information
- 800km over 5 days, Days 1-2 and 4-5 will be riding with average of 200km for each day. Day 3 will have a time trial in the morning and a Criterium in the afternoon.
- The route will go from Yarmouth in the south (flat terrain) to Sydney, Cape Breton to the north (rugged) in Nova Scotia.
- During each day there will be several check points that riders will have to pass through. This will help prevent a team from taking a shortcut and will guarantee a minimum distance for each day. The GPS unit will determine if rider goes through check point (called "GIS fences"). If a team misses a check point, there will be a minimum of a 2 hour time penalty.
- All teams will start out every day at the same time. The times for each day, time trial, and Criterium will be added together to determine the total time and therefore the winner.
- The course will close at a set time each day. If a team doesn't finish by the closing time they will get the maximum time for that day. For example, if the course opens at 09:00 and ends at 21:00, the maximum time a team could get for that day is 12 hours.
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Race: Time Trials and Criterium
Wednesday, June 18 will be the Time Trial and Criterium
Time Trials (Wednesday Morning)
- All riders will participate in the time trials
- Distance: 21 km
- The Time Trial will start in Hubbards, the race ends at this city the night before.
- The starting order will be published the night before and a rider will start every 30 seconds until all riders have started. The order will be determined by the current placing from the first two days. The order for the first rider of each team will be the slowest time to the fastest time. The second rider for each team will start after all the first riders have started and so on for the third rider. If a rider cannot complete the time trial they will get a maximum slow time.
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Criterium (Wednesday Afternoon)
- The Criterium will be held in .
- All the riders will start at the same time and complete a number of laps.
- Everybody will be timed and there will be a substantial time penalty for a rider that is unable to finish.
- Racing will be in a clock-wise direction (ie, all right turns.)
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Race: Riding Safety
- Every rider is required to wear a helmet while racing. Other safety equipment such as gloves and knee pads are highly recommended. In case of a discrepancy, the IUF Rulebook definition on a helmet will be used. If a rider is not wearing a helmet at the start, end, or any of the check points, they will not be allowed to continue until the helmet is on.
- All local traffic laws need to be obeyed. A summary of the laws will be posted to the website.
- Music and communication devices such as personal music players (Ipods, MP3 players) and hands free communcation devices will be allowed. Riders need to use their own judgement when using these devices.
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Race Start in Yarmouth
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Teams must register in Yarmouth by noon. In order for a team to register, two members of the team must be present.
Monday, June 16, 2008
8:00 ? Opening Ceremonies. All riders will be asked to ride around the town for pictures. This should be the largest number of long distance unicyclists riding at one time.
9:00 ? Race starts. The start will be divided up into rows with three or four riders in each row. For the first day, the placing will be at random. On other days, the placing in the rows will be based on the overall time so the faster teams are in the front.
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Race End in Baddeck
Friday, June 20, 2008
The race ends at 9 PM. There will be no official ceremony on Friday.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Morning - Official closing ceremony with awards.
Afternoon/Evening - Closing Party
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Fun versus Competitive
RTL has room for both fun and competitive teams. While we want every team to take the event seriously and plan on finishing each day, we don't expect every team to be competitive. This is the first event of its kind and we understand that many will be joining the race simply for the experience.
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Finding Team Members
If you are looking for a team, please post a message on this thread at unicyclist.com: http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65640
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Knee problems with long distance unicycling
- For long distance unicyclists there typically comes a time when there will be some knee pain. While the pain can feel horrible, the good news is that in most cases it can be easily fixed. No matter how bad it can hurt, don't give up hope until you try the following suggestions. Of course, if the knee pain is from an actual injury to the knee then the biggest suggestion we have is to give it time to heal.
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Cross Training - Most knee pain from long distance unicycling is because of a muscle imbalance. The leg muscles get so strong they pull on the knee creating pain. By doing cross training it can fix the problem, almost immediately, and the pain will typically stay away for a long time. The best cross training we have found is to go for a run. A 3k (2 mile) run may all you need. On the Mediterranean Unicycle Tour, one rider was having bad knee pain and after he went for a run the pain went away and didn't come back.
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Stretch and Massage - Stretching the legs can make a difference and can help prevent further problems. Massaging the muscles around the knees can alleviate the pain.
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Raise seat - The shorter the seat the more stress on the knees. Raising the seat will take some strain off the knees.
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Crank size - Typically the shorter the cranks the easier it is on the knees. This is because the smaller the cranks the less distance your knee has to travel for every rotation. Of course, going too small before you are ready for shorter cranks might actually make it worse.
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Get a brake - Depending on the riding terrain, a brake (and knowing how to use it) can save your knees. Going down long hills can bother some people's knees.
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Keep them warm while riding - In colder climates, having warm knees can help them work more efficiently. Some ointments like Tiger Balm can also help.
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Lighten the load - Many knee problems are because of the stress put on them. Reducing weight can reduce the stress put on the knees. While getting a lighter weight unicycle may not be feasible for most people, there are other ways to reduce weight. Only carry what you must on your back and try not to carry any extra items on the unicycle itself.
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