I originally had little intention of riding my unicycle all weekend of October 27th and 28th. The original plan was to do an 80 mile fixed gear bike ride to and from a bike shop mecca with a couple of friends on Saturday and work around the house on Sunday. When one of my riding companions bailed and the weather didn't look promising I figured it was time to ride the uni for a while. I had a vague idea of how long "a while" is, but needed to be sure.
The ride started with a trip to the farmers' market and the local bike shop for some supplies. After that 8 mile loop I arrived home and announced to my wife that this was the weekend to do the RTL qualifying ride (or is it rides since it was 2 days?). I planned a 19 mile loop that I could ride 2 times the first day for getting the mileage and climbing requirements in. What I failed to consider was the weather and how that would substantially increase the difficulty.
The first lap wasn't too bad as I have ridden it on the uni before. Well, it wasn't too bad when the wind didn't blow me off the road. Unfortunately the wind was consistently brutal and I had to resort to dangling arms and leaning the uni just to keep my balance for a large portion of the lap. I should mention my support crew/sag wagon consists of a backpack. Lap one, even in spite of the strong winds was largely uneventful.
Lap 2 became much more difficult. The wind was still rearing its ugly head; it was getting to be late afternoon, and it started to rain. Not a terrible rain mind you, but a demoralizing one. My support crew carried a light set as I knew it would be needed. The start of the second lap also signaled the personal record for unicycle mileage in one day. I like my uni, but haven't had the time to dedicate to properly "training" on it as I just had finished a mountainbike/ cyclocross racing series just 2 weekends before. The last several months mainly left me with commuting via one wheel for my main unicycle saddle time. The commute isn't far, but I have been at it on the unicycle for 4 days a week over a couple of months. Two other significant issues arose on the second lap: saddle discomfort and knee discomfort. I was dialing in the airseat and seat height during the first lap (bad idea) which led to the knee issues on the second lap.
That second lap was tough mentally. It didn't help that since I had decided to do the qualifying rides on such short notice that I hadn't enlisted any one or two wheeled companions to join in on the day 1 adventure. As darkness set in and the temperature was falling into the 40s (F) the promise of a supporting spouse and a hot meal kept me plugging away. I arrived home in the dark exhausted, but somehow satisfied that I had completed the hardest unicycling ride I'd ever attempted.
Day 1 involved a fair amount of climbing- approximately 300m per 19 mile lap and 50m for the first part of the ride. The wind "blew". Day 2 required a better plan...
11/04/2007
171
Day 2, October 28th, looked to be a much better day for unicycling a long (for me) distance. The temperatures were forecasted to be in the 50's with no liquid sunshine and less wind. I formulated a mileage plan based upon:
1. I didn't realize that the first day would be so brutal and the rating would be so high.
2. I needed to involve more human interaction as an all-day solo unicycle ride is mentally challenging and companions would take my mind off the physical aches and pains and the monotony of life at 7.5mph on a 29inch wheel (more about that later).
AND,
3. I needed a shorter course so my support crew (Timbuk 2) could carry fewer supplies and I could abort the mission and get home if the physical problems became overwhelming.
I set out on Day 2's adventures a bit before noon for four 10.5mi laps through town and nearby parks. I planned less climbing on the day as the climbs weren't killing my knee-the descents were. In retrospect, there isn't anywhere I can ride from my house that doesn't involve a good bit of climbing. The weather was beautiful as promised and the first lap went quite smoothly. I even got a high five from a runner passing by me heading in the opposite direstion! Midway through the second lap the saddle and knee problems became an issue. The breaks became more frequent (every 6km or so). At the end of lap 2 I considered abandoning ship. A bit of ice for the knee and the promise of companionship from my neighbor and his daughter (on their bike/ Trail-a-Bike combo) lifted my spirits. That, and I kept telling myself "Rehab is for quitters." Lisa, my wonderful wife and fabulous cook, decided to set out walking part of the route too, vastly improving the scenery. My neighbor had to turn around about 1/3 of the way through the lap, but human interaction gave me enough mental fuel to tough it out for the remainder of the lap. By the end of the lap, the physical problems were mounting.
I briefly considered quitting at the end of lap 3. I knew a fair portion of lap 4 would be in the dark and the 2 days of almost solitude (somewhere in the range of 12 hours of saddle time) were taking their toll. But I also knew that if I could finish I'd have accomplished a personal goal that I'd figured was very improbable.
Lap 4 = mental toughness. It was time to dig deep. About 1/4 of the way through the lap I ran into a neighbor from a few blocks away. He was driving in the opposite direction. As I rolled up towards him he leaned out the window and said, "How long have you been riding? I saw you riding around noon." I very quickly answered with "All day." I knew at this point either the story was going to have a great or tragic ending. Either way, it would be epic. It was getting dark and I needed to move. I stopped briefly to mount the helmet light and was in the dark within 15 minutes. I had well over half a lap to go and the answer my body kept giving was "No.". It didn't matter what the question was. This was where owning a cell phone may changed the ending as I could have clicked my ruby red slippers together and been whisked back to the comforts of home. The halfway point of the lap was where the mind/body deals began. I kept telling my body to make it to a point and we'd take a break. "Just down the hill". "To the park entrance." "You can have a break when we make it to main street." I delivered on some of the deals, but found that my legs had been fully assimilated into the uni. Walking was now more difficult than riding. My right knee was stiff and sore. Once I made it to the last hill home, a somewhat steep brick one at that, emotions took over. I climbed the hill after 90 miles over 2 days. This was epic as I had only about a 50% success rate at climbing this hill on a unicycle less than a year ago. My how times had changed.
Arriving at home I realized I'm now a long distance unicyclist. I also can't wait for my 36" Nimbus to arrive. I'd ordered it the Friday before this epic. I figured if I could ride the 29er with no touring handle for qualifying, the 36" wheel and touring handle will make life a lot easier next June.