Overview:
Ride the Lobster is a unique, international unicycle race, unlike any other ever held, scheduled for June 2008 in Nova Scotia, Canada (over 1.5 years away). The distance will be 800km in stages, over 5 days with at least one day having a time trial during that time. With 20 teams of 3 members each from around the world competing for at least $10,000 CDN in prize money; it will be one event you won’t want to miss. Teams will be tracked and mapped so their positions in the race can presented around the world via the internet.
Event: Ride the Lobster (RTL) is a long distance international unicycle race
Where: Nova Scotia, Canada (Eastern Canada, also known as “Canada’s Ocean Playground”)
Website: www.ridethelobster.com (official site to be launched end-January, 2007)
Date: Monday, June 16 to Friday, June 20, 2008 (over 1.5 years away)
Distance: 800km over 5 days
Route: The route will go from Yarmouth in the south (flat terrain) to Sydney, Cape Breton to the north (rugged) in Nova Scotia. Route details will made available by fall 2007.
Prize money: There should be at least $10,000 CDN in prize money. Based on this amount, here is the breakdown: 1st place $5,000, 2nd place $2,000, 3rd Place $1,500, 4th Place $1,000, and 5th Place $500. If there is additional prize money there may be daily cash prizes.
Teams: A team can consist of maximum three riders and one support. Each team is in charge of their own support.
Number of Teams: 20 teams
Team members: Teams can be of mixed gender but there is no “Men’s” or “Women’s” competition. Teams should be from the same country or geographic area. If one or two people from one country want to participate, they can ask to be assigned an extra member or two. 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.
Age Limit: There is no age limit for team members but any team member under 18 will need to have a designated guardian.
Qualifying Ride: Before a team can register all team members must do a qualifying ride of 70k for two days. More details in the summer of 2007.
Expenses during the event: All food, lodging, and transportation is covered during the event.
Transportation to Nova Scotia: Everyone needs to pay for their own transportation to Nova Scotia. Depending on sponsors, there might be money available to help teams traveling from far away.
Time Trial: One (or more) of the days will have a time trial that every member will need to participate.
Rules: Detailed rules will be published by fall of 2007. The type of unicycle will be unlimited.
Registration of Teams: Registration will open on January 1, 2008.
International Participation: The goal is to get as many international teams as possible.
Tracking: Every team will have a GPS so progress will be visible live on the website.
Distance per team member: It is up to each team to decide how to divide the daily distance.
Timing: All teams will start out every day at the same time. The times for each day and the time trial(s) will added together to determine the total time and therefore the winner.
Seriousness of Competition: While this will be a competitive event, all levels of ability for long distance riding are encouraged.
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.
Interested? Go and fill out the quick e-form and we will put you on the email list for the event. E-form: http://fs19.formsite.com/RideTheLobster/form029675671/index.html
Personal note from Nathan Hoover and Andy Cotter
If you are into long distance riding, this is really one event you don’t want to miss. Where else are you going to find a long distance event where lodging and food is free? RTL is the closest we will get to an event like Tour de France and while we hope to have more events like this in the future, it may be a long time coming. While the event is a competition to make it interesting for the media, in the spirit of many of the unicycle competitions that have been put on around the world it is being designed to be a fun and adventurous time for all participating unicyclists. With over 50 long distance riders this will be the biggest group of long distance riders in one place.
-Nathan Hoover and Andy Cotter
Spread the word
While we have tried to make sure this announcement gets to as many people as possible, there are many long distance riders out there that we have missed. If you know of anybody would be interested in this event, please forward this message to them.