Well done Joe 
Hope the Schlumpf frame isn’t too badly damaged.
Definitely the toughest ever. Not much to add to Joe’s comprehensive write up, as typing is a bit slow(!) As Joe said, I really blew up as I’ve never done before on the second night lap, I was reduced to a cycle of walk a bit, try to ride a bit, UPD, sit/ lie down a bit, repeat. I was expecting to give up at the next marshall point, after some riders had stopped me from falling alseep at the track side; luckily a very nice lady slowed down and rode along with me for a few minutes, and having company really picked me up.
I couldn’t let it finish after that lap, and the morning one was a real treat, back in the light I ‘cleaned’ the stream crossing, most of the rock gardens and the bridges.
Absolutely amazing setting, and everything about it was a bit epic, the 1130 miles of driving, every lap being either fully or partly dark, the kettle being frozen to the floor of my tent when I woke up and loads more.
I will need to train much harder for next year…
It’s going to be a hard event to top, It really pushed me to, and beyond, my absolute limits.
Wow!
This is fantastic. Great write-up and subsequent co-cometitor write-up!
Great race and well done!
by the way, it’s being televised on BBC Scotland, does anyone have that so they can tape / dvd record it for me?
Joe
Let me know when it’s on and I’ll see what I can do…
Paul
Reading about camping in temperatures below zero and riding muni all night in a dark forrest makes me feel like a coward.
that’s one of the biggest understatements I’ve heard for a very long time!
Well done Joe’s.
I’ve been waiting to hear how you mad pair got on – very well by the sounds of it. I do like how the Strathpuffer site calls you “…those crazy unicyclists.” - they sussed you out quickly. It also seems their photographer was impressed as they took photos from the front and behind, a sort of double take as if they could believe what they saw
Joe M, how are your energy levels now? Will you be at hockey tonight? 
Well done again.
Edit: BTW if you know when it’s on TV I’ll record it for you (I’d also like to see it).
An excellent effort, and an epic challenge, congratulations to both of you for even attempting this insane ride. Doing so with an arm in a cast is even more incredible, so kudos to Joe Mclean especially.
I looked on the website and decided to trace the route out in Memory Map, so here’s the route you took, and the elevation profile. The course is 6.56miles, as closely traced from the route on the website as I could make it. Knowing my luck the direction is reversed but to do that kind of climbing every lap would probably be far beyond me!
Loose.
Stunning write-up. Thanx for taking the time.
And…?
And of course the now mandatory 3D representation. Vertical Exaggeration is set to 2x.
Loose.
I’m alive again and coming to hockey. See ya tonight. I suspect I shall be riding a little slower than usual though, I’ll have to make up for that by trying to get a high score on the Sub chart.
It’s not that scary riding in the woods when there’s another 100 people out there too! Although it’s a little bit scary when your lights fail. Ooops.
I’ve discovered that camping in cold weather is easy too, you just buy a warmer sleeping bag and as long as you’ve got a good tent you’re fine.
Joe
Re: hardest race ever
On Tue, 17 Jan 2006 08:57:03 -0600, Loosemoose wrote:
>and the elevation profile.
Joe wrote that the climb went up to 326 m, but ‘your’ profile stays
below 200 m. What’s with that?
Joe M and Joe M: you are awesome! Way to go. Looks like it was quite a great time. <high volume>AAAAACH!</high volume> That is so cool you did it. Man, you got to go to Scotland and ride all night and all I get is a trip to Laos. Well, either is ok I guess.
Cheers,
Nathan
It felt like all the climbing was at the start, but thinking about it, and looking at the profile there were lots of ups and downs in the rest of the race, which make up the rest of the 326m of climbing per lap.
Joe
The website states that the total Ascent/Descent = 326m, Which just so happens to equal approx 2x the change in height over the course (by my profile, approx 160m from lowest to highest point), So the total height change will be from the start, to the highest point (160m above) and back again = 320m.
Loose.
That’s what I thought, but according to the guy who did the course, it is 326m of climbing per lap, all the little ups and downs in between each bit add up to quite a lot extra. Still not sure if he’s right though.
Joe
Re: hardest race ever
On Wed, 18 Jan 2006 07:09:03 -0600, joemarshall wrote:
>That’s what I thought, but according to the guy who did the course, it
>is 326m of climbing per lap, all the little ups and downs in between
>each bit add up to quite a lot extra. Still not sure if he’s right
>though.
Can Memory Map do the math on its profile?
Awsome!
Too bad you’re that far away from the 1st place… maybe next year? 
I’ve just watched “The Adventure Show” (BBC2 Scotland) which was all about the Strathpuffer 24hr and WOW. That looked like a really great, fun and tough ride.
The show entered a team of four, one being the show’s presenter, to ride and report on the Strathpuffer, it worked well. They obviously showed their team most but I think the unicycling Joe’s were featured more than any other individuals, I do think they were impressed by the unicyclist.
There are more galleries of photos on the web site and bar two they all feature unicycle photos with complementary headings.