100 Mile world record attempt on March 10th

General
9

Thanks Rob, I hope so too!

Personally I value grip and stiff soles over weight. The roads in Kingston are very rough, and sometimes when I hit big bumps that I don’t see, my feet slide on the pedals, which is very scary at high speed. So far I’ve been lucky they haven’t actually slipped off the pedal. The 5:10s have been much better for this. There probably are more appropriate shoes for road riding, but they seem to have a good reputation and I have no time to experiment.

I was actually a bit disappointed in the stiffness of the soles at first. Thought they’d be stiffer. However in actual use they’ve been just fine, and it makes walking in them a little nicer.

And the weight isn’t as bad as it looks. They’re lighter than my last pair of cycling shoes, and I get the impression they’re about the same as my smaller-looking runners.

I’d love something lighter, but these work.

Also… the very idea of clipping in terrifies me. Haha. I’d end up riding super-slow just out of fear.

Is the foss tube really lighter than a typical 29" tube? I will have to check it out! …after March 10th. I’ve had really good luck with 29" tubes, and this one’s been going for about 1000 km so I’m pretty confident in it.

I really wanted to experiment with shaving my nightrider to save some weight, but school got in the way, and now it’s too late. The one I’m on is about 1/2 worn down in the middle, and the profile has become annoyingly square, but it works. It’s really great actually, just the lure of something a bit better gets me…

Thanks! Your vote of confidence means a lot Roger!

Just got back from a good, if short ride (35km). It was take-it-easy learn-to-pace-not-race day. Rode out into a headwind averaging about 23.5 km/hr, and then managed 25-28km/hr on the way back. Probably should have tried to keep the top speeds a little more in line, but I wasn’t over-exerting, and I feel like I could have kept going forever.

Wind is going to be a huge factor. If it’s calm on March 10th, I’m going to be really really happy.

10

Good luck with your attempt Phil.

With regards to the shoes; I picked up a pair of five ten freeriders a few days ago at M.E.C. They’re about 300g lighter than the impacts per shoe. I really like them so far.

Andre

11

300g per shoe? Wow. Something to look forward to in a couple years when the impact wear out I guess.

12

What is the current record?

13

From the “Who has completed a 100 mile ride?” thread.

14

Nah it is not. According to the website it is 247g which is good, about half the weight of a rubber 36" tube, but it is not as light as a 29er- I weighed one at 178g. If I were you I would stick with what is working- if something works don’t fix it!

I’ve had trouble with my Foss tube in my 20" Equinox that I bought late last year. I pumped it up to 80psi a few times after about two or three days it would always be back at 40psi. The sidewall is rated 85 to 110psi. One day about a month ago I pumped it up to 90psi and the next day it was flat. I discovered a hole in the seam - a manufacturing defect.

I tried a patch on the hole, the special Foss ones and put a small amount of air in. The air crept out along the seam and under the non-vulcanised patch. I tried a lighter- encouraged by the videos on youtube of people sticking nails through their Foss tubes and fixing them by melting it with a lighter and stamping it shut. It made it worse as it seemed to melt the glue holding the seam. I tried again with a patch but I sanded the seam down so it was a nicer surface. Again the patch did not stick. I went back to an old rubber tube and patched the slow leak. I found several other people on Bike Forums who had problems including seam failures with them and gave up. Others swear by them so maybe I should try again.

I reckon good luck on the 29er tube!

Where do you get your figures? I used scales. Stretching isn’t that hard if you are careful and patient. You must be getting really heavy 29er tubes, what brand?

15

Hmm, I’ll have to weigh the spare 29" tube I’ve got. No intent to change my setup before March 10th though.

Maybe if my plans to build a 48" rim pan out I’ll look at the Foss as a tube option. Might be pushing it for a 29"… that’s a ways off though.

16

Good luck. Get lots of rest before the event, stay hydrated, stay focused but have fun.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

17

Actually, now I think it might per pair, not clear on website. In any case, they’re still significantly lighter.

18

Thanks Straightarrow, haha planning a big event around it makes this challenging, but I’m doing my best!

That is an amazing quote. Great thing to wake up to. I’m going to read that again before the ride!

I’ll try to find a scale to weigh the impacts at some point. They’re really not that bad! And are much lighter than my previous shoes (I’ll try to find out their brand when I’m back home… Axo or something?).

19

Best of luck to you Phil.

20

Good luck Phil~!

It’s a beast of a record, particularly on an Unguni. It’s been in existence for almost 25yrs, so thanks for kicking off interest in this again.

There have been at least 3 or 4 attempts at this record since 1987, so hopefully this will be it!

Phil is also going to be the first unicyclist to attempt a record under the new IUF World Record Guidelines. It aims to standardise records and make it reproduceable. As such, this will be even tougher than the previous record- there is no drafting allowed.

All the best Phil!

Ken Looi
(former attemptee of the 100mile record :slight_smile: )

21

Best of luck to you, Phil! And cool that you are taking it on ungeared. A faster geared record would be a lot less amazing.

In 1981 I ordered my first big wheel unicycle with the idea of doing a 100 mile record in mind. At that time, the record was 10:37. But by the time my big wheel was delivered in 1982, the record was down to 9:20. I’m glad I never attempted it on that heavy wheel with its steel, double-walled rim and solid rubber tire. Ouch! Of course, those other records were set with steel rims and solid rubber tires too… :stuck_out_tongue:

For what it’s worth, I don’t think there was any drafting in the 1987 record. Though it was a race, I think mostly the two competitors rode their own race. However I wasn’t there, so they may have been together for part of it.

I love my 5.10 shoes, I have two pair. With 100mm cranks and a heavy 36" wheel, shoe weight is probably not a big factor. Especially when compared to comfort and secure grip over such a long ride.

22

I like 5:10s for unicycling (I use clipless on bikes). Mine are Impact High-top which are not the lightest shoes but they’re not THAT heavy - good for muni anyway, and the grip is superb. The only bad point for me is that they absorb a lot of water when it’s wet (which is common here) and take ages to dry out. Perhaps for mostly road use a lighter shoe would be good - I know Tue (tujotomi on here, but he doesn’t post much these days) had some light running or climbing shoes (not sure which) resoled with 5:10 rubber for Ride the Lobster. But with ten days to go, ride what you’re used to!

Rob

23

looks like a solid setup. Your aero setup looks pretty ideal for this kind of thing.

Don’t sweat the tube. I never bothered to weigh mine but I did compare by hand the weight of the FOSS tube in the box and a regular 29" tube in a box and they felt almost exactly the same weight. I couldn’t tell any difference in tire feel with the Foss tube installed but it was slightly easier to setup and holds air better.

The Eastern Destination is Goose Bay, Labrador. A couple friends are going on this crazy snowmobile race and I am going as their support person.

24

I am impressed how fast you can spinn at so cold condition. Here in Norway I can not manage to get the fast spinn before June :slight_smile:

Interesting to see the aero bar setup on your unicycle. I must try the aero bar my self this summer.

Wish you good luck!

25

The time of year is really not ideal, but it corresponds with the best time to organize this event for university students. Although, trying to train for this while studying engineering is also not ideal, haha. Watching the long-range weather forecast for Saturday is driving me crazy, as it seems to change ±8 degrees every time I check it. I’ll be so happy if it’s 4c sunny and calm (current forecast). But despite the sub-optimal context, I do think I’ve got a shot at it!

I’m really happy with the aero-bars, and I’d highly recommend it. I first got them just before a tour in 2010 to the east coast. I wouldn’t go back. I’ve broken a piece on my KH t-bar twice now because they put too much stress, but it’s still worth it. They’re waaaay flexy on the t-bar, but they definitely work. To whoever finally makes a V-Frame: I will be your first customer! (if I can afford it…)

Eric: wow that sounds fun!

Didn’t think the shoes would be such a hot issue! I like the 5:10s. If I do experiment with shoes later, I’ll probably also try re-soling some light-weight shoes with the 5:10 rubber, but I’d also insert something to make the soles stiff. Personally I find stiff soles make me feel more confident, and are more comfortable after a couple hours of riding. It would be sweet if the 5:10 impacts were even stiffer, but they’re much better than any normal shoe for me.

I do actually think that light-weight is really key as well. I find I can ride the fastest with the least effort if I focus on keeping my feet really “light” on the pedals, sort of just barely touching them. Lighter shoes do help with that.

26

Two Days!

Hello!

So, on Saturday I thought it would be cool to have live progress updates on the website. My server is not a tank, so I figured hosting it on google docs and using their API made sense; at least then the data entry from the timers won’t be brought down by any load spike.

Here’s the sheet I drew up with some fake data for now:


There’s a chart on the second sheet (see tabs at the bottom).

I think what I did makes sense, but it would be awesome if someone on here could look it over and let me know if they see any issues that might be worth addressing in advance!

On the chart sheet, I used lap speed instead of the lap time directly, and the horizontal line is the current record pace. Do you think that is the most interesting, or maybe plotting the seconds-per-lap directly would be better?

Of course we’ll also be using paper documentation to fulfil the new IUF record guidelines as well, this is just for the website.

Everything is just about ready to rock and roll, just need to tie up some loose ends still and hope for Sunday’s weather to come Saturday!

27

You could also plot a deviation from record pace as a bar graph. I would recommend comparing total time elapsed at each lap versus total time at a record pace (assume a linear pace). This difference would then be plotted as a bar graph (in seconds?) for each lap, and it would let us know if you are getting ahead of the pace or falling back towards the pace as time goes on.

Good luck in your world record attempt!

Scott

28

Great idea!

I added another chart, does it show what you meant? 100 Mile Unicycle World Record Attempt Time Sheet - 10 March 2012 - Google Sheets