On the 16th-17th November 2024, I will be making at attempt at the Guinness and IUF 24hr Unicycle World Record, as well as the 12hr Guinness World Record. This is the greatest distance covered by a unicycle in 24hrs and 12hrs, respectively.
Back in 2005, I set the 24hr Unicycle World Record at the Basin Reserve Cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand, riding a total distance of 378.7km. It is almost 20yrs since I set my original world record, which was superseded by Sam Wakeling from the UK in 2007, who set a new distance of 453.8km.
I will post updates on my blog and the associated Facebook event page:
Cool! I happened to stumble upon the thread of Sam‘s (successful) attempt recently, and read it with great interest. Hope there will be something similar over here, when you try to get the title back, since I don‘t have Facebook.
…and of course: good luck!
It is… painful. I have done a 24h once (rode 350 km with 14h23 min of saddle time), and after the 12 hours mark, it was so painful that I was taking break every 10 km or so (rode for the last hour non-stop though at 26 kph though).
I think using aero-bars should make things way better, but they weren’t allowed for this event.
I had no saddle soreness after my 12hr practice ride. Was generally achy in most of the body though.
Aerobars are slower for me- I haven’t had much practice on them. However, they provide different body positioning and more support for the torso, so I think will be useful for keeping the average speed high in the later hours.
Not sure yet. I have another Mad4One seat with Ursli extensions- haven’t had enough riding to know whether I want to use them or not. It makes me about 5% slower, but seems to use less energy. Maybe I’m just scared to go fast on them!
I would say your last sentence is what makes you go slower. When it has been a long time since my last ride with aerobars, I find myself way slower on them than without them. After a while, I get my confidence back and I can ride at the same pace with aerobars - or even faster.
I have tested the aerobars and have finalised my setup:
The aerobars are definitely more comfortable and uses less energy than just using the regular seat. I’m not faster on them, but not slower either.
Weather is not looking favourable- showers on Saturday morning, but I’m more worried about the wind. Currently it’s a Southerly, which tends to hit the unicycle on the side where it’s exposed, and requires more effort to steer. I’ll be keeping a close watch on the weather, so far, we are going ahead as planned.
Too late now but did you try or consider a King George tire? After thousands of miles on a (non-lite) Nightrider and more recently a Lite Nightrider and King George I would have picked a King George for an attempt like yours.
Two reasons:
The rolling resistance seems to be less then either of the Nightriders. The tread configuration would seem to support that with the tread on the King George narrower and less aggressive.
The King George is kind of self steering and easier to maintain sidewise balance and it is much easier to make smooth uniform turns by just leaning into the turn. This could be a real advantage on your 390m oval concrete track at Newlands Intermediate.
It’s really a crazy thing to ride for 24 hours!
I hope your stomach, your mind and everything else will keep up, they should be put to the test!
Good luck Ken!
Just read that you had to call it a day, as far as the 24h record goes . But totally understandable, given the unfortunate weather. That wind is tough to fight on any human powered vehicle, but it doesn‘t get tougher than on a unicycle.
I‘m happy for you to have „at least“ broken the 12h record, so you have something to take home from this huge effort, besides the confirmation that you are one heck of a beast on the uni. Congrats to this accomplishment , and good recovery.