At first I was reluctant to post pre-ride, but here I go - Tomorrow is the largest MTB race in Oklahoma - the 12MilesofHell.com and I will be the first and sole MUni rider (unless you all know of someone else). The race is actually 15.5 miles this year, and an estimated 500 bikers should be present. Why the reluctance?? I’m nervous of introducing our sport to such a large audience and I feared not representing well. I had feared that many would not understand my super slow speed (24") even on the downhills, or consider me “riding” the course if I can’t do every obstacle (in my defense I saw MANY pictures of people hiking bikes in it!) I have rode the course on a MTB (not on a race day), and even thought of trying it on the MUni some quiet day with no witnesses. The idea that changed my mind came from my climbing background, and when I thought of Bridwell, Long, and Westbay’s first Nose in a day climb my view changed. Not only did that serve to motivate others (including myself obviously), but I doubt they feared the thoughts of others who wouldn’t understand or fear other climbers would later do it faster or free more of it. Looking for inspiration I found a small article written by Long and this sentence rang true for me now…“But back then, 28 years ago, it was a psychological barrier.” I have no physical fears about tomorrow only psychological ones, but I am confronting them. I’ll still keep a low profile till the start, and then simply do the best ride I can. Till tomorrow…
Roll-on! Have a great time.
you should totally do it.
Well, why didn’t anybody talk me out of it?!? J/K glad I did it! The start did NOT go like I envisioned. I was apprehensive of doing a UPD in front of the crowd stationed at the point where the road met the trail, but that nightmare didn’t happen. I figured I’d lose credibility if I spilled on the first stone I touched and would get the naked at high school dream feeling. What I thought would happen next was the bikes with superior gearing would leave me in last place on the 9% grade start hill, but due to my superior maneuverability I was able to pick better lines and dodge traffic and actually PASS bikers! Too cool… I caught up with a bottleneck of hike-a-bikers and had to dismount - smiling. At the top again I figured to be left behind due to the rugged downhill, but as I looked down at the washed out doubletrack I realized there was a ridge unrideable to bikes, but not to a MUni. Again - PASSING bikers! Smiling! I passed a photographer whose jaw dropped and he tryed to run in front of me to get a shot, but was unable to keep up. Now I felt like I belonged on the course… The rest of the ride I took pleasure in knowing that some bikers would have to put an asterick on their ride, for when asked how they did they would have to say, “OK, but I did get passed by a unicycle about a half a dozen times or more.” At the halfway water stop one of the hares realized the tortoise’s strategy and pointed it out to the other’s - “Dude does not quit moving.” My efforts on the first half (7.75 miles) begin to show on me in the second half and I was forced to ride smarter, not harder. And the finish? Well, they give a trophy for last place called the The Last Survivor, and I did NOT receive it! Should I say that again? - I did NOT get it! Won’t know how many came after me until they post the results, but there will be more than one MTBer saying, "Completed the ride, but… Small victory for MUni riders everywhere!!! Here is the profile of the ride…
Wow! I can’t wait for the movie!
It’s good to hear that it went so well. That looks like one hell of a course.
Oh yeah I forgot, part of the fun was answering the same often repeated questions –
What made you decide to try a unicycle out here?
Heard it was impossible.
Are you ok?
Well, I do have some issues….
How much of the trail did you actually ride?
More than anyone else EVER has on one wheel….
Where is the rest of your bike?
The Kevinator ate it. (Kevinator is a scary and infamous downhill)I’ve been tring to appreciate the elevation change. Just compared to my street ride GPS. The first mile would have killed me.
That’s odd, I thought the last one was going to do me in- had a hard time catching UPDs…
thats awesome, congratulations!!
there’s a 12 mile MTB race around here I did one year on my 20", and since it was on my 20", I came in dead last q-: I was going to do it last year on a coker, but I broke my foot so I couldn’t…but next year I will do it on my coker.
Did I say that first mile would kill me. Not to worry, I would have never made that first 150 foot assent.
What you did was incredible. I see why they call that 12 miles of hell.
It’s official - 416th…
The race results are out and the bad news is I was 416th out of 465 riders, but the good news is there are 49 MTBers who have to say, “Yeah I finished the 12 Miles of Hell, but AFTER a guy on a unicycle.”
Good going man. I’m gonna be in my first race in May (24 hour relay race). I’m very hyped. There will be way more bikers there than unicyclists. But kudos for being the solo uni rider. I hope that there might be some pics of the race.
There was a professional photographer there who I told I wanted pictures, but I am having communication problems with him. Hopefully I will get one from him soon though. The first time a biker flew by me and stopped I didn’t realize why, but after that I knew when they turned back around they would have a camera. They all said the same thing, “If I don’t get a picture, no one will believe me!”
Finally! I have some pictures ordered, but he didn’t pick a spot typical to the area. The grass hides my wheel in most, and the hands out is in preparation to a small angled bridge that I thought he would capture. Oh well…
Pictures #7804 - 7808…
Still wished that the photographer picked a rockier area, but I am happy to have the shots. I stated I also wished he had caught the small angled bridge, and when I got the actual photos I noticed that the bridge is partly noticeable in this one. Only problem is he wanted a front view so he’d have the racer’s number…
You may have been 416 but you won your class, the first Muni to finish.
Way to go
I was there and thought something seemed odd - turns out it was the number of wheels present. 2 x #riders - 1.
I took my 26" uni and rode at nudraper in OKC on the way down the day before. It was in my car for the race though. I finished right in the middle of my age group at 218th. The whole race I was trying to envision how impossible it would be for me to try to muni the rocky and hilly course. You have my respect and congrats.
First off - thanks. Secondly if you are ever in the OKC area again I recommend Bluff Creek just north of Lake Hefner on the NW corner of Meridian and Hefner. I have it marked on the map here, and its a blast on a MUni. All of it is rideable though I go down the 2 bypass sections instead of up, and there is one long steep downhill that is too steep, too loose, for too long for me - called Big Stupid. And lastly if you come down again and want to try any of the 3, give me a holler for a riding with a fellow MUni is still rare in these parts…
Thanks, but they changed the results to 418th out of 466. Guess 2 MTBers said, “HEY, I finished before that lunatic!” I had some strong fears that I would have been so far back in last to the point of embarrassment, but have no problem with where and how I finished. I figured the Last Survivor trophy was mine, and quite happy not to get it.