I friend told me that while participating in an organized century in Lake Tahoe Nevada, she witnessed 2 unicyclists complete the course. Anyone know who that might have been? I would guess that there would be a lot of climbing involved around Tahoe, so it would have been a big challenge. I would love to hear all about it
dan
Re: 2 unicyclists reported at a century in Tahoe
The two studs on Cokers in “America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride” were none
other than Scot Cooper and Gary Kanuch of Team Cyclops. They had planned it
for quite a while. It’s 72 miles with lots of climbing, but nothing for
them!
Info at http://tinyurl.com/ay4
—Nathan (apologies if you see this twice)
“dan” <dan.5q8bb@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:dan.5q8bb@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> I friend told me that while participating in an organized century in
> Lake Tahoe Nevada, she witnessed 2 unicyclists complete the course.
> Anyone know who that might have been? I would guess that there would be
> a lot of climbing involved around Tahoe, so it would have been a big
> challenge. I would love to hear all about it
>
> dan
RE: 2 unicyclists reported at a century in Tahoe
> I friend told me that while participating in an organized century in
> Lake Tahoe Nevada, she witnessed 2 unicyclists complete the course.
> Anyone know who that might have been? I would guess that
> there would be
> a lot of climbing involved around Tahoe, so it would have been a big
> challenge. I would love to hear all about it
That amount of information is just enough for me to wonder. A whole bunch of
things:
I never heard of anyone doing a century ride up there…
JF
I copied the following quote from an E-Mail that my friend sent me. The end is pretty funny ( and fitting)
(QUOTE)I think there was one of each unicycle – a big one and a small one. The
ride was around Lake Tahoe, clockwise, which is 72 miles, and up and back
from Truckee, which makes it 100. They did the whole thing and while there
are many rollers throughout, there are two significant climbs – Emerald
Bay, which is fairly short but windy and very steep, and Spooner Junction,
which is steep and long ( a little like Walker Grade on the way to North
Fork, if you remember that here in Fresno ), and includes a major descent
on the downside. It was pretty amazing. We only saw them climbing, as
we’d pass them, but we heard that they rode the whole thing. Crazy. (END QUOTE)
Is Scot or Gary on line? If so I would love to hear how difficult the 2 climbs were. Congratulations to both of them for completing a difficult challange!
dan
RE: 2 unicyclists reported at a century in Tahoe
> Is Scot or Gary on line? If so I would love to hear how
> difficult the 2 climbs were. Congratulations to both of
> them for completing a difficult challange!
Both Scot and Gary have raced in the Mt. Diablo Challenge, a 3000’ climb up
the mountain in 10.3 miles. The “small” unicycle you saw was probably the
one they used (different years) in that event. A picture of this 700C race
machine will be in the next On One Wheel, along with an article about
switching to 700C for our own racing competitions. Want to read it? Join the
Unicycling Society of America:
http://www.unicycling.org/usa/join/
Scot and Gary have also both ridden the Flume Trail, which covers the same
area as the Spooner Junction climb, though it goes down while that one goes
up (we ride it south to north).
Lastly, Scot rode about 1000 miles across Europe last summer (the feature
story in the next On One Wheel). When it comes to road rides, he’s ready for
just about anything.
Stay on top,
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com
Howard Stern: “How many wheels does a unicycle have?”
The beautiful but vacant, recently-crowned Miss Howard Stern:
“…Four?”
Re: RE: 2 unicyclists reported at a century in Tahoe
john_foss@asinet.com writes:
>Lastly, Scot rode about 1000 miles across Europe last summer (the feature
>story in the next On One Wheel). When it comes to road rides, he’s ready
>for
>just about anything.
Actually, that ride came in at about 1200 miles, and I think Scot did all
of it. He is also the one who experimented with muni on a giraffe.
David
Co-founder, Unatics of NY
1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
@ Central Park Bandshell
1:30 start time after 11/1/01
Re: 2 unicyclists reported at a century in Tahoe
Damn I hate this. Posts from the news server I use at home never seem to
show up. I posted Gary’s description of the ride this morning…here it is
again.
—Nathan
We did the 72 miles around the Lake, not the full 100 miles. (were crazy,
not insane). Trust me, the 72 miles was more than enough, with the climbing
and descending at altitude ! There was more downhill then I’ve ever ridden,
and by the end it took it’s toll on both of our ankles and Scot’s knee.
The ride went very well overall. The weather was absolutely perfect. Clear
skies, slight wind, not too hot, very nice. We started from the Horizon
hotel at stateline in South Shore and headed clockwise around the lake.
Around the ride, we received more attention and positive comments then I
have ever gotten. Most people, riders and non-riders alike were just blown
away.
The ride was about 80% consisting of the “Team in Training” Leukemia riders
from all over the country. This is what lead to all the great atmosphere and
all the positiveness. We got groups of riders passing us and each one of
them would yell something like “You’re awesome !!” “You’re my Hero” “You’re
a Rock Star !!” etc.
The first major climb up to Emerald Bay went well. My major mistake for the
ride was that I had 175mm cranks on my Coker and I couldn’t keep up with
Scot’s Coker with the 145mm he was running. I did better on the steep
climbing parts, but Scot just rode away from me on the flats and on the
descents. I hadn’t trained enough for this distance, so I started really
hurting after 40 miles and really suffered the last 15-20 miles. Scot was
really strong throughout the entire ride, until his butt started hurting at
about 50 miles. Mine was hurting after about 35 miles.
We started the ride at 7:15 am and we were out there about 9 hours. We
averaged about 11 mph and our actual riding time was about 6 1/2 hours.
There were rest stops and a lunch stop and all the other stops that ate up
the 2 1/2 hours of non-riding time.
By the end we were both running on empty and our bodies were very sore. The
finish was really incredible. I didn’t expect it, but they had a finish line
and it was lined with hundreds of people. Scot and I rode across the finish
line to an absolute roar from the crowd. We dismounted, did a high 5 and
were surrounded by a crowd of people wanting to take pictures of us and ask
us questions and just shake our hands. It was wild !! Definitely a moment I
will never forget. There was a lady who said she would e-mail Scot a photo,
so we’ll see.
Scot and I each got a message from the tent they had set up at the finish.
We really lucked out, because we turned out to be the very last two to get
messages before they packed up. Trust me, we needed it so bad !!! It really
helped a lot.
The whole experience was incredible and we both feel very proud to have
completed the full 72 miles around the Lake. Next year, I’m going to do the
ride on my Kickbike, I think that will be more enjoyable with all the
downhills and flat and rolling terrain. The hills are not really that
difficult and should be very manageable on the Kickbike. (check out
www.kickbike.com if you don’t know what a kickbike is)
Anyway, we had an awesome time and it was a really fun experience.
-Gary
Nathan,
Thanks for forwarding Gary’s update. Hearing his comments about the ride is inspiring. The parade of people gathered together to see them finish is awesome! Those cyclists know how hard it is to complete the ride on a bicycle let alone a unicycle. Nice job Scot and Gary!
I would like to think he is kidding about the kick bike, but I have a feeling he isn’t.
dan
Gary is NOT kidding about riding the Kickbike. He rode that 10.8 miles up Mt. Diablo in California nearly beating the 4-5 unicycle riders in the race, as well as the 400+ bicyclists behind him. I said nearly beating the unicycles because I passed him with only 50 yards to the finish.
In Tahoe last Sunday, we heard many comments from passers-by.
Guess which of these three we heard the most.
It is satisfying to shake the status quoe at these two-wheel events.
Scot
Re: 2 unicyclists reported at a century in Tahoe
in article dan.5t6bz@timelimit.unicyclist.com, dan at
dan.5t6bz@timelimit.unicyclist.com wrote on 6/5/02 11:17 PM:
> I would like to think he is kidding about the kick bike, but I have a
> feeling he isn’t.
Well, if the kickbike isn’t enough exercise you can always try this one. Not
Sure how it would do on hills.
-Carl
RE: 2 unicyclists reported at a century in Tahoe
> In Tahoe last Sunday, we heard many comments from passers-by.
> Guess which of these three we heard the most.
>
> 1. “You guys ROCK!!!”
> 2. “You guys are NUTS!!!”
> 3. “You guys are gods…I am not worthy.”
I will guess #1.
Did you guys ride the whole thing, 100 miles? Did that mean starting and
ending in Truckee? Or what route did you do?
You appear in several pictures in the new On One Wheel. One is a picture of
Gary’s 700C racing unicycle with you holding it. People who aren’t USA
members should sign up so they can get this issue when it comes out…
John Foss
President, Unicycling Society of America
President, International Unicycling Federation
jfoss@unicycling.com
John Foss gets the right answer on the first try. Way to go John.
Yes, I lost count of the number of times people said the phrase, “You guys rock!!!” on the way around Lake Tahoe.
Gary and I started at the Horizon casino/hotel at south shore and made one loop counter-clockwise around the lake for a distance the organizers called 72 miles. My odometer read 74.46 nine hours later. This was the best organized ride I have had the pleasure to ride in. The atmosphere was purely positive.
I recommend that others try this if they are at all prone to unicycle touring.
Scot
Scott and Gary,
It is obvious that the two of you are active speed and distance enthusiasts. Scot, Its been said that you completed the entire 1200 miles at the European tour last year. Amazing! You two are part of a very small group of people that partake in long mile unicycle rides.
Because of your experience, I would like to know your thoughts regarding UNI5, or internally geared hubs in general, and what they may offer (if anything) in a ride such as the one the two of you did last week. I am assuming that uni5 hasn’t been in the hands of the two of you yet, and may never be. Nevertheless, your comments would be helpful to the rest of us. Again, not many people have the kind of experience with speed and distance unicycleing as the two of you.
If you get some time, please share your thoughts. There have been some reviews written which you can find by doing a search @ " UNI5". Again thanks for sharing your experience and congratulations on a successful ride!
I am leaving today for Durango Colorado for vacation, so you will not hear from me until next week sometime. Have fun!
dan
Re: 2 unicyclists reported at a century in Tahoe
Just wanted to respond to Dan’s question about the hills in the Tahoe
ride.
There were two major climbs, Emerald Bay climb and the climb to
Spooner Summit. The Emerald Bay climb is shorter and steeper with
switchbacks, where the Spooner Summit climb is long and more gradual.
We did the Emerald Bay climb early, when we were fresh, so it really
wasn’t that bad. I’m a road cyclist, so I’m used to climbing, and
it’s the one area I really enjoy on a unicycle because it seems to
level the playing field a little. When you ride a uni on the flats or
downhill, riders just blow by you constently. They go by you left and
right, but when the road becomes steeper, suddenly riders don’t pass
you as quickly and you begin to pass riders. It motivates me to pass
people on two wheels when I’m only on one.
My 175mm cranks made the steeper sections easier, so the Emerald Bay
climb was not bad at all.
There was a gradual climb at about 35 miles, right before lunch that I
was hurting a bit on. My leg muscles didn’t really hurt, but my back,
my hamstrings, my butt, and my ankles began hurting me making it
difficult to climb. After lunch, there was a steep climb out of
King’s Beach that would have really hurt if we had not stopped for
lunch. Many riders went slow up this climb and I passed quite a few.
The Spooner Summit climb was the last major climb and by the time we
got to it, my body felt very tight (hamstrings, back & a sore butt).
There were a lot of cars and it was sunny and warm up that gradual
climb. Riders were climbing pretty slow and we passed a good number
of them. Having all the other riders on the road made it easier for
me up the climb, and the rest stop at the top was very welcome.
For me the climbs were not that bad, but the downhills were not very
enjoyable. I don’t really like cars and riders wizzing by me when I’m
trying to watch the road to keep from hitting something that might
throw me off the Coker.
Overall the climbing was fine, but we were at altitude which made it a
bit more tiring than usual.
-Gary
This is an answer to Dan’s request.
If you get some time, please share your thoughts. There have been some reviews written which you can find by doing a search @ " UNI5".
Dan -
Last March while visiting MUni friends and attending the Sea Otter Classic in Northern California, I took a ride on the geared-up uni that was at the time on loan to John Foss. Although the uni.5 is probably as fast as the Coker, it would not be the uni I would choose for long distance touring for the following reasons:
the small 24" wheel will not take bumps as well as the 36"
At Lake Tahoe, the 24" would not have handled the storm grates I was riding over with my Coker. You can expect more UDM’s from the geared uni.
People move out of the way of the Coker when they see it coming. Most folks have a higher respect for size. By the time someone sees me coming on the 24" and starts humming that circus music "Dunt-duh-duh-dunna dunt dunt dunt dunna…I will have run them down already.
The Coker has more momentum which assist the rider on long flat courses.
The 24" has less rubber on the ground, hence less stable at higher speeds.
Let me add in favor of the geared-up uni that it would be ideal for sprints on a course like a race track and it turns/handles better than the 36".
I hope this is the kind of input you wanted.
Scot,
Yes it is the kind of input I wanted. You brought up a few points that haven’t been addressed yet.
I plan on gearing up a 700C in conjunction with Harpers hub. This will effectively give me 42 gear inches as opposed to 36 with the Coker. I think it will be lighter and faster.
We will see
dan