My first one! Got up at 4am to make the 6am start for the Long Beach 26.2 mile marathon! There were about 3,500 two-wheelers, and I was the only unicyclist! I was expecting at least a couple more, so unless they just got a really late start, I was it! About 25,000 runners started at 7am.
There was the expected bottleneck of bikes at the starting gun, and it took me a good 5 minutes just to get pass the start line, since I was about 1/2 way back in the pack. It took about a mile after we started for things to open up enough to get up to speed.
I was passing lots of bikes on the the hills, and the spectators were going wild! I filmed this video while I was riding, and rode the entire 26.2 miles non-stop, with no dismounts or falls. (Got lucky!) Even with the filming and the slow start, I managed to finish in 2:08. (corrected from 2:04) I was pretty happy with that.
Wow! Go you MuniAddict, what a feat. Ok, Ok so I know you’ve done a century but a marathon is pretty darn good to me who can only just get round the block without a upd or three!
I think even though the century was longer, my average riding speed was a lot faster and totally non-stop on this ride All was well until the last 3 or so miles…my right sit bone started hurting all of a sudden and the pain was almost unbearable! I think I must have pinched a nerve, but I was able to finish in relative comfort after some shifting around while riding.
Afterwards though, it was extremely painful even to walk, let alone get back on to ride to my car, lol! This is why it’s probably a good idea to stop now & then to stretch, and to let the blood get totally circulating again! I just wanted to go the whole way non-stop. :o
26miles nonstop is quite something MuniAddict and I totally understand the ‘need’ to want to do so despite the discomfort caused. Another goal achieved!
There were several climbs, but flat for the most part, but why would that be a reason for not riding it? It was a blast and tons of fun and the crowds LOVED it! And yes it was dark for the first 30 minutes, but the streets were lighted so It was no biggie. I really expected to see you and Loren (IceDaddy) there since he had made a thread about it (that’s how I became aware of it! ) and in that thread you said you might go too.
Thanks Doug. Yeah, ungeared and I was running 110mm moments.
Nice vid. I like the effect of the camera at the end of a stick; it’s like we (the viewers) are the boat, while you, and the world behind you, are the rudder!
My one nonstop marathon experience is similar to what you described. Though mine wasn’t a specific sit bone problem, it was just my crotch area getting increasingly angry with me. If my crotch had had an arm, it would have punched me in the face. But that was a race, so time was of major importance. One could probably alleviate at least some of the crotch pain by doing some standing-up riding, though you’d still have to slow down to do that. Another option might be to get off and jog a bit, but same problem with loss of time.
It was great to finish the ride without a dismount, which is probably why you did the same thing. But according to our bodies, that’s too far to go without stopping! I’m sure more training would make it easier…
Thanks John. I actually did do some stand up pedaling to try to alleviate the pain, which helped a bit, but was slowing me down too much.
I finally just scooted myself up on the saddle, to the narrowest part, so there would be as little contact with the sit bones as possible. This helped a lot, and allowed me to finish with a lot less pain.
For some reason, my gopro did not shoot the footage smoothly as usual. I used the exact same 720p 60fps setting as always, but when I go home and started editing the raw footage, I immediate noticed the playback was “choppy” and not smooth.
To make sure it wasn’t my flash player or something else with my computer, I played back previous footage and it was smooth as silk, both in raw and editied form. Youtube the same thing. This video is choppy, but my other one’s are smooth. So I took the battery out of the gopro to reset it, and now it films and plays back fine. Weird. Had a fully charge on it as well.
Nice one, Terry!
On Friday I did my longest yet continuous ride at about 9 miles. I was definitely getting to the end of my happy time in the saddle when I finished the ride. I think I’ll be able to do a marathon-length ride in the forseeable future, but I’ll probably be stopping at least once. :o
Congrats on your non-stop ride! When I first started, I could go only about 3 miles before saddle soreness forced me to stop! So yeah, if you can do almost 10 continuous, a 26 miler with a few breaks should be very doable! (In hind-sight, I should have stopped to stretch and take a breather at least a couple times during the marathon, even if just for a minute or two each time.:o )
Thanks Geoff, I actually did the same thing when I rode my first century back in June. Of course, that wasn’t non-stop, and I my average speed was slower as well.
Great job once again Terry! Glad someone represented in my home town…I thought about it for about 10 seconds. Too far, too early, too many people, no money.
Thanks Kevin. I also thought those same things, but finally decided to go for it, since it was such a unique experience, and riding among 3,000 two-wheelers was insane! )
What do you mean??? Cross Country RR - Aspen to Basalt
All kinds of fun can be had riding 26 miles, or more, on wheels smaller than
36er or geared 29er. I disagree completely with your statement:)
I was specifically referring to the marathon ridden on surface streets and paved bike paths. MUni or cross country trail riding would be an entirely different story, and I’ve ridden almost that distance on my 24 MUni, and on moderate to technical terrain, and that sure took me a lot longer than 2:08 to finish, haha! But on paved, mostly flat ground, I just think that a 36er is ideal for long distances, and a geared 29er would be pretty good for that as well. I couldn’t imagine it would be much fun pedaling a trials uni or a 24 for 26 miles on surface streets!
Even with the filming and the slow start, I managed to finish in 2:08. (corrected from 2:04) I was pretty happy with that. 
But that was a race, so time was of major importance. One could probably alleviate at least some of the crotch pain by doing some standing-up riding, though you’d still have to slow down to do that. Another option might be to get off and jog a bit, but same problem with loss of time.
)