This is no way to announce this and against my better judgement I can very very (very) tentatively say that the 7th Annual LBI Unithon on Long Beach Island, NJ will be held on Saturday June 4, 2005.
At this time I am still waiting for confirmation and I can assure everyone that the minute I know for sure I will post this useful information (as opposed to the stuff I post over in JC).
Nikkifrog welcome back. I hope to see you there - clown suit optional - as well as Obie and Tim who PMed me for info and anyone else who has been wondering and may have contacted Roe Sprouls.
Headwind, what headwind? All I remember is the wicked sidewind gusts alternating with no wind when the houses blocked it - that and the fact that it was great fun, even though I couldn’t fly my kites because there was too much wind.
The 7th Annual LBI Unithon will be held on Saturday, June 11, 2005, not the 4th. All information is available at:
Please note a major change. I will be handling the entry forms. My contact information is on the site and my address is available on the entry forms at the site. Roe Sprouls will be getting the T-shirts made this year and handling some other aspects, but not entries. As we’re getting this going rather late this year, please get your entry forms to me as soon as you can. Thanks!
I should be able to make it. Not sure what I’ll ride though. I may get a cheap 29er or something just for this. Trouble is, if I get a cheap 29er, I will end up putting like $400 in upgrades on it.
I plan to attend again this year! Not sure about walking up all those steps in the lighthouse after riding 19 miles on a unicycle, though.
I even just got a good deal on a camelbak mule at Dick’s, so I will be good to go!
Oh, and my mom got one of the 28-inch pennyfarthings for Christmas, so she said she may join us for part of the ride. She doesn’t think she can make it all 19 miles. I’ll have to make her increase the level on the bike at the gym to get her in shape.
I’m not sure I’m going to be able to make it this year. I’ve gone to two Unithons and found them fun. The biggest challenge was getting there even close to ‘on time’ (I can’t make it the day before, so it means an early start for me).
My personal style of Cokering is to ride pretty fast, so when I finished the ride the first time, I rode back halfway and then re-finished. Anyone fast interested in a longer ride could very well start at the finish, ride to the start, and then complete the normal course – all in less than the time it takes many riders to complete the ride just once.
Alternatively, I think it COULD be a race, but it’s not totally safe as a ‘race course’ IMHO because there are some long stretches thru part of the town. When I rode the Unithon my 2nd year in it, I did decide to ‘race’ against the clock, and after hanging out (fast) with my convalescing brother for a mile, I ditched him and rode all out, completing the 19 miles in about 1:15, I think. I remember that I averaged 15 mph the whole ride, and I believe that I got off the seat (but not the uni) for a few seconds at about the midway point. If I do manage to go this year, I’ll certainly try to make it there in time to ‘race’ – but I have to stress that there is a long stretch in the middle where riders should be quite careful of pedestrians, motorists, and obstacles. Other than that, it’s a nice course bc it’s almost totally flat.
The party at the end is always great fun, due in large part to the friendship of the uni’ists attending and the generosity of the Sprouls family and their friends who pitch in and otherwise volunteer to help.
“nikkifrog” <nikkifrog@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> writes:
>
>Raphael,
>
>If my mom is planning on doing part of the ride on her pennyfarthing,
>does she also need to register? I suppose she probably does, just
>checking.
>
>Thanks
>Nikki
Hey, Nikki. Yeah, she should probably register. Cool idea!
I do not believe that any two wheeled vehicles have in the past registered. However, for the most part people on two wheels have provided support, i.e. riding around making sure the unicyclists don’t get lost, have water, and are safe from traffic.
I’m going to make this executive pronouncement. If your mother is capable of providing this kind of support on a penny farthering, she need not register. If she does not plan to be of service in this way, then yes, have her register and pay the entry fee.