Remember some time back there was a thread which discussed the possibility of somebody unicycling Ben Nevis (Britain’s highest mountain). Well I was up that way the other weekend. If you’d like to see the photos have a look at http://www.gpdods.com/unicycle
I apologise for the very basic look of the site, it was stuck together with string and bits of glue during my lunch break.
Have fun!
Graeme;)
Re: Ben Nevis conquered on a unicycle!
Graeme,
I had to admire the backdrop of your photos. Looks like absolutely beautiful country
Bruce
Graeme-
I ignored the second paragraph on your web posting so I still think you OWN that hill. What an athlete! Next I want to hear about you hopping up and down the Cliffs of Dover. (With photos as always)
I am still a skeptic. all those pictures were taken at the base of the mountain. Where are the pics of you at the summit? I too can take pictures at the base of K2, but that doesnt mean I rode it.
LIAR!!!LIAR!!!LIAR!!!LIAR!!!LIAR!!!LIAR!!!LIAR!!!LIAR!!!LIAR!!!
-David Kaplan
Damn, what gave it away? If I really had gone up the hill dressed like that I’m certain I’d have been getting a lift back down again in a helicopter, and then soundly beaten up by all my climbing friends when I’d recovered (unprepared idiots on hills are unpopular round here).
The third photo makes it look like I’m holding on to the railing on the bridge. I’m not, although I did have a UPBNUD (Unplanned, but not unexpected, dismount) shortly after when it came to trying to get down the ramp on the other side.
In reality I’m still at the stage where a road with pot holes or a bumpy pavement is at the limit of my capabilities.
Have fun!
Graeme
Don’t be daft, on a 26" Pashley with a skinny tire? That will need to wait until get at least a 3" Gazz. I’ll order one soon, I’ll keep you posted as to my progress. Unfortunately my wife is afraid of heights and the cliffs at Dover are pretty damn high, so she’ll not be around to take photos, will my word be good enough proof?
have fun!
Graeme
It wasn’t the explanatory text that gave it away, nor the lack of photos on the mountain proper, nor the missing press helicopters and journalists . Upon careful examination of your photos, one is able to determine that you weren’t using supplemental oxygen, which would make the trip impossible. The devil is in the details, as they say.
So, is it actually legal to ride on Ben Nevis?
If so, is there a track which is favoured by Mountain bikers, and, for that matter, is it a good ride? I’ve searched the net, but i can’t find reports of anyone riding it on an MTB. I’m sure they must have.
Has no one ridden it on a Uni yet? Please stand up and declare your legitimate conquering if you have.
Ando
Difficult question. The laws in Scotland are different to England especially in relation to land access. There is no trespass law in Scotland. Any signs saying “Trespassers will be prosecuted” are irrelevant in Scotland unless the land owner is a) The Queen, b) the Ministry of Defence or c) the Railways. You can only be charged under property damage laws. The landowner has to prove you damaged his land while you were on it, “honest your honour my begonias will never be the same”.
There is no bridleway to the summit shown on the maps I have but plenty of bike riders have ridden up and down over the years there is even a challenge called “The Three Peaks”. Started by walkers, MTBers have taken on the challenge too. For cyclists you not only have to ride up Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis but also the ride between each of the locations.
Re: Ben Nevis conquered on a unicycle!
“Noel.Holland” <Noel.Holland.3ogra@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in
message news:Noel.Holland.3ogra@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
> There is no bridleway to the summit shown on the maps I have but plenty
> of bike riders have ridden up and down over the years there is even a
> challenge called “The Three Peaks”. Started by walkers, MTBers have
> taken on the challenge too. For cyclists you not only have to ride up
> Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis but also the ride between each of
> the locations.
>
There was a recent legal decision in Scotland which said that basically
cyclists are equivalent to walkers, so if you can walk somewhere then you
are also allowed to ride there.
That three peaks thing sounds like quite a hard ride, what are the distances
between them like? Are we talking doable in a week or several weeks worth of
riding? The big problem with unicycling them would be that you wouldn’t want
to use a big wheel unicycle to ride up the hills, I reckon even a 29" would
be too big for snowdon at least, so you’d need two different wheels, leaving
one down the bottom of the hill or be willing to ride a long distance on a
26" . Would that be cheating, or would that be allowed?
Joe
The riders that have cycledd the three peaks used differnt bike for each stage, light weight road bikes for the interpeak stages and MTB’s for the climbs and decents.
Here’s some links for more info.
Walkers site for Three Peaks Challenge
http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/richieev/tp/
or
http://www.scottishsport.co.uk/walking/3peaks.htm
Or the Four Peaks (Helvellyn instead of Scafell Pike and adds Carrantouhill in Eire)
http://www.alphasan.co.uk/news/4pks2001_event.htm
or
http://www.4peaks.co.uk/
Cycling over the Three Peaks
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/shaun.e/twisting/recklesspeaks.html
Re: Ben Nevis conquered on a unicycle!
> The riders that have cycledd the three peaks used differnt bike for each
> stage, light weight road bikes for the interpeak stages and MTB’s for
> the climbs and decents.
>
> Here’s some links for more info.
>
> Walkers site for Three Peaks Challenge
> http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/richieev/tp/
> or
> http://www.scottishsport.co.uk/walking/3peaks.htm
>
> Or the Four Peaks (Helvellyn instead of Scafell Pike and adds
> Carrantouhill in Eire)
> http://www.alphasan.co.uk/news/4pks2001_event.htm
> or
> http://www.4peaks.co.uk/
>
> Cycling over the Three Peaks
> http://tinyurl.com/3q6
Pah, that’s cheating, they had support teams and stuff.
I was thinking that doing it on a bike would mean maybe putting road wheels
on your mtb between mountains and leaving them at the bottom of the hill,
but still carrying your stuff around, rather than having a car running along
behind you all the time.
It’d make a nice if rather hard work unicycle touring ride, 7 days of 70
miles a day road touring with three big hills in the middle and it could be
done in ten days.
Joe