The UK National Unicycle Road Race will take place again at the Hillingdon Cycle Track and organized by the Pickwick cycle club (the oldest cycle club in the UK!). The track is a purpose made 1km cycle track in Hillingdon London.
There will be 2 races open to all comers
4 laps for 24" wheel and under. 11:30
8 laps for any wheel size (Unlimited). 12:30
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Who can enter:**
Anyone with a unicycle can enter. How do I enter:
For this year we are accepting entries on the day, but we would like to know you are coming, So please contact @rogeratunicycledotcom or The Pickwick Club directly. Are there any prizes:
There will be winners certificates for the top riders, Male, Female, Under 15, Under 10 for Each race. Getting Here:
Hillingdon Cycle Circuit is located within Minet Park, Hayes.
The entrance to the park is via Springfield Road just off the A4020 Uxbridge Road
Access to the Cycle Circuit is situated behind Goals Football Centre
For SatNav – use postcode UB4 0LP Nearest Train Stations:
The nearest train stations are Hayes and Harlington or Southall
Im planning to be there, looks like the races are going to be a little longer this year? I still need to spend more time on 36er though, and probably try to use shorter cranks. 127mm last year, normally I use 137mm but I guess for racing i should try and get used to 110mm at most!
Are they doing penny farthing and Raleigh chopper races again too?
Wow, this sounds like an absolutely incredible event! Once my geared 36er is built and I’ve had some time on the saddle, I would very much enjoy participating in a race like this one. Good luck to all the racers, and please post videos of the race, if at all possible (preferably drone footage, haha)!
For a long time, I have thought about organizing unlimited class races at an outdoor kart racing track here in the USA once I’m a member of the Guni club. Most outdoor kart racing tracks in the USA are between 0.5 - 0.8 miles long, so they seem ideal. I wonder how many unicyclists here in the US (as well as throughout the world) are interested in unicycle road racing? I have mostly read about distance record attempts, and perhaps oval track racing, but rarely road racing. Perhaps, I just haven’t been paying close enough attention. Either way, road racing is the form or unicycle racing that interests me the most, so I am very happy that this discipline is alive to some degree or another, and I hope it increases in participants and popularity.
What I am most curious about is how top 36er riders will fare against top geared 36er riders on a 0.5 to 0.8 mile road racing course with a decent number of turns in it. On such a course, do you think that the top 36er riders will be able to make up for their disadvantage down the straights by not having any gear shifting slowing them down, and thus make it to the finish line first? Or are the top geared 36er riders adept and consistent enough at shifting, such that up-shifting and down-shifting doesn’t slow them down considerably, and they are more likely to be victorious? I hope such a situation like this (where 36ers are battling geared 36ers) plays out at this upcoming race. That would be amazing! I am very curious as to whether it would be a close race, or if the 36er or geared 36er would win by a good margin. Of course, so far it’s just one race and largely depends upon the skill of the participating riders, but it’s the patterns that emerge after numerous races are held that I am most interested in discovering.
It is the first image, the second is Spikes Bridge Park in Southall, England. Here is the webpage for the circuit: Welcome - Hillingdon Cycle Circuit
These cycle circuits are really common in the UK now, they are set up to simulate criterium race circuit. This means that they can be ridden at full speed for 80 to 90% of their length. There is only one section on the Hillingdon circuit that is not full speed as it has a switchback on it, but it is still not slow. There is also a hill… but not serious one. From a unicycle point of view a geared 36" unicycle should be faster than a non geared unicycle as it would not need to come out of gear at any point if the rider is experienced.
Thanks for clarifying the course you’ll be racing and for the link.
Very interesting! Thanks for the information. It is much appreciated. That’s super cool that cycling seems to be very popular in the UK (and Europe, in general). Many forms of cycling don’t seem to have reached nearly the level of popularity here in the USA as they have in the UK and Europe. I think MTB and BMX are the most popular here, though I hear gravel bikes are increasing in popularity.
Given the layout of the course you will be racing on, I concur 100%.
From my personal perspective, an outdoor kart racing track with numerous turns and some straights would be the most enjoyable and entertaining to watch, if the racers were at the top of their game. I am super curious as to whether top 36er racers would generally win or lose to top geared 36er racers on kart racing tracks with lots of turns. If it turns out to be a close race between them, then it would be utterly fascinating to me!
I’m sure the unicycle races on the types of circuits that this race is being held on will be loads of fun to participate in and to watch. After (hopefully) seeing a race or two of this sort, perhaps I’ll have a change of heart as to which type of racing I like the most.
