Can’t let our northern hemisphere cousins have all the fun!!! Ok, we’re not doing any crazy Red Bulls/ 24hr races but we have got a team together for a 12hr Mountainbike race in Taupo, New Zealand, on the 12th of October. Last year this was the biggest mountainbike race in New Zealand and the biggest 12hr race in the world, with over 2000 riders. Racers will do short 8km loops on mainly rolling, grassy hills with some singletrack. The course loops past the main campsite where all the teams and support crews will be based, and where transitions will occur. There will be approx 3hrs or darkness (sunset at 7.30pm) which should be quite challenging, since not many of us have ridden in the dark before.
The team of 5 consists of:
*Tony Melton
*Peter Bier
*Malcolm Todd
*Ken Looi
*Einsteins Lil’ Brother (our mascot- he’s a fluffy monkey)
We settled on being called ‘The J’ville Unibombers’ as our team name. J’ville (Johnsonville) Cycles have sponsored our entry. As far as I’m aware, they’re the only bike shop in NZ (Australasia?) with a sponsored unicycle team.
We welcome suggestions on race tactics and strategy. Especially from those of you who did Red Bull/ 24hrs of Adrenalin. How do we beat those two-wheelers? eg. Should we alternate riders after every lap or should we go hard for several laps before swapping? What are good 28’ cyclocross tyres to use?
At the moment, our main strategy is to pedal very fast. We believe that this could work, although Malcolm has plans of setting the other teams on fire (He’s a juggler and will bring his fire-sticks + lot’s of kerosene).
We will post pics and update this after the race.
Ken Looi
Unibomber
