Wow I must say I’m a bit bummed, but from the sounds of it, the award went to the right people. I think that it was definatly more what you were looking for:D .
I can’t wait to see all the applications be posted.
I’m not sure most mountain bike events really are that bad for a unicyclist. There are quite a few unicyclists in the UK who’ve ridden 50km and longer mountain bike events without coming last or getting caught by cut-offs. Also I know quite a few in New Zealand (and a few of us foreigners) have done Karapoti which is 50km in big hills.
Where mountain bike routes become a problem is in the week long events (or longer), and things like 160km/100 mile in a day races, as the level of bikers in those will just be that bit higher, and there are far more hard constraints like the amount of daylight available.
The ultimate thing that a unicyclist should do at some point is the Great Divide, but you do have to average 100 miles a day, so it wouldn’t be easy to say the least.
Joe
The Great Divide has crossed my mind before, but it would probably be better done not during the race. That way average distance per day would be much lower and you could enjoy it more.
Also I should add a big thanks to Unicycle.com who sponsored the award in terms of funding the logistical cost of getting prizes from Taiwan (my point of export) to the applicants. Thanks!
Kris
Well, from some of the mountain bike events I’ve searched and considered doing in the U.S. the cut-offs would be extremely tight for even the most ambitious unicyclist. Also most of these events have aid-stations 15-20 miles apart which may be no problem for a mountain biker but a slower moving unicyclist that is a problem. This has been the main reason I’ve focused on doing 12 hr mtn bike events since a shorter loop nature means more frequent aid. I still think it would be cool to semi-organize events like what siafirede is talking about i.e. Great Divide “race” or “ride” but maybe half the daily distance and add some more support or aid caches. I like the idea of the Evolution of Balance award and to add to the whole idea why not organize events were everybody who is able can join up and go i.e. the festival idea. Or perhaps a long trail loop course i.e. up to 100 miles with shorter options available with aid stations/support frequent (or caches). Yes I’m talking about continuous rides, night time just do like the mtn bikers and ultra-runners do, put on the headlamps and such and keep going! I’m thinking of these things like a true all around endurance event, i.e. you may be forced to hike alot and ride when you can (especially at night). I different kind of experience entirely; but not unlike a solo 24 hour mtn bike event.
I rode with a few of those guys at the “Lifestyles” race; they resembled an unstoppable machine more than the title unicyclist would lead you to believe, a sheer blur of dust and wheel.
Great idea, I’m glad y’all’ve won it.
That sounds like a sick trip. You guys better post lots of photos. I imagine that you are going to have to get a lot of shots before you head down there. well… there goes the whole grant 
15-20 miles between water isn’t that bad, it’s easy to carry enough food/water for a normal 20 mile muni ride, just do that. As for continuous riding for 24 hours several of us have done solo 24 hour mountain bike races and not come last, night riding included (also much of my winter muni riding is at night, as it’s the only time to ride in the week, I’m sure the same is true of a lot of regular muni riders).
I kind of agree that it’d be great to have a unicycle specific long distance event, but until there are enough riders for that to be organised I don’t really see that there’s anything stopping us entering mountain bike events. I also don’t think muni events really need to be wussed down or have that much added support compared to mountain bike events.
I do have a plan for a long distance event though, which is to race/ride the South Downs Way, it’s 100 miles, rideable on a 29er, 10,000 feet of climbing (and the same of descending). There’s water about every 20 miles, and food at roughly 60 and 75 miles (plus some food a bit off the trail at about 30 miles). Obviously as a proper long distance challenge rules would be: no external support, no feed stations, you can get water from the taps and food from cafes on the route, if you need to retire, ride, walk or hitch hike / taxi to the nearest train station. The obvious cut-off time would be 24 hours, and personally I think it should start at 10pm at night, so that people are doing the night riding when they are fresh - also it’d mean night riding the easiest and least hilly / rocky part of the course.
Joe
Yeah I’m totally in to entering mtn bike events on my unicycle, I’ve done that before and will continue to. I guess I was just leaning towards having unicycle specific long distance events. I know there maybe not enough riders now to warrent it, but if you included an event around one of the existing Muni festivals then you could have a fan/support base as well as offer some shorter distance alternative or possibilities of breaking the full distance over multiple days of the festival? Yeah I don’t totally agree with 15-20 miles not being a long way w/o aid. If you’re on a nice xc trail that you can fly along on a 29er then I agree but what about a real technical more advanced muni route were you’re on a 24" unicycle? You could be out there for long hours and if it’s hot? You can’t imagine how hot and miserably humid it gets here in the south! wow.
Anyways your South Downs Way sounds like an awsome epic, I wish I had the time and $$ to be able to join you! I’ve got a couple of route ideas for a 100 mile muni adventures that I plan on executing in the next couple of years.
Cheers,
munisano
Thanks for the kudos, everyone. I can’t believe we got it. We’re all ecstatic, and it’s going to hard to shelve this whole thing and concentrate on RTL. 
We put a major amount of time (so far) into the planning and app-writing, and it was a huge group effort. Roland (aka Rolandisimo) does mammal research down in Panama, and he came up with the original idea, and did a lot of leg-work down in Panama scouting out the route, talking to Nat’l Park officials, and the like. He also has a friend who’s a Nat. Geo. freelance photographer who’s planning on MTBing with us and documenting.
Roland and Perry (capuni) were also great with editing and steering my writing through its verbose wanderings, and Brad, who’s a cartographer, made us a beautiful map as part of our award application.
Brad Map 4sm.bmp (851 KB)
That is so cool. I remember reading about an ultramarathon run that ran from the pacific to the atlantic in Panama, something like 50 miles + or -. Not sure of the exact route they took but I remember reading some race write-ups in Ultrarunning magazine. I’m so jealous! Enjoy and please share your experiences with us all!
munisano
endurance unicycling events - yes!
First, congratulations to all who dreamt of a submission and to those who will follow those dreams with a ride.
Been meaning to respond to an earlier message to say, YES, this is the kind of event that I would make time and travel for. Later messages in the thread put forward some options for those who aren’t of a ultrauni bent, which would probably be good, but I’m up for making an event happen that includes exactly what you describe here happen.
As you mention later in the thread, 12/24 hour mountain bike events are a serviceable option for adapting existing events to unicycles. I think that is a great strategy for creating unicycle events as well. I have taken up joining randoneurring events as nice, loosely organized rides with fairly generous cutoffs. These are road events only, but I enjoy me a day long coker ride on some nice backroads too. On the shorter end of the spectrum, in Portland the unicyclists have carved out a place for themselves at the annual cyclocross race series.
At all of these events I find that people who are into cycling seem to be genuinely impressed with people who have nice unicycles, can ride them well, and come out to join them.
I hope this isn’t a “threadjack” since it does continue the conversation, stimulated by this award, of bringing the unicycle into new and exciting challenges.
Thanks Kris and everyone bringing unicycles where they haven’t been before for contributing in such bold ways to our sport!
~Z
That’s a beautiful course, Steveyo. I’m with MuniSano, running or riding that would be a great way to see a trail!
Congratulations, and keep us all posted on the ride’s development!
Congrats Steveo, what an adventure it will be. I look forward to the pics and report. Concentrate on RTL, you still have almost 10 months till your trip. Congrats again.
Wow, that will be an unreal trip!
Congratulations guys! Sounds fantastic. Looking forward to hearing a bit more about the trip. Are you carring your gear with you? Where do you get food and water? What sort of unis are you using etc? And the writeup…gotta wait for a bloody year…Damn!
My application was in Chile. I’d planned on starting off In Santiago and Valaparaiso, soing a few local trails. Then heading up to the Atacama Desert and looking at some of the flats and volcanoes there. After that the plan was to head down south and ride a couple of hundred kms down the Carretera Austral- a dirt highway connecting the north to the south of Chile. The trip had a few bits of everything- techical, distance, downhill etc.
Kris was kind enough to give me a bit of advice as he had done some riding there. He mentioned a few places in Bolivia.
And this is a go anyway- Nov.-Dec. 2008. Looking at Patagonia and Peru too and even going up to central America to Costa Rica and Nicaragua (I’ll stay way clear of Panama though!!! )
Congrats again, guys.
Congratulations. It looks like a fun trip. I look froward to seeing some photos.
Not to sound redundant, but that looks like an awsome ride, I love desolation type trips that give you the opportunity to see places & things that the majority of the worlds people have never seen.
Congratulations on the trip of a lifetime
Great Riders, Great Trip, Great Job!
Good Luck Guy’s
Hey Blunt, good to hear from you, thanks for the note.
As to last year’s Lifestyles race…I’ll attach a photo confirm the blur of dust you mentioned
Roland
ps, I think there is still space at this year’s lifestyles race
