As goldenchickenreincarnated said, inspiring write up, Kris, thank you. This morning I went out on the local trails with my KH29er and managed hills and roots that threw me in prior rides. Thanks for the inspiration! 
During the riding I forced myself to eat even though I didnāt feel like it. Mostly for the reason of recovering better for the next day, as much as for energy while I was riding (e.g. you are āeating for tomorrowā). I usually ate 2 or 3 energy bars, plus electrolyte and protein in my hydration pack, and some fruit snacks at the aid stations. Right after finishing I ate a real meal. I didnāt stop for a break while riding on any of the days. Usually I ate while pedalling. Due to dry mouth syndrome it took ages to eat a bar!
Itās also funny to ride for 4.5 hours (the 43 km day), drink lots, and not pee once. The entire week was overcast and not too hot, which was fantastic for not getting dehydrated. Usually I drank about 2 litres or so during the ride.
After riding I stretched lots, and I actually didnāt have to wait for massages. In Canada, extended medical coverage can cover registered massage therapy and there was a travelling crew of massage therapists along for the ride. So I got 1/2 hour massages on 4 of the days, which was nice! Always on mid/lower back and glutes/core which for me are the places that get sore.
Red Bull sponsored the race, which was funny. I heard a great comment about them from a rider:
āRed Bull doesnāt give you wings, it just sucks energy from the futureā¦ā
Kris
Kris, did you by any chance have a cycle computer or something?
I was wondering what your average speed over the 7 days was, Iād just find it quite interesting thatās all
congratulations and very well done!
Hereās a table of times, distances, and average speed in km/hr over the route, based on the total time and quoted distances. My max speed was probably around 24 km/hr on the easiest gentle downhill road sections.
Day | Decimal Time (hours) | Distance (km) | Speed (km/hour)
0 | 0.23 | 2.5 | 10.8
1 | 1.94 | 23 | 11.9
2 | 3.12 | 38 | 12.2
3 | 2.68 | 35 | 13.1
4 | 2.72 | 28 | 10.3
5 | 4.50 | 43 | 9.5
6 | 2.77 | 29 | 10.5
7 | 2.24 | 23 | 10.3
Off the top of my head thats an average of 11-11.1km/h
wow, over 7 days thatās amazing kris! 
Out of interest I figured out the average speed of the winner (Chris Sheppard) in the Epic distance: 17.9 km/hr.
One of the coolest things about doing the Challenge distance was that occasionally weād shortcut into shared parts of the course, ahead of the Epic frontrunners, and see them go by. Those guys are machines - incredible to watch them go uphill like itās downhill.
Kris
Iām surprised the Hooverās didnāt join you! But I think I remember you saying that it was an āinvitationalā thing? Did Nathan and Beau, or any other unicyclists try to enter?
It was a special invite that went to me plus a few pro bike riders. Entry price including food & race registration would otherwise be about $2500, plus travel costs.
Kris
Wow! 
Mustāve been some pretty big cash prizes? Did you get more TV and print interviews afterword? This has got to be an all-time first for a unicyclist finishing in the top 5āor anywhere close to thatāagainst top mtbers!
Actually, no cash prizes at all! Just trophies, daily stage medals, and yellow jerseys.
Iām actually not sure what press there was; am just recovering today and didnāt have internet access all week.
Pictures
Pictures attached from:
http://www.bcbikerace.com/Media/Blog/
Kris- This is so awesome. Very inspirational as I move into the last 2 months of training before my first ālongā ride on my KH 36. Congrats and thank you for everything youāve done for the sport to make it possible for newcomers like me
Is it me or does it look like kris has a bobble head in the picture on the left? 
great pictures, iād love to ride there some day! 
Awesome job, Kris.
When you ride on the flat soft-dirt sections, how does the resistance in high gear compare to an ungeared uni?
Also, I like the short T-bar setup. Is it just cut from a stock touring handle?
In flat, soft dirt (e.g. sand or loose soil), Iād probably be in 1st gear - just too hard to push in second.
Pushing 2nd gear also takes some getting used to. In the beginning when practicing in second gear, I often felt like the frame was bobbing back and forth a lot because Iād lean forward and push down, and find Iād leaned forward too much for the amount of acceleration I had in 2nd. Vice versa for braking. This went away as I got used to it.
Also, there were some times in the race where I played it safe and stayed in 1st where I might have otherwise experimented with 2nd, because wiping out (or getting hurt) is slowest of all. Judging when it was worth it to switch gears (e.g. if you see 30 feet of smooth level ground ahead, then a rough section, do you switch or just spin it out faster in first) has definitely been a learning curve. As far as wipeouts go, I hardly ever fell on descents; almost all my falls were on climbs. That said, I definitely made use of my leg armor and wrist support gloves - it was well worth using them despite the fact it was XC riding.
The short T-bar setup is the standard bar cut shorter. The slotted tube is oriented with the seatpost clamp towards the rear (it fits both facing forwards or backwards) to allow the T-bar to be pushed in as far as possible. I really like this setup. I donāt think I would use it for fully technical downhill North Shore riding with big drops, where Iād prefer to grip the brake straight from the plastic handle, but for everything else and particularly in 2nd gear it adds a lot of comfort and control.
Kris
Great result Kris! That looks like fantastic tracks Thanks for the write up.
Way to represent Kris! Awesome work in what looks like a fantastic event. This is exactly the type of riding i have been getting more and more into since i moved to a geared Kh24 with custom handlebar about 8 months ago.
It would be great to share some ideas about your riding technique in regards to climbing in high gear, using the handle bar and braking technique.
I used to think the same thing as you with the brake position- that it is most comfortable for tech DH if it is under the plastic bumper with a spooner. If you are set on that idea you should have a look at what Jogi (on the forums) knocked up with a broken KH trials frame and a CF base. I use an old lollypop style uni frame clamped to a KH rail adapter (without the front bumper) with the magura lever on the RH arm (in this set up a spooner is not needed).
Once you get used to a slightly revised braking technique it is as good- if not better than using a spooner. In this configuration you can wrap one or two fingers right around the lever- getting more power to the brake than just getting the ends of your fingers on a spooner. It also makes it more comfortable when using the brake for more gradual braking on fast flowing single track/fire trails because you can maintain good hand positions out on the handles to increase comfort and control.
One other bonus of a handle is the ability to climb. I find that the more i ride with gears and handle bar the better i am at all aspects of climbing. By gripping both arms of my handle bar and getting up off the saddle it is possible to get a much greater amount of torque to the pedals than by using one arm on a plastic bumper. This does mean your side to side balance needs to be more attuned because flailing an arm lessens your purchase on the uni.
Iām also interested about how consistent you were with shifting during the event. I am still fine tuning my sense of when it is best to upshift instead of just spinning like crazy on 125s. Did you find that you had to read further down the trail than you normally do in 1:1? Or did you just up and down shift really frequently?
Would be great to hear your thoughts on these points of riding. I am competing in my first 50km mtb event in a few weeks and am excited to see how a GMuni goes against some keen bike riders.
Keep on pushing the sport- and great write up.
mark
The way the T-bar is set up on my uni, for offroad use, it almost overlaps the plastic handle at its base. Everyone is different but personally I like the choice of the two handle options.
For most climbing I do use the T-bar. If itās relatively smooth uphill pedalling, then I might have both hands on it. But for me it totally depends on conditions; hence that itās nice to have both options, partly because the handle position is different. Essentially, the more the climbing devolves towards being closer to trials riding as opposed to just powering upwards, the more likely Iād have my hand on the plastic handle.
I really like having the spooner and brake lever in the middle as it lets me wrap more of my hand around the handle, and because it protects the lever from impact in a wipeout. Personally I want my handle to be as low profile as I can get away with. Note - to put the T-bar in the position I have it on my uni, I cut the width to 120 mm to avoid it hitting my knees.
Iām getting better at shifting through bumps but it definitely is a learning curve and usually I find it way better to shift before Iād get to a place where it would be tough. Learning when to downshift when youāre cruising towards a steeper uphill is one challenge (e.g. how much momentum can you carry up the bottom of the rise, plus you need a bit of ācoastingā to take pressure off for the shift). On the downhills, say when downshifting before a technical section where you want to be in first gear, I find it useful to use my rim brake to take braking pressure off my feet and allow a downshift.
For muni Iād always wear over-the-ankle shoes (e.g. Five Ten Impact Highās or Karvers) because I often still seem to miss the shift with the bottom of my heel, and tend to try for that then move my anklebone inwards if I think I missed it. Plus I want to avoid sprained ankles =)
Definitely all this requires reading much further down the trail than in a singlespeed. Partly that is for safety, to avoid wiping out, say, on an otherwise smooth trail with boulders or fallen logs.
Kris
Congratulations Kris! Very inspiring! While Iāve done many ultra-marathon epics myself on FOOT (even some multi-day stuff) Iām yet to take the plunge into multi-day mountain unicycle epics though I think that day is coming very soon. Itās just a matter of finding the right time and opportunity, but I am extremely motivated to give my dream a shot within then next couple of yearsā¦ Until then Iām experimenting with some multi-day āMUni-packingā on some lovely single track trails in my area this Fall.
Huge kudos to you! All the best in your recovery!
Kris,
Can you post close-up pics of your handle setup?
Thanks!
Chris
Very cool Kris. Having done a handful of century+ cycling events on one wheel, I feel pretty cool when I can keep up with a group of cyclists for the day rather than just getting passed all day long until I reach the finish. To actually rank well in a competitive field is fairly mind blowing. Good job.
Cheers,
Z