RE: Guinness records?
> What wheel size was the 100 meter sprint record attained
> with?
Both mine and Peter Rosendahl’s records were done on 24" Miyata Deluxes with
Miyata blue/white tires and 125/127mm Sugino “IDOL” crank arms. Those tires
are a little bit smaller than 24".
My record was set in Edogawa, Tokyo at UNICON III in 1987, in a special race
for the Guinness Book. It was done separately from the 100m competition race
for UNICON ranking. We ran the Guinness race about 10 times, to get multiple
samples and because of some problems with the electronic timing equipment.
Shigero Koike and I turned out to have exactly the same top speed that day,
and each of those runs was determined in the first 20 meters of acceleration
(not counting any dismounts). He won some of the runs, but I won the fastest
one.
Peter Rosendahl’s record was a standalone event, outside of a unicycling
competition. It was done as part of a promotion (grand opening?) of a water
park in Las Vegas. Because it was a big publicity event, there was strong
determination that the existing record would fall (I forget what year this
was, but my record had already been broken by racers in Japan, though
apparently not under conditions to interest the Guinness people). Peter told
me he had a personal trainer to help him prepare, he ate a special diet, and
studied videos of his progress. They were very serious about it. Peter was
already an athlete, with experience as a performance stunt man, and martial
arts training. He was a professional performer, and worked for several years
at Circus Circus in Las Vegas, even having his image imprinted (with his
lateral zig-zag giraffe) on countless thousands of coin cups there. He had
also been in pursuit of the 100 meter record since at least 1982, during
which he beat the old Guinness record (of 14.89 seconds), though from a
flying start. I have a video of this. On that record, he worked hard to earn
his place in the Guinness Book.
Today, according to Jack Halpern, the 100 meter record is somewhere in the
high elevens, though probably with shorter cranks. In Japan they have (or
had) a racing category with no crank limitations.
> Do other people have records for 20" that they could post?
This page:
http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/records/
includes some 20" records, but only by kids. Everything up to the 9-10 age
group is 20" max. wheel. 0-12 is 24". Records in the Slow Race events may
have been set on any size wheel.
The Unicycling Society of America offered the full range of races for all
ages on both 20" and 24" up until 1979. Results of all this racing can be
found in back issues of the USA Newsletter, available here:
http://www.unicycling.org/usa/merchandise/#publications
Note that Jevonn Green, a 9 or 10 year old from Detroit, did the 100 meters
in 20.07 in 1990. In 1993, Susan Norris of Ohio, also 9 or 10, did it in
19.40. I think this race has been done in the seventeens or so, maybe
eighteen seconds, by older riders.
> or less, I also rode a quarter mile on my 20" in 1’39.57"
> And that too seemed EXTREMELY fast, as my pedals were
> moving ridiculously quickly.
Yes it is, in part because a 20" is just not an efficient speed vehicle! The
“kids” 400m record is 1:32.01. You’re not far off!
Note: all of the above 20" records are USA-only (set at USA competitions).
When not equal, world records will tend to be faster.
Stay on top,
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
2002 NAUCC and UNICON Referee
jfoss@unicycling.com
Go to NAUCC and UNICON 2002! www.nwcue.org
I have standard everything, as in standard cranks, and nothing new cept what came on my savage. Are there any tricks involved in sprinting fast, like gliding? or wheel walking? Or is it just ridiculously fast peddling without stop?