I first started learning unicycle in January of 2025 and I can now ride consistently. I currently ride a 26in Nimbus Oracle and I have no issues free mounting. Since I started riding the unicycle, I have loved the idea of trying RAGBRAI. I knew I would not have enough time to prepare for this year’s event, but I think I would like to try it next year. My furthest ride is 10 miles which is not much, but I feel like I can go much further. I had to end that ride purely because I couldn’t handle the pain from my saddle. I have a saddle cover but it is still very uncomfortable at times. If I am wanting to ride in RAGBRAI next year, how should I go about preparing? Does anyone have have any suggestions on how to make longer rides more comfortable?
I would say 10 miles is already a nice distance, but since RAGBRAI is 400-500km, I can see you have something to train for, especially if you only started this year. For such distances, you need a 36” uni.
You should have a talk with @Buson_Bill who also recently learned to ride and wanted to ride a century on a 36”
24" with short cranks should be more than enough
Maybe check out this video, he rode in 2023 and is training for this year.
I’ve already watch every video video of his about ragbrai.
10miles prolly is among the furthest I rode in one go, so I‘m clearly not an expert. But from reading this forum I‘d say it’s a good idea to look into noseless saddles in combination with a sturdy handle bar, if you haven‘t already. This should help reduce chafing and spread the load between the bum and the arms.
Something along those lines.
I would recommend using at least handles, and ideally aerobars. You absolutely need to stiffen it so you can put weight on it.
The ideal is probably close to what I have on my touring uni (https://unicyclist.com/t/my-custom-travel-frame/). You can obviously go less hardcore and use a KH T-bar with stiffeners (such as what Martin Charrier has in this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INMXdgEicaY).
I have never used a beak less saddle, but I would recommend using a stiff saddle, so you don’t get numbing.
Doesn’t the bag in the middle rub against ur legs while riding?
why did he mount those other handle bars to the tail of his uni? I always figure that the KH handle bars comes with 2 version. One that you can put the gummy handles on and then the other T-section for peeps who prefer to ride with that. Now I have 2 that are collecting dust.
It does, but only when I fill it too much, and it is not a big deal, as long as the bag and my legs are dry and the ride is not too long.
When I crossed Wisconsin after UNICON last year, it was not a big deal, even though I did 800 km in a week (500 miles for our fellow liberty units users) and I wore shorts so I had no protection against that. I had a bit of chaffing, but it was really manageable.
Also, most of the time, I only use the back bag, because it prevents having any rubbing, and it gives the uni a better sidewind reaction (the wind makes me go to one side, but the bag makes me turn towards the wind, which kind of corrects the problem).