I am reading One Wheel - Many Spokes by Lars Clausen and in light of this, Patrick Thomas’ in progress ride across the US, and talk of other tours that have taken place and are planned, I’m experiencing an interesting psychological phenomenon.
Rides like the Minnesota ride of a few years ago or that guy who rode across Oklahoma just don’t seem that impressive. I have never ridden more than 5 miles without a dismount or more than 20 miles in a day, yet I just have the feeling that riding the length of New Jersey wouldn’t be that taxing.
In the course of 4 or 5 pages Lars goes from South Dakota to North Dakota and then into Minnesota. How hard could it possibly be to shoot down to Maryland from the NYC vicinity?
I feel positively impervious to saddle soreness, fatigue, achy knees, and the like.
Good handlebars make a big difference in saddle comfort. Just as a road bicyclist has approximately 40% of their weight on the handlebars, the more we can get off our crotches the better for us as well. Even better than for the bicyclists, as we pedal faster and we generate more crotch friction.
Ultramarathon riders like Lars and Wally Watts are truly inspirational. Their legs get to be like tree trunks, and they can go all day. But Unicycle Across Minnesota was amazing in its own right. When have that many people all done such a long unicycle ride together? To do it with such a big group is very significant in itself.
We learned much from that group. We learned that a big group can do a long ride together, and we learned what kinds of pitfalls and problems they would encounter.
Yes, you should cruise up to NYC sometime. Don’t forget to train up first though…
If you inspect your saddle, you’ll probably find that all the cream has oozed out of that “other” Twinkie that you used for saddle padding. Air tubes may be less comfortable, but they last longer.
