Long distance riding

Riding Advice
1

Hello all,

Has anyone done longish distances on a 24" wheel? I'm debating on
riding my 24 on one of the shorter(49 miles) days of a cross state
bike ride. I'm at my peak fitness for bicycling, so it seems a
reasonable goal. Any thoughts?

–
George C. Barnes IV President, ISU Unicycling Club
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbarnes/

2

Personally I would use a Coker, but Jack Hughes of Washington told me he
did most of the Seattle to Portland (or vice versa?) ride on a 24"
unicycle recently. He made the first 100 mile day ok, but only 70 miles
out of 100 on the second day. The first day he rode for 17 hours. Pretty
amazing I’d say. 49 miles should be more reasonable, but I’d wager you’ll
be pretty sore afterwards.

Good luck,

—Nathan

“George Barnes IV” <gbarnes@iastate.edu> wrote in message
news:tl783q46uetf67@corp.supernews.com…
> Hello all,
>
> Has anyone done longish distances on a 24" wheel? I’m debating on
> riding my 24 on one of the shorter(49 miles) days of a cross state
> bike ride. I’m at my peak fitness for bicycling, so it seems a
> reasonable
goal.
> Any thoughts?
>
> –
> George C. Barnes IV President, ISU Unicycling Club
> http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbarnes/

3

OK, but don’t go by what Jack can do – that kid is like a masochistic
Gumby! It was amazing to see him throw himself into the trials stuff,
occasionally making the really hard ‘lines’ he was shooting for but
usually twisting his lithe body into pretzels as he fell all over the
place. Then I watched later as he zoomed into first place in at least one
race; he blazes. And he’s got amazing stamina, which can help explain the
17 hours (well, along with that masochism). If you are reading this, Jack,
it was fantastic getting to know you, and I hope I’ll see you again soon!

Final notes on George’s original question about riding long distances on
shorter unis: My brother and I rode 23 miles on our 20" Schwinns years
ago (hard to walk the next day), and the next year he rode 50mi, tho that
may have been on a 24". So it’s doable, but I’d much prefer at least a
26"er. – David

nathan@movaris.com writes:
>Personally I would use a Coker, but Jack Hughes of Washington told me he
>did most of the Seattle to Portland (or vice versa?) ride on a 24"
>unicycle recently. He made the first 100 mile day ok, but only 70 miles
>out of 100 on the second day. The first day he rode for 17 hours. Pretty
>amazing I’d say. 49 miles should be more reasonable, but I’d wager you’ll
>be pretty sore afterwards.
>
>Good luck,
>
>—Nathan
>
>“George Barnes IV” <gbarnes@iastate.edu> wrote in message
>news:tl783q46uetf67@corp.supernews.com…
>> Hello all,
>>
>> Has anyone done longish distances on a 24" wheel? I’m debating on
>> riding my 24 on one of the shorter(49 miles) days of a cross state
>> bike ride. I’m at my peak fitness for bicycling, so it seems a
>> reasonable
>goal.
>> Any thoughts? George C. Barnes IV

4

I believe it was a 28 inch wheel…

Someone came to my house yesterday who rode that Portland ride on bike.
After seeing my uni he mentioned he met a unicyclist on the Portland ride
and was impressed. I figured whoever it was wrote about it in the NG …
and was right! Congrads to Jack. What an accomplishment.

-Chris Carey

“Nathan Hoover” <nathan@movaris.com> wrote in message
news:tls5536fbuk474@corp.supernews.com…
> Personally I would use a Coker, but Jack Hughes of Washington told me he
did
> most of the Seattle to Portland (or vice versa?) ride on a 24"
> unicycle recently. He made the first 100 mile day ok, but only 70
> miles out of 100
on
> the second day. The first day he rode for 17 hours. Pretty amazing I’d
say.
> 49 miles should be more reasonable, but I’d wager you’ll be pretty sore
> afterwards.
>
> Good luck,
>
> —Nathan
>
> “George Barnes IV” <gbarnes@iastate.edu> wrote in message
> news:tl783q46uetf67@corp.supernews.com…
> > Hello all,
> >
> > Has anyone done longish distances on a 24" wheel? I’m debating on
> > riding my 24 on one of the shorter(49 miles) days of a cross state
> > bike ride. I’m at my peak fitness for bicycling, so it seems a
> > reasonable
> goal.
> > Any thoughts?
> >
> > –
> > George C. Barnes IV President, ISU Unicycling Club
> > http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbarnes/

5

In 1999, Dan Heaton (then age 16) became the first unicyclist to complete
the 200 mile Seattle to Portland Bike Classic in two days. He did it as
part of his training for the Unicycle Across Minnesota trip at the time. I
am unsure if others have gone the full route since. I think Dan did it on
a 28" but it could have been a smaller wheel. I know that the last miles
were absolutely grueling in 80 degree weather. I should add that many a
biker doesn’t make the full journey either, so any unicyclist that makes
the attempt is a real trouper. Chris Heaton

----- Original Message ----- From: “Chris Carey” <chris_carey@yahoo.com>
To: <unicycling@winternet.com> Sent: Friday, July 27, 2001 2:53 PM
Subject: Re: Long distance riding

> I believe it was a 28 inch wheel…
>
> Someone came to my house yesterday who rode that Portland ride on
> bike. After seeing my uni he mentioned he met a unicyclist on the
> Portland ride and was impressed. I figured whoever it was wrote about
> it in the NG …
and
> was right! Congrads to Jack. What an accomplishment.
>
> -Chris Carey
>
> “Nathan Hoover” <nathan@movaris.com> wrote in message
> news:tls5536fbuk474@corp.supernews.com…
> > Personally I would use a Coker, but Jack Hughes of Washington
> > told me he
> did
> > most of the Seattle to Portland (or vice versa?) ride on a 24"
> > unicycle recently. He made the first 100 mile day ok, but only 70
> > miles out of
100
> on
> > the second day. The first day he rode for 17 hours. Pretty amazing I’d
> say.
> > 49 miles should be more reasonable, but I’d wager you’ll be pretty
> > sore afterwards.
> >
> > Good luck,
> >
> > —Nathan
> >
> > “George Barnes IV” <gbarnes@iastate.edu> wrote in message
> > news:tl783q46uetf67@corp.supernews.com…
> > > Hello all,
> > >
> > > Has anyone done longish distances on a 24" wheel? I’m debating
> > > on riding my 24 on one of the shorter(49 miles) days of a cross
> > > state
bike
> > > ride. I’m at my peak fitness for bicycling, so it seems a reasonable
> > goal.
> > > Any thoughts?
> > >
> > > –
> > > George C. Barnes IV President, ISU Unicycling Club
> > > http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbarnes/
> >
> >
>