Okay, wasn’t quite sure if this would fit with the questions in the new long distance thread and didn’t want to hijack.
I have all of these day dreams about doing some big rides during the summer. Like a century or a multi day tour.
My dilemma is that I muni more regularly than anything, and I do like my regular road bike and fat bike. Between trying to balance all of my rides, it’s hard to plan time for regular distance riding on the uni, and training for anything bigger than 30 or so miles.
One thing I have begun doing is riding to work as much as I FEEL like. So far I’ve averaged every other day of either bike or unicycle. My commute is only 6 miles round trip so I’m not racking up tons of miles in that regard.
It seems odd that some days I find the ride (or general riding on the Guni) leisurely and enjoyable, and other days it’s a chore and I can’t wait to get off.
The ultimate goal for the summer would be a 60 mile ride that I regularly do on my bike which involves a significant climb.
Just not sure if I’m being realistic sometimes.
Maybe this just means it’s time for another unicycle…
Don’t kid yourself, Killian, it’s never really worth it. Big adventures like that seem like lots of fun while you’re planning them then disappoint big time when you actually try to do them.
I’m in the same boat with balancing riding between road bike and uni. It’s hard to punish myself on my 36 when I can hop on my road bike and get way more miles without feeling like someone shoved a boot up my rear.
I’ve given up on the dreams of riding a long way or fast on a unicycle… it’s just too much of an oxymoron. It’s great for just riding around, doing hills, or riding muni. For the serious cycling I’ll stick to my bike, it just makes too much sense.
If you really want to do the big rides, you have to ride much more, there is no other way to do it.
I certainly didn’t mean to knock anyone who is motivated to do these long rides. I am nothing but supremely impressed by anyone who can put in those long miles.
Riding is it’s own reward. I find that the more I ride, the more I want to ride. I also spend considerable time off the unicycle- on my MTB, touring and road bike. Just do what you want to- you have nothing to prove to anyone but yourself so just do what makes you happy. In terms of training- For big events I never really train for more that 50% of the total distance I will ride (ie for a 100km race I’ll do a few 50km rides but no more). You’ll get the fitness thrashing yourself over 50km that you will need for a well paced 100km race.
Make it enjoyable or you won’t want to do it. Also I find that if my motivation is waning, I convince myself just to get out for a short ride- and usually by the time I warm up i’m keen to push it a bit harder, further than I originally intended. And if you are not feeling it and bail early- at least you got out for a little while anyway.
I like to ride long distances and apparently so does my unicycle. I find that it requires some training but it is more dependent on the weather. A big disadvantage of riding a 36" is that windy conditions start to eat away at your resolve quite quickly. I have made trips of about 40 km in conditions up to 5-6 bft. The effort required to keep going increases dramatically so it feels more like a trip of 80-100 km without wind. Nevertheless it is not as rewarding for some reason. So my advice to plot a few trajectories which align with particular wind conditions and have someone drop you off or collect you when the trip is over.
I live for distance riding! During some rides, especially in heavy wind, I’ve felt pretty done in. Once I’m home and layed out though, I feel amazing every time, nothing else makes me feel like it! I guess this is all the motivation I need…
Tomorrow I’m gonna be attempting to join the 100-10-1 club, my longest ride yet! I’ll let you know how it goes
I’ve planned a 100k for later this year, my main motivation is ‘I did the ride last year on my 29er, and only did 42 miles. with a 36er and a handlebar and a bit more training, 62 miles will be easy’
Main demotivation for doing long rides for me is complete lack of routes. If I went out tomorrow to do a 50-mile (100, 150, 200, etc.) ride, I would essentially just do the same 10-15 mile route 5 times. I need to start studying maps more, and stop being such a wimp when it comes to riding on the roads, as that’s my main issue. If I want to ride anywhere further than 15 miles without just repeating myself, I’d have to ride on some pretty busy roads with some seriously crap infrastructure that I’m barely man enough to ride on two wheels let alone one.
How do you guys find your routes to ride? I think if I had a good goal to ride to (as in, a cool location 30 miles away), I could easily do it. Well, OK, not easily, but I could do it…
You’re only 100ish miles away from me, and I have 5 straight days a week to ride. My Thule rack should arrive in a few days, so multi-day rides, carrying kit with me, is within reach!
Once I’ve had a couple of practice rides I’ll ride to you, then we can tackle your 100k challenge together. I’m sure we could whip up the motivation and courage between us
Your first ride back after your winter hibernation was further than my usual ‘long rides’!
