Gah! I can’t believe I forgot that in the write-up again!
Our unis:
Roland: KH24 (slick tire), 150mm cranks
Mark: Sun 700c tire, 170mm cranks
Me: KH29 (BA2.0 tire), 165 mm cranks
Wow another “big dog” weighing in. Thanks, Nathan.
It’s true, the NE US doesn’t have huge mtns, but we have a good series of hardcore hillclimbs every summer: Whiteface, Ascutney, Equinox, and the big kahuna, Mt. Washington. All sustained and steep. We’d love to have you attend one or two. I bet we could push each other to log some pretty fast times.
Great job Steve, it sounds like the grade was brutal! I’ve done Smuggler’s Notch in Stowe VT quite a number of times on my roadbike, and have had the experience of looking just 25 feet up the road & around the switchback to find it way above my head - a vertigo experience! I guess I’ll have to start riding Smuggler’s on my uni if I’m going to join you on Equinox next year.
There are two more short hillclimb races in VT this fall, the Burke Mt. bike race, http://news.alpinezone.com/17008/, and a race up Appalacian Gap near the the Mad River Glen ski area, http://www.achillclimb.org/ . Mark P. and I will be doing the Ap Gap, and since I can’t afford to go ride the passes in Colorado with AspenMike, I hope to do Whiteface NY again in September!
Thanks for writing that up Steve, it was a really nice read.
In fact, thanks for doing the ride! It’s good to have unicyclists out there doing visibly cool stuff. Whatsmore, it’s always nice to see unicycles not finishing last in a bike race! That’s a good tradition to maintain too
Awesome that you got some riding buddies and that you all smashed the record! I’m not sure I could hack a hill climb like that; certainly not at those times. We don’t have an awful lot of hills round these parts
Truly inspiring! I’m sorry I didn’t make it over there. I got tied up in Ludlow that morning. Thanks for sharing the narrative. What you guys accomplished is truly mind boggling. I’m in awe!
Well, you met two of your three initial goals (sort of). No rest breaks and beating your old record.
Nathan, have you (or anyone else here) ever done the race up Mt. Diablo in the East Bay? (10.8 mi, 3,249 vert) I think there are several riders who do it just about every year.
Mt Diablo is way easier. It’s about a 3300’ climb in 10.8 miles. The only slight hard part is at the top - 17% grade for about 1/5th of a mile. The race is the first Sunday on Oct - very fun. I first did it in 2001, but Gary and Scot started in 2000 I think. I’ve done it every year since. http://www.mtdiablochallenge.com/ Some photos: