That would be cool if you can get sponsorship for the ride to cover registration. Bonus!
If you’re crazy (and the fact that you’re entered in the race makes you crazy) you could try clipless pedals.
The Dutch guy who did the Mt. Ventoux climb used clipless pedals. Could be an advantage for a pure hill climb. And on a steep hill climb, if you fall off the front while still clipped in you don’t have as far to fall as if you were riding on the flats. Wrist guards and knee pads would be strongly encouraged.
I’m officially signed up for the “Whiteface Race”, June 11:
Still thinking about the Mt. Washington race…
Anyway, I just completed my first training ride for this race - an 1100 vertical foot 2.9 mile climb south of Albany called Thatcher Park Rd. I drove to the base with both my KH29XC and my Torker LX 24 in the car. I tried out my KH29, but as I’ve only had it out once before, I just didn’t feel confident on it. So I used the Torker.
The smaller wheel made the climb pretty easy, although my 42 yr old thighs are feeling it now, a couple hours later. My legs were already aching a bit as I played indoor ultimate a couple days this week with the Albany college guys.
It ain’t a mountain, but I was pleased to make it up (and down!) this training ride without a hitch.
So…questions for you Mt. Washington entrants: BenPS - have you done any big vertical (over 1000 ft) climbs yet on your 29er?
How about you, unicyclejoe?
How about you, merrill?
Okay ladies. Looks like the first female unicyclist to the top gets to claim the record. I’d sign up for it, but I’m a guy AND I’d never make it to the top anyway. So whose going to represent the women?
All the big climbs I’ve done have been offroad on my 24x3 with 170mm cranks. I’m currently riding 102mms on my 29er, but I suspect I’ll want something longer for serious climbing. I think the short cranks are good for training rides near my house, because they make things a little more difficult.
Once the snowboarding season ends and the snow melts, I’ll probably go do some rides up Wachusett mountain. It’s the nearest mountain I can think of with a road up it.
Joey and I are actually planning on boarding Tuckerman’s this spring once the avalanche danger goes down. I’m pretty sure they don’t allow wheeled vehicles anywhere on Mt Washington except two days a year on the auto road. I wish I could do a uni decent of the trails on Washington during the summer.
Minor correction: Lode De Paepe is a Belgian guy. His website is (or
was, rather) in Dutch though. The Belgians are so poor that they don’t
have a language of their own, and borrowed Dutch and French.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
It’s impossible to get old when you ride a unicycle - John (what’s in a name) Childs
I don’t see why they wouldn’t allow uni’s… Last time I was there a guy was sledding on an inflatable doll I don’t think I’d try uni-ing down the headwall, it’s a long climb up, and a short fall down. I also question riding down to the shelters from the bowl, but from the huts down to the trail is prolly doable on unis.
For all those insane riders that were on the edge of their seat contemplating whether to do this ride… well, it’s filled up… at 600 riders. This took only 10 days to fill up, wow. Good luck to all who registered.
I want to do it, but I’m afraid my inexperience would have hurt my chances of finishing. The average grade of 12% is what scared me off. I’ll be riding in the Whiteface race (in the Adks), which is a similar distance (~8 miles), but only 8% average grade. Mt. Washington next year.
You guys should ride Whiteface with me as a training ride.
I’ll definitely do the Whiteface race if I manage to get the Mt Washington registration fee paid for by my work. Otherwise, I’m not sure how much more I can spend on race registrations.
At some point I’m going to figure out what a % grade means, and measure some hills to get a reference of what 12% is like. Is 22% really that steep?
If i am not mistaken, 22% means that it rises 22 feet (or any unit of measurement) for every 100 feet (or other) of horizontal distance. Thus a 100% grade hill is only 45 degrees.
You are not mistaken. 100% grade is 1 unit up for 1 unit horizontal, much steeper than most staircases. Almost all public roads are less than 5% grade.
I rode a couple hills in the 20+% grade range yesterday on my KH29. I came off a couple times, and I could only remount by pointing across the hill, then turning back into it. Also, forcing the 150mm cranks around made for incredible leg-burn by the top. Fun, fun, fun!
On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 22:37:14 -0600, “Ben Plotkin-Swing” wrote:
>At some point I’m going to figure out what a % grade means, and measure
>some hills to get a reference of what 12% is like. Is 22% really that
>steep?
Muniracer is correct about the definition of grade %. Talking about measuring: I have made this little gadget <http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/inclinometer.htm> and use it regularly on new grades I encounter. So I have a fair idea about what the various %-ages mean. 12% is easy to do in a burst even for a beginning MUni rider. Whether you can do it sustainably depends on your fitness / training level. 22% is still not difficult in burst mode. Personally I max out around 30%, at which level traction starts to become an issue as well (on gravel or dirt).
All of this refers to climbing on a MUni. Going down, traction is the most important limitation. Good technique or a brake let you get more out of the traction available.
Klaas Bil
Sorry newsgroup readers, you may have seen this before. The gateway is sketchy once more so I reposted this directly at the forum. Original post was made 14 hours ago (before steveyo’s posts). - KB
I guess “burst mode” is where I still have problems balancing, especially on my new KH29. With one hand on the seat-handle for leverage and the other out for balance, I seem to lose balance after a minute or so, but I’ve only had it out for 4 or 5 rides, and I assume the more I ride it, the better my balance will get. Until recently I was only able to do steep climbs with left-hand-on-seat, but yesterday I managed to switch to right-hand-on-seat hill climbing.
Hammering on the KH29’s 150mm cranks on those steep grades was aerobic as heck, even though my legs and cardio are pretty strong from 21 years of Ultimate. Steeps on my Torker 24" LX aren’t nearly as thigh-burning, but I like riding on the KH Fusion seat and the Snafu pedals seat soooo much more.
I don’t think I’d try uni-ing down the headwall, it’s a long climb up, and a short fall down. I also question riding down to the shelters from the bowl, but from the huts down to the trail is prolly doable on unis.