This ride benefits research for Lyme disease. It’s only 5.4 miles, all paved, and climbs a mere 3248 ft. vertically. No sweat right? Well, some sweat.
Come on all you Northeast riders. I’m talking to you Pat Moore, you Bill Merrylees, all you Massachusetts riders! Get training and sign up. The record is a very slow 1:50:17, (set by me in 2005) and is ripe for the beating.
Gack… My legs are hurting just looking at that… we’ll see. Maybe at the least I’ll come out and support you guys. I hate ticks. With a fiery passion, them and their sidekick, Lyme!
You mean ethnic groups whose women have small breasts?
Brian O. and Evil-Nick - you guys should both go for it! It’s a great charity, and it’s a really fun race, with awesome views as you get up higher. I’d suggest training on some big hills, though.
Nothing definite, but after today’s ride I think I might be in shape in time… We’ll see if I can swing the registration fee when we get closer to it, and if I’ve been keeping up with my uphill riding…
I don’t know Brian. If I still had that LX24" (I cut its frame down to make a big wheel for my 10 yr old daughter), I’d consider using it instead of my 29er. Your hookworm might be just the ticket. You’d die on a Coker unless you’re a climbing god.
Average grade 12% with maximum grade 28%??? Good Lord!!! I couldn’t do that on a two-wheeler!
If the child bride doesn’t have anything scheduled for us on August 4th I may try to get over to watch and take pictures.
I do have a question. In the event that you do have to stop on an ascent like that, how do you remount on a hill that steep? I have difficulty freemounting on anything more than a gentle uphill grade.
Realizing the question isn’t to me, I’ll chime in anyway. On a 36", I find uphill mounting super-challenging, and the shorter the cranks, the less likely I’ll be successful. Generally, I point it down instead, mount, get stable, then U-turn. With a 29" wheel such as Steve uses in these climbing events, it’s a little bit easier. I’d imagine you just put yourself perpendicular to the fall line (an analogy I’m sure you can relate to), do a static mount, then 90 degree turn uphill.
The other option is to just bring extra tools, take the unicycle apart after your fall, then re-assemble it underneath yourself.
Thanks Tom and Steve. I’ve tried mounting downhill and laterally but without much success. I can get on it downhill with no problem but doing a 180 on a steep hill defeats me. On road rides through residential areas I’ll start on someone’s driveway and then make the turn when I hit the street but very steep hills are a struggle.
No one has mentioned doing doing a hill climb on a 20". My only other option is my 28". I’ve never bothered to measure the cranks before but from the middle of the pedal bolt to the middle of the crank bolt (is that how it should be measured?) is exactly six inches which is 152mm. I don’t know what’s on my 20" (I keep it in Vermont). I’d guess a 24" would be better suited for me but we sold the last 24" we had in the store yesterday.
I’m still in awe of what you guys accomplished at Whiteface. It took my quads three days to recover from a 3/4 mile hill climb on a much more gentle pitch.
Easy, don’t dismount until the top I usually do the 90 degree turn method, or in some extreme cases the “I just fell off, bugger it, I’ll walk the rest of the way up” method
