We’re in need of another rider for the 2012 Mountain Mayhem 24-hour xc endurance race on June 23rd and 24th.
You would be riding as one of a team of four in a relay (one person out at a time), riding laps of about 8 miles. It’s not a technically demanding course, but quite hilly and energy-sapping. You need to be fairly fit and able to ride competently off-road and hold a safe, predictable line in race conditions (bikes are a lot faster than us and don’t want to be held up). Ideal wheel is a 29er, but some people like to use a 36" or 26". You’ll need lights for the night section (but these could be borrowed if needed). Riders must be at least 18 years old on the day of the race.
If you’re interested please get over to the Mountain Mayhem thread on the UUU forum, or reply here. We need somebody as soon as possible.
How long would you expect riders to take for that lap, and is it OK to walk the climbs?
I might be interested, but have only been riding since September as you probably know, so not sure I’m really up to it. I’d describe myself as fairly fit and competent on straightforward off road, but not all that convinced of my abilities on the MM course from what I remember of it (I’ve never raced, but have ridden round, as I live close by).
Hopefully you’ll get somebody better than me - I’d probably be better waiting until next year, but if you’re really, really stuck…
A quick unicycle lap in reasonable conditions is usually 1h15 to 1h30 ish, sometimes people will do the odd lap faster than that. Some of us will be slower than that though, so we’re not going to be elitist if you’re offering to ride for us
The climbs are where we really have a chance of making up time over the bikes (obviously we’re going to be slower on the flats and much slower down hill), but they usually put some fairly evil long draggy grassy climbs somewhere on the course so we all end up walking the odd bit - I can’t honestly claim to have ridden every single bit of every climb on every lap and I consider climbing as one of my strong points.
The main thing to consider, with you being a fairly recent convert to one wheel, is that you can ride safely and predictably so as not to be dangerous or hold people up unnecessarily and annoy the bikers. If you can do that you’ll be welcome on the team.
Probably best to get over to the UUU forum to keep the discussion in the same place.
