We’re just about set for the 24hr Moonride next weekend.
The media have been keeping a close interest in this event. I was asked by a reporter today what we were hoping to achieve in all this. Unfortunately, I came up with no better answer except to say that we were out to have fun but that we were also there to race! Tony had wondered about going for distance records, but in my opinion that is impossible to measure since the terrain/conditions of any course cannot be measured against that of another.
However, I thought of a few things that we could aim for:
*24hr unicyclists: Double century (ie 200miles / 320km)- that would require about a 13.5km/h average speed over 24hrs on a rolling course with about 95% singletrack/doubletrack, lot’s of BMX style berms and jumps.
*12hr solo unicyclists: A century (ie 100miles/ 160km)
*Failing that I was hoping that 24hr unicyclists could achieve a double or triple metric century (200/300Km) or the 12 hr guys a metric century at least (100km).
Although we cannot compare distances, I am still curious as to how far other 24hr unicycle race teams have gone in their races. I don’t recall reading many distances when I trawled through those threads. Is there any point in aiming for a century style distance? It always seemed that (road) cyclists like aiming for centuries just like runners like aiming for a marathons.
Ken
p/s got my new lights today 20W and enough power to run for 12hrs at Maximum output (Mwahahhaha!!! :D)
pp/s fun and excitement: Rotorua our race venue just blew a new Geysir in the middle of town. Hope race day doen’st become too explosive. Rotorua eruption
Well, we only did 92km but you’ve probably read about the complications. How steep is your course going to be? Just go for the centurys and so on and see how you do…but don’t be disappointed. You’re setting some pretty damn high goals in my opinion but there’s nothing at all wrong with that, in fact it’s a good thing.
I think I’ll do the 12hr solo this year. The 24hr was great and I’ve now got a little bit of muni racing experience. It was my first race and I had a ball.
I agree with what you said about not being able to compare different courses. The hilliness and technicalness (or technicality if you will) makes a massive difference.
Best of luck, and have a great time. Please take heaps of photos for us all.
Here’s a record I think we’ve already got: greatest number of unicycle teams entered in a 12/24 hour race = 4 (3 solos and one 5 member team). A kind of trivial record, really.
Seriously though, I’m aiming for an offroad metric century in my 12 hr solo ride. Thats 12.5 laps of the 8km circuit. If I can do 20 laps then I’ll have an imperial century (160km). I think 13 laps should be comfortably achievable, and 20 might be a little less than comfortable!
if u can set a goal like that and break it down to lap times and all the ‘landmarks’ toward achieving the goal seems well within your ability (and if u r going for 24hrs of doing anything it needs to be WELL within your ability), then go for it
by ‘mapping’ the path to your goal properly, u’ll be able to keep tabs on how u r doing towards achieving the goal and adjusting it should it prove to be neccesary
as long as your fun goal is set to maximum u should be fine
The fastest unicycle team (of 5) at Red Bull last year did 17 laps of a 10.9 mile course which I make 185 miles. I reckon for a team made up entirely of really really fast people, 200 miles would be doable. That course has some singletrack, some ups and downs, a bit of tarmac and lots of riding along field edges and across ploughed fields the wrong way which is fast but tiring.
I only did 76 miles in my solo riding, but I had a 10 hour break in the middle because I crashed. I was aiming to do 120 miles. From the riding I did I reckon 120 miles is well within the reach of a 24hr soloist, 200 miles would be really impressive.
Last year at 24 Hours of Adrenalin, Team Cyclops (9 unicyclists) completed
16 laps in 24:30. Each lap was 10.5 miles, so that’s 168 miles. There was
about 2000’ of climbing per lap, half singletrack and half fireroad. To get
200 miles, we would’ve had to go an extra 32 miles or 3 laps which would be
REALLY tough on this course, but certainly possible with a very fast team.
Of our 16 laps, I think 9 were done on Coker and the rest on 26" or 24"
Munis. The singletrack sections are quite “challenging” on a Coker at night.
This year, we have two teams, a 5-person team and a 7-person team - we’ll
see how we do. Our main goal of course is to have fun! The race is May
17-18. www.24hoursofadrenalin.com
Your course is about twice the length of ours, but probably faster and hillier than ours. I’m not sure of our course exactly, but I estimate about 100-200m climbing per 8km lap, if it is the same course they used for our MTB nationals last year. It’s almost 95% singletrack- but I believe Tony and Peter are Cokering it. (Does that make them Coker nutz?). I haven’t ridden a Coker but I imagine they would be pretty hard to control on twisty singletrack.
Our double centuries would be pretty difficult to obtain- the 13.5km/h race pace shouldn’t be too hard for 4-5 laps, but I’m not sure we’d be able to sustain it for 12/24hrs. But hey, we ought set ourselves a goal to aim for.
Good luck for the 24hrs of Adrenaline this year! Post lots of photos.
It has:
20W light with IRC lamp
Electronic functions:
40%,60%,100% power output
4a/hr SLA battery, 2x 7a/hr SLA batteries
Smart charger
3X Helmet mounts
One handlebar mount
Total was $416 NZD including courier (I think about US$200)
I’m really impressed with them. The light itself is really small and lightweight. The batteries are real heavy though, especially the 7a/h SLA’s (2.2kg), but they still fit in my camelbak. If it was for just having fun with I would stick with a 2a/h or 4a/h battery or if I had more cash to spend I’d get a lighter NiMh battery. But I needed battery power for this race so went with the cheaper heavier SLA’s
The electronics have a soft-start system to protect the bulb, and also flickers to indicate when it hits 50%, 25% battery power. Then I think it bleeps at you when there is only a few minutes left. The IRC lamp is real powerful- I think it converts some of the infra-red back into visible light.
It’s more industrial-looking than the big brands NightRider/Cateyes, but almost everyone I’ve spoken to is running them at the Moonride. And the guy at Nightlighting returned my emails and answered all my questions straight away even though I emailed them on Good Friday:).
So yeah, with the weak NZ$ they are a really nice package if all you’re after is a good light.
It’s the same in the UK, almost everyone who rides much uses lumicycles which look ropey and home-made, but don’t break down or anything. There’s a few rich pro type people with cateye stadiums, but they’re not anywhere near as practical.
Those nightlightning ones look really nice in a similar way, might actually be a cheaper option for us lot in the UK if the postage, tax etc. isn’t too much.
>Those nightlightning ones look really nice in a similar way, might
>actually be a cheaper option for us lot in the UK if the postage, tax
>etc. isn’t too much.
Yes indeed, the Lumicycles were quite a bit more expensive I seem to
remember. If anyone finds out what the Nightlightning shipping cost to
Europe is, please post.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
Mosquito repellents don’t repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito’s sensors so they don’t know you’re there.
Give Eric at Nightlightning an email- he’s really helpful. There’s a couple of pricing examples on this page.
I went for my first off-road MUni ride yesterday with these lights. It was really bright. But I scared myself silly when I shone it across the valley and this pair of eyes looked back at me . Turned out to be a stupid sheep.
At full 20W power I can probably go at race pace, at 60% I can probably cruise with very comfortably, and 40% probably OK for racing with once I know the course. The fine detail is a bit harder to see at the lower power setting, so I’ll probably race at full power for the first few laps, then turn it down gradually as I get to know the race course. I love my nightlightnings
Don’t forget that you have to remember to add shipping then add VAT (17.5% in the UK) + import duty, so it might not be such a good deal for us Europeans.
Looking at it, to get a lumicycle equivalent, you need the NIMH battery, two light units, a headkit and a fast charger.
Which costs about £180 from Lumicycle, whereas from nightlightning it’d cost $300 for the first light + charger set plus $150 for the second light or dimmer unit for the first + $4 for the helmet mount, which is about £150 which with 17.5% + 5% import duty = £183
One way to get cheap lumicycle equivalents is to buy all the lumicycle parts except for the charger and battery pack, that’ll cost about £70 and then get the battery pack & charger from a specialist battery company (costs about £40 so I’m told). Or to make the whole thing yourself, there’s loads of pages on the web telling you how to make a diy light system.
You can always skimp on things like fast chargers and buy lead acid instead of NIMH batteries, but if you’re using them much the NIMH batteries take much longer to die, whereas lead acid ones start charging up less after about 6 months.
. Turned out to be a stupid sheep.