Sleepless in the Saddle 24 hour race, August 11/12, UK

Unicycles and Equipment
1

I’ve pestered a few people about this but I don’t think anything has yet been said on the forum so I thought I’d test the water to see if anyone else is interested.

When: 11th / 12th August 2007
Where: Catton Park, near Burton on Trent

What: 24 hour race on beautifully dry, dusty hard-packed trails. The course is generally around 7 or so miles long, and the aim is for your team to complete as many laps as possible between 2pm on Saturday until 2pm on Sunday.

Why: Because it’s an awesome weekend! The atmosphere of the whole event is great, it’s like a giant camping trip with a bit (well, quite a lot) of riding thrown in for good measure. The riding can be as hard as you want it to be - maybe you’re there to really see how fast and how far you can go, maybe you’re there for the atmosphere, beer and free stuff. There’s simply nothing like riding a unicycle past loads of cheering spectators and bike riders, the support and encouragement is just incredible.

The other reason, of course, is that John and I are entering as a pair on b*kes again, and we’d quite like someone to talk to while the other is out on the course… :slight_smile:

You can take part either as a soloist (for nutcases), a pair or a team of four. Most people opt to go in teams of four for this kind of race, but with the Sleepless course being a bit shorter and much less hilly than other races a pair works well. You get more riding in that way too.

It’s not a race that tends to fill up in advance, unlike the Mountain Mayhem that becomes full within days of the entry form becoming available, so there shouldn’t be any particular hurry but the sooner the better just in case. You’ll need an entry form from the SITS website here.

Another bonus is that last year’s t-shirt was a really nice one too; hopefully this year should be no different.

Go on, you know you want to… :slight_smile:

Phil

2

I’m definitely up for doing it again Phil. Presumably we need to know what the team arrangements are before we can enter.

Rob

3

I’d be up for this since I missed Mountain Mayhem due to my flimsy toe.

4

Monday morning bump

According to someone in the organising team it’s nearly full, so be quick if you want in.

Does Tue visit the forums or could someone email him?

Phil

5

Rarely. I’ll send him an email (but I think he doesn’t look at that much either - I might give him a ring tonight).

Rob

6

ok, I’m seriously considering it. Any info from any of you guys that have done it before?

26/29/36 I’m guessing?

7

Last year I believe there was a mix of between 26" and 36", although I think the 36ers were abandoned later on when it got muddy. This year that shouldn’t be an issue as it’s going to be absolutely bone dry. Without question.

My preferred 24 hour race machine is a 29er with 150mm cranks; it’s controllable when you’re tired and will go up most hills but is fast enough on the flatter bits.

Last year the unicyclists did it as two pairs, although one team of four might be a better introduction to 24 hour racing for those who haven’t done it before.

8

Sam and Steve’s results from last year are here

Paul / Tue / Rob / Joe’s results here

9

We we’re a pair and a four last year. Looks like we should have four for this year fairly easily - me, Kit, norry and Tue?

Rob

10

Ah, selective memory in operation… it wasn’t two pairs last year, it was one pair and a team of four. I completely forgot that Joe and Paul were there too…

Rob, Tue, Paul and Joe in “Unicycle Madness”: http://results.singletrackworld.com/team.php?id=7113

Edit: Bah, I should type faster!

11

:frowning: So easily forgotten, and I was thinking of going again this year…

I might just come for the beer this time, I don’t want to commit to riding at the moment.

12

Ok i’ve got the weekend free and are up for it.

It’s £190 for a team and we would all be required to sign the single application form.

13

Cool. As soon as I manage to get hold of Tue, and assuming he’s up for it, we can get the entry off and hope we get in. (assuming Kit still wants to do it)

I’ve sent Tue and email and tried to phone him last night but he wasn’t in… Will try again tonight.

Rob

14

I’m still up for it, I need to request some time off from work though. I’ll check it tomorrow.

15

Paul, many apologies! Most of SITS has faded into the background behind the memory of the huge amount of mud and bike breakages… :slight_smile: It’s a good job this year’s event is going to be really nice and sunny.

For this year’s Mayhem we each signed a separate copy of the form and posted them to Steve; I’m not sure if he sent them in separately or munged them onto one form. For previous years (and mine and John’s SITS entries) we’ve emailed scanned signatures to the designated form-sender-offer.

To be honest I don’t think it would really matter if the signatures aren’t strictly accurate, as you have to inform them of any team changes and sign again once you get there anyway…

Phil

16

Still can’t get hold of Tue. Left a message on his answer machine.

I suppose we could always cheat slightly and fill in the form on his behalf, then if he doesn’t want to do it we could find another person and change the name on the day…

How long to you reckon we can get away with waiting Phil?

Rob

17

Well, if you want to sign Tue in so that you know you’ve got a team, then I’m happy to stand in for him up until the point where you get hold of him and he says yes.

STM

18

Looks like Phil and John will have someone to talk to now! :roll_eyes:

We get back from our hols on the Sunday evening, so we’ll just miss it - sorry.

I’m pleased to see Kit is still keen to give 24hr racing a go. Take it easy on those stairs over the next couple of months won’t you?

Norry: you’ll love it. It’s a good event to get into 24hr racing as it’s not that hilly.

I would have loved to do it again, but it isn’t to be.

Have fun guys.
Steve

19

I think I’d assume you’ll be able to get four people and get the form in as soon as possible, to be honest. It sounds like lots of teams change between entering and actually racing so as long as you’ve reserved the team slot the details shouldn’t matter that much.

(Last year a team entered Mountain Mayhem from work with three completely imaginary names, as the captain knew there would be enough people to fill a team but didn’t know who would actually be ready and willing come the weekend!)

20

Right, I’ll get it sorted out then. For now I’ll assume our team will be me, Kit, norry and Tue, and we’ll deal with any changes later. I’ll PM you all for details.

Rob