I remember reading about a unicycling event (in Canada, I think) that had a Unicross race.
I was just wondering how popular this type of unicycle racing is because I don’t remember reading any other posts about it.
Have there been Unicross races at other events? Have Cokers been the unicycle of choice for this type of racing?
How many of you guys (using the term genericaly… so girls/women are obviously included, too) have ridden your uni on BMX tracks? How many unicyclists are interested in this type of riding/event?
OK… so apparently there is a Unicross (UMX) race at TOque (which already took place this year).
Can you compete in just a single event at TOque or do you have to compete in all the events (trials, high jump, etc.)? Are Cokers allowed to compete in the Unicross race at TOque (or is there a specific class just for Cokers)?
Are there any other Unicross races other than at TOque?
I could be mistaken, but I believe cyclocross is quite different than Unicross (UMX). I’m specifically interested in the races that are held on BMX tracks with tabletop jumps, whoops, berms, and that kind of stuff.
Rye Airfield in NH has an outdoor BMX Track that is 1,300 foot long and all downhill and sounds amazing. I hope to get there sometime this summer to ride that track and their skatepark on my Coker.
There have been 3 UMX events at the Toque games one each year it was held. I would have to say the first year was the best by far as we were actually on the dirt track. The other years were done in a crazy school play yard that has some cool hilly features.
The events are all really fun typically 3-5 in a heat racing as fast as you can over difficult terrain. Top 2 of the heat advances to the next round until the final heat to decide the overall winner. I’m sure you already know how this works I figure its best to inform thoes who dont though.
As far as I know no one used a coker in any of the UMX races. Mostly 24’s although there might have been a 29 in the mix somewhere.
Good times though, and I deffenatlly think it would be worth having at an event, its kind of like speed rolling trials I guess as if you cant make it over an obstical you have to walk and mount from where you can ride.
I ride my uni on Dirt bike tracks all the time, thats al i have out here. Ive never tired em on a wheel bigger than a 24, cause ive never even tried a uni with a bigger wheel than that.
Thanks for the info. Sounds like the first year’s event at TOque was awesome! It’s really a shame that it wasn’t held on a real track in subsequent years.
The speed rolling trials is a pretty good analogy because some of the jumps and obstacles on a good BMX track are pretty hairy.
I think UMX on a good BMX track is really suited just to Cokers because the smaller wheel uni’s wouldn’t have an easy time getting over some of the big jumps and they couldn’t get enough speed to get up on the berms very well for too long, either. Cokers, on the other hand… well that’s a totally different story :D!
Well most my tracks out here are doubles and jumps without landings, the one with table tops and an actual good track is a lil distance of a ride away, I dont see mto have much problems gettin up em, its a lot easier than on the 20in. But i prefer mountain, or downhil ridin, this uphill stuff gets to tirein and slow.
Is your BMX track partially uphill… or when you say “uphill” are you just referring to the tabletop jump itself being “uphill?” The Rye Airfield track I mentioned earlier in this thread is entirely downhill! With a Coker you’d be able to ride the track faster… perhaps that would be more to your liking.
I think you’ll probably get good enough to handle that kind of terrain pretty quickly with some practice. Technical tricks take a lot more time to master than difficult terrain, in my opinion (at least when it comes to rolling, anyway).
I’m really psyched to do some UMX riding. I’m not too concerned about having the skill to ride the terrain because I’ve challenged myself on all the same types of obstacles several times with pretty decent success. I am quite concerned about having the stamina to be able to make it around the track many times, however, because it is physically exhausting to ride a Coker on that type of terrain for very long. How many laps would a typical race be? I’ll be surprised if I could do more than 2 - 3 laps without a UPD.
One big problem with riding on a BMX track is that unicycles can ruin the track for the bikes. Unicycles cannot get air over a jump or even a small bump so the unicycle plows right over the lip and then rides down the other side. It ruins the jump or feature for the bikes. The 20" BMX riders don’t even like 26" wheel bikes riding on the track because the different wheel size messes up the jumps and ramps and moguls.
A UMX course for unicycles would also be designed differently than a BMX course for bikes. A bike course has jumps. A unicycle course would have features that would challenge a unicycle but be rather tame for a bike.
My local council has suddenly seen fit to spend £20k on a bike track that’s been around since the 60s, it’s a sprint (i.e. not circular) track that’s mostly down hill, very hard work on a 24" but a friend of mine managed the majority of it on his 28" The local bikers don’t seem to mind atall, i think they see their main threat as peopel trying to ride mopeds or scooters around it, whihc destroys the jumps pretty quickly. Some photos of our last visit are availble here http://www.steve-marshall.co.uk/photography/album/album.php?a=178
I was mostly refering to the table tops and ramps, but also my tracks are flat and some spots go uphil and some downhill, when its on a dirt bike you dont need it downhill. An actual dowhill courdse sounds crazy fun!
