Unicycle articles (but wait there's more...)

General
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Here’s an article about Mark Premo, a Vermont, USA unicyclist. Though he’s ridden for less than a year, he’s already organized his first gathering.

Here’s the link.

Here’s the text, for when the link dies…

Fun ride event unites unicycle enthusiasts

Published: Friday, May 4, 2007
By Ashley Matthews
Free Press Staff Writer

When Mark Premo got sick of mountain biking, he ditched a wheel and pedaled toward a more challenging project.

“Anybody can ride a bike,” the Winooski resident said. “Unicycling is unique. There’s a challenge to it; there’s always something to improve on.”

Now that he’s hooked on unicycling, Premo, 39, hopes to share his hobby with others at the first Unicycle Fun Ride on Saturday. Premo planned the event in hopes that unicyclists will unite and network. His dream is that unicyclists will meet to ride together every week.

Premo said he expects about 30 people to attend the fun ride, especially because he knows there are a lot of “underground” riders out there. As a UPS driver, he said he often sees unicycles sitting in people’s garages as he delivers packages.

It’s not easy to ride a unicycle, and it takes time to master, Premo said. It requires balance, physical strength and stamina. Unlike bike riding, riders can’t coast on a unicycle. But, he said, the difficulty is part of the fun.

Premo’s girlfriend, Dawn DiCecco of Shelburne, recently took up unicycling, and she’s just starting to get her balance. As she rode in a parking lot this week, she used her car for support as she climbed on. She had a few false starts, slipping off the seat, but eventually DiCecco got her balance and rode holding hands with Premo.

“Once you start, you feel like you’ve just got to master it,” DiCecco said. “It’s addictive.”

Premo said he also hopes to break the stereotype that unicycles are associated with the circus.

“People associate clowns with unicycles,” Premo said. “I hate that. I mean, nothing against clowns if they want to juggle and stuff, but I just want to get away from that.”

Instead of juggling, Premo takes his unicycle off-road, which is called “muni.” Last year he rode 6 miles in the Appalachian Gap, and in June he plans to muni on Whiteface Mountain in New York. He recently returned from a “Muni Weekend” in Long Island, where he spent his days off-roading on a cycle with a thick, supportive tire. Premo has five unicycles, for use on the road, off-road and one with a small wheel for use inside.

“You can do a lot of stuff on a unicycle,” Premo said. “It’s the new skateboard. People are jumping off stuff. It’s incredible.”

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Extreme film takes YouTube by storm
South Lakes Citizen
445 words
15 May 2007
Newsquest Media Group Newspapers
English
© Copyright 2007 Newsquest Digital Media.

No Cycling’s father-son unicycle team of Simon and Aaron Rolph are suprised by popularity.

A MOVIE featuring the lesser-known sport of extreme unicycling - which was made for the Kendal Mountain Film Festival - has become an unexpected Internet hit.

No Cycling follows Cumbrian father and son team Simon and Aaron Rolph as they race down Lakeland mountain tracks on unicycles, performing daredevil tricks and jumps as they make their high-speed descent.

The film was made by Manchester-based company Chateau Productions for last year’s Kendal Film Festival and, thanks to popular video-

sharing website YouTube it has reached a massive new audience and has been watched by more than 460,000 people.

Mr Rolph junior, who is 18 and lives near Carlisle, said he had been taken by surprise at how popular the film had become.

“I didn’t realise it had been put on YouTube but it is great that people have picked up on it,” said Mr Rolph.

"I started juggling a long time ago and then I bought a unicycle. I am also into outdoor sports such as mountain biking so I thought it would be a good idea to combine the two. It was difficult to learn from the beginning but once you get into it is really good fun.

“We have been down mountains such as Helvellyn and Skiddaw and thankfully have had no major mishaps or broken bones as yet,” he added.

Rob Hewson of Chateau Productions said the film had been “challenging but good fun” to shoot.

“It was our first ever film which we made as part of a BBC film school course and was specifically for the Extreme Film School part of the Kendal Mountain Festivals,” said Mr Hewson.

“I think one of the reasons it has taken off is the unusual aspect of extreme unicycling. I don’t think many people will have heard of it before and it tends to be the weird and wonderful sort of things that catch on, on YouTube.”

Director of the Extreme Film School and leading adventure film maker Brian Hall said he was delighted No Cycling had become an overnight success.

“The success of YouTube provides a valuable medium for film makers to get their work to a wider audience and many other Extreme Film School shorts are on there and doing very well,” said Mr Hall.

“It is also good for Kendal and the Lake District as one of the stipulations of the Extreme Film School is that films are shot within a 15-mile radius of Kendal.”

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Fun for one Lake Villa man enjoys unicycling for fitness, relaxation
Jason King
674 words
15 May 2007
Chicago Daily Herald
© 2007 Chicago Daily Herald. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All Rights Reserved.

It’s big.

It’s yellow.

And it’s not for the faint of heart.

But Bruce Williams loves his unicycle.

“I guess I do it for the challenge. You’re always in an adrenaline rush,” Williams said. “With a unicycle, you have to stay awake.”

Lake County residents have likely seen Williams, of Lake Villa, peddling his “Coker” unicycle in and around the bike trails and some neighborhoods in the area.

An avid cyclist who often logged 5,000 miles on his two-wheeled bikes each year, Williams saw a television show three years ago that showcased the sport of “MUni,” or mountain unicycling, a cousin to mountain biking.

“I thought if they can ride and jump logs and things like that, I should be able to ride around here,” he said.

After a few Internet searches, Williams decided to start with a standard 24-inch unicycle.

The hardest part, he said, was getting on the thing, but after a week he could ride the distance of his front yard, and within a month he was riding it around the block.

His confidence, and gumption, grew.

“I knew that once I rode around the block I could ride one forever,” he said.

But he quickly found out that peddling a 24-inch wheel was a lot of work.

“Five miles on that little one was a lot of effort,” he said.

So he went back to the internet and found his “Coker.”

Named Cokers after the company that makes the huge, 36-inch tires, they’re unlike most unicycles people have seen.

When you see Williams riding, you know it’s him. Ignoring the fact that he is, as far as he knows, the only Coker distance ride in Lake County, you can’t miss him.

The formerly chrome frame of his unicycle is bright yellow, and has flames painted on it. Williams had it custom painted.

He’s typically wearing a brightly colored cycling jersey, cycling shorts and wrist and knee pads. Because his “bike” doesn’t have a frame, he wears a hydration pack on his back.

With the size of the wheel, and his own height, it’s not far of a stretch to say he looks like a psychedelic, high-speed giraffe.

He admits he gets plenty of attention when out riding.

“You wouldn’t believe how many people honk and wave or hang out the window taking pictures with their cell phone,” he said.

Equally attention grabbing is the way he mounts the bike.

After setting the pedals a certain way, Williams takes a standing leap, shoves the seat where it should go and then puts his feet on the pedals and takes off.

“That’s the hardest part,” he said. “You have to just sort of jump and get your feet on the pedals just right.”

The unicycle is outfitted with a cycling computer, which keeps track of things like distance and speed. A check of his computer showed Williams had pedaled 420 miles so far this year. He also noted he averages around 12 miles per hour on it.

“Last year I put 1,503 miles on it,” he said. “This year I’m hoping for 2,000.”

But Williams, a computer programmer and married father of three, said the hobby isn’t solely about fitness. Fitness, he said, is often times the secondary benefit of it.

“It’s about relaxation. I can get out on the trails and mentally relax,” he said. “My wife says, ‘How is that relaxing?’ But it’s the most peaceful hour of my day.”

Caption: gluniguy-1na050807pv Lake Villa resident Bruce Williams heads out to ride his 36-inch wheel unicycle on the trails at the Rollins Savanna in Grayslake. PAUL VALADE/pvalade@@dailyherald.com gluniguy-2na050807pv Bruce Williams said he enjoys driving his unicycle on the trails at the Rollins Savanna. PAUL VALADE/ pvalade@@dailyherald.com

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Word has it this was on the front page of the Seattle Times today.

He rode with us at Blackwood’s Ride 'N Feed last weekend. Great Trials rider!

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He also won first place in the extreme downhill at UNICON last summer.

We got to visit and ride with him briefly a few weeks ago when he spent a few days in Minnesota.

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i think david is a little drunk in that picture… and is that dan heaton and mike clark in the background on bikes???

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That’s my old Coker riding loop when I was living in Bellevue. That’s a fun section of trail there on the boardwalk. Gets slippery though when wet. I’ve always wanted to get a picture of myself riding my Coker on that boardwalk. Makes for a nice Coker riding picture. Just haven’t managed yet to drag someone else along with me on that ride to take the picture. We’ll have to do a SARS ride there so I can get a picture.

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How did his trials uni get transformed into a 36"???

David was also on the front page of the Durango, COL newspaper, I think. I don’t have the link though…

Wait maybe I do. http://einradfreak.twoday.net/stories/3494151/

http://www.durangoherald.com

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direct link to article in english.

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I wonder where David is at now? It was a fun week when he was over. =p

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Thanks, I thought I posted the direct link, but I guess not.

Copy/paste:

David Weichenberger of Austria performed some of his tricks Wednesday at the Durango Skate Park. The world-class unicyclist is traveling through Durango as part of a three-month-long trek across the United States.

“There are so many things that you can do,” he said. “For me, it’s a sport. I try to do it as much as I can.”

The 22-year-old competed last weekend at Unifest, a unicycling event held on the slick rock in Moab, Utah. There, he met a Durango family who invited him to stay with them through at least Friday.

Peter Schertz, a member of that family, said having Weichenberger in town has given inspiration to other unicyclists, including those of an informal unicycling group that he and his son belong to.

“It gives them self-confidence,” Schertz said about Weichenberger’s unicycling prowess.

Peter’s son, Evan Schertz, 9, who has been unicycling for two years, said the sport is more challenging and unique than riding a regular bike.

“It’s a good way to exercise,” Evan said. “It’s definitely different than a bike.”

Weichenberger has been atop unicycles for 11 years. He has won numerous competitions, including the 2006 downhill in Tokyo and the 2004 long jump in Switzerland. He stars in a DVD called “Union.” In one scene, Weichenberger rides on a railroad track, jumps to the other track and keeps riding.

He makes it a point to visit different towns and hang out with other unicyclists to learn different styles. Riders in every town seem to develop their own styles, he said.

“I decided if they don’t come to me, I’ll go to them.”

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The Wheel World; There’s nowhere Victoria’s Kris Holm can’t go on his unicycle
29 May 2007
National Post
© 2007 National Post . All Rights Reserved.

On one wheel, Victoria native Kris Holm has conquered 14 countries, including the summit of the highest mountain in Central America.

One of the world’s top mountain unicyclists, Holm began to ride in 1986. Since then, he has brought the sport to audiences around the world through adventure films and TV appearances. In February, he appeared on CBS Evening News, where he proudly admitted to having “more scars than skin.”

Holm says he loves to combine unicycling with climbing and adventure travel. Last year, he climbed the summit crater of Licancabur, a 5,920-metre high inactive volcano in Bolivia. The terrain would have been straightforward at sea level, Holm explains, but the elevation and resulting exhaustion made it extremely difficult.

In 1998, Holm broke into the business of designing high-end unicycles by establishing Kris Holm Unicycles Ltd. He balances his work on one wheel with a career as a geoscientist in natural hazard and risk assessment in Vancouver.

On these pages, National Post’s Brent Foster followed Holm on the trails of Mount Fromme and the beaches at Spanish Banks in Vancouver.

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An article on this year’s LBI Unithon.

ALO Fundraiser has money rolling in.

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Sport - The wheel thing Andrew Shields takes a well- balanced look at unicycle sports - and finds that while you don’t have to be intelligent to play them, you soon will be
Andrew Shields, andrewshields@timeout.com
521 words
7 June 2007
Time Out
English
Copyright 2007. Time Out Communications Limited.

While the British education system comes up with league tables, SATs, fines for errant parents and airport-style knife screening as ways to boost academic attainment, maybe we should just learn from Japan. When research showed that unicycling helped improve concentration, balance and co-ordination and could significantly aid physical and mental development, the Japanese Education Department went for it big-time. In 1992, unicycling became part of the curriculum for primary-age pupils. Every year, 2,000 Miyata unicycles are donated to schools for teaching so that now more than one million Japanese can ride on one wheel.

What to do, though, when you’ve mastered pedalling forwards and, er, backwards? Some gravitate towards circus skills such as juggling, others seek a more competitive angle. The first World Unicycling Championships took place in New York in 1984 while the most recent, in Switzerland in 2006, included basketball, long-distance racing and orienteering. Late last year, Oregon was the venue for the inaugural World Unicycle Cyclocross Championships.

Ingenuity knows no bounds - clearly a result of all the brain cells these single-wheelers are boosting. However, hockey is the unicycle sport played most widely. It’s a good way to improve basic skills, speed and manoeuvrability and is based on ice hockey - but with much less contact. The set-up is simple: five-a-side teams, 6’ x4’ goals, a basketball court to play on, ice hockey sticks, a low-bouncing ball and rules based largely on common sense. Putting your stick under or through someone else’s wheel is a foul.

The origins of the game are obscure. A 1925 German silent movie, ‘Variete’, includes a scene with two unicyclists. One has a hockey stick, the other a walking stick. There are two tiny goals and what looks like a crumpled towel for a ball. In mid-1970s California, a club called ‘Wheel People’ kept the flame alive, while the game came to the capital in 1988, with a tournament in Covent Garden as part of the national Telethon charity appeal. Out of that sprang London’s own club, the LUNIs - which describes the sport as: ‘Skilful. Great exercise. And not at all serious.’

Serious enough, however, for there to be a British League - which starts a new season on Saturday when the LUNIs host the first round at Westway Sports Centre. The event is for organised teams but the club runs sessions every Thursday when complete beginners can have a go. You don’t even need to be able to unicycle - learning the basics is part of the package. Children of west London: you have nothing to lose, and possibly several IQ points to gain.

  • The British Unicycle Hockey League starts at Westway Sports Centre on Sat. See listings for details. For information on unicycling contact the Union of UK Unicyclists ( www.unicycle.org.uk ) or LUNIs’ Jonny Molloy (020 8548 0759).
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A uni-que event on trial at diggerland
12 June 2007
Mid Devon Gazette
English
© 2007 Mid Devon Gazette

A BIZARRE-sounding new sport is due to be wheeled out at an event planned for Diggerland, near Cullompton, next month.

Unicyclists will negotiate an obstacle course as part of the South West Unicycle Trials weekend on July 16.

The one-wheel cycles will be ridden over obstructions including walls, railings, ledges and “other street furniture” found in urban environments.

The aim is to do so without any part of the cyclist touching the ground, said organiser Brendan Le Foll.

He acknowledged the sport was “rather new”, but said a British Unicycling Convention had been held in April and rankings established for the best competitors. Trials unicycling was based on bike and motorbike trials.

The day at Diggerland would feature competitions for beginners and experts from midday and a public show at 3.20pm.

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He rolls through life with only one wheel
MYLA BARNHARDT
807 words
15 June 2007
Greensboro News & Record
© 2007 Greensboro News & Record. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All Rights Reserved.

EDEN – When you ride a unicycle, you get used to the question: Where’s the rest of your bike?

Joel Mosteller has heard it so often, he’s got answers ready:

“I couldn’t afford a whole one.”

“I lost the other half.”

“Me and my brother share and he’s got the other part.”

And this question: Can you do tricks on that thing?

“Just riding one is a trick,” Mosteller said.

To watch him, you’d have to agree.

He jumps steps, rides curbs and navigates rugged terrain, and he can go the distance, covering several miles if he needs to.

Mosteller, 36, has been riding a unicycle since he was a child, and he’s accustomed to the questions and stares.

The Eden resident, who grew up in Rutherfordton, was 6 years old when he learned to ride. Unicycling was a family tradition that began with his dad, David Mosteller.

“I was so little he had to put blocks on the pedals so I could reach them,” Mosteller said. With an arm around his dad on one side, and a brother on the other – remember, there are no handlebars on a unicycle – Mosteller would perch on the seat and rock back and forth, getting the feel for the balance.

He can still recall his dad’s words: “Take a deep seat and faraway look.”

Riders need to maintain balance in the core of their body, and constantly look at where they are headed. Mosteller would practice for hours, propping the unicycle against a fire hydrant to climb onto the seat.

Trying to keep up with his three older brothers, Mosteller learned quickly. The boys grew up without a mother, and all four inherited their dad’s thrill-seeking spirit.

“He was a pole vaulter and bull rider,” Mosteller said of his dad, who also lives in Eden.

The family was quite a spectacle when they mounted their unicycles and headed out for a spin. They were invited to ride in parades and at community events, sometimes dressing as clowns, other times wearing matching football jerseys.

Eventually, they put away the unicycles for other sports.

For Mosteller it was wrestling, break dancing and kayaking. But occasionally during college, he’d ride the unicycle to class.

His friends called him a freak of nature, in part because of the one-wheeled bike, but also because of his size. Then, at 5 feet 2 inches, he was a powerhouse, weighing only 118 pounds.

“When people ask me how tall I am, what they really want to know is how short I am,” said Mosteller, whose height hasn’t changed, though he has added at least 20 pounds to his brawny frame.

After graduating from college, he went into restaurant management – he’s a manager at Golden Corral in Reidsville – and he married and has two children.

Kayaking and canoeing became his free-time passions, whether it was running the more challenging whitewater or enjoying a peaceful paddle with his family.

His interest in unicycling was revived a few years ago when he came across the sport of mountain unicycling on the Internet.

“I’ve always had a drive to be different and push the edge,” he said. Mountain unicycling fit that mold.

Mosteller bought one of the wide-tire mountain unicycles – it’s now one of a half-dozen that he owns – and started riding trails.

Not only did he discover that it is good sport, it has some practical uses. Mosteller uses his unicycle as a shuttle, sometimes throwing it in his canoe, using it to pedal back to his Jeep after landing his boat. And, he’s accomplished enough that he can pedal the unicycle while holding his kayak over his head as he makes his way to boat landings.

He also keeps one in his car and uses it for quick jaunts around town.

“Unicycles have really evolved,” Mosteller said. They make them with 36-inch wheels for commuting that can travel 10 to 15 mph.

He also has an “ultimate unicycle.” It has no seat – just the wheel and the pedals.

“Now that’s tough to ride,” Mosteller said.

But, he likes a challenge. And whenever he’s faced with one, he recalls his dad’s instructions: “Take a deep seat and a faraway look.”

It’s advice that works for him. He says it’s smart to be steadfast but always looking ahead, whether he’s on a unicycle, in a kayak, or just navigating through life.

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He’s off again
213 words
14 June 2007
Cheddar Valley Gazette
© 2007 Cheddar Valley Gazette

The daredevil unicyclist whose exploits negotiating Cheddar Gorge were first revealed in the Cheddar Valley Gazette seven months ago has broken cover.

An astrophysics student from Cheddar, Tom Adams has revealed he had only three days’ experience on a unicycle when he tackled the gorge on one wheel.

Tom found the unicycle in a bin and had never ridden one before.

After only a few sessions of wobbling around near his home, he decided to tackle the world-renowned sloping road.

He was filmed going down the gorge by a friend and managed a third-of-a-mile descent before losing his footing and jumping off the machine.

The video of the run was posted on the video sharing website YouTube and almost 2,000 people have visited the site to view it.

Passing tourists and motorists are seen watching in amazement as the 19-year-old wobbles past.

Tom has just finished his first year at Cardiff University. He has a brand new unicycle and is planning more memorable journeys to follow the Cheddar ride, which took place last summer.

His next effort, unicycling a mile from his house and down the gorge, will also be filmed and will end up on the internet for all to see.

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Anyone know if Tom has joined the forum?
He’s only 50 miles from me.

800

A pre-race article of the Whiteface Climb

http://www.lakeplacidnews.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=3547

One wheel. One goal. to summit Whiteface: Five unicyclists to ascend in 2007 Uphill Bike Race

By LOU REUTER, News Senior Sports Writer

Racing a bicycle up New York state’s fifth-highest peak is a daunting task, and more than 200 cyclists will face that challenge Saturday in the sixth annual Whiteface Mountain Uphill Bike Race.

Five of those racers, however, will be taking things a step further, when they pedal unicycles in the eight-mile ascent up the Whiteface Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway.

During the past two years, Steve Relles has been the lone unicyclist in the Whiteface Mountain road race that attracts hard-core riders from around the northeastern United States and Canada, and for the first time, the 44-year-old from Delmar will have some company Saturday when four more unicyclists join him in the annual climb.

“I think it’s just fantastic there are more unicyclists this year,” Relles said. “I’ve done the race by myself twice on a unicycle, and finally, I’ll have some company.”

Like the hundreds of racers who have conquered the course’s steady eight-percent grade during previous Whiteface uphill bike races, Relles is a competitive sort eager to face a challenge. And like those same racers who will be pedalling on two wheels in a quest to cross the finish line first, Relles and his fellow unicyclists will also be looking to come out on top in their “race within the race.”

“My main goal is to beat my time from last year, but I still want to win,” Relles said. “I’m not messing around. I know the other unicyclists are coming.”

Relles is a relative newcomer to unicycling, a sport he became involved with after he suffered an ACL tear during an ultimate frisbee game in 2003.

“I started playing ultimate frisbee in 1983, and that sport became my whole athletic identity,” Relles said. “After I tore my ACL, I needed to find something else to do. Unicycling became my new athletic identity.”

During the 2005 uphill event, Relles was the next-to-last competitor in the field to cross the finish line, coming in 46 seconds before the two-hour maximum time limit. Last summer, as a more experienced unicyclist, Relles slashed more than a half hour off his time, crossing the finish line in 1 hour, 25 minutes and 53 seconds.

“The first year going up Whiteface was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done physically,” Relles said. “Unicycling has a very steep learning curve, and that first year, I spent about half the race just trying to keep my balance. Last year, I finished ahead of 38 or 39 other racers.

“I thought I rode pretty fast last year, and if any of those guys are going to beat me, more power to them,” Relles added. “They will have to be going very fast. It’s going to be fun seeing what happens.”

Vermonters Mark Premo and Bill Merrylees, Rhode Island resident Eric Scheer and Maine’s Maxwell DeMilner are the four unicyclists joining Relles in Saturday’s event. Relles said that although he is the only member of the group who knows what it’s like racing up Whiteface, all four of the other unicyclists should prove to be worthy foes on the course.

“I’m sure all the guys will be well prepared for the race,” Relles said. “I’m the only one who has experienced this race, but I know these guys are all serious athletes. I’ve been training intensely, and I’m sure they have too.”

“It should be an interesting challenge,” said Scheer, whose training has included riding up and down a half-mile hill near his home in Peace Dale, R.I. “I’ve never done anything quite like this, and I’m excited to give it a try. I think the key will be pedalling at a steady, consistent pace.”

The five riders all have some knowledge of each other, either through the Internet or face-to-face meetings at unicycle events around New England, but Saturday will mark the first time they will square off together to see who can pedal up Whiteface the fastest. Scheer and Relles will meet in Albany prior to the race and drive up the Northway together on the trip to Wilmington.

“The ride will be fun,” Scheer said. “We will be joking and trash talking, I’m sure. At least for the first mile during the race, I think we will all be pretty close. But when it gets to the two-and-a half or three-mile mark, then we should see who has it in them. I’m excited about this race. It’s something I’ve really been looking forward to.”

At age 50, Merrylees is the oldest member of the unicycling quintet, and is followed by Relles. Scheer, who also races road bikes, is 43, Premo is 40, and DeMilner is the youngster in the group at age 20.

Premo and Merrylees have spent time training together, including pedaling their unicycles up a 4.5-mile road on Bolton Mountain in their home state of Vermont. DeMilner, meanwhile, recently completed a 1,000-mile fundraising trip around New England on his unicycle, and Relles has been riding regularly in the hilly regions south of Albany to prepare for the uphill race.

Despite getting hooked on unicycling just a year ago, Premo, who also rides a mountain bike and lives in Winooski, Vt., said he is confident he will complete Saturday’s race, and joked with Relles about the competition.

“I e-mailed Steve and said ‘Hey buddy, I’m coming after you,’” Premo said, adding, “I’m not worried about finishing. I haven’t done a race as long as the one up Whiteface, but Vermont is hilly wherever you go, so I’m no stranger to climbing.

“I know Steve and Eric have been training like madmen, and I’ve rode with Bill, and he is good,” Premo continued. “It’s anybody’s race, and I think we will all end up within 10 minutes of each other.”

And not to be forgotten, is the rest of the field of athletes who will be racing on two wheels up the highway, including many who will finish well ahead of the unicyclists. Last year’s fastest time turned in on two wheels was just over 45 minutes.

As of noon Wednesday, Diane Buckley, director of the Whiteface Mountain Regional Visitors Bureau, said 217 competitors were already registered for the race and many more were expected. Previous Whiteface Mountain Uphill Bike Races have seen fields of more than 300 competitors make the trek up the Veterans Memorial Highway.

In addition to enjoying the joking and friendly trash talking between the unicyclists as a prelude to Saturday’s race, Relles said he’s also heard plenty of words from the competitors who prefer to make the ascent pedalling on two wheels.

“I’ve heard it all,” Relles said. “They say ‘Hey, where’s your other wheel,’ or ‘You only have half a bike.’ My response to them: ‘At least I don’t need a training wheel anymore.’”

The sixth annual Whiteface Mountain Uphill Bike Race begins at the four corners in Wilmington Saturday at 5:30 p.m., and will feature waves of riders leaving the starting line in five-minute intervals.

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I’ll be posting a full race writeup in a separate thread, but here’s an article about the Whiteface Uphill Race in which 5 unis participated. The stuff about us is near the bottom of the article.

link

Text:
Cassidy sets new Whiteface Uphill Bike Race mark

By LOU REUTER, Enterprise Senior Sports Writer

Posted on: Monday, June 18, 2007

WILMINGTON — A bolt of lightning that split the black sky above the starting line had racers a little nervous just minutes prior to Saturday’s sixth annual Whiteface Mountain Uphill Bike Race.

A storm, however, never developed, and Daniel Cassidy ended up providing the lightning in the race by setting a new record in the eight-mile ride up the Whiteface Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway.

Cassidy, a Burlington, Vt. rider, slashed nearly three minutes off the previous uphill record when he crossed the finish line in 42 minutes, 40 seconds. Cassidy also came in almost three minutes ahead of the race’s overall runner-up, Yann Deville of Montreal, who took second place in 45:25.

Saturday’s event, which featured a field of more than 250 riders from across the northeastern United States and Canada, marked the first time Cassidy had attempted the bike ascent up Whiteface’s toll road, and the 25-year-old rider said he entered the race with one objective in mind.

“I was hoping to come out and break the record, that’s for sure,” Cassidy said. “(This race is) something I haven’t done before, so I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I knew it was a steady climb, and that suits my kind of riding.

“The race was hard, but I’m a climber, and the ride was a nice, steady-percent grade all the way up,” Cassidy added. “It was a lot of fun.”

Cassidy said his friend, Jason Harpp, the uphill bike race’s defending champion, convinced him to give the event a try this year. Cassidy added that riding up Whiteface Mountain was part of the training schedule he is following for next month’s national competition in Seven Springs, Pa., which is an 85-mile race that includes nearly 10,000 feet of vertical climbing.

“Jason missed breaking the record by about 10 seconds last year, and that inspired me to see if I could set a new record,” Cassidy said. “This race was a tuneup for nationals. I wanted to do a fitness test to see where I stood, and I think things are looking up. It was nice to go out and have a good ride.”

One of the youngest riders in the race, 18-year-old Cheyne Hoag of Dansville, placed third overall with a 47:44 finish time. Jeremy Walker of Millersville, Pa. placed fourth in 48:58 and Montreal’s Mathieu Boudier-Reve rounded out the top five, finishing in 49:11.

In addition to seeing who would be the fastest bike riders, Saturday’s race was also a contest to see who would be crowned King and Queen of the Mountain, which was open to competitors who also participated on the same course two weeks ago in the 30th annual Whiteface Mountain Uphill Foot Race. And the honors went to Robert Duncan Douglas and Carole Hakistan.

The 41-year-old Douglas, of Honeoye Falls, won this year’s footrace and finished sixth overall Saturday in 49:13, while Hakistan, a 40-year-old from Burlington, Vt., added a first-place overall women’s finish in the bike race to her runner-up performance in the foot race. Hakistan was the first woman to cross the bike race finish line. Her 56:38 finish time was also good enough for a 35th-place overall showing.

Chestertown’s Bob Olden was the first Adirondack racer to reach the finish line Saturday, placing 29th overall in 55:25. Fastest riders from the Tri-Lakes area included Lake Placid’s Richard Erenstone, who placed 110th in 1:05:15 and Saranac Lake’s Ryan Holt, who finished in 1:06:32 to place 118th overall.

The race also saw five unicyclists attempt to ascend the course. Four of those riders finished the race, led by Steve Relles of Delmar.

Relles, who was the only unicyclist who had been in the race before, riding in the past two uphill events, topped the one-wheeled field by finishing in 1:20:56, which was five minutes faster than the personal best time he set a year ago.

Mark Premo of Winooski took second among the unicyclists, finishing in 1:30:48, Eric Sheer of Peace Dale, R.I., was third in 1:33:18 and East Montpelier, Vt. rider Bill Merrylees was fourth in 1:46:21. Max DeMilner, a 20-year-old from Maine, was the lone unicyclist in the group who didn’t complete the race. DeMilner, who was less than half the age of the rest of his fellow riders, gave up his quest about one mile from the finish line. Approximately 270 riders registered for this year’s uphill bike race and 245 finished.

The seventh annual White-face Mountain Uphill Bike Race is scheduled for June 14, 2008, and the 31st annual Uphill Foot Race is slated for June 1, 2008.