Got a semi-press release in the Poughkeepsie Journal recently, about a race I’m doing this coming weekend 29-APR-2012, the Singlespeed-a-Palooza. The reporter interviewed me by phone, and pretty much got her facts straight.
Here’s the text:
Without Limits: Annual Singlespeed event draws diverse biking crowd
There was a time not all that long ago when a one-speed bike was pretty much viewed like a rotary phone — an inefficient relic.
No longer. An idea Dark Horse Cycles founder George Zubalsky explains as a stupid post-ride joke that sounded better and better with each beer has blossomed into one of the area’s premier bike races.
On April 29, 250 cyclists will compete at Stewart Forest in Dark Horse’s fourth annual Singlespeed-A-Palooza. There’s one common-sense element to riding one-speed mountain bikes through woods: No derailleur to be easily ripped off.
The five-category field, which includes pros, will ride 12 miles of trail twice. The race, with sponsorship by Niner Bikes, includes monetary and other prizes, including painted horseshoe trophies with useable/detachable chainring and cog.
But Singlespeed-A-Palooza is possibly more about fun than finishes.
“It’s a hoot … it’s a big party. It’s like Sturgis,” Zubalsky said, referring to the South Dakota motorcycle rally. Zubalsky characterizes one-speeders as the free spirits of mountain bike riding.
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And perhaps the freest at A-Palooza is Steve Relles, the race’s only unicyclist. The 49-year-old Delmar man, who started unicycling in 2004, is competing in the Singlespeed-A-Palooza for a third time.
Last year, he finished last in 4 hours, 33 minutes, 28 seconds, which he blames on both his lack of conditioning and course conditions. About 3 inches of rain fell the night before, creating, Relles noted, “really sick mud, like peanut butter” and puddles — some 2-feet deep and 50 yards long. People pretty much walked those areas.
Relles, who said unicycling combines athleticism and exhibitionism, guesses he put a foot down 20 times per lap to keep upright. But his knee pads and wrist guards came in handy, since he fell about five times per lap. The unicycle Relles rides doesn’t have a brake, so while going downhill he must press his legs against his spinning pedals to slow.
While he beat about a third of the two-wheeled cyclists in an eight-mile, uphill road race at Whiteface and has biked 75 straight miles on pavement, Singlespeed-A-Palooza’s 24 miles are about his trail-riding limit.
The former computer programmer, who’s now the Delmar Dog Butler (he poop-scoops for 60 clients), had hoped to get four other one-wheelers to Stewart to create a unicycling category this year, but the race sold out too quickly. So he remains the only unicyclist — a fact not lost on the rest of the field.
“Bikers give me a look of praise. … They think what I do is not even possible,” he said. Most, if not all, will no doubt be enjoying pretzels, beer and hot dogs (last year Zubalsky served up 525) by the time Relles finishes.
The post-race party is one reason the race went from a totally unexpected 158 riders the first year to its large-but-manageable 250 cap by the second.
One of Matt Davies’ goals is simply not finishing No. 250.
“I’m hyped up for it,” said the 57-year-old Poughkeepsie resident and Bikeway rider, who’s more of a long-distance (100-mile) racer but likes this race’s setting and friendly atmosphere.
The key in singlespeed is to not brake to keep your momentum going, Davies said. And you “burn a few less matches,” as Davies puts it, walking steep hills, rather than trying to pedal up.
Besides using less energy, it’s basically just as fast. It’s not uncommon, he said, to see cyclists walking in what amounts to a conga line.
“There are only three speeds in singlespeed — sitting, standing and walking,” Davies quipped.
“You’re either going really fast or you’re walking,” explained Pawling’s Brian Kelley.
Many started riding a one-speed simply for training, including Kelley’s Pawling Cycle teammate, Jim Brockway.
The 36-year-old Hopewell resident liked it so much he now only rides one-speed. This is by far the biggest field of one-speeders in which he competes.
But Kelley, who’ll likely ride singlespeed in about a dozen of the 15 or so mountain bike races he’ll do this year, has been in 1,000-rider, singlespeed races out West.
A-Palooza sometimes draws Western riders and always draws from the lower mid-Atlantic states up through New England.
“The best of the best is there,” said Kelley, who competes in Pro/Expert. “It’s a showdown.”
And that’s fine with the 41-year-old, who, like the singlespeed itself, has a lot of racing life left.
Kelley, who has finished top-10 in each A-Palooza, including last year’s ninth-place-overall 2:09:02, said, “I’m racing against 20-year-olds. … That’s almost the best thing about it. It’s beating kids half your age. I live for that.”
We are trying to take unicycling mainstream. People already look at us sideways. We don’t need them thinking that all unicyclists are pot heads.