The purpose of this topic is to talk about record-breaking with unicycles, with a focus on world records and Guinness records. Those two are often mutually exclusive, at least outside of height and a few other metrics.
I’m starting this topic in response to an article from “Interesting Facts” (One man holds more than 200 Guinness World Records. - Interesting Facts). The article is about Ashrita Furman, who is famous in unicycling and juggling (and tons of other) circles for his affinity for setting and breaking world records.
The linked article also mentions a record by a Miles Furman, who unicycled underwater for 1.3 miles. I’m very curious about that one, as you can’t really ride a unicycle underwater due to friction. The water takes a lot of force to push through, and bouyancy greatly reduces any traction you might have. If you’ve ever tried this you know what I mean.
The only way to conventionally ride a unicycle underwater would be with scuba gear, plus a lot of weights. Also some really coarse concrete to ride on would be nice. David Ramos has tried this, I think more than once: https://unicycling.com/things/index.htm#8
Maybe the record cited above doesn’t require the rider to be submerged? Maybe only the unicycle must be below the surface. I haven’t tried that. Maybe that’s the record?
Male: Knut Steffens (Germany) 177.6m. Donostia, Spain, July 2016
Female: Lisa-Maria Hanny (Germany) 173.9m. Illertissen, Germany, 14 July 2017
Records marked with a * were completed before the IUF World Record Guidelines were created 2011 and/or thus cannot be verified according to the current rules. They were, however, completed under strict conditions, and are therefore included here. These were set according to different standards of documentation and rules which may no longer be applicable. The IUF provides these for historical interest. If you are a holder of one of these records, and believe it fits the current IUF World Record guidelines, you may submit evidence for recognition as an official IUF world record.
Historical records
These records were set under different rules than those that currently apply to the corresponding discipline and are therefore not comparable with the current records.
Long Jump on Platform (IUF Rulebook 2015)
Male: Johannes Baumkirchner (Austria) 3.00m. Donostia, Spain, July 2016
Female: Ebony O’Dea (Australia) 2.40m. Donostia, Spain, July 2016"
That dude tries everything! He’s like an encyclopedia of “- on a unicycle!”
The lake ride was more instructive in terms of successfully riding in water. The 10-pound vest surely helped him to get better traction, especially as he went deeper.
This leads to the question of what “counts” as riding a unicycle underwater? If only the wheel is underwater, that’s probably not very challenging. If you have the entire unicycle under the water, that means more of your (bouyant) body is in the water, taking away traction. But for truly “riding a unicycle underwater” I would posit that the entire unicycle and rider would have to be under the surface. I would not have an issue with a snorkel above the water; that would save you a ton of money in figuring this stuff out (scuba). David Ramos pointed out that the biggest problem was traction, since we tend to be fairly bouyant in the water. No traction; can’t go anywhere. But less body in the water, more traction power.
For those that would like to experiment I have two recommendations:
If you’re in a pool, use a non-marking tire. My long-ago experience in this area involved Schwinn unicycles (less prone to rust), and left lots of marks in the pool. Fortunately they were pretty easy to clean off
Do expect your seat to retain water for a long time, and drip all over the place while you ride it. If going fully underwater, you can use a seat base with no padding, which would eliminate this problem and your buoyancy would make the ride comfortable enough.
Less traction, but flailing about has a greater effect than when the arms are above the water. Keeping the balance should thus be less difficult when fully submerged. Not sure what presents the bigger challenge, loss in traction or loss of the ability for quick corrections.
The deeper you go, the easier it is to react and make balance corrections (with your body and arms), but the harder it is to move the wheel. The amount of friction created by your body would probably require either a pretty steep lean forward, or lots of “swimming” with your arms to keep moving forward. I guess that brings the question of whether that would be considered to be “cheating”.
Now you make me want to find a pool that I can play in with a unicycle…
Yes, when the lake level is low, it’s part of the ride. I can park in a different location and go further back on the Salmon Falls (Darrington) Trail without racking up too many miles.
Interestingly, when the bridge is underwater there is virtually no current; it’s part of Folsom Lake. But when levels are low, the lake returns to being a river, which it was full time until 1955 when Folsom Dam was built.
Daiki Izumeda’s, record should be acceptable if I can be trusted as a witness. The hard part about Gliding records is being sure it’s gliding and not coasting. Otherwise, the riders in Tokyo had a long space to build up speed, and were in gliding position when crossing the line. As long as the measurements were accurate, that should hold up.
Unfortunately I was not present for Alina Czimek’s record.
Am I right in thinking that “standard” means 24" wheel and 125mm cranks?
I’d like to maybe try a race at some point in the future but currently I do 10km’s in around 45 minutes on my 24" with 127mm cranks. Admittedly that’s on roads and trails with potholes, road crossings, hills and a couple of gates which slow me down a bit but to be competitive would I really have to almost double my average cadence?! That seems impossible to me! And I have a 2.4" Holy Roller on so my wheel probably exceeds the size limit if I understand it correctly!
Yes and no, it depends on the race. For athletism and 10k, you are absolutely right (even though a 26er with a thin tire is ok, it is the external diameter that is important). For marathon, 100k or mountain climb, the standard is 29 inch (with no cranks limitations)
Under 28 minutes seems ridiculously fast for that wheel/crank combination. I guess that’s why it’s a world record though I might try a spin along the seafront some time to see how I get on with a 10km without the obstacles on my usual route, but to be honest I would be surprised if I can go faster than maybe 35-40 minutes even with perfect conditions!
Yes it’s 24" maximum and 125mm minimum for Track racing and longer races with a 24" category. But tire size is a weird thing in the bicycle industry. The sizes on the side of the tire are based on the (standardized) rim size, but the diameter may be very different depending on the tire’s volume/thickness. So the actual rule is 24.333" maximum (metric equivalent). Cranks are easier because they are what they say they are. And yes, the fast racers pedal at ridiculous speeds!
Yes, it is absolutely mind blowing to calculate their feet speeds. I just did the maths for four top level racers on the 10k : WR standard (24"), my PRs with a 29 and a G29 (both probably WR if those categories existed), and @toutestbon time from last french cup (G36, a few seconds from WR).
And here are the results :
Cadence : 184, 198, 136 and 125. Standard riders are way above every other category (with the 29, I am barely above, but with 75 mm cranks)
Feet speeds : 2415, 1559, 1625 and 1775. Once again, they are so much higher, it is really impressive (and we can see that the maximum feet speed isn’t that much of a thing, the cadence is more of a limitation, it can just be sligthtly improved by using shorter cranks, or not having to push hard)
Yesterday evening, at 4:37, I started doing laps on my local athletism track. 3h35m55s later, I finished my 250th lap, beating nearly 10 years after @redwelly’s record by nearly 2 minutes.
It was hard, painful and not fun, but it is done, (and still has to get verified by the IUF).
I might try a spin along the seafront some time to see how I get on with a 10km without the obstacles on my usual route, but to be honest I would be surprised if I can go faster than maybe 35-40 minutes even with perfect conditions!