I’m just curious if my distance without a fall/dismount will get VERY long. I can ride about 100 yards without a dismount. I’m just curious if the rest of this great & fun community of unicyclists ride long distances (1 or more miles) without a dismount. I watch many many many videos of rides and races but those can be edited to seem like nobody ever dismounts. I ride a 20 inch but recently bought a 24 inch. I’m still trying to mount it with slight success. thanks in advance for any replies.
My personal best without a fall, dismount, UPD or rest, on a 28" wheel, was 22.5 miles (36 km) in 2.25 hours. I once did 21 miles on the Coker in 2 hours. 10 mile rides without a dismount are easily possible on a 28" or bigger.
I ride a lot with Gadge who posts in this forum, who has been riding for about 18 months - 2 years. I saw him do about 7.5 km non-stop the other evening on a 29".
Other riders here have done further and faster.
If you are on a 20" you will probably get more tired more quickly, but still there is no reason why you cannot build up to doing 30 minutes or more without a fall or dismount, and in that time you should cover 3 miles (4.8 km) or more. I once did 20 miles in a day on a 20", but that was with several dismounts and pubs along the way.
Once you get going on your 24", you should have no difficulty riding 5 miles or more at a go. It is simply a matter of practice. As you improve, you will become more efficient and find it less tiring.
Good luck.
I’ve done 30 miles without dismounting i think. Actually, i may have done slightly longer at Ride the Lobster - I had a few really long stints there.
Joe
At some point the main limit for me is seat comfort. After an hour or two in the seat I just want to get off for a minute to let the circulation return to my fundament. My legs are not really tired at that point, if I have been going at an easy pace.
With gritted teeth I can last about one hour without dismount, but usually I take a short rest after 30 minutes. If it’s not numb naughty bits, it is low back pain that gets me. Weakness in the legs is not as big a problem as it was when I started.
I often ride for an hour without a dismount before I stop for a break. It isn’t that I feel the need for a break at the time, but I know that if I didn’t make myself stop, I would carry on going on and on and on until I was too drained to carry on.
Last week I rode 24 miles in to London, and only dismounted 3 times in total. All of these were because of road junctions where it wouldn’t have been convenient not to dismount.
Sam ‘Redwelly’ Wakeling has the record* for riding without a dismount of 105.5 miles. I don’t think my bladder would last long enough for that distance!
STM
- Guinness may or may not officially recognise this at the moment, but it is well documented with witnesses.
I’ve done a couple of marathon races (42.195 km) without dismounting or falling. Are you a beginner, ganfax? I remember the day when even a couple of revolutions without a dismount was a problem. Gradually the fall-less distance got longer. Now, like some others implied as well, the main issue to take a break is seat discomfort.
Did his?
105.5 miles is an amazing distance to ride on one wheel anyway. To do that in one go is just mind boggling. 
After 105.5 miles that’s not the only thing that’ll be boggling.
I wonder why he dismounted. If he collapsed, got bored, or really, really had to go to the bathroom by that point.
It was part of his 24 hour world record run. The stop was for food, a massage and a cup of hot chocolate. No mention of a bathroom. Details here: 24 Hour World Record attempt in Aberystwyth, UK
Hey, he asked “what distance without falling,” not “what distance without dismounting.”–in the title, at least.
I’m sure many of the road riders have gone several hundred miles.
In some of my practices with other styles, I fall every few seconds with zero distance 
But it’s clear from the full text he means falling or dismounting.
Without falling or dismounting? Proof?
My personal record was the Unicon marathon race last summer, at around 1:48. Not recommend for everyday riding! Generally your crotch needs a circulation break every once in a while…
19.5 miles, during my Jax to St. Augustine ride. The @#$% sidewalk ended rather abruptly in an 8 inch drop to unmowed grass.
+1
The world record is about 100miles by Takayuki Koike in 1987. He also holds the 100mile record.
I haven’t really kept tabs, but probably the longest would have been 50 or 60km.
My longest is about 8 miles when I go the longer way to work, and leave early enough to ignore red lights. Otherwise, I have to stop and hold on to a light pole so I don’t have to dismount. I don’t have the idling thing down on my 29".
I usually have to stop about every 20 minutes to rest my “seat” but yesterday I did 25 minutes on my 29er with no ill effects. Maybe I should try for 30 minutes.
60 miles
60 miles non-stop while training for the STP this summer. Went on to do another 50+ miles non-stop that same day.