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.
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
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…
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.
I find it really exciting if I can time the traffic and make it further into town then I had before without dismounting.
After about 5 miles on the 36, I will call that good enough and walk a while. There is of course walking breaks around the water fountains. All these little walking breaks max seat comfort, I commonly do a 20 mile round trip on the 36 in an afternoon, but it is split up into sections with breaks. I bet riding 20 miles non stop would be a pain in the seat. Actually, I am sure of it. LOL
The day will come where you will be able to ride indefinately. After you enjoy that for a while, you will look back and recognize a distinct difference in skill between being able to ride 100 yards (a long way) and being able to ride indefinately. You’re doing great but you will experience even more satisfaction when that day comes!
By the way, you’ll love the 24".
Edit: Ganfax, do you have your seat hight at the ideal level for leg extension? That can be very limiting if it is too low.
For people starting to run there is the famous “Couch-to-5K” running program. You basically alternate jogging and walking during your session and progressively reduce and eliminate the walking portions until you can run non-stop for about 30 minutes. That takes 8 weeks at 3 sessions per week. I did not follow that program exactly when I started to run but used similar ideas and listened to my body for selecting the time/distance between the walking/jogging transitions. That worked very well.
For jogging you primarily have to improve your cardiovascular capacity. Unicycling might be a little different because there is technique involved to become efficient and you also have to develop some muscles. However, I assume something similar to a “Couch-to-5K” program would work great. Once someone knows how to ride, how long do you think it should take to reach 30 minutes without dismount?
