Mountain Mayhem (UK) 24hr Endurance race [Archive]

steve.colligan

March 1st 07, 08:54 PM

The entry froms are now out for this years Mountain Mayhem. I've had a
word with the organisers of the event and they are reserving three team
places for us unicyclist's. Saying that, we still have to get the entry
forms in ASAP.

Each of the teams will consist of four riders, unless there's a female
in the team, then it can be a team of five.

The event is the largest 24hr MTB endurance race in Europe. This year
it will be even bigger, as they'll have over 2000 riders to mark the
10th anniversary of Mountain Mayhem.

The event will be at the same place as the last three years - that
being Eastnor Castle, Ledbury, Herefordshire. This will all take place
over the weekend of 22-24th June.

For anyone interested, I must stress that it is an endurance race,
which means very physical. Riders must be strong riders and very
capeable at riding off-road. The only real technical sections are
through woods on singletrack. These would be perfectly fine to ride
under normal conditions, but with faster bi*kes behind you, it's a
different story. There's a good chance that you'd be riding a night
lap, so previous experience of riding at night would be extremely
useful.

Because of the increase in the number of entries this year, I'm
assuming the organisers have lengthend the course to the original 10
miles+. This would mean your lap time could be anything from 1 1/2 hrs
to 3 1/2 hrs.

Although very hard, the weekend is an immensely enjoyable one. So much
so, that we've almost filled the all the places already. We're up to 10
confirmed riders so far. We're still looking for a couple of others,
plus reserve rider. Incidentally, the reserve has been used for the
last several years due to someone dropping out (usually at the last
minute). We definitaly need that reserve rider.

In the past Unicycle.com has helped out with subsidising our entry
fees. Unfortunately Roger won't be attending this year due to other
unicycling commitments, so we have to assume this won't be happening.
The fees per team are £190. So that's £47.50 each.

If you're interested then please PM me. It would help if I had some
idea of your fitness and the kind of unicycling you do. Most riders do
this event on 29ers, but a couple do it on Cokers and 26" munis.

My main safety concern for all taking part is that we could quite
easily take out the bi*ker that's behind you. I know accidents do
happen, but we want to minimise theses as much as possible. You really
do need to be competant at riding off road and at times in muddy
conditions.

Hope I haven't put too many of you off. Incidentally, you have to be
over 18 years old to enter.

PM me ASAP.

Steve

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mikepenton

March 1st 07, 09:53 PM

hopefully I'll be there, but only to heckle

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redwelly

March 1st 07, 11:50 PM

Woo - I'm excited already! This will be my third time, and I can only
add to what Steve says - that it's brilliant! There's nothing like
downhill singletrack with racing bikers to chase to get the adrenaline
pumping.

I'm sure there are some people even not in the UK who'd like to get
stuck into some unicycling just this ace... if you can get your mind
made up and form filled in quick enough? :)

Sam (marking off the days)

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skilewis74

March 2nd 07, 04:33 AM

I read your write up of last year's race, interesting reading.:cool: I
don't think I could do that.

redwelly wrote:
> Woo - I'm excited already! This will be my third time, and I can only
> add to what Steve says - that it's brilliant! There's nothing like
> downhill singletrack with racing bikers to chase to get the adrenaline
> pumping.
>
> I'm sure there are some people even not in the UK who'd like to get
> stuck into some unicycling just this ace... if you can get your mind
> made up and form filled in quick enough? :)
>
> Sam (marking off the days)

If memory serves correct, Sam, you're an animal!:D

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plumsie

March 2nd 07, 04:47 PM

I was hoping to do it this year but with time constraints with work I
have not had enough time to ride and get to a level of fitness that I
would need to be capable of not embarrassing myself.

Hopefully next year (although I might turn up this year to give
encouragement)

Plumsie

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rob.northcott

March 2nd 07, 09:26 PM

plumsie wrote:
> I was hoping to do it this year but with time constraints with work I
> have not had enough time to ride and get to a level of fitness that I
> would need to be capable of not embarrassing myself.

Come on - you've got four months before the race - you know you want to
:)

Rob

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steve.colligan

March 4th 07, 09:51 PM

All places have now been filled for this years Mountain Mayhem.

We have two teams of four and one team of five (you can have five
riders if you have a girl in your team). The team of five can use one
of their riders as a reserve for the other two teams if need be, as
they can still ride with four if they want to.

Anyway, here's the mad bunch that wants to do this crazy thing:

Beth Tichborne
Chris Dobbie
Des Devlin
Ian Stockwell
Joe McLean
Kit Johnson
Mark Wiggins
Paul Royle
Phil Himsworth
Rob Northcott
Sam wakeling
Steve Colligan
Tue Johansen

Unicycle.com will be able to help out again with our entry fees.
Continue to send me the amount i've asked you for, as the full £190 per
team has to be paid up front. The end figure will be more like the £35
mark, instead of the £47.50 I've ask you for. The refund won't be
available until nearer the date of the event, so we'll sort out the
difference at Mounatin Mayhem. I hope that's OK?

Have fun training guys........ and Beth.
Steve :D

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phil

March 5th 07, 09:10 AM

Woohoo!

Ian Stockwell and I went on a proper Mountain Mayhem practice ride
yesterday; just the other side of the hill from Eastnor Park and (most
importantly) in constant heavy rain!

Of the four 24 hour races I have done, three have been mud-fests.
Statistically the next few I do should all be in glorious weather along
sun-drenched, bone dry courses... right?

Phil

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ian.stockwell

March 5th 07, 09:42 AM

Although this will be my first SSMM I have for the last 20 years been
going to the Upton Jazz Festival on the same weekend only a few miles
from Eastnor.
Out of those 20, the only 2 really wet ones have been in the last few
years, I have plenty of memories of warm evenings and sunny days, so by
my reckoning we're due a nice one this year.

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rob.northcott

March 5th 07, 10:05 AM

steve.colligan wrote:
> Unicycle.com will be able to help out again with our entry fees.

Thanks Roger :)

Phil (or anybody else who knows the course)... If it's wet, is is
gloopy sticky mud that clogs the tyre (like at last year's SITS) or is
it gritty and liquidy (like Dartmoor)? If it's sticky I'll bring a
narrower tyre - SITS was ridiculous on the 3" once it got muddy.

Rob

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paul royle

March 5th 07, 10:24 AM

It's sticky!

Maybe not quite as bad as SITS, but almost. I'd bring both tyres if I
were you, it can't hurt!

Paul

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rob.northcott

March 5th 07, 02:26 PM

paul royle wrote:
> It's sticky!
>
> Maybe not quite as bad as SITS, but almost. I'd bring both tyres if I
> were you, it can't hurt!

Yes, it's no problem to bring another tyre - as long as I make sure
I've got one at the time (any recommendations for a good 26" xc
unicycle tyre? Otherwise I'll just grab any spare 1.9" bike tyre from
what I may have in the garage). Or I could always beg a 29er from
somebody for the weekend, but I honestly prefer riding xc on the 26x3
if clogging's not a problem - just what I'm used to I suppose.

I'll probably take my coker as well (not that they're much good in the
mud either), but unless I get miraculously better on it in the next few
months I'm going to be quicker on the 26 unless it's a REALLY open
course. The thought of riding tight singletrack on the coker in a race
situation scares the pants off me at the moment :eek:

Rob

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plumsie

March 5th 07, 03:19 PM

rob.northcott wrote:
> I honestly prefer riding xc on the 26x3 if clogging's not a problem -
> just what I'm used to I suppose.

I'm just the same, Don't get on with 29ers

rob.northcott wrote:
> The thought of riding tight singletrack on the coker in a race situation
> scares the pants off me at the moment :eek:
>
> Rob

You have had your coker longer then me, I think waiting until next year
is a great idea for me.

Plumsie

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rob.northcott

March 5th 07, 04:06 PM

plumsie wrote:
> You have had your coker longer then me, I think waiting until next year
> is a great idea for me.

It depends how you feel on it. Mine still feels very odd to me -
unless I'm completely comfortable on it by June and can ride it almost
without thinking I won't risk racing it - apart from not being any
quicker I don't want to be a liability to other racers :o

I've probably had it more than six months now, but haven't really
ridden it that much yet. I probably did a couple of hundred miles on
it, mostly on very smooth gravel, then fitted a brake so I'd be able to
ride it to work for more practice (there's a very steep road hill I'm
afraid of getting out of control on, although it'll probably be doable
without a brake once I get more comfortable with the feel of the
coker). Then I had a forced two month break due to an accident, and
haven't ridden the coker since I fitted the brake. Must get it out and
practice!

Tue rode his (borrowed) coker in last year's SITS after not having it
very long (although he had done a few longish road rides on it), and
did his fastest lap on it (possibly the fastest of all the unicyclists
I think), but he seemed to be a bit of a coker natural - I think it'll
take me a bit more time to get completely happy with it (enough to race
anyway).

Rob

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Beth

March 5th 07, 06:31 PM

I'm already really looking forward to this. :)

So...how do you go about training? I've been riding my 26" a lot over
the past month, almost every day, including a couple of very long rides
and a fair bit of off-road. I'm in a city now, sadly, so not quite such
good access to off road trails and I'm only riding every two or three
days. But what's the best kind of riding to do in preparation (hills?
long flat roads? as much off-road as possible? up to what kind of level
of pain?), and how often, and for how many hours at a time?

I think I'll go and ride round the park a few times in the dark now, in
my enthusiasm. No mud here though.

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Beth

March 5th 07, 06:31 PM

joemc

March 5th 07, 06:54 PM

Beth wrote:
> I'm already really looking forward to this. :)
>
> So...how do you go about training? I've been riding my 26" a lot over
> the past month, almost every day, including a couple of very long rides
> and a fair bit of off-road. I'm in a city now, sadly, so not quite such
> good access to off road trails and I'm only riding every two or three
> days. But what's the best kind of riding to do in preparation (hills?
> long flat roads? as much off-road as possible? up to what kind of level
> of pain?), and how often, and for how many hours at a time?
>
> I think I'll go and ride round the park a few times in the dark now, in
> my enthusiasm. No mud here though.

There is no bad training - any riding, one or more wheels, or any high
aerobic exercise is all good. Aim for 1 to 2 hrs per lap with 3 to 5
hrs recovery time, so observing the same kind of ratio when training
really helps.

There is no substitute however for riding in the dark, in the wet, on
unfamiliar rough terrain, with poor lights. However good your lighting
is, some loon will go past with a fusion powered daylight-bright light
on their bike, and you won't be able to see by your light afterwards.
Riding by feel, especially when climbing is a useful skill.

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MrBoogiejuice

March 5th 07, 10:34 PM

Howdy folks, it'll be my first time this year. I'm going through phases
of being very excited followed by moments of anxiety at the minute. I'm
sure it'll be great though, I've wanted to do this for the last couple
of years.

I remember seeing on telly a few years ago, before I'd started riding I
think, people riding these enormous great unicycles at mountain mayhem
and being flabbergasted... This year I get to be one of those chaps!

I'm going to be putting in a load of road miles in the next two months
in preparation for a big trip in May then switching to off road
cokering whenever possible until the event.

Looking forward to meeting those I ain't... Happy training all!

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johnhimsworth

March 5th 07, 11:18 PM

Ride lots! Lots of riding up hills is a good idea, because it's so much
more tiring, and more accurate - Eastnor is not flat. Off road riding
is also important - it's not hugely technical, but neither is it a
road, and there're bikes everywhere. Any training is good, but if
possible matching your training to the event is better.

I also hate to say it, but running might also be a good idea,
particularly on hills.

Go for some rides in properly manky conditions. You're going riding
anyway, might as well be ready for it if it's a bit damp.

Train with the setup you'll be using for as long as possible before the
race. Races are not the place to be experimenting with equipment setup.

I'm planning on entering, on my own, on a bike. Cheating, but my 'team'
will have either half or two fifths the wheels of your teams. For me,
the periods of anxiety are longer than the periods of excitement, with
brief periods of hoping I might have been too late to get in. (recorded
post, on first day the forms were out - Doh!)

Just remember - it will be ace fun to have done.

John

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joemarshall

March 6th 07, 06:50 AM

johnhimsworth wrote:
>
> I'm planning on entering, on my own, on a bike. Cheating, but my 'team'
> will have either half or two fifths the wheels of your teams. For me,
> the periods of anxiety are longer than the periods of excitement, with
> brief periods of hoping I might have been too late to get in. (recorded
> post, on first day the forms were out - Doh!)
>

Fantastic. Are you doing it unsupported, or have you managed to
pursuade some idiot to be your support crew?

To whoever asked about training - how far do you live from work /
university? If possible ride there instead of walking. That's the one
easiest training tip there is. If it's too short a ride, then ride
there, but by an indirect route.

Joe

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johnhimsworth

March 6th 07, 09:51 AM

The current plan is unsupported, although I'm hoping to find some
fool(s) to bribe with beer to feed me pasta. I quite like the idea of
being unsupported though: "Oh no, I have no support crew, I will be
forced to sit down for a bit while I cook my own food. Dammit, I really
wanted to start straight away on -another- lap."

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steve.colligan

March 6th 07, 01:05 PM

johnhimsworth wrote:
> The current plan is unsupported, although I'm hoping to find some
> fool(s) to bribe with beer to feed me pasta. I quite like the idea of
> being unsupported though: "Oh no, I have no support crew, I will be
> forced to sit down for a bit while I cook my own food. Dammit, I really
> wanted to start straight away on -another- lap."

I'm not too sure whether we should allow someone who's gone over to the
dark side into 'our' camp or not :p . It'll be like 'Sleepless in the
saddle' all over again. You will get the obligatory bit of stick of
course. Wouldn't be the same if we didn't dish it out, now would it?

Back to the training questions above. I would agreed with everything
that's been said so far. I train at least 3 times a week. This is a
combination of 2 hours hilly off road and 1 1/2 hours (twice a week) on
road and hilly. You really need to concentrate on riding for 1 1/2 to 2
hours at a time. As long as you throw in the odd night ride you'll be
OK. Make sure that this is off road though. Most of my training is
hilly because Mountain Mayhem isn't flat. Whatever training you end up
doing, make sure you get the heart beat going, as it's certainly going
to be busting a gut at mountain mayhem. Also, go find some mud to play
in - hopefully it's going to be nice and dry though :rolleyes: .

I'm considering riding the Coker this year, like I did at 'Sleepless',
but if things get wet I'm switching back to my 29er. This means my
training is on both these unis unfortunately. Doing anything physical
will help with overall fitness, but you can't substitute for actually
riding the unicycle.

Hill, hills and more hills guys.
You love it really.
Steve :D

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paul royle

March 6th 07, 01:29 PM

steve.colligan wrote:
>
>
> Hill, hills and more hills guys.
>

Hmmm, looks like I'd better move! :rolleyes:

Paul

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ian.stockwell

March 6th 07, 02:07 PM

Right so that's hills, hills and then just when you thought you'd had
enough, some more hills. I think I get the picture.
Fortunately I don't live in Cambridge.
Riding in the dark has been mentioned several times and yes I did
realise that I would have to do this as the race lasts for 24 hours,
but what type of light does everyone use?
I don't have anything at the moment so does anyone have any
suggestions, preferably ones that when the wife sees the cost she
doesn't go, HOW MUCH!!!!!!!

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rob.northcott

March 6th 07, 02:32 PM

ian.stockwell wrote:
> what type of light does everyone use?
> I don't have anything at the moment so does anyone have any
> suggestions, preferably ones that when the wife sees the cost she
> doesn't go, HOW MUCH!!!!!!!

I use a set of VistaLite NightStick halogen lights I bought for
commuting a few years ago. I just put one lamp (usually 10W, it's
enough for unicycling speed) on a helmet mount and put the battery in
the camelback. It runs for about 1hr 40mins on 10W on one stick
battery (enough for Sleepless but probably a bit too short for MM's
longer laps - I'll have to take a bigger battery). They were quite
expensive when I bought them, but they come up on ebay for reasonable
money now. Some people use HIDs or Luxeon LEDs, that are brighter and
more efficient than halogen, but are still extremely expensive. I
think Joe Marshall made some DIY Luxeon LED lights - don't know how
much all the component parts cost though - presumably cheaper than
buying a ready-made lamp.

BTW: If you find some NightStick lamps on ebay and need a helmet mount
I've accumulated a couple of spares and would be willing to let one go
to a good cause. In fact I've got enough bits to lend you a light and
cable as well if you're stuck (but I'd want them back eventually), but
not batteries (but that's where a lot of the cost is with halogen
lights anyway: the bulbs are relatively cheap).

Rob

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keg

March 6th 07, 05:41 PM

ian.stockwell wrote:
>
> Riding in the dark has been mentioned several times and yes I did
> realise that I would have to do this as the race lasts for 24 hours,
> but what type of light does everyone use?
> I don't have anything at the moment so does anyone have any
> suggestions, preferably ones that when the wife sees the cost she
> doesn't go, HOW MUCH!!!!!!!

The race instructions last year specified 10W (halogen equivalent) as a
minimum. Although it is likely the fastest team will all do a night
lap, this will not be the case for all three teams unless the course is
much shorter (very unlikely).

I'll bring my 10W halogen to the event as a backup for anyone who needs
them. Currently I am testing my DIY Cree LED which is brighter and has
a lighter battery.

Keith

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phil

March 6th 07, 07:32 PM

Ian - I will be using my Lumicycle lights but I have a "spare" Cateye
Doubleshot LED light that you are very welcome to borrow either for the
event or practice rides.

Phil

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joemarshall

March 6th 07, 08:56 PM

paul royle wrote:
> Hmmm, looks like I'd better move! :rolleyes:
>
> Paul

100 repetitions of Castle Mount for you young man.

Seriously, part of the Ken Looi suggested training strategy which is
possibly why he's quite fit:
1) Find biggest hill near you that you can just about ride up
2) Start at bottom of hill
3) Ride to top.
4) Ride down as fast as possible
5) Ride to top
6) ....

No stopping, repeat 10 times (or for however long you have to train).

There are two hills near Cambridge with a bridleway on them, and it is
minging mud in winter. Do repetitions on them. Can't remember what
they're called, look on OS map.

Joe

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rob.northcott

March 7th 07, 11:30 AM

On the subject of lights... I'm after a new torch for backup/extra
lighting in the tricky bits or if the helmet light gives up the ghost.
Are the 3W Luxeon/Cree torches people sell on ebay for less than a
tenner (you know the things - £2 plus £7 postage "from Hong Kong" or
whatever) any good? In theory they should be not bad - probably half
as much light as a 10W halogen? Anybody had any experience of them -
get what you pay for or a good deal?

Joe McLean had one of the "loads of little LEDs" torches at SITS last
year that was pretty good, but the 3W Luxeons claim to be just as
bright and much neater - although most of them use CR123 Lithium
batteries that seem to be really expensive - a quick search found two
plus a charger at about £30! Some use good old AA or AAA though, which
would be more convenient (but they don't mention running time).

Rob

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keg

March 7th 07, 12:43 PM

rob.northcott wrote:
> On the subject of lights... I'm after a new torch for backup/extra
> lighting in the tricky bits or if the helmet light gives up the ghost.
> Are the 3W Luxeon/Cree torches people sell on ebay for less than a
> tenner (you know the things - £2 plus £7 postage "from Hong Kong" or
> whatever) any good? In theory they should be not bad - probably half
> as much light as a 10W halogen? Anybody had any experience of them -
> get what you pay for or a good deal?
>
> Joe McLean had one of the "loads of little LEDs" torches at SITS last
> year that was pretty good, but the 3W Luxeons claim to be just as
> bright and much neater - although most of them use CR123 Lithium
> batteries that seem to be really expensive - a quick search found two
> plus a charger at about £30! Some use good old AA or AAA though, which
> would be more convenient (but they don't mention running time).
>
> Rob

The '7Watt' version I bought makes a great hand warmer :D Drawing
something like 1.5A means battery life is measured in minutes rather
than hours (with rechargable CR123). I assume the 'driver circuit' is
purely a resistor. Therefore there is a very good reason why they don't
mention battery life!

I'm looking to build a very light head torch for the kids and/or leave
attached backup for my commute. This might be ready for this years BUC.

Keith

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rob.northcott

March 7th 07, 01:02 PM

Hmmm. Cheap Luxeons (with expensive batteries) perhaps not such a good
idea then. What about the multi-LED "pepperpot" torches like the one
Joe had?

Rob

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joemc

March 7th 07, 08:42 PM

rob.northcott wrote:
> Hmmm. Cheap Luxeons (with expensive batteries) perhaps not such a good
> idea then. What about the multi-LED "pepperpot" torches like the one
> Joe had?
>
> Rob

I am still thrilled with my 99p (plus £10 postage) 24 led torch. It's a
good backup, but is only good for 45 mins tops on 3 good quality AAA's.
I'm planning to buy a Dinotte 5w or 3w Luxeon unit as a main light, and
use the 'fairy lights' as backup. That said, Decathlon do a great 3 led
plastic front light that I bought for my road bike, which is incredibly
lightweight, bright and costs £6. 4 or more of those would be a good
'redundant array'

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joemarshall

March 7th 07, 11:34 PM

If you have access to a soldering iron, buy one of these,
http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut685

I know they're in Australia, but postage is cheap, only downside is you
have to wait about a week or so for it to turn up. They're reliable,
and if anything gets lost in the post they'll send out a replacement
quickly.

Plus a battery box. Plus 2AA batteries. Plus some superglue and gaffa
tape / heatshrink wrap to tidy up everything.

It is so so much better than any torch you can buy on ebay, properly
regulated, lasts for approx 4 hours off a pair of AA rechargeables, and
is bright enough to ride with. Oh yeah, total system weight <100g I
think.

There are a total of 4 solder joints to do, and I can solder it up,
which means it is very easy, I am really bad at anything practical and
I made it work first time, with no electronics knowledge other than red
wires = positive and go to red wires or things marked +, black wires =
negative and go to black wires or things marked -.

I mounted the LED + lens in a 'sports cap' from a mineral water bottle,
with a few holes in it to put zip ties to attach to the helmet and a
bit of rubber glued on the bottom to keep it stable. Oh and 1p coins
behind it to make up any spare space, filled with heatsink goo (from
maplin) which might help heat transfer. Battery case is strapped to
back of helmet, again rubber glued on to it to keep it stable.

I just leave it on my helmet all the time. It's great. Don't notice
it's there, but it's always around when you need it.

Theoretically this should be almost as bright as a CatEye DoubleShot,
as it is a newer generation of LEDs, which are much brighter for the
same power.

It isn't as bright as my lumicycles, but then it doesn't weigh 800g,
and it doesn't cost silly money.

I also made a triple cree LED light, which is easily as bright as my
lumicycles and runs for 2x the runtime, but does need a 12v battery,
which is always going to be a bit pricey unless you use a heavy lead
acid one. Fantastic if you already happen to have lumicycles or similar
though, all the light you need for riding, costs about £40 in total to
build the light head, plus however much for a battery + charger.

Joe - don't buy a dinotte or 3w luxeon. They will be about 1/2 to 2/3
as bright as the kit I linked above.

Joe

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joemarshall

March 7th 07, 11:36 PM

rob.northcott

March 8th 07, 09:59 AM

Thanks Joe. Keg gave me that link but suggested it was top secret at
the moment due to imminent publication...
I'll probably give it a go sometime.

Rob

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Beth

March 8th 07, 08:14 PM

Thanks for all the training tips. I did my first official training
session yesterday. Riding up hills off road for 2 hours is quite hard
work, I don't think I'd realised how often I usually take breaks. It
was fun though, I think. Not sure. Is your vision supposed to throb?

And there's no way that my heavy rusty 26" is going to last until the
summer. I suppose that a KH 29" is the best thing to replace it with,
bearing this race in mind? They're pretty expensive though. But there
don't seem to be many other options.

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Beth

March 8th 07, 08:14 PM

sarah.miller

March 8th 07, 09:04 PM

I have a set of light and battery from when I did Mountain mayhem, if
any one want to borrow it for this year they are welcome, I can bring
it to BUC I guess. Its a 10w lamp on a helmet mount with a fairly heavy
battery to go either in a pack or straped to the uni frame.

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steve.colligan

March 12th 07, 11:02 PM

Just to confirm that I received the last signature over the weekend and
so the entry forms have now been sent off. Once I receive confirmation
that all 3 teams have been accepted, then I'll post here/email you.

UNICYCLE.COM-NO GEARS

Steve Colligan
Sam wakeling
Des Devlin
Phil Himsworth

UNICYCLE.COM-NO HANDLEBARS

Paul Royle
Mark Wiggins
Joe McLean
Tue Johansen

UNICYCLE.COM-NO BRAKES

Chris Dobbie
Rob Northcott
Beth Tichborne
Ian Stockwell
Kit Johnson

All the riders in team "Unicycle.com-No Brakes" will be riding, as
teams are allowed to have 5 riders in them if there's a female in the
team. Rob Northcott will be also acting as a reserve for the other two
teams, just in case we end up being a man down before the event.
Obviously if this happens, then the 3rd team will be as the others - a
team of 4.

Steve
Hills.....................:D, more hills......................:D:D
and even more hills.............:D:D:D

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ian.stockwell

March 20th 07, 08:13 AM

My uni for this event is a stock Nimbus 26 Muni, which comes with 170mm
cranks.
From reading this forum it seems to me that most folks switch to
something a bit shorter as they gain experience and strength, and I
have been considering going to 150's but would like to make the switch
fairly soon so that I can be completely at home with them by the time
SSMM happens.

I would be grateful for any advice, is the increase in speed a
worthwile trade off for the reduction in leverage, is the climbing
ability significantly reduced with the 150's, I suppose the key
question is which would be quicker around the SSMM course. I realise
that there are no straight answers to any of these but any opinions
would be welcome.
Thanks

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rob.northcott

March 20th 07, 10:16 AM

ian.stockwell wrote:
> I would be grateful for any advice, is the increase in speed a worthwile
> trade off for the reduction in leverage, is the climbing ability
> significantly reduced with the 150's, I suppose the key question is
> which would be quicker around the SSMM course.

I rode my 26x3 on the original cranks (mine came with 165s) for about a
year before swapping to 150s, partly as an experiment and partly
because I kept catching my heels on the straight cranks and wanted
slightly more angled cranks. It only took me a couple of rides
(probably about 20 miles or so) for the 150s to feel completely normal.
Obviously there is a little bit less leverage for climbing, but it's
not that noticeable. It's slightly easier to spin the cranks though,
and my average speeds definitely increased a bit. Possibly the biggest
advantage of the shorter cranks is the increased ground clearance,
which is really nice in singletrack.

I'd say go for it - if you don't like it you can always swap back, but
if you're anything like me you'll see a slight speed improvement and a
big drop in pedal strikes (all the ones that just hit will just miss
:)). BTW - Mine are ProWheel alloy cranks, as sold by UDC (152mm I
think they are). Never had any problem with them - not even come loose
(put some threadlock on the bolt, do them up nice and tight with a
torque wrench, 35lbf or so, and don't be tempted to "check tightness"
of the bolt later or you'll have to remove it and refit with new
threadlock).

Rob

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phil

March 20th 07, 11:02 AM

In some cases going up long-but-not-particularly-steep hills can be
easier with slightly shorter cranks on, as they encourage you to spin
rather than crank up half a revolution at a time. I'm not quite sure of
the physics behind it, or whether it's purely pyschological, but it
seems that the wheel keeps its momentum better so you can back off
briefly if you need a (very quick) rest.

With 170s on a 26" muni you can get up some pretty serious gradients;
the Mountain Mayhem course doesn't have anything particularly steep,
just longer drawn-out drags instead.

Phil

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mikepenton

March 20th 07, 12:54 PM

Ian, I'd switch to 150's right now. The only time I did SSMM was on a
29er with 125's - although I was in pain most of the time so riding was
rather limited!

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unicus

June 24th 07, 09:48 PM

OK then guys how did it go? Did you get muddy? :)

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MrBoogiejuice

June 25th 07, 07:59 AM

I'm going out on a limb here but I'm going to guess: Yes.

I'm sure they all did excellently though... Next year, barring broken
little piggies, I'll be getting good and muddy with you all.

Looking forward to seeing some pictures!

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ian.stockwell

June 25th 07, 11:47 AM

Muddy?
Just a little.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: mud.jpg |
|Download: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/20852 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Beth

June 25th 07, 12:52 PM

I liked my second, far muddier lap better than my first not so muddy
one. Possibly because I couldn't ride any of the descent on my first
but at least tried most of it on the second. I'm glad I wasn't riding
in the worst of the rain though, it was nice to sleep through that.
I've got a few photos but no way to transfer them for the moment, I'll
put them in the gallery when I do. The whole thing was even more fun
than I'd expected, I didn't regret doing it for a moment, not even
halfway up the Kenda Climb. :D Looking forward to next year, even if
everyone else is going to be in Canada.

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lowlight

June 25th 07, 07:13 PM

mud mud mud:)

was great fun weekend. enjoyed briefly overtaking a couple of bikes up
the hills and then watching them clog up with mud.

Found it pretty tough on the course but good fun all the same. will get
a bit more practice in for the next one.

special thanks to:
Super team C
Wendy for some much needed hot chocolates
Paul for finding my phone... which now works fine!:)

Dan

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joemarshall

June 25th 07, 08:27 PM

Results

http://results.singletrackworld.com/team.php?id=9485

http://results.singletrackworld.com/team.php?id=9326

http://results.singletrackworld.com/team.php?id=9405

Hey, well done Paul Royle for putting in the fastest lap, faster than
Des, Sam and Tue. That's pretty impressive, you must be pretty fit at
the moment.

Joe

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steveyo

June 25th 07, 08:48 PM

Congrats to all you 24 hour riders. Having finally done one of these
events, I am even more impressed with you folks.

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steveyo
...like having your own personal rollercoaster...

- a few 'uni race write-ups'
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- muni and kokopelli uni 't-shirts, mugs and stickers'
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rob.northcott

June 25th 07, 09:03 PM

It was a very enjoyable weekend, despite being a bit muddy. I don't get
much experience of slippery mud (it's really gravelly on Dartmoor) so
I'm not too quick in it, but it's always good for a laugh - I must make
the effort to go somewhere muddy to practice. I was quite impressed
with myself for surviving the run before the first lap (I'm a terrible
runner), and my second lap was actually relatively dry and quick,
before it started raining again just in time for my night lap.

Thanks to everybody for a good weekend.

Rob

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skilewis74

June 26th 07, 02:08 AM

joemarshall wrote:
> Results
>
> http://results.singletrackworld.com/team.php?id=9485
>
> http://results.singletrackworld.com/team.php?id=9326
>
> http://results.singletrackworld.com/team.php?id=9405
>
> Hey, well done Paul Royle for putting in the fastest lap, faster than
> Des, Sam and Tue. That's pretty impressive, you must be pretty fit at
> the moment.
>
> Joe

Is there a forthcoming write up:o

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deadlydes

June 26th 07, 09:39 AM

joemarshall wrote:
>
> Hey, well done Paul Royle for putting in the fastest lap, faster than
> Des, Sam and Tue. That's pretty impressive, you must be pretty fit at
> the moment.
> Joe

Unfortunately Paul's (sorry Paul) recorded 'fast' time was for half a
lap (when he hurt his ribs). We was a bit naughty and got him to walk
through the timing tent :eek: as he said he wasnt up for another lap
and we wanted the team to qualify.

Was a great weekend, shame about the mud. Thanks to everyone for making
it a good one.

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paul royle

June 26th 07, 12:16 PM

deadlydes wrote:
> Unfortunately Paul's (sorry Paul) recorded 'fast' time was for half a
> lap (when he hurt his ribs). We was a bit naughty and got him to walk
> through the timing tent :eek: as he said he wasnt up for another lap
> and we wanted the team to qualify.
>
> Was a great weekend, shame about the mud. Thanks to everyone for making
> it a good one.

Guilty as charged :eek:

My third lap was only made possible by lots of Ibuprofen and a course
so muddy that walking was the best option for large parts of it. I
spent an interesting couple of hours in A&E yesterday explaining how I
managed to injure my ribs, 12:30 at night, racing, on a unicycle...

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unicus

June 26th 07, 03:21 PM

And again many bike teams behind the unicyclists - well done guys,
sounds like you enjoyed it.

paul royle wrote:
> Guilty as charged :eek:
>
> My third lap was only made possible by lots of Ibuprofen and a course
> so muddy that walking was the best option for large parts of it. I
> spent an interesting couple of hours in A&E yesterday explaining how I
> managed to injure my ribs, 12:30 at night, racing, on a unicycle...

Paul...bending the rules :eek: ...I'm shocked ;)

Hope your ribs are OK and yes the A&E/unicycle thing does make the
visit more interesting (I had it a few weeks ago, it's the astonished
smile I like :D)

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redwelly

June 26th 07, 05:13 PM

Yet another good unicycling weekend. Thanks everyone.

The riding started slow and muddy, got better and better (had a lovely
night lap - just a slow time due to changing batteries and a few random
unprovoked UPDs on grassy flat sections). Then it rained hard, and
sometime during a change-over in the morning I heard some bikers using
the phrase "it's like the Somme out there". Nice. We were lucky to
come back with all our shoes attached.

I think I managed to score the slowest actual lap (Mark's '6 hour' epic
can't be a real lap, surely?) at 03:05:30 - due to not starting until
after Steve was back at camp, and being reduced to dragging/carrying a
muni until it was evident that there wouldn't be time to get in for
another lap before the finish time... and some lurking at the finish.
Phil showed up with a camera half way around and we chatted about the
weather and watched some of the keen bikers go past, still hammering in
sub-hour times.

Perhaps not shockingly Des still got the two fastest laps in, despite
demoting himself to the B team with a dodgy knee. :) I found it hard
to have enough motivation to push hard up hills knowing there would be
slow slime and walking to be done further around. So it was hard work
in the mud, but (maybe) less exhausting than pelting on at full speed!

Sam

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sarah.miller

June 26th 07, 08:33 PM

So, once again a unicycle team did not come last. Well done guys and
girl. lets keep on beating teh two wheelers.

--
sarah.miller

South West Unicycle Meet
www.uk.unicyclist.com/swum.html
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steve.colligan

June 27th 07, 01:02 PM

Just to give you an idea how muddy things got.......... Here's some
photos I took on my last lap.

I'll try and get round to doing a bit of a write up this evening - it
was a great weekend though.

When the going gets tough, the tough get muddy.

I've not worked out how our B & C teams faired yet. Team A did manage
to beat *100* bike teams though (not including solos).

TEAM A
Steve Colligan
Sam Wakeling
Phil Himsworth
Tue Johansen

I'll work out how team B & C did this evening.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: Muddy Bike 3.JPG |
|Download: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/20889 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

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steve.colligan

Once is NEVER enough!
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phil

June 27th 07, 01:44 PM

Incidentally there's 'a thread on Singletrack '
(http://tinyurl.com/384g29)about unicycles at Mayhem which is actually
very positive...

--
phil

"Cattle Prods solve most of life's little problems."
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