New Hour Record

[tomblackwood]

Originally posted by David_Stone
It looks like you have a small chain running to a tiny axle just below the regular spot for the Coker's axle. Or is that just my imagination?

Here is a link to a close-up of the gearing system.

http://gallery.unicyclist.com/albuw44/IMG_2027

[jagur]

Originally posted by David_Stone
I believe that Guiness Book people only decided to accept records for one-hour distance based on an ungeared 24" unicycle wheel.

thats what i thought to and sware i read the rules somwhere. a great ride yeah, but i dont think Guiness will accept it.

breaking records has to be controled with standards so its the person breaking the record, not the technology or new equipment.

the UCI went through this debate in the mid 90's with their hour record.

[harper]

Originally posted by David_Stone
It looks like you have a small chain running to a tiny axle just below the regular spot for the Coker's axle. Or is that just my imagination?

Search the forum for "Purple Phaze" not "Purple Haze" and you will find lots of threads outlining Pete's construction project.

[john_childs]

Originally posted by jagur
thats what i thought to and sware i read the rules somwhere. a great ride yeah, but i dont think Guiness will accept it.

breaking records has to be controled with standards so its the person breaking the record, not the technology or new equipment.

the UCI went through this debate in the mid 90's with their hour record.

Fortunately the 1 hour record, 100 mile record and 24 hour record are not locked in that old rule restricting racing to a 24 inch wheel and 125 mm cranks. The previous 1 hour record recorded by Guinness was on a 28" uni. The current 100 mile record was done on a custom 42 inch rickshaw wheel uni. The 24 hour record was done on a Coker.

The 100 meter record is restricted to the 24 inch wheel and 125 mm cranks. And that record is about maxed out for that given configuration.

The current 1 hour record can go faster, and should go faster. But someone has to step up and do it. It's still very much the rider and not the magic of technology. The geared uni gives you a larger effective wheel diameter, but the rider still has to ride it and it still balances like a unicycle and is actually harder to ride than a standard unicycle.

I'm curious to see what kinds of speeds are possible on a unicycle in the 1 hour style time trials. Unicycles can go faster and a 1 hour time trial will push that limit higher. People just gotta do it.

There are restrictions that Guinness has before they'll recognize the record. Pete and Ken can tell you more. It has to be done on a closed loop course that has been carefully measured. It has to be timed and observed. Pete started from a standing start (no flying start).

[unisk8r]

The only restriction on Guinness unicycle records have been one human powered wheel. If you don't like it (jagur), go make an accredited attempt of your own! But please don't run down my effort...you didn't give Ken L. any sh*t about his wheel two weeks ago.

Staying on the soapbox here, I also believe that the IUF ought to get their act together and keep all reasonable unicycling records, not just the sprints, but the 10K, the hour, the 100 mile, and the 12 and 24 hour records. Then (and only then) can a governing body impose whatever restrictions they want (Guinness is not, and should not be, our governing body). But, the IUF should keep in mind that the idea here is speed, and shouldn't limit competition with undue restrictions like crank lengths. Heck, isn't wheel size itself enough of a restriction already? We need to bring the sporting aspect of unicycling into the 21st century!

[jagur]

Originally posted by unisk8r
If you don't like it (jagur), go make an accredited attempt of your own! But please don't run down my effort...you didn't give Ken L. any sh*t about his wheel two weeks ago.

give me a break? i wasnt running down your effort.

[tomblackwood]

Originally posted by unisk8r
Staying on the soapbox here, I also believe that the IUF ought to get their act together and keep all reasonable unicycling records, not just the sprints, but the 10K, the hour, the 100 mile, and the 12 and 24 hour records. Then (and only then) can a governing body impose whatever restrictions they want (Guinness is not, and should not be, our governing body).

I'd agree. This same debate was had some years ago in the juggling community. There was frustration that Guinness decisions around what categories would be published for world records was haphazard, and generally very narrow compared to the progress being made in the sport (i.e. Guinness would only be interested in most objects juggled, versus looking at things like total number of catches with varying numbers of objects. On the flip side, the IJA (Juggling's equivalent of IUF) did not have any formal system established for establishing records. Finally, a small group of very serious (and respected) jugglers established a governing committee, categories for records, criteria to document/establish a record attempt, etc.

With the growth in unicycling and the advances being made not just in speed and distance but also jumping and droping height, etc., maybe it's time to look the same direction, either within the confines of the IUF, or outside it if that org isn't willing to step up.

Here's a link to the juggling records site for anyone interested: http://www.juggling.org/records/

Final comment: as a witness to Pete's record today, I would say that while the geared unicycle was definitely part of the equation, the record was absolutely a combination of both the person and the technology. That unicycle is VERY difficult to ride, and he kept an amazing pace with no breaks, no water, no crotch rest, no nothing for an hour. And maybe most amazingly, no falls until after he was well past the record distance.

Way to go Pete!

[UniBrier]

I figured out how to compress my 12MB vid down to 1 MB. It is on page two of Tom B's gallery.

The quality is decreased but you can get a real good idea of the cadence. It is deceiving when you're used seeing high cadence to go 14-15mph.

[David_Stone]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by unisk8r
If you don't like it (jagur), go make an accredited attempt of your own! But please don't run down my effort...

Have to agree with Jagur here. He didn't 'run down' your effort any more than I did or anyone else did. He was just pointing out that Guiness has requirements for their records. The Guiness folks are hard to pin down, so I'm not sure what the requirements are, either.

Some points I'd like to make:

1. You have built an amazing machine. As you noted, the Guiness folks and the IUF need to agree and to make some changes. Right now, both are a bit out of touch with changes in our little world o' unicycles.

2. Your effort extends beyond creating the machine: You rode the damn thing, and pretty fast, and without falling! That is great. But I'm not sure it makes sense to submit it to the GBofR when it's already been 'broken' many times. There are probably at least 5 riders who've passed the 16-miles-in-an-hour mark (I can think of me, my brother, and Christian Hoverath and would guess that several TCUC folks have already done so). It's sort of like a person taking credit for something just because he was the first to take credit for it (rather than the first to do it).

I should note that I was certainly not the first person to ride a Coker fast for an hour or any length of time, and I'm not claiming to be. I'm not upset that someone else will get credit for a record for speed-Cokering. The only thing I've ever done first with unicycling is to coin 'UPD' -- and I'm glad you didn't suffer as a result of your UPD, Pete -- that could have been nasty.

I felt the same about Lars's 24-hour riding record. It was totally breakable by many people. Ken trained for it and was able to smash it easily (by quite a few miles). Lars did his DURING a huge and amazing ride and didn't do it on a track. So I am not sure why Lars didn't just satisfy himself with the knowledge that he'd done this great thing. After posting his news to us, he got a lot of praise and thumbs up, and that's all I think I'd want. If the IUF acknowledged his record, that's the pinnacle of acknowledgement. But doing it by the standards of Guiness and taking the time to submit it just right and getting all the i's dotted for the Guiness folks -- well, it just wasn't worth it for that record, is my opinion. I hope this makes sense and doesn't come off as an attack.

Bottom line: Accrediting does not make the achievement any 'better.' I don't think we need to be talking about this as a 'record' just because it's going to be submitted to Guiness! It was a nice achievement that demonstrated an even nicer one (namely, the speed and potential of this beautifully engineered machine).

[gbarnes]

Originally posted by unisk8r
The only restriction on Guinness unicycle records have been one human powered wheel. If you don't like it (jagur), go make an accredited attempt of your own! But please don't run down my effort...you didn't give Ken L. any sh*t about his wheel two weeks ago.

Nice work with the record, maybe you can work on the chip.

[john_childs]

Originally posted by David_Stone
Bottom line: Accrediting does not make the achievement any 'better.' I don't think we need to be talking about this as a 'record' just because it's going to be submitted to Guiness! It was a nice achievement that demonstrated an even nicer one (namely, the speed and potential of this beautifully engineered machine).

Pete didn't make the record up and he wasn't first to set the record. It is an existing Guinness record set by Stefan Gauler. Lars also wasn't first to set the 24 hour record. The 24 hour record was also an existing record last set by Stefan Gauler. Here's a link to Stefan's web pages about his records: Meine Einradweltrekorde. Both Pete and Lars were beating existing records.

The old 1 hour mark was 21,290 meters (13.229 miles). That was a very beatable mark and should be beaten. Those who think they can beat Pete's mark should step up and do it.

Right now the 1 hour mark is a bit out of sync because the pace set on the 100 mile record (6 hours 44 minutes) is an average of 14.85 miles/hour, which is faster than the current 1 hour record. But yeah, those who think they can beat the record should do so. That's how we find out what the fast times should be. Otherwise we'd just sit around a table and try to agree on what the fastest time for a 1 hour time trial should be.

In article <unisk8r.1l2yhm@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com>,
"unisk8r" <unisk8r@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> wrote:

> As the creator of Purple Phaze, a geared 36" uni, I wanted to
> demonstrate it's capabilities. So today, at age 46 and a rider of 15
> months, [...]

As a rider of six months and 45 years, i must say you are truly
inspirational. Seriously -- I have pictures from Florian's Red Square
visit of you, Greg and Florian posted in my office.

I hope to be as accomplished when i'm as old as you!

Watch your back. :-)

Kudos and BZ.

..max

--
I'm a moron so you don't have to be! (one)
<http://flickr.com/photos/86932068@N0...ravesirstupid/>

[HardcoreCokerRider]

Originally posted by john_childs
But yeah, those who think they can beat the record should do so. That's how we find out what the fast times should be. Otherwise we'd just sit around a table and try to agree on what the fastest time for a 1 hour time trial should be.

Excellent achievement... but being that the record was accomplished on a custom machine that Pete built... and being that most people don't have the expertise to build such a machine... I think it is rather unrealistic that too many people will have access to the equipment necessary to pose much of a threat! Perhaps when production 36" geared uni's become available on the market others will be able to attempt to break the record.... until then, the chances seem rather slim!

[Denali]

Good ride.........I think all these rides and record-breaking should be documented..........and the rules set up as well.........Maybe for shorter distances the standard 24"/125mm combo would be good..........For longer distances Cokers/unlimited crank length should be the norm..........There obviously should be an unlimited category which should take care of the bigger wheels, geared unicycles etc.......

Bottom line: Accrediting does not make the achievement any 'better

Probably true but would be great to have your name somewhere in the record books or getting recognition from your peers........100 years from now they'll be asking about the first dude to break the 20 mile barrier in 1 hr.........and no one will know.........Gotta record and document all these achievements.......The IUF needs to get invovled quickly as more and more records will tumble..........For the moment,good on ya,Pete( unisk8r )......

[TonyMelton]

Originally posted by HardcoreCokerRider
most people don't have the expertise to build such a machine... I think it is rather unrealistic that too many people will have access to the equipment necessary to pose much of a threat! Perhaps when production 36" geared uni's become available on the market others will be able to attempt to break the record.... until then, the chances seem rather slim!

What do you mean? David Stone just said that at least five other unicyclists have done 16 miles in an hour already on standard non-geared Cokers!