Amazing Unicycle Race in Canada! June 2008

[ntappin]

Has there been any efforts in contacting officials in Japan, Korea and China? I know they all have large interest in unicycling and I even remember hearing about the Korean's having a decent sized long distance unicycle interest.

Yet from the sounds of it, none of them have shown interest in it.

If this is to truly be an international event it would be sad to just see english speaking countries represented.

[nathan]

We're actively working on contacts in Japan, Korea and China. Don't worry, the organizer wants it to be truly international.

---Nathan

[Dumpweed]

well i wont be there as much as i want to i cant aford to travil that far or upgrade from a 20" lol

[Murde Mental]

I'm there.


Remind me in about a year.






word... I've got to bust out the ol' unibike soon...

[muni-sailor]

I´ll be there.

I´ve only been unicycling for five days, but I´ll be there.

Probably wont have enough time to train to make me worthy to compete, but I´ll be there anyway, just for the atmosphere.

A coker will be too unwieldly to take with me everywhere, the way I´m living now. Time for KH to release the geared 29", so I can start training!

It sounds like an utterly amazing event!

[darchibald]

Hey Nathan or Andy,
You guys seem to be close to Edward so maybe you could pass on this suggestion. I'm from Nova Scotia. Instead of ending in Sydney in the northeast, if you go northwest, you can go end to end, plus you pass the Bras D'or Lakes and ride through the Cape Breton Highlands. People travel from all around the world just to look at the Highlands, and drive the Cabot Trail, and we could be uni'ing through em. Look up some photoes on google. The roads are super windy with steep uphills and steeper downhills. It would probably make for the perfect gruelling end to the race. I don't know how far these plans are along but maybe look in to that.

I've been in Africa for the past few months so have been out of touch with the community but just got this in an email and think it is an awesome idea.
I'm also a street/trials rider so am wondering if there are any kind of resources out there outlining how someone should get in shape for long distance riding. If I can't ride I would definitely like to be involved.

Any east coast riders interested and looking for a team should contact me, daarchibald_4 (@) hotmail.com

This looks awesome.

David

[nathan]

Thanks for the suggestion David. I'll pass it on to Edward.

---Nathan

[nathan]

Originally Posted by darchibald

...
I'm also a street/trials rider so am wondering if there are any kind of resources out there outlining how someone should get in shape for long distance riding. If I can't ride I would definitely like to be involved.
David

David, before the race we'll have a set of training guide up on the web. For now, I suggest you take a look at our recipe for the Alps Tour in 2005.

http://aut.unitours.org/Training.htm

And there is one way you can be VERY involved without riding. That is to be support crew for a team. Each teams needs a very solid person to drive their car and generally deal with problems and whatever comes up.

A 5 day race is very different than a 19 day tour, but basically you have to be in shape to ride hard, day after day. Some kind of graduated planned schedule like we have there is probably a good idea.

Personally I didn't quite follow that schedule exactly. While training for AUT I figured out that for me, all I really have to do is train for massive climbs. Distance takes care of itself. And that's the strategy I've used since, and am using this year for MUT. However, I will adjust next year and add some kind of speed training. I think I'll end up doing my daily commutes at absolutely top speed, then do normal weekend training rides (typically 40-70km, 1000-1500m climbing). Of course we are planning some actual "Race Training" where we get all 3 of us plus our support person and pick a 160km course and do it just as if it were the race.

Hope that helps.

---Nathan

[steveyo]

Originally Posted by darchibald

Instead of ending in Sydney in the northeast, if you go northwest, you can go end to end, plus you pass the Bras D'or Lakes and ride through the Cape Breton Highlands. People travel from all around the world just to look at the Highlands, and drive the Cabot Trail, and we could be uni'ing through em.

Hey, Nathan, I second this, strongly! My wife and I toured the Cape Breton area and found it simply breathtaking.

[darchibald]

Thanks Nathan. I will definitely be checking out that guide. This is something I definitely want to do. Most uni events go unattended by me because of distance but with this one, that major obstacle is not there. The race will probably pass through my town and may even have a pit stop there.

As just proven by steveyo (and I think Brian MacKenzie was there this summer also), people travel from all over the world to drive the Cabot Trail and go through the mountains. Its a popular tourist and honeymoon location without having the over commercialism of a major, "major" destination. Plus as a place to finish off and have some relaxationn time there are beaches, golf, hiking, mountain biking/muni, camping, etc. My family have camped and skiied and vacationed there since I can remember.

I was actually surprised when I heard of a big cycling tour going through NS that wasn't going there. If I was to pick NS roads to ride on they'd be the first. They are beautiful, challenging, and interesting roads.

Anyway, I've probably said enough. Here are some pics, its not hard to see why I think the route should include that part of the province.

http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en...=Search+Images

http://images.google.ca/images?svnum...=en&q=Ingonish

http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en...=Search+Images

I've already sent a similarily minded email to Andy but I figure if you could put in a pull too it couldn't hurt.

Thanks again,
David

EDIT: The email I wrote above is wrong, it should only have one "a". darchibald_4 (@) hotmail.com

[steveyo]

Originally Posted by darchibald

As just proven by steveyo (and I think Brian MacKenzie was there this summer also), people travel from all over the world to drive the Cabot Trail and go through the mountains. Its a popular tourist and honeymoon location without having the over commercialism of a major, "major" destination. Plus as a place to finish off and have some relaxationn time there are beaches, golf, hiking, mountain biking/muni, camping, etc. My family have camped and skiied and vacationed there since I can remember.....Here are some pics, its not hard to see why I think the route should include that part of the province.

Looking through those pics makes me remember it so strongly I can almost smell it. It was a really fantastic spot.

We also hopped on the ferry up to Newfoundland and spent some time hiking and canoeing the back country up there, another spectacular and unspoiled place, but that's another story.

[skianduniaddict]

im probably going