Karapoti '08. An invitation to race the worlds toughest MUni race

[GizmoDuck]

Hi Everyone,

Just a reminder that the worlds oldest and toughest unicycle race is only 2 months away. It's 50km of hellish fun:
www.karapoti.co.nz

The Karapoti Classic has had a Unicycle Category since 2003, and we've had unicyclists taking part every year since then. It's 50km of gut busting climbs, white knuckle descents, wheel eating mud, gnarly rock gardens, river crossings and more. Come see how we do it in New Zealand!

If you're coming from overseas I'll pay your registration fee

Ken Looi

[saskatchewanian]

The promo vid almost made me to bet back on a bike

That looks like it would be a grueling fun time, what do most people (unicyclists) ride 29ers? This could be a place where the new geared MUni hub could really shine.

edit: unfortunately even if I could afford to go to NZ I have a class trip at that time that I really can't miss.

[Unibugg]

Wow....

I don't have enough years to live to ever get that good.
Not even in a dream.

Unreal.

[Borgschulze]

That promo video didn't look very competitive...?

One spot I noticed a guy slowly rolling with his brakes nearly locked going down some medium sized rocks... I think he needs to invest in some bigger tires.

[GizmoDuck]

Saskatchewanian, yep, it's probably a 29'er or 26'er course. It probably will be faster on a 29'er GUni especially the first and last sections which is pretty flat.

Borgschulze, the race is in the top 10 rated by Velonews. We've had many of the top 10 MTBkers in the world, a couple of world champions, and an Olympic Silver medalist who've raced it. They've all said it's one of the toughest courses in they've raced.

I forgot to add, $1000 to the first rider that breaks 4hrs on a unicycle.

Cheers,

Ken

[Borgschulze]

Originally Posted by GizmoDuck

Borgschulze, the race is in the top 10 rated by Velonews. We've had many of the top 10 MTBkers in the world, a couple of world champions, and an Olympic Silver medalist who've raced it. They've all said it's one of the toughest courses in they've raced.

Oh yeah, I forgot how cameras make stuff look easier than it actually is, especially slopes.

[redwelly]

Gutted, it's in the wrong hemisphere (whichever way you split it!). Looks like fun.

It's nice that they give you a proper catagory, but maybe you should let them know that uni-cycle is one word.

Sam

[joemarshall]

I rode it geared 29er last year. The gears were worth it for a couple of sections at the start and end, but extra weight for the (really quite) big climbs in the middle. I reckon I'd have been faster on a non-geared 29 or 26. I think potentially a geared 24 could be the right thing, as you'd be able to ride a lot more of the climbs and the rocky sections, but still be able to spin out on the easier sections.

I think it's the third toughest race I've done. Strathpuffer was harder in every way, more technical course, longer distance and more climbing, and solo Mountain Mayhem was a bit hard too. It is quite hard though, I was knacked at the end, and I was super slow. The bits with the rocks are really quite technical whatever it looks like in the video, steep, damp, and the drops are surprisingly big, some people were hammering it over them unbelievably fast, but a lot of riders were walking sections of the rock garden.

Joe

[GizmoDuck]

Originally Posted by joemarshall

I rode it geared 29er last year. The gears were worth it for a couple of sections at the start and end, but extra weight for the (really quite) big climbs in the middle. I reckon I'd have been faster on a non-geared 29 or 26. I think potentially a geared 24 could be the right thing, as you'd be able to ride a lot more of the climbs and the rocky sections, but still be able to spin out on the easier sections.

I think it's the third toughest race I've done. Strathpuffer was harder in every way, more technical course, longer distance and more climbing, and solo Mountain Mayhem was a bit hard too. It is quite hard though, I was knacked at the end, and I was super slow. The bits with the rocks are really quite technical whatever it looks like in the video, steep, damp, and the drops are surprisingly big, some people were hammering it over them unbelievably fast, but a lot of riders were walking sections of the rock garden.

Joe

I think I'd be slightly faster on a geared 29'er, but I like my fixie just as much. Hopefully my Ti Uni will be ready in time for this years event.

Regards it being the toughest race...I found the 24hr events harder, but it's the hardest "unicycle race" I'm aware of. As in it is the only race with a specific category for unicycles, not just mountainbike races where unicyclists enter. The only other one that's as hard is probably the Hidden Vale Epic in Brisbane. It's 106km but the course is not difficult. But the weather is really hot which makes it quite tough.

Just to encourage overseas riders to attend, it's $2000 for going under 4hrs on a unicycle and $1000 for beating the unicycle course record 4hrs11min.

Ken