RTL Former Bike Racers?

[pdc]

I was curious as to how many of the RTL riders were former 2 wheel racers.

[GizmoDuck]

Originally Posted by pdc

I was curious as to how many of the RTL riders were former 2 wheel racers.

Raises hand

I sucked at it though. Did MTB Nationals in College (ie highschool), and a bit of road racing more recently.

[joemarshall]

I have raced bikes a few times. The results I can remember, I came 6th from last in the next to bottom category, and 4th from last in the bottom category (in a race with 5 category groupings). Bike racers are way way too fit. There is a lot of skill involved too, which is only obvious once you do it.

Joe

[corbin]

This was my first cycle race of any kind. Well, at muni-weekend last year we did a short muni race, but that almost didn't count

corbin

[vanpaun]

Originally Posted by GizmoDuck

Raises hand

I sucked at it though. Did MTB Nationals in College (ie highschool), and a bit of road racing more recently.

I can't imagine you A. Sucking at it B. Biking? What a Betrayal

[phlegm]

I raced XC mountain bikes a couple seasons, but I was never any good. I gave it up after breaking my clavicle, and I owe unicycling for getting me back into the best shape of my life.

[chuckaeronut]

*also raises hand*

I got my start riding bikes, and that's pretty much where I got all my training and exercise until I got my geared 36 up and running. Now I can use just as much power pushing my uni as I use to push my bike, so I can get a good workout from both... but I've done maybe 6 or 7 bike races in the past two years. I'm really a n00b bike racer when it comes to it... I think I fit in with the stronger end of the Cat 4 group, but I haven't raced enough to upgrade from cat 5.

I think the geared hubs (i.e. bigger gear ratios, longer cranks, and more power) really shift the advantage of road unicycling to those who spend a lot of time on bikes, because the power output and pedaling motions are now so much more like those on a bike shifted into a good gear. I think that even longer cranks and even bigger gears would be desirable. (Like 1.75-1 or 2-1 and 175mm cranks. On my road bike I usually cruise in a 70-80-inch gear with 175mm cranks. With gearing like that, a three-speed would be a necessity. It'll probably be some years, if ever. It's feasible, but would result in a really wide hub that would be quite a lot more expensive.)

[GizmoDuck]

Originally Posted by chuckaeronut

I think the geared hubs (i.e. bigger gear ratios, longer cranks, and more power) really shift the advantage of road unicycling to those who spend a lot of time on bikes, because the power output and pedaling motions are now so much more like those on a bike shifted into a good gear.

I agree. I know lot's of very fast spinners who absolutely suck at biking (hence my earlier comment), because they're no good at pushing big gears. I think the 36" Schlumpf definitely make a unicycle more bike-like.

Previously, unicycling is more about how fast you can spin, rather than power. If you looked at the earlier unicon races, some of the fastest times are by 12yr old kids on 24" Uni's.

I raced in the Expert category as an U23 rider, one down from Pro-Elite.

[rob.northcott]

Originally Posted by GizmoDuck

I sucked at it though

BUT...

Originally Posted by GizmoDuck

I raced in the Expert category as an U23 rider, one down from Pro-Elite.

If that's what you call "sucked" then the rest of us may as well give up.

I used to do a fair amount of club time-trialling in my late teens to early 20s. I was respectable at it, but not fantastic. All my competitive riding now is XC unicycling (I've never raced off-road on a bike). But I didn't do RTL so I shouldn't really be posting).

Rob

[GizmoDuck]

Originally Posted by rob.northcott

BUT...


If that's what you call "sucked" then the rest of us may as well give up.

I used to do a fair amount of club time-trialling in my late teens to early 20s. I was respectable at it, but not fantastic. All my competitive riding now is XC unicycling (I've never raced off-road on a bike). But I didn't do RTL so I shouldn't really be posting).

Rob

Well, I was one of the slower riders. People like Kashi Leuchs would lap me out. Thankfully he went on to kick butt in Pro-Elite