Monthly Archives: May 2010

Had a great unicycle ride today! I took my usual route to Freedom Park and did a few laps around the water. I got a lot of the usual comments and one man sitting on a bench even took my picture. After unicycling by the soccer fields and baseball fields, I found myself at the East Blvd. entrance to the park. I realized I was just a couple minutes away from the famous “Booty Loop” (where the “24 Hours of Booty” charity event is run), so I thought I’d give it a try.

I couldn’t believe it… I was actually able to ride my first lap around the 3 mile Booty Loop without stopping. I decided to try for a second lap and completed it with only one UPD (UnPlanned Dismount). It was great to be out on the course with so many cyclists. (They were all passing me of course.) I received a lot of positive comments from many of the people on the loop and a few puzzled looks as well. One cyclist actually pulled ahead of me, stopped at an intersection and took my picture as I rode by. She said she had never seen a unicyclist on the Booty Loop before.

This was my first ride with a Speedometer/Odometer, so I was able to track my distance more accurately.

Total Miles: 11
Avg. Speed: 7.2 mph
Ride Time: 1:31

Since I’ve been spending so much of my time unicycling lately, I decided it’s about time to add a “unicycling” category to my blog.

Just to catch up: I’ve been unicycling since July, 2008 on a 24″ Torker CX unicycle. I’ve just recently upgraded my ride to a 36″ Nightrider Pro unicycle. I’ve been on about 5 rides with the Nightrider and it’s unbelievable.

The Nightrider tire rides so smooth and the extra speed is amazing. I love being able to feel the wind in my face as I ride!

It took me about 10-15 minutes of getting the feel for it and getting my confidence up. I learned quickly that I had to lean forward more than with the 24″. Pretty soon I was zipping around the neighborhood with no problem.

I went with the Qu-ax 145mm ISIS crank arms which are a little shorter than the standard 152mm that I’m used to. This together with the size and weight of the 36″ wheel makes it a little more challenging to accelerate or to slow down on a sleep hill, etc. Hopefully a little more leg strength will compensate for this.

Freemounting a unicycle is always a challenge for me. After watching a few videos online, I’ve settled into a rolling mount technique that works for me. I can now land a freemount within about 1 to 3 tries pretty consistently.

The standard gel saddle is a ten-fold improvement over my Toker CX seat. I feel like my weight is more evenly spread over it. I’ll see how it does for longer rides and decide if I want to upgrade it later to a KH fusion or something.

Overall, I love my new Nightrider Pro and I can’t wait to put many, many miles on it!

Getting the feel for my new Nightrider Pro Unicycle

One of my first rides on my new Nightrider Pro Unicycle