Hour Record Photos and Videos

Here are a few photos and videos of the Unicycle Hour Record Attempt.

Andrew Swinns Gallery

My Photos:

[View with PicLens]

12►

And some Video Clips:

Current Mood:

Going the Hour…Unicycle World Record

Ok, I’ve recovered sufficiently to write about the Hour Record.  It’s taken me a whole week to get around to it, and I’ve finally got my videos and photos online

The record went really well, and I’m honoured to put my name to something so special. The Unicycle Hour Record has become the equivalent of the Bicycle Hour Record, it’s the benchmark for speed and distance. Everybody wants it, and its’ changed hands 5 times in the last four years. I wanted it one more time before the power-animals start going for it. I consider myself a climber, not a time trialist. As unicycle gears get bigger, the record will favour bigger riders.

I held the Unicycle Hour Record at 25.6km on an ungeared Unicycle back in 2005, but with the advent of Schlumpf geared hubs, unicycle speeds have increased by a factor of 15-20%. I like to think of the geared and ungeared records as separate…but I’m one of the few who do. You lose the essence of simplicity on a geared unicycle, which was what I liked about unicycling. Patrick Schmids’ 2006 ungeared Unicycle Hour Record of 27.18km stands as one of the most amazing feats I’ve seen on one wheel. Anyhow, a few people have their eye on the Unicycle Hour Record, and if you can’t beat the geared unicyclists, you might as well join them!

I built up a 36″ Schlumpf with a 1:1.5 gear ratio late last year, but it took a while to get the thing going after various teething problems (stuck shifter buttons, dead unicycle frames, tyre implosions and a lack of training time mainly). I was on the lookout for a track to set the record and found it in Victoria Park Oval, in the town of Dubbo, NSW. It happened to be where I’m working at the moment, so was the easiest place to do it! Unicycles don’t handle banked velodromes well, and this was a relatively flat cycle track, with a circumference of 406.55m.

After a few practice sessions, I was consistently lapping 52-53s laps, which was fast enough to get the record, but only just. It was not until the week leading up to the record attempt that I found myself hitting that ‘sweet spot’ and getting a consistent spin out of the unicycle. I started lapping 48-49 secs, which would mean I would be hitting the 30km mark. In fact, I hit 30.003km twice in my practice rides, which would have been the unofficial world record!

The day turned out fine, but a little windy. Here are the weather stats for Hour Record Attempt:
Time: 4.30-5.00pm; Weather: Fine; Wind direction: SSE; Temp: 11.8-16.5C; Wind Speed: 9-20km/hr; Pressure: 1025.6-1026.1HPa; Humidity: 35-51%
In short, it was sunny, a little cool, and fairly breezy. Wind is never an advantage. Even though it’s a circuit, the tailwind never quite cancels the headwind…so it did slow things ever so slightly.

I did a few warm up laps, with Mick, Ray and another Mick setting up the lap board, timing system and paperwork. I had to give a quick interview to a TVNZ reporter, before a nut and bolt check. Lucky I did, as one of my shifter buttons had worked itself loose, and that would have been disastrous for the record attempt. If I had hit the button accidentally at 30km/hr, it’s a guaranteed crash. For the hour record, if you crash, it’s gone. You don’t have time to get back on, accelerate to speed, and get your rhythm back!

Once I had the shifter button tight, Mick from the Dubbo Cycle Club helped me onto the unicycle, and I was off! I kept my speed up for the first few laps, but felt stiff and slow. I needn’t have worried however, as I completed the first 10 laps (I kept score by 10 lap times) in 8min00s, which was well under what I needed. I relaxed a bit and got my rhythm for the next set of 10, and lapped 16min06s, on track for a 30km Hour Record. Ray Wheeler from the local bike shop was giving time-checks every 10 laps, which gave me something to focus on.

The next few sets of 10 were a bit of a blur, as I tried to keep my rhythm. I almost got too relaxed at one stage, finding myself falling asleep (it’s boring going around in circles). I had to give myself a mental kick to make sure I my lap times didn’t start creeping down. The local cycle club and my workmates at Dubbo Base Hospital were out in force, cheering me on. I managed to flick off a couple of dings to acknowledge from my lucky bell (mounted on the handlebar).

My biggest worry was to lose concentration and fall off in front of the crowd, but apart from minor balance adjustments, I was relatively safe once I relaxed. Most crashes happen when your body is stiff, as you don’t have the ability to soak up bumps. I had one hand on the extended KH T-bar, and the other on the KH seat-handle. The handlebar is there to lower your body position, but is not great for accelerating with. I had the other hand on the seat handle, as every turn required effort to maintain speed.

As the sun set I saw my goal creep closer. 30 laps, 40 laps, 50 laps. Once I hit 60 laps I knew the record was mine, but the question was whether I could get the extra few laps to 30km. I went through the 68th lap with cheers from the crowd…it was the new World Record!

From there it was a push to the finish. I gave it everything for final few minutes, and rolled across the 74th lap at 1:00:11. The hour record is calculated using a formula based on the time of the last lap before 60min, and the time of the first lap after 60min. I knew it was going to be close…but I didn’t realise just how close. The final calculation came in at 29.993km, which was less than 1sec short of the 30km mark! I was averaging approx 8.5m/sec, so I must have blinked, snorted, blown my nose, or something. Still, it felt great to get the Unicycle Hour Record, and to break it by 2.4km!

I went home, showered, went to the pub for a Guinness, but they didn’t have any. Big thanks to all the people who supported me and helped with the record attempt. Names listed in my last post

Here are a few articles in the local Newspaper/Radio:

Daily Liberal

ABC News

And from WIN News:

Current Mood: