Guinness 1hr World Record Certificate

it’s taken ages, but my Guinness World Record Certificate finally arrives.

Actually, the main reason it took so long is that they stuffed it up twice.

Spot the differences:

Current Mood:

New Unicycle Hour World Record!!! 29.993km

I’ll post a bit more later…but I have officially broken Jan Logemanns Unicycle Hour record (27.564km) with a 29.993km ride today! I missed the 30km mark by 7m (which roughly works out at less than 1 second!), but otherwise I was very pleased with how it went.

Will put photos and a writeup tomorrow.

The thing about setting world records is that the easy part is the riding. The tough part is getting it all together and I couldn’t have done it without a whole bunch of people helping out.

I’d like to say a BIG THANK YOU to:

-Mick and Kerry Coffee from the Dubbo Cycle Club…for all your support and timekeeping
-Mick Cooper for your support and timekeeping
-Ray Wheeler from Daryl Wheeler Cycles…for timekeeping and giving me all the timechecks…kept me focussed the whole way!
-Everyone from the Dubbo Cycle Club…for letting me use the track on your race night, and for all the encouragement you gave me
-Everyone from Dubbo Base Hospital who turned up to cheer me on
-Everyone else who turned up and told me to pedal faster
-Unicycle.com NZ and Australia (Peter and Mal…thanks for sending up the spare tubes when my 29′er tube blew up for the umpteenth time)
-The guy I gave my camera to…for taking photos of me going around in circles…sorry I didn’t get your name!
-Florian Schlumpf for the technology to make this possible (as in the Schlumpf geared hub)
-Graeme Astley of Imrie, Astley and Associates, for surveying the track down to the closest cm (oh, if only you’d rounded it to the closest meter )

My sponsors:
-Johnsonville Cycles…for supporting me since High School (that’s more than half my lifetime!)
-Triple 0 Medical Recruitment…for the cycling kit (jersey and shorts)…I told you I’d put it to good use
-Adventure Unicyclist

I’m sure there are others I should have on here…my mind is a bit of a blur at the moment! Let me know if I’ve missed anyone!

Current Mood:

Hour Record Stuff

For those of you interested in some of my buildup towards the Hour Record, here are a few things FYI (mainly for Unicyclists)

Course Length: 406.55m

Type of track: concrete cycle track, minimal banking. A few bumps, but fairly smooth

Start: Standing Start

Pacing: Unpaced (ie no drafting!)

Weather forecast: Sunny, 0-17 degrees celcius, wind 10km/hr SSE

Equipment:

Frame:  KH 36″ Aluminium

Hub: KH/Schlumpf Hub, 1:1 and 1:1.5 ratios

Rim: Nimbus Stealth

Tyre: Nimbus Nightrider

Tube: 29′er

Spokes: 14Ga SS

Cranks: Qu-ax 145mm straight aluminium

Pedals: Wellgo MG-1

Seatpost: Schlumpf 27.2mm aluminium

Seat: KH Street Gel seat, cut down foam

Handle: KH T-bar, in fully extended position

I’ve been practicing on this track on and off for a few months, but only started getting serious about it a month or so ago. Initially I was intending on using the V-frame type position (ie more bike like position), but owing to my general lack of organisation, I haven’t built up a V-frame yet.  However, for an hour record attempt, I think there is little advantage, because it’s mainly a position which allows comfortable riding for long distances.  Acceleration is actually slower on the V-frame set up (with bars further away from the seat), but I suspect it’s something that comes down to practice.

Practice Times

Here are a few recent practice times, and notes:

16/8/09: 30.003km. 74 Laps in 1:00:10.  I  can’t believe I did exactly the same time as on the 14/8!, but legs felt better and it was an easy spin.  It was much less windy though. Also spent the first 30min dodging a runner on the track

14/8/09: 30.003km. 74 Laps in 1:00:10.  Legs felt good, bit windy but warm. New Inner tube as last one blew up. Happy to break 30km for the first time!

13/8/09: 10 laps in 8:09, then the tyre blew up

12/8/09: 36 laps in 30:33. Cold day, went for 30min only.  The air felt thick and about 1-2s slower per lap than on a warm day

11/8/09: 70 Laps in 1:00:48. Very windy day, legs felt like crap.  New Inner tube as old one has slow leaky puncture and a broken valve

8/8/09: 29.33km. 73 Laps in 1:00:43.  Legs felt good, worked hard, but also windy. Broke the presta valve whilst pumping up tyre

Current Mood:

Guinness World Hour Record Attempt

I’ve decided to have another go at this record, because people have been bugging me about it for ages!  I held the unicycle hour record back in 2005, but it has been broken several times since.  It’s  a record adopted from bicycling that most long distance unicyclists use as a benchmark for speed/distance.

Jan Logemann from Germany holds the current IUF Hour Record at 27.564km, but I still hold the current Guinness World Record at 25.6km.  What’s the difference?  Not everyone who breaks the record submits it to Guinness, or does it to Guinness guidelines.  However, I’m not out to beat my own record, I’d like to push it further!

The track has been marked out at Victoria Park, Dubbo, NSW at 406.55m.  It’s an outdoor cycling track but with minimal banking unlike most velodromes.  That means I need just under 68 laps to break Jans’ record.

The local Dubbo cycle club has kindly agreed to help officiate the record attempt, so if you are in town, come on down and watch me go around in circles. Free pizza and refreshments provided.

Current Mood: