Re: 1000 miles: Britain's End to End

Wow! That's some challenge. A 45 mile a day average for over three
weeks. You must be rock'ard.:eek:

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Wow that sounds like quite a uni-tour and a cool adventure too! Was Rob
Ambrose's record set on a uni or a bike? 12 days sounds quick on a uni,
slow on a bike.

Using metal tyre levers, such as the big long ones Park Tool makes helps
when removing a 36" tyre. Also toe straps and wood clamps have been used
in mounting 36" tyres - John Childs can probably help here.

If you search for 'Tubeless Coker' and find GizmoDuck's original post
about using Stan's No Tubes you'll find out how to make your 36er
tubeless. A somewhat easier weight saving trick is to replace the
standard 36" inner tube with a 29" inner tube. The 29" inner will expand
to fit the 36" rim. There are directions for this 'conversion'
(http://tinyurl.com/cpdjd) on livewireunicycles.com.

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TonyMelton said:

*Wow that sounds like quite a uni-tour and a cool adventure too! Was
Rob Ambrose's record set on a uni or a bike? 12 days sounds quick on a
uni, slow on a bike. *

It was set on a unicycle! I also have a photo somewhere at home of two
record breaking unicyclist at the end of riding from lands end to John o
Groats. (sorry if my spelling is dodgy).

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Good luck Sam, you mad eejit. 😉

Chris

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Good luck.

Tony, the bicycle record is just under two days, 45 hoursish IIRC. But
they go the short way which is 850 miles.

EDIT: Quick google and it look like the record is nearer 40 hours now
:eek:

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Nice one Sam i was wondering when/if you were going to post here after
reading it on your blog some time ago. Wasn't your orginal plan to use
your 29er ? I'd love to join you on a uni for a few hours but i don't
think that my 24 will keep up with that beast of a 36 🙂

Good luck and all the best, i'll keep an eye on the local tv.

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Cool! Good luck mate - I did it a few years ago on a bike (a very
scenic 1300 miles, 14 days) and had an excellent time. Actually,
thinking about it, it was 17 years ago now - eek, I'm older than I
thought :eek: It gets easier as you go on - partly because your legs
get used to it and partly because all the steepest (although not
highest) hills are in the first couple of days through Cornwall and
Devon. Don't be tempted, like I was, to ride along the coast road to
Bude through Widemouth Bay (1:3 hills down and up, rather slow progress
that morning!)

I like the idea of doing a long tour on a unicycle, but I really don't
like riding it on the road more than I have to - it's dangerous enough
on a bike 🙁

Rob

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rob.northcott said:

*I like the idea of doing a long tour on a unicycle, but I really
don't like riding it on the road more than I have to - it's dangerous
enough on a bike 🙁*

The CTC have an off-road route for the LEJOG, at a mere 1,176 miles and
120,000 feet of climbing...

Good luck Sam! you mentalist :p

Phil

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phil said:

*The CTC have an off-road route for the LEJOG, at a mere 1,176 miles
and 120,000 feet of climbing...*

Yes, I'm tempted to give that a go sometime. 5-week-old baby will
probably mean it won't be for a bit though! Need to stick to more local
stuff for a bit.

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phil said:

*The CTC have an off-road route for the LEJOG, at a mere 1,176 miles
and 120,000 feet of climbing...

Phil *

Hmmmm.... I feel a plan coming on ...

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that sounds cool i would try and joint you all the way but i only have a
20" and i would have to skip school and my german exchange partner would
have to very very very quickly have to learn to uni avd i would have to
get him one in the first place so no chance there maybe in a few years
time.

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Good one Sam. It's wicked that you're doing it as a proper unsupported
long ride.

Is this practice for a record attempt next year then, I'm sure you
mentioned something about the record a bit back. If there's an 850 mile
route, 10 days should be possible, espeically for someone quite so
darned fast.

I've used both metal and decent plastic tyre levers to get the coker
tyre on without too many problems. I do the thing where you squidge the
opposite side of the tyre into the middle of the rim before you finish
putting the bead on, which seems to help. Clever people can put them on
with just their hands, but there's a real knack to it.

Joe

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Good luck Sam and enjoy yourself.

peter.bier said:

*It was set on a unicycle! I also have a photo somewhere at home of
two record breaking unicyclist at the end of riding from lands end to
John o Groats. (sorry if my spelling is dodgy). *

Would it be this photo? It's a scan from the 1990 Guinness Book of
Records. Michel was still riding that unicycle a couple of years ago
when I spoke to him.

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those seats look painful how did they ride that distance on
them?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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nickjb said:

Tony, the bicycle record is just under two days, 45 hoursish IIRC. But
they go the short way which is 850 miles.

EDIT: Quick google and it look like the record is nearer 40 hours now
:eek:

Last I heard, the unofficial record was 41:04:22, set by Andy Wilkinson
on a fully faired Windcheetah:
<URL:http://www.windcheetah.co.uk/record.htm>

The official record (i.e. using a UCI legal bike) was 44:04:20, set in
2001 by Gethin Butler (prior to that, Andy Wilkinson held both records).

I can't find anything about a record closer to 40 hours.

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Thanks for the varied encouragment and mutterings of doubt at sanity!

I had my finger on the 'reply' button when I realised that it was not
dark, but in an hour or two it would be... so I left and had a bit of a
ride. Trying out my new toe-clips, with good effect. I bought them
speculatively while I was waiting for the LBS to get my tyre back on,
with the (puncture patched) 36 tube inside it.

All these people who extol the virtues of 29er tubes... I'm unconvinced.
The state of my 29er tube on coming out after only a day without much
riding showed it resembled one of those posh party balloons which make
wibbly shapes. Badly stretched at ~10cm intervals, which I had felt
through the tyre, before it punctured. How it got a 'thorn type hole'
in the tread area of the tube, with a solid rubber Quax tyre, no debris
detected and barely any riding is beyond me.

So, I've got platform pedals, now with plastic toe things at the front.
The stubby ones, without straps, which proved so easy to get out of that
as I left my road, when I had to hop off to avoid a car turning in, it
was only when my feet were on the pavement that I rememebered that I was
trying out the toe things, and should be careful on the first
dismount!

Getting into them from a freemount is more of a trick, or rather,
getting into the left one is - the first, right one, is a doddle,
standing still. I did (somehow!) manage it, on the first attempt,
without any ignoble crashing at all... after freemounting to the
non-clippy side of the pedal, and then riding very slowly, to flick the
pedal over and shove my toe down on it. The non-clipped side presents
itself to you by default, so with no added effort my foot can find a
standard pedal surface.

Toe-clips are good. You don't have to be a mentalist to use them, and
they make circular pedaling feel quite good.

The record? This is 'Rob Ambrose's record'
(http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~mepgjdf/ftt/day13.html) page. It got a
few 'mentions' (http://tinyurl.com/azzyr) on this forum, though I guess
the forums weren't as big as they are now.

I have no tangible plans for breaking this record, but it is certainly
lurcking somewhere in my mind. I think it is well breakable, but to
really make it worthwhile, with a number of other good riders and the
proliferation of cokers these days, it would have to be set fast enough,
and hyped sufficiently, to scare anyone else from considering attempting
it for a long time. (especially as Des made murmurs of it being a good
idea) I reckon it could go down to about 6 days (150 miles/day), before
you get into the silly terratory of riding more than not riding, and
taking Go Gel introvenously. I'll see how this 'fun' one feels before
saying anything else!

Joe: I wouldn't like to shake the hand of someone who can get this tyre
on without levers. I don't know if the Coker brand one is any different
in bead to the Quax. I'm hoping that a thorough inspection of the tube
and inner surface of the tyre, and a good dose of green Slime, will
preclude any need of removing it again for a long time.

Phil: Who's the mentalist, for suggesting doing it off-road...? 🙂

Sam

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Good Luck Sam! I don't reckon you're mental, sorry 😉

Paul

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Good luck Sam!

Regarding the 29'er tubes- the weight saving is definitely noticeable-
especially if you are doing a lot of climbing/descending. But a more
reliable set-up is going tubeless-you save weight and decrease your risk
of puncture. On the AUT (900km)- there were three riders with 29'er
tubes, one punctured (not sure how- just lost air overnight) and was
replaced with a Coker tube. From what I've read about people trying
29er tubes- it's almost not worth the trouble. And certainly I would
not use it for a record attempt- without a backup Coker. I've used the
tubeless kit have not had any punctures or problems over the last
year.

Oh, if you are not using the Tommy Miller SS spokes- you should look
into them- combine that and a tubeless kit and you have about 500g
weight waving- quite significant when you are riding that sort of
distance.

The toe clips idea sounds pretty crazy, but if it works for you....

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best of luck Sam!
I won't mutter that you're mad, I'm happy to say it very clearly! I
won't say that I would like to join you, as that would imply something
about my own sanity too.
Mike

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