Steven Brandist

My first really long distance ride

2005-06-03T10:07:00.000+01:00

It wasn't really that well planned, but its been something I'd been meaning to do at some point...

Ride the 9.5 miles from home to work. Yes, really.

The journey went something like this:
Grab breakfast, wear cycling top and shorts, get 2 x 500ML bottles of water, a banana, first aid kit, phone, wallet and shove it all in a cycling backpack... & get out the house before the kids wake up. Standing outside the house, its 6.20am - early moring Sun and fairly warm. Jump on 24" Nimbus unicycle and go!
Get to the end of the street and turn following my usual route that I normally ride on a Bicycle. Thoughts: I must be mad, this is a really slow way of travelling, I'll never make it. I'll catch the bus if I can't make it (my bail out plan).
The next mile is not good, adverse cambers on the pavements make for scrappy riding - I ride on road where I can. Still feels really slow. Then it all seems to get better - I'm in the flow of it at last. Rest at halfway point for 5 minutes: drink and eat banana.

Roadie-type cyclists (lycra, sports bike, no luggage) ignore me when I'm riding my bicycle, but they continue to ignore me even when I'm riding a Unicycle! Strange lot.

3 miles to go. Thoughts: Hey, I think I can actually make this! Adrenaline kicks in.
1 mile to go. Legs are getting quite tight now, have to stop for more water and rest bum and legs.

Arrive 8.00am. I made it... Wow! (collapse in a sweaty heap). The return trip will be... on the bus!

Conclusion:
- Hard work, get a bigger wheel, shorter cranks
- Route by Unicycle is 40 minutes longer than by Bicycle
- Unicycle tick list: ride to work - TICK

Evening Muni Ride - Wednesday 25 May 2005

2005-05-27T14:26:00.000+01:00

In the deep end all right! Theres some fairly severe terrain at Bramcote Hills. I did OK considering this was only my second MUni outing and I got some good advice from Gary and Joe.

For my next MUni ride I must get some 661 shin/knee guards. I can then confidentally fit my metal pedals without too much fear of half my leg being chipped out by a wayward pedal, and hopefully prevent getting bruises on my legs from the wide Nimbus frame.

I must admit I've feel completely knackered since, 2 hours of intense MUni, and a lung full of pollen on a warm day is hard work.

British Unicycle Convention 12 22-24 April 2005

2005-04-29T15:45:00.000+01:00

Heading North, sun shining, temperature rising. Must be time for BUC again.

I picked up my new Qu-ax 20" trials unicycle from the unicycle.com stand. Miark one of unicycle.com's employees is, well, how shall we say this, a strange character. I sold my old Pashley later to a poor Unicycless person.

I'm really happy with my new machine, its really light, the super fat Maxxis Creepy Crawler tyre helps iron out the bumps, it looks the busineess and has a silly name too (important that).

On the Sunday I had my first go at Muni. On the whole I thought I did very well, one of the sections was hard packed and quite bumpy which was very frustrating as free-mounting back on was difficult - I ended up walking most of this section.

The best part of the weekend for me was the silly games played in the main gym, stick-in-the-mud, gladiators and britsh bulldogs.

Best overheard comment of the weekend:Connie and companions trying to decide which room to stay in: 'Womens' or 'Mixed'. "Lets go for mixed... at least it will be interesting".

And all of a sudden it was all over, the parallel unicycle universe where the sun always shines crumbled away & we got transported back to the real world...

New links added

2005-04-20T12:37:00.000+01:00

I've added two news links, one to my Unicycling photos on Yahoo! and the other is my entry on Readersheds.co.uk.

Unicycle Hockey - the 2nd day after

2005-04-13T12:40:00.000+01:00

Last week I played on the 24", this week on the old Pashley 20" with the dodgy saddle.
This morning my knees really hurt! I don't think I played any differently than last week, but I haven't ridden the Pashley for a while. I think the saddle to mainly to blame - uncomfortable, slippery, wide and long. All the things the saddle on the Nimbus 24" isn't. I probably wasn't putting my weight on the saddle.

Pashley Unicycle - end of the road

2005-04-12T10:26:00.000+01:00

I fitted new cranks and pedals yesterday - the old pedals wouldn't come off the cranks due to damaged threads - I needed to fit plastic pedals to play Hockey on it. The saddle still needs replacing. I've just noticed that the wheel slows and stops very quickly when the wheel is span - this means new bearings.
The Pashley was quite old when I bought it - so its time to get a complete new unicycle.

Unicycle Hockey - the day after

2005-04-06T08:34:00.000+01:00

Despite all my fears I actually enjoyed it. OK, I wasn't that good but I did manage to actually hit the ball and keep my bum on the saddle for the most part. So not bad for a first attempt.

Playing on my Nimbus 24" probably didn't help. I'll swap to my pre-worn 20"Pashley, which will need new cranks (the pedals won't come off - I think the threads are damaged) so I can swap to plastic pedals (less damage to other players' shins) and an upgrade from the "worst saddle in the world, ever" won't go amiss either.

I've never ridden for an hour straight before, which might explain the slightly sore knees, ankles and 'saddle area'. Even playing outside in fairly cool conditions I got very hot, I had to keep moving to stop my glasses getting steamed up!

I don't think I took on enough replacement fluids last night, as I feel like I have a hangover feeling this morning... plus a sore throat, which might be the start of the cold I've caught from my Daughter.

Unicycle Hockey - the first time

2005-04-05T08:30:00.000+01:00

I'm off tonight to try Unicyle Hockey for the first time. I have to say I'm a little nervous. Will I be any good? like it? get hurt? meeting new people. Will nerves prevent a good performance?

Unicycling in Spain

2005-04-05T08:07:00.000+01:00

As part of my job I travel about a bit.

As part of my 'unicycled there' tick list I took the Unicycle across to Gibraltar (Geography bad? It's a strange small country on a peninsular of Southern Europe that the British grabbed 300 years ago and Spain wants back). Didn't really have the intention to go very far, but ended going across the runway (the main road into Gibraltar crosses the airport runway - see, told you it was a strange place), riding up, and back down the now pedestrianised main street (approx 2 miles from the border), and back to the border. Had to wait to re-cross the runway while a plane landed, which was quite uncomfortable for a few minutes while the the armed Policeman sitting in the top of the armoured Police Land Rover guarding the runway stared at me intensely. Finally got to the Spanish section of the border, I wheeled the Unicycle into the Customs building, the conversation (in Spanish) with the Customs Guard went something like this:
CG:Can you ride it?
Me:Yes
CG:Go on then
Me:In here?
CG:Yes
So I free mounted, rode down the building, two 90 degree turns back to the guard, another 90 degree right across the building and out of the door into Spain (I suprised myself at how good I rode). The Customs Guard shouted in broken english as I departed "Goodbye my friend".