Wizards 50th Birthday

Quote: beernuts

I don't get the 4th option or why 3 people voted for it huh?

Ayecarumba provided the link.
Here's the explanation.
Nareed posted a poll on gay marriage.
If you were against gay marriage, Nareed only gave you one choice, bigot.
Many on the board found that hilarious.
Its been a joke choice on many polls since.
If I don't feel strongly about a poll one way or another, I generally vote bigot :-)

Quote: Ayecarumba

Quote: Face

If you're in shape, your heart beats slower...

So is BPM an accurate measure of exercise, since it can vary so much between folks?

I'm with Cess. I think that BPM is a lot like every other "one size fits all" thing - it's neither accurate, nor does it fit all.

Look at body mass indexes. I just pulled up a bunch. You've seen what I look like, I even have a shirtless pic in the BVI thread. Those BMI charts put me anywhere from solidly overweight, to teetering on obese. Obese! Not a one puts me anywhere near "normal", every one says I'm fat.

I think BPM is a lot like that. Give you my resting rate of high 40s and you might not like it. Some here if given a high 40 might pass out. The lowest I ever recorded was 38. Some here might die from that. Everyone is different.

After our unique differences, I'm not so sure how to judge. If you were to start run training, your max bpm is going to be higher now than after a year of your training. Does that mean you're "not exercising as much" after that year? You're certainly not working as hard, and you won't receive as many gains, but are you actually exercising less? I think that's more of a perspective thing. If you're into serious training, looking for gains in body or performance, then yeah, one might say it's "not as much". But of you're just looking to "be active", to "get exercise", then I wouldn't worry about it at all.

To update you guys, I took my 36" wheel unicycle out of garage of my in laws and rode it the last few days. I still need help to mount the thing and my turning radius is huge but am comfortable going straight on relatively flat surfaces.

It is a horse of a different color compared to my 29" unicycle. Not only does it go much faster but the ride is smooth with much less pitch. The strength required is like that of riding a smaller unicycle uphill. It simply has more resistance.

Being able to do a self mount is my next challenge. I've been leaning on cars so far to get going but am trying to depend less on that each day.

There is a good chance that I'm going to switch to this unicycle for the 50-mile challenge.

Isn't it better with handlebars?

Quote: Evenbob

Isn't it better with handlebars?

That picture brings up lots of questions.

I've never tried a unicycle with handlebars so don't know if it is better. However, the serious long distance riders all seem to have them. I think they have them to reduce pitch and not have so much weight on their ass.

The guy in that picture seems to be riding a 24" wheel unicycle. You can tell by his feet the crank length is VERY short. This gives me hope that maybe I can achieve the 50-mile challenge on my 29" unicycle. I still haven't received the shorter cranks in the mail yet but they should arrive any day now.

Quote: Wizard

Being able to do a self mount is my next challenge.

I recommend saw-horses and a ladder or stool.

But then I'd never climb on a vehicle that doesn't stay upright when left empty. ;)

Quote: Wizard

I've never tried a unicycle with handlebars so don't know if it is better. However, the serious long distance riders all seem to have them..

Yes they do. It's a more comfortable
and controlled ride, or so I've read.
Gives you a lot more maneuverability.

This has a big wheel and look how
easy it is to mount.

Quote: Wizard

There is a good chance that I'm going to switch to this unicycle for the 50-mile challenge.

How long are the cranks on your 36" unicycle?

Quote: Pacomartin

I do remember Ace telling me he had to stay just under aerobic to do a 50 mile run through mountains. As a practical matter for him that meant running at 5.2 mph instead of 6.5-7 mph (normal marathon pace). Otherwise he would hit the "lactate threshold". According to this chart that would be about 120 bpm for a man your age.

I know it will be difficult to determine heart rate considering the hills you are doing. But if you can get a good app on your phone to measure heart rate, you can tell what you are doing on the flats.

You reported your incremental time in LV marathon in 2005 at age of 40. Did you gather any information on heart rate.
Total chip time in 5-kilometer increments
5K 36 minutes, 8 seconds
10K 33 minutes, 36 seconds
15K 34 minutes, 0 seconds
20K 32 minutes, 47 seconds
25K 36 minutes, 39 seconds
30K 41 minutes, 11 seconds (this is where I had to make a pit stop)
35K 35 minutes, 19 seconds
40K 39 minutes, 20 seconds

Quote: Evenbob

Yes they do. It's a more comfortable
and controlled ride, or so I've read.
Gives you a lot more maneuverability.

I don't dispute that. I may even buy a handlebar to try it out. However, I also feel adding stuff like that defeats the novelty of the unicycle. They are supposed to be simple. The next thing you know somebody will suggest adding another wheel.

Quote:

This has a big wheel and look how
easy it is to mount.

That guy makes it look easy but I assure you that self-mounting a 36" unicycle is not. Notice how he gets it moving before he gets on. That is one technique, but not the one I'm using. The reason he does it that way is it isn't just mounting the thing but getting it moving also. He already solved the problem of the momentum by moving it before getting on, but his timing has to be perfect stepping on the pedals.

Quote: Paco

How long are the cranks on your 36" unicycle?

Looks like 6", which equals 152mm. That is pretty long. This unicycle is about 20 years old and I'm not sure I could buy different cranks for it. They don't come off with an Allan wrench like modern unicycles.

Quote: Wizard

Looks like 6", which equals 152mm. That is pretty long. This unicycle is about 20 years old and I'm not sure I could buy different cranks for it. They don't come off with an Allan wrench like modern unicycles.

I'll use 150 mm because the choices on the Coker website are 125/150. Cokeris billed as the world's first 36" unicycle. If your uni is 20 years old, I would assume that is the brand.

If you are stuck with the longer crank, it looks like you might do better with the 29" wheel if you can master the 110 mm cranks.

mm	crank circumf “	Wheel + tire	Wheel circum “	wheel/crank
110	27.21	30	94.25	3.46
127	31.42	30	94.25	3.00
137	33.89	30	94.25	2.78
125	30.92	37	116.24	3.76
150	37.10	37	116.24	3.13
170	42.05	37	116.24	2.76

Your current configuration with a 29" wheel, 1" tire, and 137 mm cranks would be 2.78 units of forward of travel, for every 1 unit of linear motion with your crank.