Wizards 50th Birthday

Quote: Ayecarumba

Great! It should be a lot of fun. My only hope to win the bet is wind in your face.... both ways.

Reminds me of my mother's stories whenever I complained about anything. I'd have to hear how she had to walk to school in waste-deep snow for miles uphill -- both ways.

50 miles.
Wow, that's ambitious.
I'm older then the Wiz.
I bike ride a lot, I am a bike commuter but its only 6 miles ow.
I am in decent shape, I suspect the Wizard is in much better shape then me.
That all said, 50 miles is a lot with no break.
My typical long bike ride is 35 miles tops and I have lunch 1/2 way through.
After that type of ride, I am pretty tired, butt a bit sore from the seat.
I vote no just from personal experience.
Will probably lay some money but want to wait till closer to the date.

Quote: terapined

That all said, 50 miles is a lot with no break.

I'm allowed to take breaks. They cut into my time, but as long as I finish within eight hours I'm good. I figure I'll spend about 30 minutes all together on breaks.

I voted that he can do it. This is a cool challenge. I love challenges on this and the other site.

I didn't read all the comments, but are there bets involved?

Quote: Wizard

Reminds me of my mother's stories whenever I complained about anything. I'd have to hear how she had to walk to school in waste-deep snow for miles uphill -- both ways.

I did some quick figuring, and I'm feeling better about my side of the bet:
52 miles = 274,560 feet = 3,294,720 inches
The unicycle has a 29" rim, and a tire approximately 2" high, so the rolling circumference is approximately 103.67 inches
It will require 31,781 turns of the wheel to cover the distance, and since the unicycle doesn't coast, you will need to pump your legs for every turn.
You will need to do this more than 66 times a minute for 8 straight hours to succeed.
Even doing this on a stationary bike would be extremely difficult. Given various terrain, traffic, weather conditions, the course being detoured through the Hawaiian Gardens Casino, and the possibility of someone installing a 10 foot ramp requiring you to jump over a tank full of sharks in order to cross the finish line... this is definitely a worthy challenge.

Quote: Wizard

I'm allowed to take breaks. They cut into my time, but as long as I finish within eight hours I'm good. I figure I'll spend about 30 minutes all together on breaks.

Hmm, 8 hours. Might be doable,
I'm thinking unicycle has got to be more tiring then riding a bike.
I can put some weight on my arms leaning on the handle bars.
Unicycle, its the butt taking all the weight.
Wiz, how has your behind felt after your longest ride ever, any soreness?
Now on the fence, 8 hours with rests, I dont know, leaning toward no because I ride and I believe unicycle takes more effort.
Does a unicle take more effort then a bike and does your butt get more sore?

Quote: Ayecarumba

You will need to do this more than 66 times a minute for 8 straight hours to succeed.
Even doing this on a stationary bike would be extremely difficult.

I am not sure that a stationary bike is a valid comparison. Stationary Bikes have resistance settings. A frequency of 1 cycle per second is very easy on a stationary bike if you turn the resistance way down.

It's true that you don't have gears with a unicycle, but even road bicyclists with minimal experience can go up to 15-18 mph for long periods.

I noticed this entry in Wikipedia for Unicycle Speeds are 10 mph on average to 17 mph at top speed with 29" wheel size. The Wizard is talking about averaging 7 mph.

Doing any kind of exercise for 8 hours is difficult. Novice marathon runners often make that mistake thinking that they can always do a marathon at jogging speed (it will just take over 5 hours). But while many people can run at 5 mph without breathing heavily, it is still very hard after 3 hours.

Quote: terapined

Does a unicle take more effort then a bike and does your butt get more sore?

Absolutely. You have no gears and you have no ability to coast. Your legs must make one revolution for every time the wheel goes around.

Just in case the Wizard decides to take it to the next level. Here are the unicycle world records.

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/Search.aspx?q=unicycle

According to the World Unicyle Federation website, in 2011, the world record for distance in 24 hours was 282 miles. This was accomplished on a 36 inch diameter wheel. In 8 hours, this person covered an average of 94 miles. Not being able to coast to recover, nor take full advantage of gravity on the downhill portions, like a bicyclist can, is a serious disadvantage. It will be a real workout.

I think the Wizard could establish a world record in a new, "Double Marathon" category. It would be very cool if the event could be set up and sanctioned for world record consideration.