rec.sport.unicycling · Public discussion

Mt Diablo Challenge 2005

nathan · 2005-10-03T04:03:49+00:00

We had a great day today in Danville, California at the 24th annual 'Mount Diablo Challenge.' (http://www.mtdiablochallenge.com/) Last year I was the only unicyclist. But this time Scot Cooper, Mike Scalisi and my son Beau joined me. We cranked up the 10.8 mile course climbing 3300' or so, in perfect weather. Scot was gunning for a record time and did manage a personal best at 1:19. Beau and I finished a bit under 1:30 and Mike took a relaxed pace, just beating 2 hours. I think we all were on Cokers with 152mm cranks. The unicycle record was set a couple of years ago by Glenn Drummond at 1:13 and seems safe. Well, if Beau keeps getting stronger at the rate he is, maybe only for a year or two. Glenn was on hand again this year, riding with his son on a Trail-a-bike. Gary Kanuch, Mt Diablo unicycle pioneer (and 2nd place record holder) was also sharing a Trail-a-bike with his 5 1/2 year old son - he said it was the hardest ride he ever did in his life. Since he once took 3rd place overall in this race on a bike, that is pretty amazing. This was the biggest turnout ever, with about 1200 cyclists supposedly starting. I didn't get all our places, but Beau was 615 and I was 621. The fastest bike was just under 48 minutes. It was great fun as usual, starting behind most of the bicyclists and passing passing passing, all the way up. I squeezed past my last 2 victims 10 feet from the line. Unicyclists get a lot of respect at this event. At the awards ceremony, they had all of us get on stage and introduce ourselves. Here's a link to: 'GPS/Heart Rate/Elevation data.' (http://tinyurl.com/8z7ol) (with one little glitch - no my pulse did not go up to 186, but did make it just above my theoretical max of 173.) The dip at mile 5 was a one minute seat repair stop. Sorry, no photos this year. Here's an album from 2002 when we had 8 unicyclists including Scot on his giraffe: http://community.webshots.com/album/51853941qJbiGO Anyone interested in unicycling this race next year is welcome - always the first Sunday in October and you get a free ride from the airport & place to stay if you come in from far away. ---Nathan -- nathan ------------------------------------------------------------------------ nathan's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/251 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/43712

Started by nathan · 3 October 2005 · Last activity 5 October 2005 · 13 posts · 335 views

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Original section: rec.sport.unicycling
Published: 3 October 2005
Last activity: 5 October 2005
Original author: nathan
Posts: 13
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nathan
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3 October 2005, 04:03 UTC #1

We had a great day today in Danville, California at the 24th annual
'Mount Diablo Challenge.' (http://www.mtdiablochallenge.com/) Last year
I was the only unicyclist. But this time Scot Cooper, Mike Scalisi and
my son Beau joined me. We cranked up the 10.8 mile course climbing
3300' or so, in perfect weather. Scot was gunning for a record time and
did manage a personal best at 1:19. Beau and I finished a bit under
1:30 and Mike took a relaxed pace, just beating 2 hours. I think we all
were on Cokers with 152mm cranks. The unicycle record was set a couple
of years ago by Glenn Drummond at 1:13 and seems safe. Well, if Beau
keeps getting stronger at the rate he is, maybe only for a year or two.
Glenn was on hand again this year, riding with his son on a
Trail-a-bike. Gary Kanuch, Mt Diablo unicycle pioneer (and 2nd place
record holder) was also sharing a Trail-a-bike with his 5 1/2 year old
son - he said it was the hardest ride he ever did in his life. Since he
once took 3rd place overall in this race on a bike, that is pretty
amazing.
This was the biggest turnout ever, with about 1200 cyclists supposedly
starting. I didn't get all our places, but Beau was 615 and I was 621.
The fastest bike was just under 48 minutes. It was great fun as usual,
starting behind most of the bicyclists and passing passing passing, all
the way up. I squeezed past my last 2 victims 10 feet from the line.
Unicyclists get a lot of respect at this event. At the awards ceremony,
they had all of us get on stage and introduce ourselves.
Here's a link to: 'GPS/Heart Rate/Elevation data.'
(http://tinyurl.com/8z7ol) (with one little glitch - no my pulse did
not go up to 186, but did make it just above my theoretical max of
173.) The dip at mile 5 was a one minute seat repair stop.
Sorry, no photos this year. Here's an album from 2002 when we had 8
unicyclists including Scot on his giraffe:
http://community.webshots.com/album/51853941qJbiGO
Anyone interested in unicycling this race next year is welcome - always
the first Sunday in October and you get a free ride from the airport &
place to stay if you come in from far away.
---Nathan
--
nathan
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steveyo
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3 October 2005, 12:40 UTC #2

Wow - congrats on a great race, from another lover of uphill cycle
races.
--
steveyo
steveyo
"I complained I need new shoes, until I met a man with no feet." -
unknown
"Do whatever steps you want if
you have cleared them with the pontiff"- Tom Lehrer
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nathan
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3 October 2005, 20:59 UTC #3

I don't think they had this in past years, but there was a course
photographer at the finish line. Here are a couple of them.
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mscalisi
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3 October 2005, 23:17 UTC #4

Here I am!
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+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
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S_Wallis
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4 October 2005, 01:38 UTC #5

Great job guys. Finishing ahead of that many bikes must have been
fun. That is cool that Scot got a personal best. I guess his knee is
doing okay.
And yes, I'm betting on Beau for the record before long!
Scott
--
S_Wallis
"I passed someone in a C1 canoe. I could have said, "Where's your other
paddle?" I didn't. " -Mikefule
"I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn
how to do it." Pablo Picasso
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nathan
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4 October 2005, 19:24 UTC #6

Here's Scot finishing in the awesome time of 1:19.
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tomblackwood
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4 October 2005, 20:27 UTC #7

nathan said:
Here's Scot finishing in the awesome time of 1:19.

Nice shot. Maybe it's the angle, but it looks more like he's on a 29-er
than a Coker.
--
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"By George! The man's a genius!"
Murde Mental
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aspenmike
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4 October 2005, 23:10 UTC #8

Nice ride all of you animals! Were not getting younger, but were getting
faster. Looks like the day was stellar, what a great ride on such a
nice day. What kind of times are you guys doing on the way down?
Congrats to all on a great race.🙂 🙂
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scot
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4 October 2005, 23:41 UTC #9

This is for AspenMike.
One of the bicyclists asked if I knew the guy from Colorado who rode a
similar wheel. Dude, your famous even here in California!!
Way to go.
--
scot
"There are two kinds of clowns in this world...those that CAN ride a
unicycle and those that CAN'T!" -Scot Cooper 1-11-05
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nathan
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4 October 2005, 23:47 UTC #10

tomblackwood said:
Nice shot. Maybe it's the angle, but it looks more like he's on a 29-er
than a Coker.
Actually that is a Coker. Scot borrowed Ken Adelman's light-weight
Coker (standard Coker frame, custom made light wheel with UDC hub) for
the race. It looks small because he's so big and strong.
aspenmike said:
What kind of times are you guys doing on the way down?
It's no problem to ride down the mountain, especially with a brake. It
takes under an hour since it's 11 miles of downhill. On the day of the
race, we always help out one of the sponsors, Diablo Motors, who supply
the pace car and other vehicles to transport volunteers. We usually
drive a couple of their cars down. It's kind of difficult getting all
the bicyclists down safely. They are released in batches of a hundred
or so and have to follow a car. This year a biker crashed on the way
down and we had to wait for an hour for the ambulance to come etc. Scot
drove a Jeep and Mike and I had BMWs (I stole the M5 from him but he
got a 740il instead).
---Nathan
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aspenmike
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5 October 2005, 01:45 UTC #11

nathan said:
Scot drove a Jeep and Mike and I had BMWs (I stole the M5 from him but
he got a 740il instead).
---Nathan
Once you got going that must have been sweeeeeet!
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nathan
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5 October 2005, 20:14 UTC #12

Scot found the professional photos from "Devil's Elbow", a sharp turn
about a mile from the end. Here's Beau and me.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
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nathan
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5 October 2005, 20:15 UTC #13

Here's one of me ahead of a bunch of bikes we've just passed.
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