Andy Moulsters' BHF Unicycle Challenge Blog

Video:

Short clip if mine and Paul's training in Sheffield! We met up with a running friend of mine! This is about half way through our 20 mile ride!

See more about the coast to coast unicycle challenge at
Http://andythegeek.com/

You can also sponsor me & the British heart foundation at
Http://www.justgiving.com/andymoulster

So, again it has been a while since my last post. Right now I am feeling a bit run down so thought I would get my blog up to date. I put that down mainly to cycling to and from Huddersfield on Saturday in the pouring rain! Took about 4 hour and wasn’t a good ride. The way there was great, made really good time and was feeling strong despite being drenched!

The way back was totally different. Left feeling food, but by the time we got to the top of the first hill I started to cramp up. My legs were killing and my stomach was terrible! Had to stop a few times on the way as I thought I was going to be sick. Managed to struggle through it and got back in a decent time anyway! Needless to say it caught up with me last (Monday) night and I was achy all over and now feel so lacking of energy!

On the good side though things are in general looking up. I tend to look back at my training and think I really should have done a bit more here or there. But then at the end of the week, have clocked up over 110 miles with at least half being on the unicycle! Even got 3 punctures in as many weeks and still managed to complete decent distances! If I keep this up I think I will be ready in about a months time!

This past weekend I set myself the challenge of doing 5 days in a row. This was really to test how well I was doing and where I was in terms of stamina over multiple days.
Thursday – 1 hour of football, then 8 miles of riding
Friday – 15 miles Unicycle ride
Saturday – 42 Miles on my bike (in the rain)
Sunday – 8 Miles of riding before getting a puncture
Monday – 10 Miles, of riding before my friend, Josh, got a puncture on his bike!
All in all I think I did pretty well. The final day I was feel great, thought I could do another 10 miles if I had to! Good job I didn’t as I am achey all over, especially my left arm and feeling very unwell!

Finally the week before last I was filmed for a piece by BBC look north! Was a great day. Was out in the beautiful sunshine for 7 hours and got loads of footage all over Sheffield. Looks as if it’ll be on the TV this Friday (4th June), if not the Monday after, but will pop it on youtube and add it here for all to see. Only problem was the length of time it took!! After 7 hours with no food and 6 ltrs of Water I had a bit of a headache! Was deffinatley worth it though!

Anyway, best get to bed and try to sleep this off!

Andy
x

Sorry its been a while since I last wrote, been a hectic few weeks – booked my wedding, been cycling a lot and got lots done.

Where to start – well over the past couple of weeks I have been racking up the miles. Gone to doing a minimum of about 13 miles per ride. The best part of it is that the ride I have started doing is the same as the ride I started training oin my bike and struggled with. Now I can complete it about two-three times a week on my unicycle no problem! I also decided to change to a road tyre and see how I get on.

First thing I noticed is that road tyre makes everything much harder. Getting on is harder, going up down hills is harder, going flat is harder! The only thing that got easier was going up hills. The main reason is that there is so little resistance and so little of the tyre is in contact with the road. Worst part is that when I go along a road I can feel the camber completely. I end up twisting my body to keep balanced and that really hurts!

I kept the road tyre on for a week and then got a puncture on the Friday. Thought enough is enough and swapped back to the off road tyre at the same time as replacing the inner tube. Not sure if its just a confidence thing or if I actually have improved my balance/skill but going back to this tyre has made things so much easier. Went out on the unicycle the next day and managed 22 miles. Felt so smooth and much easier and managed it in about 3 and half hours!! Managed 35 miles in the past 2 days on this tyre and feel pretty good for it!

But things are getting a lot harder its not as fun anymore and the initial buzz has started to die away! Just keep those donations coming, it really helps me carry on training as well as helping the bhf!
Also had a fun ride today, had a lovely argument with some random guy, was good cause he stopped and I was able to vent my frustration with the ignorance that I get on a daily basis! Also rode past a park car that was shaking and had a dodgey looking blanket inside too!

Anyway best be off, below is a pic of my unicycle travels!