Author: One Wheel Man

Day 5

Are you ready for this?  I left Pocatello, Idaho at 7:30am, still on my original frame, hoping it’ll last.  However, just before 11, it started grinding again and I just felt sick in Blackfoot, Idaho.  I thought my trip was over.

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Little did I know, my wife had called unicycle.com to talk with them about the situation and possibilities we had.  The customer service person forwarded her to Amy, a CEO.  She assured my wife that the frame is made of chrome and I can just bend it.  But better yet, I didn’t even need a new frame to fix my problem because it wasn’t the frame that’s the problem, it’s the wheel bearings that the frame sits on.  They are the ones that keep slipping out of place.  (Picture below of frame grinding with crank shaft followed by me working on it.)  She kindly emailed us directions of how to fix it.  Miracle!

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When my wife got to me, we grabbed lunch and went to a couple stores to buy the things we needed.  We found a local sports shop called Bill’s Sport West…but apparently, they only do skis these days.  Luckily the man was so kind to find a couple things in the shop that could help us along.  We worked on Uni right outside.  It was hot but worth it.  Simply put, we safely glued the wheel bearings to the hub.  (Picture of how it’s supposed to work and then another of me hoping it works.)  I hope it does the fix and permanently!

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I was back on the road by 1:50pm.  Only 25 miles to go.  I made it to Idaho Falls, Idaho!  I met my wife at the Idaho Falls LDS temple at 4:30pm.  In order to do that, I had to go through downtown…not the smartest.  They have no shoulder at all and they’re fairly busy streets.  But hey, I got to see the temple.  Today was a day with lots of hardships, but it was a miracle that I still made it 52 miles.hanks Kristie, Halls, Amy at unicycle.com and the worker at Bill’s Sport West!  Without you, we couldn’t have made it through this day!

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A bit thanks goes to Kristie, the Halls, Amy at unicycle.com and the worker at Bill’s Sport West!  Without you, we couldn’t have made it through this day!

Day 5 Stats:

Started at 7:30am in Pocatello, ID

3-hour lunch and maintenance break in Blackfoot, ID

Ended at 4:30pm in Idaho Falls, ID

5.25 hours of riding

52 miles

Random Fact:

The One Wheel Man added a horse’s head to his unicycle in high school while he was the mascot, a lancer.

Day 4

Alright.  Time to keep going!  I’ve learned in order to recover appropriately and quickly, you need some proper sleep.  We were staying a ways away from where I ended yesterday in Malad City, Idaho, that I got a little bit of a later start, but not too much.  7:50am and super cold at 55°F.

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I thought it’d warm up fast…but it was no more than 65°F the whole day.  And windy too.  Bugs kept hitting me (face, legs, jersey, etc) like roadkill.  Dragonflies, flies, beetles, butterflies, you name it.  But I have to admit that the ride, though hilly, was very pretty.  Great scenery.

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Sadly, Uni started giving out again and made it difficult to ride.  Luckily I made it to Pocatello, Idaho by 3:45pm after 52 miles.  We stayed nearby at a good friend’s house.  They were so awesome (just like all the others we’ve stayed with thus far) and gave great hospitality.  You rock Halls!

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We tried to put our new frame on…but soon came to realize it was the wrong size.  Dang it!  The frame was too wide to fit onto the wheel bearings, and also the seat post has a bigger diameter on the new frame.  Things weren’t looking so good.  We might have to overnight ship a new unicycle altogether.  But we’re going to keep going!

Day 4 Stats:

Started at 7:50am in Malad City, ID

Ended at 3:35pm in Pocatello, ID

6.25 hours of riding

52 miles

Random Fact:

The One Wheel Man started riding a 20-inch unicycle at the age of 15.  He wanted to be a clown since he’d been doing so well at pantomiming.

Day 3

Okay!  Day 3 of riding a unicycle long distance.  I can do this!  It was a cold morning at 7:40, but I soon warmed up.  The first 20 miles were really windy.  It makes it kind of hard to stay on and do hills…

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I made it to Idaho!  Now to just finish the stretch of the longitude of Idaho and I’ll be in Canada.  Just 10 more days of riding…

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I passed a lot of cows (Idaho, go figure).  But remember, cows smell like manure.  I was reminded of childhood memories of my dad rolling down the windows and driving slow by these kinds of fields.  He grew up farming and loved the smell.  I didn’t.  I tried to ride as fast as I could through those parts.

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I made it to Malad City, Idaho at 3:30pm.  57 miles and two states, not bad.  In training, I did about 150 miles a week.  Now I’ve done it in 3 straight days and 3 more to go this week!  My legs are on fire!

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Now on to more hills!  It’s all about the climb, right?

Day 3 Stats:

Started at 7:40am in Brigham City, UT

Ended at 3:30pm in Malad City, ID

6.25 hours of riding

57 miles

Random Fact:

The diet of athletes, at least One Wheel Man:

60 grams of carbs and 25 grams fo protein within 1 to 2 hours before and after workout.  PLUS 60 grams of carbs every hour during workout.

If One Wheel Man cycles 6-7 hours a day, you do the math.  It’s a lot of work!

Day 2

Days after rain are very pretty, right?  I started the day off in West Valley City, UT at about 7:30am.  I wanted to get a head start before my new frame arrived.  I wanted to go as far as I could.  Somehow, it never gave me any problems!  Talk about miracles!  I just kept going and going.

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I drank so much water, I had to find restrooms three times in the first hour!  Then my Gatorade spilled all over my bag…guess I’ll need to use a different bottle for that.

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In most of the cities, it was nice to use a trail.  However, once I got north of Ogden, I had to share the road.  There wasn’t much of a shoulder, so it could be pretty scary at times!  I’m pretty sure I saw every type of roadkill…deer, skunk, falcon, pigeon, etc.  Boy, do they stink!  Makes me pedal faster for sure!

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A lot of people passed me, in cars and on bikes.  I got lots of thumbs up and waves.  Some people would pass me, pull over, and take pictures or videos as I passed them!  Hope they tag #theonewheelman!  I also passed a summer camp with tons of kids.  They were all waving excitedly.  That’s one good way to encourage and motivate.  I’ve got a good crowd of cheerleaders!

It was such a beautiful day!  Cloudy with a mild breeze, but all below 80°F.  So nice!  I thought my frame would give out, but it never did.  The frame did arrive about 3 hours in, but I haven’t changed it yet.

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I finally made it to Brigham City, UT at 3:45pm, stopping at the Brigham City LDS temple.  That was my Personal Record of miles in one day!  63 miles, wow!  I sure was tired.  But so great!  What a great day to be a unicyclist!

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For dinner, we ate at a buffet with my hard-of-hearing brother-in-law and his family and a deaf friend and his family.  It felt so good to finally be full after practically snacking all day!

Day 2 Stats:

Started 7:30am in WVC, UT

Ended 3:45pm in Brigham City, UT

7 hours of riding

63 miles

Random Fact:

Unicycles do not have gears like a bicycle does.  You can change the length of the crank shafts, but you have to use tools to carefully change them.

Day 1

Hello, everyone!  Today is the day I began the journey.  Got a nice and early start in the morning.  Not hot or cold.  Rained last night.  I’m so excited!  It was quite the adventure today.  May the one wheel be in my favor!

I was feeling so great and felt like I could keep going forever in the beautiful weather and everything.  Also, today’s ride I’ve done before in my training, so I was very familiar with the route.  “Yeah!  I feel good!  Whoo!  I can ride forever!”  However, around 7 miles, Kris Holm Uni (as I’ve named my unicycle, Uni for short), got really tight and stuck that I couldn’t turn the wheel.  I kept going a little bit and as it was going down the hill, it started going again.  At mile 15 it started grinding.  The frame had bent a bit, so I got off and tried to fix it by bending it in again…only I bent it too far and it wouldn’t fit anymore!  Oops…  We called unicycle.com and ordered a new frame to be shipped to our destination overnight.

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Uni at 8:30am, Day 1.  Great start….

BUT!  That didn’t stop me!  After fixing it enough and getting fueled up again, I kept on going.  Still a really nice day out!  It started getting a little rough again, but I kept going.  And going.  And going.  And then it began to rain…and I kept going.  And then it began to hail.  “Ouch!”  Hail while riding (let alone on the face) hurts!  It began pouring.  I got drenched and so did my car when my wife picked me up.  After all, you know what they say when life throws you challenges–dance in the rain!

Day 1 hail

Day 1 Stats:

Started at 7am in Orem, UT

Struggles/on hold 8:30-12:30pm

Ended at 2pm in South Jordan, UT

4 hours of actual riding time

35 miles total

Random Fact:

On a bicycle, it takes about 235 pedal rotations to reach a mile.  On a unicycle it’s about 516 pedal rotations to reach a mile.  More than double!