hardship – One Wheel Man

Day 12

Plan: There are 120 miles left to go, but I want to do 80 on Monday, so today, I’m only doing about 40 miles.

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Outcome: The wind was 25-30 mph for most of the day. Cold too, about 50°F when I started. It knocked me off Uni so many times, I couldn’t stay on. I even tried to crouch down so I wasn’t as much to hit by the wind. It helped, but not enough. Every part of my body ached. I had to call it a day after 2 hours of fighting through it hard core. But on the bright side, I will be well rested to do 100 miles on Monday! Canada, here I come!

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Day 12 Stats:

Started at 7:55am in Great Falls, MT

Ended at 9:55am in Vaughn, MT

2 hours of riding

14 miles

Random Fact:

Not so much about unicycles, but I was born deaf and grew up oral (talking, not signing). I learned American Sign Language when I was 14, going to junior high school. I never knew how much I would continue to use it throughout my life. I love it!

Day 7

After a day of rest, it’s time to go again! Big thanks to the Nielsens for letting us stay as if it were our own home over the weekend! We had to drive about an hour to get to our starting destination. I started just north of where we stopped Saturday because that road was not very safe due to soft dirt roads and gravel (as if you were off-roading which a 36-inch unicycle is not made for). Today’s ride began in Spencer, Idaho, about 8:10am.

My wife drove ahead to see if there was going to be more of those kinds of roads…there were, but they didn’t appear as dangerous to her. She found a part where it said the road was closed ahead because a bridge was out. Luckily she went and found that it was recently driveable again and I had the okay to ride across. Whew!

After getting into Montana (sorry, no state border picture from the route I took this time), we couldn’t find the road to take for a while due to being out of cell service. We weren’t sure which way to go. After seeing several trucks and cars only go down one road, we followed. It was so bad! So hilly, dirt-y, rocky, etc. Boy, was it tiring and my knees hurt from all the impact.

One cool thing was seeing an owl flying around in bright daylight. Beautiful bird.

Towards the end of my ride, my knees were giving out and the dirt and rocks were not level that I came a little too forward, having my pedals whack me in the back of my legs as I “walked off” Uni, twice. Ouch!

Just as I reached 52 miles, I had for sure had enough of that road for the day (wishing for forever). 4pm and in the middle of nowhere, we had to drive about 35 miles on the same terrible road to get to Dillon, Montana.

We found a motel, instead of camping, since my body was more tired and worn than expected. When we went out to dinner at a restaurant called the 4B’s, they had a map of Montana posted. There are a lot of dirt roads on our path! Oh no! We were studying it when this kind couple came out and gave us their own copy of the map! It was so helpful! We even read on the 2009 map that cyclists could ride on interstates in non-urban areas. We’ll call tomorrow to confirm, but man, am I hoping that hasn’t changed! I could really use a smooth ride on paved roads. Lots of Montana to go!

Due to the tedious roads, pictures weren’t really taken today. Here’re a few pictures from along our path.

Day 7 scenery (L)

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Day 7 scenery (R)

Day 7 Stats:

Started at 8:10am in Spencer, ID

Ended at 4pm in the middle of nowhere, east of Lima, 34 miles Southeast of Dillon, MT

6.5 hours of riding time

52 miles

Random Fact:

The One Wheel Man decided to do a long distance trip shortly after he bought his 36-inch unicycle (2 years ago) when he did his first long (49 miles).

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 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!