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The Post article 17/11/24

Some coverage of my 12hr and 24hr World Record attempt:

https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360489606/doctor-day-now-world-record-holder-unicycle

12 Hour Unicycle World Record 252.04km!!!

The big day arrived. I was all set to break the 12 Hour and 24 Hour unicycle distance records. We had been watching the weather closely, and decided in the end to proceed. The forecast was for cloud, with light showers and ‘fresh Southerlies’. It turns out that ‘fresh’ means South/SE Winds at 30km/hr. Not ideal, but we thought it was doable.

We had a great support crew, with Arthur and Lynne Klap setting up, my mum turning up to help with the kids, and Anna taking the gazebos and supplies down to the Newlands Intermediate field.

Bruce from Barefootsports set up the timing mats and timing chips on the unicycle. He placed two mats and two chips to be doubly sure.

It was cold and breezy, but it wasn’t until I started riding that I realised just how windy it was. I had, in practice, ridden in 20+km/hr NW winds, which was ok. The SE wind was a different beast altogether, as it hit the least sheltered parts of the course. A unicycle is about as aerodynamic as a flying brick wall, but the problem is neither headwind nor tailwind, but the side wind. The SE kept pushing me off course, with 50km/hr gusts.

My game plan was to spin gently at 24-26km/hr for the first 4-6hrs, while using as little energy as possible. This would build a ‘safety buffer’ over the old record. My legs felt great, much better than during my 12 hour practice ride. What transpired was quite different. The first few hours were spent wrestling my unicycle at 22-24km/hr, while expending far more energy than I wanted to.

I considered abandoning and rescheduling at that point, but we had organised support crew, tents, portaloo and the timing to be there on the day. I’ll just ride on….

Here are the lap times for the 12hrs (slightly undercounts as multiplied by 390m instead of 390.76m):

https://events.barefootsport.co.nz/event/701/results/296321

Normally, on distance unicycle, little balance is required. All the effort is in propelling you forward while tucked into the aerobars. With the SE wind gusts, I had to take my hands off the aerobars, flail around like a beginner unicyclist, then re-accelerate once I regain control. I was blown off multiple times on the bottom corner of the circuit.

I held it together until 12hrs, when I crossed the line to beat the Guinness mark of 250km by a very skinny 2km margin. Yay! One world record down!

I still had my safety buffer- 12hrs remaining to do 202km. That vanished pretty quick. My average speed kept dropping. I stopped for dinner and to put on lights, but the night laps proved even more challenging. In practice, my lights were adequate. Not so if you are trying to keep in a straight line.

The forecast had been for the wind to die down to 20km/hr by 7pm. That extended to midnight, then 2am, and finally it wasn’t until late the next morning the wind finally slowed.

When I saw my average speed drop below 18.9km/hr (Sam’s average speed), I knew it wasn’t practical to push for the record. I had done 315km, and had over 7hrs left to ride past my old mark of 378.7km. After a half hour break, I got back on and did a painfully slow lap before calling it a day. It was blowing like crazy. We’ll do battle again next time!

Thank you to my wonderful support crew, all the people who came out to spectate (some of whom turned into support crew!), Newlands Intermediate School, Cuttriss Surveyors, Bruce from Barefootsports, and all my friends who helped or encouraged me. Most of all, thanks to my family for putting up with all this!

Radio NZ interview 13/11/24

Here is a nice interview with Emile Donovan from Radio NZ, regarding my 24 Hour record attempt:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/nights/audio/2018964048/the-wellington-gp-trying-to-break-a-unicycle-world-record

24 Hour Unicycle setup

I’ve been asked this many times now, but have only just finalised my setup for my 24 Hour and 12 Hour world records.  The original plan had been to use a V-frame time trial unicycle, custom built by C3 cycles. Unfortunately, when I received the instructions from Guinness, it seems that will not be acceptable: 

“The unicycle must be a commercially available, unmodified model. Full details of the unicycle used must be submitted”

“The same unicycle must be used throughout the attempt. Repairs may be made, but the unicycle must remain the same.”


So much for that. 


Wheel

I decided pretty early on to ride my carbon Braus 36″ wheel with the nightrider lite tyre and TPU inner tube. It’s a very light and fast rolling setup.  I also ordered a Mad4One unicorn carbon 36 wheel with the T-monster tyre to try.  In testing, the Mad4One wheel is very strong, and probably better suited to gravel/off road riding, but has higher rolling resistance on concrete than the Nightrider/Braus rim.  The speed and rolling resistance improved as the knobs wore down, but is still slower than the Braus rim.  It is comforting to have a spare wheel though- I interpret the Guinness guideline to allow a wheel change when they state ‘repairs may be made’.
The problem with my Braus 36″ wheelset is that it is inherently weak. With 32 spokes, and built on a disc hub, the flanges are close together, which is not great for strength.  The spokes loosened up after just 300km riding. Like…wiggly loose.  I was very worried about this wheel, and even considered rebuilding it with a wide hub.  Time was ticking, it was a month out from my record.  I took my unicycle to the top wheelbuilder in town- Wheelworks.  They suggested rebuilding the wheel with locking nipples.  So that’s what we did.   I’ve ridden over 100km on this….so far so good.

Seat/handlebar
The next most important component is the cockpit.  I have been a fan of the KH T-bar/flatfish combo, but this year I rode almost exclusively on the Mad4One handle-saddle.  They are both great setups, but I felt the stiffer Mad4One saddle is a better fit for a 24hr attempt.   With this combination, my unicycle weighs just 5.1kg!
After my 12hr practice ride, I realised the saddle, despite being as long as the KH T-bar, just isn’t long enough. I was over reaching and wishing the bar extended another 30cm.  Luckily, Marco Vitale from Mad4One had a great solution, which is an extension bar that attaches to the Mad4One handle saddle.  It attaches with a special glue and tape, but I found a time trial handlebar attachment that bolts it all together, with some cable ties to secure it fully.  Not the most elegant looking cockpit, but I left out the bar tape to allow easy bolt access.  
Riding aerobars is quite different to riding a regular unicycle.   It changes the balance axis and technique,  and I was too scared to go fast on this initially.  After a few practice rides, my top speed is the same as before aerobars. The main advantage is that my upper body is supported, which helps with fatigue.  You rely more on the upper body for steering, which allows the legs to dedicate themselves to propelling you forward, instead of controlling the unicycle.  

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Electronics

I will use a Lezyne Mega XL computer to keep track of the overall time, as well as my trusty old Garmin edge 200 for lap speeds.  The Garmin is a small unit, which I can hold like a stopwatch. I normally count 12 laps to get a roughly 4.8km short distance check of my average speed.  The Lezyne will keep track of my overall average speed and distance for 24hs.  I chose the MegaXL due to its battery life….it lasts over 48hrs, whereas even the most expensive Garmin units are borderline for a 24hr attempt. 

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Lights

Keeping with the Lezyne theme, my main light will be a Lezyne macro-drive 1400.  It was a toss up between getting this light or a Magicshine Ray 1600. They both have the same capacity battery, but I felt the (claimed) 450 Lumen setting on the Lezyne which lasts 12 1/2hrs is preferable to the (claimed) 400L 8hrs setting on the Magicshine. The Lezyne is quicker to mount and remove- with a rubber attachment rather than a Garmin clip, so there is no attachment in my way when the lights are not in use. Normally I’m dubious about rubber band attachments as they have a tendency to rattle loose on the handlebar, but Lezyne’s is robust and very secure.

Specs
The entire unicycle is built from commercially available parts, so should satisfy Guinness for the record attempt.  Weight (including computer) is 5.73kg.

Triton 36″ titanium frame
Alchemist Braus 36″ carbon rim
Pollici 36″ TPU inner tube
Nightrider Lite 36 tyre
Nimbus ISIS Disc 32H hub
Quax 100mm cranks
AEST Ti pedals
KH seatpost
Mad4One long handle saddle
URSLI bar extension

Unithai 2025: The Thailand Unicycle Tour

We were planning on a unicycle tour of Samoa in 2025, but due to difficulty in securing numbers, we have had to cancel this tour.

Back to the drawing board, and we are heading back to SE Asia to do a unicycle tour of Southern Thailand instead! This should be easier and cheaper for our Northern Hemisphere riders to get to. It’s also one of my favourite destinations, with amazing food and culture.

The tour runs from 20-31st Oct 2025, and will total 354km riding distance, starting in Surat Thani and finishing in Phuket.

Details are on the Unithai page

Thailand+South+Map

C3 V-frame time trial unicycle

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I originally built this unicycle to ride in my 24 Hour World Record event, but unfortunately Guinness does not allow custom equipment, so it has to sit on the sidelines. The V-unicycle was made by Anders Waiker for C3 cycles, a custom frame builder who also built my C3 stainless racer,  I talked about this years ago on the unicycle forums, but others made the leap well before me, so I’m playing catchup!
The idea with a V-frame is that it allows the rider to distribute their weight like a bicycle, which means a less upright position, less saddle soreness, and greater power.   For distance riding, most riders use long extension handlebars to achieve this, but it is not the greatest engineering design, as there is nothing to brace the bar.  Luckily, for my 24 Hour Record attempt, the Mad4One handle-saddle is sufficiently stiff that I can use the TT position without any flex.  However there is minimal adjustability and the cockpit is very narrow.  Here is a comparison of the two setups:

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My v-frame is made from cromoly steel with fillet brazed joints.  The small diameter tube resulted in some flex, so we brazed a second set of tubes to stiffen things up.   There is a steel tube which sits in the front fork. This can be moved up or down to adjust handlebar height.  Likewise, I’m using a regular bicycle stem which means some adjustability in terms of reach. 
I omitted disc brake tabs- it’s not something I use unless on a geared unicycle or riding off-road.  This is purely for time-trialing!  Finished off with a bright yellow paint job and it looks as fast as it rides. 

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It takes a while to get used to the TT-position, but once you’re familiar, it allows you to pull on the bars for power, and steer by weighting the arms.   The balance axis is quite different to a regular unicycle, but similar to my 24hr world record unicycle with Mad4One Handle-saddle with URSLI extension bar.  It takes a few rides to get used to free mounting and going over bumps.  Once this ‘clicks’ into the brain, the TT position is comfortable and very fast.  This years’ unicon 54km road race was won on a V-frame, so there has to be an advantage!
Overall weight is slightly higher than a single fork unicycle, but it’s not noticeable.  The stability and adjustability of the riding position more than makes up for this. 
I’m disappointed it can’t be used for my 24 Hour record attempt, but I will be training on this unicycle and you may well see me at the next Unicon on board a V-frame. 

For more pics, here is the full Flickr album

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)

One of the benefits of working in the medical industry is that from time to time, you get to play with some cool toys.  Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) have been around for a few years.  They are now funded for Type 1 diabetics in NZ, so the local drug company dropped some off for my doctors and nurses to trial for 2 weeks.


In the past I’ve looked at heart rate monitoring, power monitors etc.  Most of the time, I don’t find it interesting or useful to continue.  I was glued (literally!) to my CGM monitor for 2 weeks!  I’m not diabetic (my HbA1c is 33) but it was fascinating.  Diabetes is classified as HbA1c 50 and above.  However, this doesn’t reflect day to day, or hour by hour fluctuations in blood sugar.  


My CGM is a basic Freestyle Libre 2, made by Abbott.  It attaches to your arm via a thin filament that comes out of a plastic disc.  Each disc costs NZ$106 and lasts for 2 weeks.  It runs on bluetooth, and gives you glucose readings each minute on a phone app.

CGM arm 2 CGM arm


The eye opening thing for me is how variable my blood sugars are after meals.  If you do a traditional finger prick blood sugar test after eating, you have no idea where on the curve the result sits. The blood sugar could still be going up, on the way down, or yet to rise!  I can see how useful it is for Type 1 diabetics, because they titrate their insulin to the blood sugars result.   Type 2 diabetics tend to start on oral agents, but if they are on short/medium acting insulin, it would also be very helpful.  It also provides an idea of how particular foods affect their blood sugars.


Back to this being a unicycle blog….of course I had to try it in training! The other big eye opener for me is the effect of exercise on blood sugar.  It completely flattened my sugar peaks.  
This is a day showing sugar peaks with meals.  I missed breakfast, and was mostly sedentary, seeing patients in clinic:

11 Oct

During my 2 week trial, I ate high carb and low carb meals, high GI and low GI, and they all resulted in a similar rise in blood sugar.  So much for the glycaemic index!


This is what happens when I exercise- the day I rode 265km for 12hrs (0800-2000hrs) for my practice 12/24hr record

12 Oct

I had oat porridge and coffee at 7am for breakfast.  My ride started at 8am, just when my sugars should be rising.  Instead, it remained flat, and stayed that way for 12hrs.  During this time, I ate a large cheese sandwich, 100g of chocolate, 3L of chocolate milk, 1 muesli bar, 1 apple, 1 1/2 meat pies.  They did nothing to my sugars. It was not until I went home, had a shower and dinner, that my sugars started rising.


The same effect happened on other days- if I exercise within an hour of eating, my blood sugar remains very flat.  The effect even lasts into the next day, when the sugar peaks are at lower level than I would expect.
Take home message- eat what you like (within reason), but exercise after eating to keep sugars low.   How this translates into long term health for non-diabetics is hard to know, but it seems to make the insulin/glucagon balance more effective.  That can’t be a bad thing.  


In terms of performance, I haven’t used it enough to make a sensible conclusion. I did notice a power drop after I had lunch (approx 12pm) during my 12hr ride, but my average sugars also dropped from the low 6s to the mid 5s.  Perhaps I didn’t eat enough, or there was a surge of insulin that drove the sugars down.  I might just have to do another CGM trial to find out!

Malaghan Institute

When you’re a kid with dreams of saving the world, it’s worth a revisit even when life takes you down a different path. These days, I do my best for the person in front of me as a family doctor, but back in my youth, I spent a year in a cell signaling laboratory doing a BMedSci research degree.

I never became a scientist, but I can support their work vicariously. The Malaghan Institute is a Wellington research institute studying immunology and immune therapy, and applying this to allergy/inflammatory disease, cancer and infectious disease. Their research is world class and covers the spectrum from basic science to clinical trials.

This is the charity I will be raising money for with my 24 Hour Unicycle World Record Challenge. Please sponsor me and help our clever scientists come up with solutions and understanding of life’s most challenging problems.

My target is to raise $5000. That’s $10/km for 500km!

https://donate.malaghan.org.nz/fundraisers/kenlooi/12-24hr-unicycle-world-record

The 24hr dress rehearsal

I did a 12 hour practice ride for the 24hr record to get used to my equipment and see how far I could go. It’s hard to know how comfortable your setup will be until you’re in the saddle for a few hours, so it was an important part of my preparation. I rode my Triton 36 with Mad4One long handle-saddle, 100mm cranks on a Braus36 carbon rim/ Nimbus Nightrider lite tyre. It seems to be a fast setup, and in practice, I can wind it up to 27km/hr when riding a brisk pace.

My spare wheel- the Mad4One Unicorn 36 carbon rim/ Vee T-monster tyre is the same weight, but has greater rolling resistance. It would be an amazing wheel for gravel/off-road, but on sealed surfaces requires more concentration to keep in a straight line. It is also about 5% slower than the Nightrider, although the gap is narrowing as the tyre knobs wear down.

I started the day with porridge, my usual pre-race meal. A coffee to warm me up and then I headed down the track for an 0800hrs start. It would be a long day, but I had plenty of food/water to keep me fueled! I kept track of progress on my phone Strava, as well as my Lezyne Mega XL GPS computer. It was also a test to check battery life, especially bluetooth headphones and internet enabled on my phone. As well as this, I was trialing a Freestyle Libre 2 continuous glucose monitor, which gave me up to date readings on my blood sugar. A very interesting device which I will do a separate blog post about.

My legs felt good, and off I went! I knocked off a few laps cruising at 25.5km/hr. The strategy is simple- try to use as little energy while riding at 25km/hr for as long as possible. I suspected that my speed would drop to 20km/hr once fatigue sets in, but if I had enough buffer, it would give me confidence for the world record.

In my practices rides, there is a magpie who has been divebombing me from the trees. Today proved no different. The first few hours involved plenty of swoops and the occasional whack. Luckily my helmet offered good protection. After a hard whack the bird would take a break, but it always came back for more!

Now for most people, riding around in circles for 24hrs would be regarded as mind-numbing. I keep getting asked what I listen to. Previously, I had Spotify playlist, which was great…for about 30min. The problem is that music tends to dictate your tempo. There are various pump-me-up songs on the playlist, which is extremely fatiguing to listen to, and wasn’t in sync with my deliberately relaxed riding pace. This time, I set my phone onto national radio (RNZ), and listed to the Saturday broadcast. It was interesting enough- they interviewed a guerilla gardener and a movie producer. The sound of voices is an improvement over music, but still left me mentally fatigued. I turned it off after 5-6hrs. It will be fine to listen to for 2-3hrs at a time. When I do distance rides like Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge or Tour Aotearoa, I found it most relaxing to let my mind wander. Daydreaming is a very effective strategy for distance riding.

I was able to cruise at 25km/hr for 4hours before having a quick lunch break at 12pm. I scoffed down a cheese sandwich, chocolate milk and chocolate, all the time wary that my average speed was dropping. Luckily I eat fast and after 5min I was on my way again.

The post-prandial dip kicked in after lunch, and I suddenly had a power deficit. Interestingly, my blood sugars also dropped from averaging mid-6s to the low 5 mmol/L despite the food intake. My average speed starting dropping into the 23-24km/hr range.

It was a hard few hours from 12-3pm. At one point my legs locked on the corner and I ended up rubbing myself on the concrete. It looked worse than it was- just a graze on my chin but left blood everywhere!

Anna came by with the kids at 3.30pm with some cheese and steak pies, so it was another chance to stop and down more calories. I normally eat fast, but it still took a lot of effort not to choke whilst being mindful of the clock.

I hit 140km at the 6hr mark, which meant that my target of 250+km at 12hrs was achievable. The next 2hrs was difficult, but once I got to 200km (9hrs) I felt relief that I would surpass my target. When I hit 250km, it was enough to turn the grimace into a smile! I still had time to push it further, and stopped the clock on my Strava at 265km. Job done! I’ve proven to myself I can achieve enough buffer within 12hrs to beat the world record and even achieve the 500km target. According to Strava, my riding time was 11hrs44min, so some work required to reduce downtime/breaks.

Total distance (Strava) 265.6km

Total food consumed (riding): 1 large cheese sandwich, 1 1/2 cheese/steak pies, 3L Chocolate milk, half muesli bar, 100g Whittakers almond gold chocolate, 1 apple.

Strava 12hr

Track Survey

For my 24hr record attempt, I spent considerable time searching for a suitable venue. The Basin Reserve Cricket Ground which I used for my 2005 record has a fantastic 465m circular track, but is much busier these days, both with weekend events and general traffic. I was given one option in early November with no backup for inclement weather, so it was risky proposition.

The ideal venue would be flat, at least 400m in diameter, with no hard corners/turns. I contacted the Newtown athletic stadium, but they do not allow cycling on their running track. There is a concrete path around the athletic field, but with a couple of right angle turns it isn’t really suitable. Then I visited the Hataitai velodrome after seeing photos of their refurbished track. The steep banking was out of the question (I knew this from 2005), but there is a flat concrete track on the infield. Well, it looked good in the pictures. Turns out there are a whole lot of wooden planks across the track- not ideal to change riding surface every few meters. The 333m velodrome is also a bit small to be circling for 24hrs. I looked further afield to Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and even Masterton. The further I went, the harder it would be to organise support crew and logistics.

I had pretty much settled on the Basin Reserve until I went for a run and came across a concrete track at my old school, Newlands Intermediate. I walked past this field every school day as an 11/12yr old, but it was a looooonng time ago. They have built a 400m concrete track around the bottom field since, and it was a gem of find! The track is smooth, has little traffic, and seemed pretty fast. I was so excited I contacted the principal the next day, who was very happy to help. They’ve been very supportive, and will allow me access to the track and school hall for the attempt. A group of Newlands Intermediate students also came and interviewed me for their newsletter.

One cannot attempt a Guinness and IUF world record without making sure the track is measured accurately. I contacted Cuttriss, a surveying/engineering/planning company, who were involved in measuring the Basin Reserve which I used for my 2005 record. They sent a couple of surveyors, Brett and Ollie, to help me measure the track. I can’t thank you guys enough!

The track came out slightly shorter than expected, at 390.76m on the inner circumference. Not the worst outcome, but does mean a few extra laps to hit my goal.

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photo credit: Brett Horne