Last month Julie had her beach vacation. This month, I managed to sneak in my unicycling vacation. Julie and I dropped Sarah and Emily off with Grammy and Grandpa for 6 days so we could fly out to Rapid City, South Dakota and participate in the 2008 North American Unicycling Championships and Convention (NAUCC). Richard, the current Memphis Unicycle Club president, also went. We left Saturday afternoon and arrived in Rapid City Saturday evening. We all checked into our rooms and then went to get a bite to eat. Once back at the hotel, I put together our unicycles and made sure they had survived the trip. We then went to bed exhausted from the traveling and all the running around we did in preparation for the trip.

Sunday morning came and we decided that we had enough time to go visit Mt Rushmore prior to registration opening at 1:00 pm.




We didn't get a very early start and spent a bit more time at the monument than we anticipated and instead of getting to registration near the beginning, we made it closer to the end. I missed the expert uphill/downhill events that I wanted to watch. We could have entered the cross country muni ride, but we knew that was going to be above our (Richard and me) skill level so we were just content to hang out for a little while and talk to some of the unicyclists that we hadn't seen since last year.

Once the muni ride had started, the area cleared out pretty fast and we decided to get our unis and ride some of the nice greenways that Rapid City has. They have many beautiful parks and a path along a stream that runs through the city. We rode the path for a couple of miles and then headed back to M Hill which was the site of the activities earlier. Richard and I thought we would like to check out the hill. I found out pretty quickly that riding up was not going to work. I may have made about 100 feet along before I had to get off and walk. The hill is about a 400 foot climb in less than a mile. The altitude is somewhere around 4000 ft. I was huffing and puffing and having to rest even with just a normal walking pace. Once we finally made it to the top, we got to see a close up of the M on M Hill. There is actually a smaller S and D on either side of the M and it turns out to stand for South Dakota School of Mining and Technology. The S, M, and D were made of concrete and apparently were part of the expert uphill/downhill races. It was a pretty steep grade and I don't think I would have been able to ride on it at all, but apparently they did for the races. After some rest we started back down the hill. Some parts were very steep, but I managed to ride about three quarters of the way back down. It was really the first time I was able to use my brake. It took a little bit of getting use to but it helped. Richard did not have a brake and he managed to only ride about a third of the way down.

It turns out that walking up and riding down that hill was a big mistake for me. The next day and for the next several days my legs were incredibly sore. It became quite apparent that I should have trained for this venue.

Monday morning brought the non expert uphill/downhill races and I somehow manage to overcome my soreness and enter these events. I took the number one position in the uphill race, but only because I was the first person to be timed. As soon as the second person went, I was no longer in first place. I ended up being in 8th place in my age group. I got 7th in the downhill race. I thought I might try the muni obstacle course, but my legs were not going to hold me up for any hopping and the course involved riding some skinny boards which I am not very good at so I did not enter. I did make a practice run to confirm that it was not worth entering for me.

A little later on Richard and I hiked back up M Hill (I don't know what I was thinking) to ride in a muni downhill race. This was a lot longer that the normal muni downhill event and was more for fun than for points. The trail down was very technical (lots of big rocks in the way and steep) and in some places was very narrow with practically a vertical drop (think cliff) if you strayed from the path. I walked at least half of the trail down as it was above my pay grade. Once at the bottom, my legs were letting me know that they were very displeased with the recent activities that they were made to do. But it was time to get some lunch and the next events did not start til 5:00 pm so we had a little time to rest.

At 5:00 pm the beginner trials competition started and I decided to enter. I was a little late which handicapped me a little bit, but it didn't really hurt me any. Basically, the competition consists of trying to complete as many trails lines as you can. The trials lines consist of different obstacles. One line was simply hopping onto a pallet, then hopping across to another pallet and then hopping off the second pallet. Another line consisted of riding a 8 foot section of 2x6 board. Another one consisted of a ramp up onto a sawhorse which you were supposed to hop up the ramp and then ride on the sawhorse. I managed to complete 5 (the easiest 5) of the 10 or so beginner lines which I believe put me in 4th place for my age group. We then stayed to watch the intermediates and experts compete. Some of the expert lines were insane. One such line invovled hopping up a set of 14 stairs to a platform about 10 feet in the air. Then dropping from that platform onto the roof of an old car and then down off the car to the ground. Another line involved hopping up onto a stack of pallets and then up on a large cable spool turned on its side (so it would roll, though they had it secured). The rider had to hop onto the end of the spool, then hop to the other end and then hop down to the ground. Some of the riders did it without a second though, others struggled but eventually made it and still others gave up on it.

There was only one rider that successfully completed all the expert lines. Two others completed all but one and they had to do extra lines for a tie breaker. It was amazing to see these guys tackle the lines with apparent ease. The tie breaker line that broke the tie consisted of a big double headed tree stump which was about 3 feet tall. The rider had to hop on to the first stump face, then hop to the second stump face then ride two 8 inch diameter round logs that were chained together and suspended from the stump on one end and a platform on the other. The logs hung down about a foot from the platform and the rider had to hop from the log (which was able to move since it was suspended and only attached at the ends with chains) to the platform. This was where most people had the biggest problem. They had a hard time transitioning from riding the log to hopping onto the platform. The tie breaker ended with one of the riders making it further down the logs than the other rider. After the trials events, we went to dinner and called it a night.

Tuesday morning saw the street competitions. This is where riders do freestyle tricks off of platforms and various obstacles. The rider just does whatever he/she feels like doing and the judges decide who wins based on how well the tricks were performed and their difficulty. Julie and I decided to sleep in a little since we aren't all that excited about the street competition. We did arrive in time to see the last few competitors do their routines.

We then head over to the track to participate in the races. Richard and I both were signed up for the 100m, 400m and 1500m races. Only the 400m and 1500m races would take place today. Richard got 5th in one race and 7th in another and I got 3rd in both of my races. I attribute this to the fact that there were not many people in my races. There were more than 3, however, but there were less than 10. No matter, I am still thrilled at placing in the race!

I did get a super fast time in one race later in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it was the 10m slow race. This race consists of riding a 6" mat as slowly as you can. I think I made it in 7 seconds. The winning time was somewhere around 24 seconds. You get two attempts. My plan was just to not go off the mat and get a time no matter how fast it was. Then on the second run I could go for the slower speed. Unfortunately on my first run, I rode off the mat so that run was disqualified. I then used my second run just to get a time. It's a lot easier to ride a skinny line fast than slow. They also have a slow backwards race on a slightly wider mat, but I can not go backwards in a straight line for any distance so I did not enter the event.

I did make a couple of practice runs at the obstacle course. This consists of riding around a bunch of cones. I am not very good at tight turns and so I have lots of room for improvement in this event.

I also entered the high jump contest for the fun of it. I managed to jump 9 inches. I should be able to jump much more, but when the object I am jumping over is as high as my cranks in horizontal position, it really freaks me out and I have a hard time overcoming the mental hurdle. Jumping is one of the things that I will be working on as it is really useful for the off road riding I like to do.

We call it a day after watching some of the other track races and prepare to get up early for tomorrow's 10k race. It starts at 8:30 but is an hour way. We wake up, eat breakfast and head for the event. We barely make it in time, but we did have a few minutes to spare. I am riding my KH24 unicycle which is too big for the standard class race so I have to enter the unlimited class. Unfortunately, my too large 24 inch wheel is way to small for the 29 and 36 inch wheels that everyone else is riding in this event. I did not finish last years 10K event, and I was determined to finish it this year. Turns out that I had no trouble making the distance as it was a nice gravel path on a slight downhill grade. However, I am no match for the other riders and I end up in last place. The unlimited race started about two minutes ahead of the standard class. Some of the faster standard class riders started passing me pretty early on. I half expected Richard to catch up with me as he has a 24 inch wheel with shorter cranks. He ended up finishing a couple of minutes behind me, but his time was actually two seconds better than mine. And to boot, he had stopped a couple of times - once to help another unicyclist fix their seat. I did manage to ride the entire distance non stop. The 10K was somehow only a little over 8K, but that is still the furthest I have ridden non stop. This did have an unfortunate downside to my crotch area in the way of some chafing, but it did not cause any problems for any of the other events.

After the 10K, we take time out to visit the Crazy Horse monument. It is a much larger project than Mt Rushmore was as all four of the president's heads could fit on the extended arm of Crazy Horse. It is still under construction but is amazing nonetheless.

We pull ourselves away and again barely make it to the track before Richard has to race his 100m race. He squeezes in just in time and manages to get 5th place. I think run my 100m race and place 3rd again. Simply put, there are two unicyclist in my age group that are just plain faster than I am. Maybe I'll work on my speed this year and try to beat them next year. Richard joined a relay team and so while we are waiting for his race, I go and tackle the obstacle course for my official times. I still have trouble with the turns, but I finish the course in 43 seconds. I rest and then do some more practice turns. I step up for my second run and manage to shave 4 seconds off my time for a 39 second run. That put me in third place at the end of the day. The sad thing is, there is a 5 year old kid who did the course in less than 39 seconds. Of course, to him, the slalom cones are miles wide while to me they are barely big enough to get my wheel through. Actually, if that kid sticks with it, he will be amazingly fast and talented and could quite possibly break records in the next 5 to 10 years. He was amazing to watch.

With my events through for the day, we go back to the track and watch the other events while we wait on Richard's relay race to take place. We got to see the one footed racing, the coasting (no feet on the pedals or the wheel), the wheel walking race, the ultimate wheel race (no seat, just a wheel and pedals), and the juggling race. The person who won the coasting race managed to coast 50m down the track. He had one foot on the crown of the unicycle frame and one foot extended out to the side. He coasted to a complete stop and then kept kicking his extended leg to get another foot or so. His balance was incredible. The second place distance was 7m.

Richard's race finally came and I don't even know what place his team got, but they didn't get first or last. At this point, we had been in the heat all day and missed our lunch so we decided to get something to eat and rest a little before the gym opened at 8:00 pm. We missed the 6:00 pm parade event, but you can't always see everything.

We got to the gym a little after 8:00 and there were a lot of people practicing for their freestyle routines that they would be doing tomorrow. Others were just goofing off. Kelly (the expert trials event winner) attempted to do a 360 unicycle transfer. This is where he rides one unicycle, jumps off of it, does a 360 in the air and then lands on another unicycle and rides away. It took him quite a few tries, but he finally landed it. However, that wasn't enough for him. He then did a transfer jumping over someone who was standing straight up. It didn't take him as many tries to succeed on that one.

In the gym is where I was hoping to get Julie to practice her riding. It had been a long day, and she was tired, but she tried to ride a little bit. She was getting very frustrated, but then, out of the blue, she managed to ride half way around the gym even making a turn successfully. It was the smoothest ride I had ever seen her do and it was at least as twice as far as any previous ride she had done. Unfortunately, it was late and she was really tired so she wasn't able to do it again, but that one breakthrough lifted her spirits a good deal. We decided to go back to the hotel and get some sleep.

None of us were entered any competitions today, so we were just there to watch. Richard and I signed up for the muni fun ride at 1:00 pm. Turns out we didn't start riding until just after 2:00 pm. It was a two mile ride down an gravel road with some hefty hills. At the end of the two miles, we hiked down a trail that no one could ride down. The trail went down into a canyon with a stream in it. We hiked along the stream for another half mile or so until we got to a waterfall which was the destination of our trip. Many of the riders jumped over the falls into the water below. Jamie actually hiked down with his unicycle so that he could jump over the falls on his unicycle. I took video of this and others jumping in, unfortunately, since my display was broken, I did not know that my memory card was full. So I did not get any video of that trip. It was beautiful in that canyon and I was so looking forward to showing the video to Julie and anyone else who would watch it. But alas, it was not meant to be. :(

After about an hour of hanging out at the water fall, Richard and I decided to hike on back to the road where we left our unicycles. We had a hard time finding the trail back up, but fortunately some natives were headed back up and they helped us find our way up. Once out of the canyon, we took a break and drank some water. I put on some more sunscreen and by that time, the others were starting to make their way out of the canyon. So we all started heading back to the cars (another two mile ride which seemed to be more uphill than I had remember riding down on the way). We make it back to the cars and it was approaching 5 o'clock. I had not planned to be gone that long and I figured Julie was getting worried and probably a little upset. So we try to head back to the gym. We are the last car out and the others drove fast enough that they lost us. So we ended up turning the wrong way and going another couple of the miles out of the way before we managed to turn around and head the right direction. This just added to Julie's concern since the others arrived back and we were not with them. However, we did make it back before Julie came totally unglued. I was hoping she would utilize the time while we were on our ride to practice her riding. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to find a place she felt like she could ride so she just watched the freestyle and standard skill competitions while we were gone.

Again we had a long day and so decided to clean up and get something to eat. Though NAUCC lasted through Saturday, we had book our flights back Friday morning since we had no other competitions to enter. Plus we didn't expect to be winning much of anything so there wasn't much point in staying for the awards and such. I do regret not staying for the public show Friday night as that has been a fun event the last two years. So we had to pack up unicycles and all our stuff so we could fly out in the morning.

Morning came pretty early, but we had planned out a schedule and we pretty much were right on time with everything. Rapid City has a lot of streets with very low speed limits (25, 30mph). I was doing very good all week driving my rented Ford F150 4x4 those slow speeds. That truck would idle at 25mph so it was tough, but I managed to do it. However, on the way to the airport, on this 45 mph stretch, I apparently drifted over the speed limit and mister police man was kind enough to notify me of my mistake. Another 2 minutes and I would have been at the airport. We had a nice little chat though, but not nice enough that he let me off the hook. Fortunately, we were still on schedule and so I was not worried about missing our flight. We managed to make the rest of the trip home with no other issues. We then proceed to pick up the girls from Grammy and Grandpa's. We visited with them for about an hour and then headed home happy to be back with the girls and ready to get back into our normal routines.

We did take lots of pictures and video, so I expect to be posting them in the gallery over the next week or so.

Hugh