Dude ... that's pretty doggone awesome!! I've seen one of your previous attempts, and I'm delighted you finally made it to the top. There are no roads here that come close to 33% -- I'd really like to try something like that on my road bike. The steepest I've seen so far around my world are 18-20%. By the way, I was concerned about exceeding my "maximum" heart rate, so I asked a doc at our church about it. He says it is really, really hard to overwork one's heart (assuming good physical condition, obviously). The body starts to show shut-down signs before that happens. At age 40, my max (220-one's age) is supposed to be 180, but I've seen 192 on my heart rate monitor ... and could have probably squeezed out a few more before seeing stars. But it wasn't worth that to me at that time. :-) I routinely see 175-183 when I'm climbing a steep hill and trying to maintain decent speed. Everyone will have a different "maximum" heart rate. It's somewhat genetic, although it's possible to extend the working capacity at "maximum" rate with specific training. Good going, and for those persons out there who are delete-key challenged and instead would complain about OT-labeled posts, at least we're talking about beat rates. :-D And I'm also going to post your video to our local cycling Google group ... as a challenge to never again do the "Walk of Shame." :-) 33% on a freakin' uni ... oh yeah, you are so the man, Terry! -- JF On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 11:11 AM, pianolover 88 <pianolover88 at hotmail.com>wrote: > Hi everyone, > > Piano tuning is primarily a sedentary profession. So I ride unicycles > offroad and on, to stay in shape. But yesterday, 2/23/11, was a high > watermark for me, and set a new record for the oldest-and likely > *only*-person to have ever successfully climbed the steepest and most famous > street in Los Angeles, CA, and the 2nd steepest in the US! At a massive 33% > grade, Fargo street hill attracts hundreds of cyclists...the two-wheeled > variety!...to the yearly climbing event held there. > > Most don't make it to the top, even though they use ultra low gears to help > them pedal their way some 528 feet to the top of this monster hill, which is > more like a WALL! So I decided to try it myself...on just ONE wheel! Yep, my > 24" mountain unicycle, with NO gears to help me climb, no clip in pedals > that help you "pull" as well as push while pedaling. No frame, handlebars or > second wheel for much easier balance. It would be just 1:1 fixed wheel all > the way baby! > > On two previous attempts, I managed only about 300 feet of the total 528. > Not a bad attempt, but it was still more than 200 feet short of the top! So > yesterday, with fellow unicyclist Steve, visiting from NY, I gave it another > try, and this time gave it everything I could muster...and I MADE it to the > top! I still do not know where or how I found the strength to keep going, > especially past the 1/2 way point, where most fail! At 55 years old, my "Max > heart rate" is supposed to be 165. I've been riding hardcore trails and done > 100 mile uni centuries, but my heart rate never exceeded 153bpms, and that > was only when training on much less steep hills. > > On this climb I was wearing my heart rate monitor, and it was redlining at > *171bpms,* even before I got halfway up! My lungs were on fire and burning > like never before, and just catching breaths was an ordeal! I was standing > on the pedals, cranking down each and every half revolution, which required > a herculean effort! When Steve finally yelled out, "20 feet to go", I felt > an adrenaline rush that was enough to put me over the top! It was a great > feeling...once I convinced myself I wasn't having hear failure! As someone > said, this was "my personal Everest!" > > *Here's the video:* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nak8TBvykkc > > > Terry Peterson > Accurate Piano Service > UniGeezer.com <http://unigeezer.com/> > "Over 50, and not "2" Tired!" > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20110224/5a5d10fb/attachment.htm>
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