So, we decided to upgrade the blog to a nicer looking more user friendly medium. We’d love to hear your comments and/or experiences, or field any questions you may have. This blog is to keep the Lobster going all year round. Keep the spirit alive and take a look, browse, or comment! Umpha!

I rode the Lobster…(some thoughts from Dustin Kelm)

I was 10 when I recieved my first unicycle for Christmas. It was a 20 inch Schwinn. I never imagined that in my lifetime there would be the unicycle race of all unicycle races and that I would ride in it: “Ride The Lobster” 500 miles across the province of Nova Scotia Canada. Many thanks go out to Unicycle.com and all who worked tirelessly (or with one tire) to make RTL possible. It was an incredible experience for me to a part of this historical event. Let me tell you about it…
A week before the race I started having second thoughts and wondered if I would even be able to finish. I was so nervous the weekend before I was getting sick in ways I won’t describe here.

Monday…It was awesome riding through Yarmouth following a police escort with 104 other riders mostly on big wheels. Cars stopped, people cheered, we rode through red lights. It was quite the sight. We started racing thinking we would transition riders every 10-20 miles. My first ride was 21 miles and that would be the longest single ride for me all week. At the end of the day on Monday I thought to myself “What in the world have I gotten myself into? By the end of the week I’m not going to ride a Nimbus 36er (big wheeled unicycle) ever again, I might not even want to ride a unicycle again for as long as I live.” I was sick, sore and tired.

Tuesday…the stage was 15 miles longer than Monday and half of it was in the rain. When it was raining people would sit in their cars at the end of the driveway and cheer us on. When it wasn’t raining they would be standing by the roadside. School kids screamed and cheered as we raced by (I’d be cheering too if I got out of class to watch 35 unicyclists from around the world go cruising by). People rang bells, banged on drums and tambourines, played bagpipes, honked horns, clapped and yelled. Dogs barked and cows mooed. This is what our reception was like from Nova Scotia almost every day of the race. It really kept us going. Thank you Nova Scotians!

Wednesday…The Individual Time: Each rider on his own terms against the clock. Riders are released 30 seconds apart based on team rank from last to first. My personal goal was to not get passed. Only one rider passed me near the end of the 13 mile run. I didn’t feel too bad about this at the end of the day because he was the overall winner of the time trial and he was riding a geared 36er. The Criterium: My time in the ITT from the morning was fast enough the get me into group 1 with the fastest riders in RTL. This was kind of scary for me because the “Crit” is pretty much made for sprinters and I’m not much of a sprinter in this 36th year of my life. The people of Truro cheered us on and I tried not to lose too much time.

Thursday…another long day of riding. It was a little wet in the morning but it turned out pretty nice by the end of the day. It’s all kind of blur now. I’m pretty sure that Nova Scotia is a really beautiful place, but racing through it on a unicycle isn’t the best way to take in the scenery. Most of my time on the wheel is spent scanning the pavement for cracks, ruts, rocks, dips, holes, road kill, and the next orange “RTL” and arrow telling us which way to go. By the end of Thursday I was pretty tired, but the legs had loosened up and my impression of the race has shifted drastically from what I thought was going to be hell on wheel to actually being a lot of fun.

Friday…LAST DAY! And thankfully the shortest day. Despite feeling pretty good, we’re still pretty tired. The course took us to one of the northernmost regions of Nova Scotia. Towards the end of the day we also faced the largest/longest climb of the entire week, 4.5 miles uphill. My teamate Scott was a climbing machine. Other teams switched riders every mile up the Mt. but Scott rode the entire thing! (Scott was the oldest rider in RTL and he did something those young whippersnappers didn’t even dare to try). At the top of the Mt. I took the GPS and got to ride downhill as fast as I dared for over 5 miles. I got to race the last transition of the day and about half a mile from the finish line my Team Unicycle.com teammates Josh and Scott joined me and we rode across the finish line together.

It’s over. We’re done and we made without any major falls and with no injuries on our team. I did Ride The Lobster and I would do it again. I’ll give the 36er a little rest, but it’s not going to the trash bin like I thought it might. I’m actually more jazzed about distance riding now than I was on Monday.

Time Trial day – Stage Three

Wednesday started later than the usual 6:30a breakfasts with an 8:30a meal. The first time trial in Hubbard was 12.9 miles on a rough and hilly road. Every rider rode the course leaving 30 seconds apart starting with the first riders of each team, then the second, then the third, each timed individually. It was pouring down rain again and thundering. Our picnic and community festivities were canceled after the race due to weather so we ate our Subway lunch in the van before driving the two hours to Truro where the Criterium will occur where each rider, again broken in groups of 3 based on times from the morning time trial, will race 6 laps around a city block. Groups of 35 will run in three heats.

I’m having rare a moment of free time at a free trade coffee shop in Truro between Wednesdays time trails so will hopefully get to post again with an update on tonight’s race. We have not had much internet access in these remote Nova Scotia accomodations.

Tuesday was a good day of riding despite the cold weather and nasty rain. The guys spent the day shivering and wet but still pressed on for 215 kilometers and did great. It was an exciting and close finish with The Korean Dream Team and To Young to Drive hot in pursuit, overtaking us just at the end. Everyone was still friendly with each other when it was all said and done.

Monday’s race went very well. It was a beautiful and warm day and our guys finished well with time to spare. You can see the stats at ridethelobster.com. Note the lobsters Josh and Dustin are sporting on their helmets.

After loading up on breakfast at Boston Pizza all the riders rode through town in a “parade” to the start line. Josh started the race off (see him at nearest bar, 3rd rider from the back) and they rotated after 10-20 miles each. Josh took the only spill for the team on a washboard section of the dirt road. It was an exctiting day without much lag time as we all drove ahead a bit to wait and cheer on the current rider as he passed, swich cranks or swich riders.

200 kilometers and 10.5 hours of riding later, pizza was well deserved.

Team Unicycle.com

The officials made the announcement tonight at the welcome banquet that Ride The Lobster 2008 has officially started. Let the fun begin!

The must have equipment for the Race

These are the fine socks, and the 36′er bags we had made.

Pre Race Excitement!

Wednesday was the official push off for two of our team members, Dustin Kelm(Rider) Katie Kelm(Driver).

Thursday was the official push off for the other two members of our team, Scott Arnold(Rider) Jody Arnold(Team Support).

Saturday Morning at 0500 I (Josh, the slow Rider)will be leaving to meet everyone in the Country shaped like a Lobster.