FINAL RESULTS Ride The Lobster 800km Unicycle Race

Final results from Ride The Lobster, the 800km 5-day international unicycle race set in Nova Scotia, Canada, are posted to the Wiki page.

Teams from Germany, New Zealand and the USA (Texas/California) took the top three spots, with 18 minutes separating the top two over the 5-day event. The youngest team, 2Y2D, whose average age was under 15 years, took 22nd in the 35-team field. USA Team, Yellow Line Fever, suffered an early blow even before the race began when one of their members could not make the event. Despite this loss the two-person father-son team of Nathan and Beau Hoover achieved an astounding 11th place. The other all-family team, USA Team Unicycle Max, were 24th. All-female team, Team Venus, accomplished 20th place. The Danish-Canadian Team, Hans Islanders were in the top ten, in 8th position, while the top Canadian, Vincent LeMay of Montréal, unicycled with the Personal Rollercoasters to 4th spot.

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Germany and New Zealand head-to-head in Stages 1 and 2 of Ride The Lobster

1 2 German riders beat the New Zealand crew by under 10 minutes over the 200km Yarmouth-Annapolis Royal Stage One Leg of the 5-day international unicycle race. The New Zealanders closed the gap by about 6 minutes over the 218km rain-drenched Stage Two to Hubbards. Today are the Time Trials from Hubbards, along the 22+km Aspotogan Peninsula, and later in the day the Truro Criterium Loop.

Nova Scotia High Rollers have found the international competition very tough and pulled out of Stage 2 about 40km outside of New Germany in shockingly heavy rains. Being chased by a Rottweiler and having a team member suffer stomach illness did not help. They will continue in the event at the Hubbards Time Trials today.

School children have lined the streets along the route. As riders left Yarmouth kids came out to greet the teams racing by. In Lawrencetown kids “high-fived” riders and were thrilled at the teams doing BritechGPS-baton exchanges. In New Germany an estimated two hundred school children welcomed teams at the first check point of Stage two, despite the rain. Knots of rural Nova Scotians watched in amazement as these athletes flew by and sprayed a trailing tail-feather of water , with video and still cameras recording the event. Flags were hung. Signs of welcome were posted. Balloons decorated many farm gates. Towns rang church bells and blew fog horns to signal the arrival of teams.

Seven teams arrived within about 23 minutes of each other at the end of Stage 2, an incredible result considering the distance and weather conditions. About six minutes after the German Team arrived, the New Zealanders crossed the finish line, with Team Smile (UK-Australia-USA) a close two minutes after the Kiwis. Heavy rains changed the dynamics of results. The young Korean Team, Team UFO No.5, for example moved up from 13th spot on day one to 8th spot on day two. The all-female Team Venus No.3 dropped several spots as did the Hurculean duo of Nathan and Beau Hoover. British teams fared well in the rain.

Despite the conditions many riders were having the time of their lives.

Standings will be made available as soon as they become available to the blog.

In celebration of Ride The Lobster, Condor airlines (www.condor.com) is offering a free flight draw to Europe for two.

-Edward

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Ride The Lobster about to start, after rough weekend for some unicyclists

Riders have begun to arrive from all corners of the earth for a memorable 800km, 5-day journey through Nova Scotia, Canada. Today, the unicycle race, Ride The Lobster, begins in the historic seaport town of Yarmouth.

Stories abound already.

Team Yellow Line Fever, unexpectedly became the second all-family team in the race (the other being the deMilner trio) as one of their members could not make the journey to Nova Scotia. Down to two riders, Nathan and Beau Hoover will have their work cut out for them. Rules stipulate that no change to teams are allowed after June 1st. Their efforts will be Hurculean.

Seven unicyclists have already experienced some type of equipment or unicycle damage during air transport, or during training runs over the weekend. A key member of Korean Dream Team had their unicycle so badly damaged in transport that almost a new unicycle had to be built from scratch. Results of this re-construction is not yet available. Another unicyclist, sources say, had their seat fall apart and required overnight welding services for repairs.

One unicyclist, while riding about a parking lot in Annapolis Royal, accidently fell and required attention at a nearby medical clinic. He will be unavailable to support his team at least for Stage 1 of the race that begins hours from now.

Aside from a number of lost airline luggage incidents, lost car keys, misplaced riders, midnight arrivals due to cancelled and rescheduled flights out of the USA, the riders who remained unscathed had a great time at welcoming receptions.

The towns of Annapolis Royal and Yarmouth, and the small fishing community of Pubnico West greeted the riders with unbelievable receptions of music, entertainment and food. One head organizer stated that this may be the first event they know where riders may actually gain weight.

As this article comes to a close, riders begin to awake within the hour to eat a complimentary breakfast before making unicycle history.

Connections to the internet in this mainly rural province are limited. Sporadic reports are expected to come out of Ride The Lobster over the next five days.

Edward.

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Britech tracking technology put to the test reports Chronicle Herald

Reporter Gord Delaney of Nova Scotia’s The Chronicle Herald spent time with Brian Reid, CEO of Britech Information Systems Ltd., to take a look at the technology behind the tracking and mapping of unicycle teams in Ride The Lobster, for 5-days and 800km along the length of Nova Scotia.

“The first [GPS and mapping] trial was an Ironman competition at 14 Wing Greenwood”, reports Delaney, and “since then, the product has evolved to the point where Apple Courier uses it to track its drivers and their orders in Halifax”. Britech wants to know where on planet earth you are, to the nearest metre, at any point in time, in real-time.

Britech is a major supporter of Ride The Lobster, donating resources, technology, time and effort, and sees this sports event as a way to continue its product development and commercialization in health and geomatics.

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The Ottawa Citizen Rides The Lobster with painful news from British Columbia rider Sankey

Ken Meaney reports on Ride The Lobster’s gruelling 800km 5-day race in The Ottawa Citizen, that “35 teams of unicyclists are about to mount up for a gruelling five-day race and bragging rights to being the hottest thing on one wheel.”

He reports that British Columbia resident and member of Team No.12 Hans Islanders, Todd Sankey, has been preparing 20-25 hours per week but has never done the distance needed in Ride The Lobster’s 800km 5-day international unicycle race in Nova Scotia, Canada. “To keep it up over five days?”, Sankey is reported to say, ” It’s hard to train for that . . After an hour and a half, I really have to get off.”

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Rhode Island Rides The Lobster, following local unicyclist Eric Scheer

Independent Staff Writer, Liz Boardman, with the South County Independent Newspaper from Rhode Island, USA, followed local rider Eric Scheer and Team No.77 “American Mojo” as he prepares for the Ride The Lobster unicycle epic 800km 5-day event in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Boardman writes of Scheer’s recommendations “.. do not zone out. The second you zone out too much, you fall.” The South County Independent reports that “Scheer said his team would be competing against world-famous unicyclists and hopes to finish in the top 20 and that each team is tracked with a navigation unit that feeds real-time tracking back to www.ridethelobster.com, allowing fans at home – which will include Scheer’s wife and two children – to follow each team’s progress.”

Tracking and mapping of Ride The Lobster teams is headed by Britech of Nova Scotia.

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Poll ranks difficulty of Ride The Lobster

While this forum’s poll is not considered scientific, the question was asked of unicyclists “How hard will it [Ride The Lobster] be, compared to other unicycle events?”

Results indicate the event is considered to be a challenge for all riders, but that a wait-and-see approach is needed. This event charts unknown territory. Forum comments suggest both mental and physical preparedness will play a huge role in how teams and riders will fare.

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“Juggling Mike” Rides the Lobster with his blog

. News on the Singapore team will be well covered with the additional blog from ‘Juggling Mike’ as he covers Ride The Lobster and its 800km 5-day adventure through Nova Scotia.

He writes in a recent post ” … I think we will have a really good time crossing Nova Scotia. I’m greatly looking forward to hanging out with unicyclists from around the world and hopefully making new friends. There is still a week left of anticipation before I head off to Nova Scotia, but every day I think about riding the lobster!”

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Follow Singapore’s unicycle team through their new website

Jiahui Cai, member of the “Masticating Bunnies from Hell”, invites supporters, spectators and media to follow their team on a newly-created website http://www.thecollectiveus.com/bunnies/.

Are they ready to go up against the best in the world in the 800km 5-day, Ride The Lobster unicycle event in Nova Scotia? There are no 36″ers in Singapore. They’ll have to work harder on their smaller-wheeled machines. The Southeast Asian heart, however, beats strong and proud with this determined Singaporean team from the tropics.

RTL sponsor, Nova Scotia’s Port Royal Inn from Annapolis Royal has adopted this team from Singapore.

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New Germany to announce arrival of riders with church bells

The New Germany Check Point Committee is planning to ring the bells of the local churches when the first riders enter the community of New Germany. This is a small town in Nova Scotia falls along the Valley-Lighthouse Stage 2 of Ride The Lobster, the 800km 5-day unicycle race set in Nova Scotia for 16-20th June 2008. The town is known for its surrounding farmlands and rolling forested lands. New Germany falls within the District of Lunenburg, the third largest District in Nova Scotia.

The Committee invites or challenges all of the other Stage participants along the route to do the same — to let the riders know, let the community know, let the world know that the race has arrived in your community!

For more information contact:
Dave Waters, B.Comm, B.Rec
Community Economic Development Officer
Municipality of the District of Lunenburg
Ph: 902-541-1353
Fax: 902-543-7123
www.modl.ca

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