Alright... so after completing the Down and Dirty on my 36" MUni and managing to somehow cause quite a stir and 6 pages worth of forum posts I think I should probably have my own say about all of this. Zaslinger, I would like to sincerely apologize for the trouble our encounter caused you and I understand your anger and frustration. It really was not intentional. In my defense, I would like to clear up all the speculating that has happened so far: First of all I would like to say that I don't swear, never have and I don't intend to start, regardless of the provocation. I will admit to responding to the likes of 'Where's your other wheel?' and 'have you escaped from the circus?' with 'I decided to get rid of my training wheel' - we're all human and I feel a linguistic jab deserve a good reply. Secondly, with regards to permission to participate. I contacted Tim Fair well in advance to ask permission to enter and he granted it - I paid the full amount and gave the ride my best effort - I do not enter MTB or road races to compete against 2-wheelers, I enter so that I can cover km's in officially recognized races to raise funds for The Starfish Greathearts Foundation, who provide for orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa. When it comes to seeding - I have only ever ridden races on my unicycle. I usually communicate with the race organisers and they place me in a group that they feel is most suitable. For the Down and Dirty, I admit I didn't and ended up starting in the H group (well, well back from B and C, as was suggested) - within this group I took it upon myself to start right at the back and let the 2-wheelers go first. In future, I will most definitely start in the last group - though this will not guarantee that no-one has to pass me, my experience in the race and my position in the results (729 out of 913 riders) would suggest that I am faster than a portion of the field and that I will at some point pass some 2-wheelers. The combining of the routes did add to this problem, but that was out of my control. As for "the need to prove your "super" abilities and draw praise upon yourself, get a proper bloody bike and win the event." - I'm not participating to prove anything, except maybe that I can achieve goals that I set myself. I am a unicyclist - street, trials, distance and muni - I am taking an opportunity allowed me in order for me to practice a past-time that I enjoy. I apologize that due to the nature of unicycling, we do end up wandering somewhat (unicyclist end up travelling between 2 and 5% further than multi-wheeler counterparts), however I do stick to my line as well as I possibly can and better than some 2-wheelers I have seen. On jeep track I keep to the left and pass on the right should the need arise, on single track I assume those coming from the back can see me sitting a good 50cm higher than anyone else (as well as my wildly flailing ARM - I'm holding my handle bar with the other one remember ). Once again... I apologize for the bust tyre and the walk home. I appreciate the many positive comments and conversation that I had on the route and I hope that this whole issue wont mar the relationship between MTBers and Unicyclists. As long as race organizers allow me to enter I will continue to participate in both road and MTB races and hopefully end up raising a decent amount for the kids that need it.
