AmaOneTya

(Photo courtesy of Andrew Haylett)

The annual Red Bull Urban Assault had it’s first unicycle entry this year. Well, in Cape Town at least. Johnny Cronje from the AmaOneTya group heard about the downhill bike race from the slopes of signal hill and through the steep streets and steps of the Bo-Kaap and was excited at the prospect of doing the race. While being rather intimidated by the event he decided to go for it anyway.

After a registration at Action Cycling Johnny caught the shuttle up to the start along with a large group of Downhill riders, who were very supportive and intrigued and as Johnny said, "Without perpetuating any stereotypes, DH'ers are definitely the most supportive group of non-unicyclists I have ridden with!". The first half of the route took you on a scree-gravel jeep track where the bikers were hitting over 60km/h. The 2nd half of the route was the fun part. About 50m of undulating single-track, followed by the first obstacle of 2 built up log and rock ramps with a small drop off. The next object was a short but steep downhill of about 3 meters, the tricky part being that it was made up of jagged rocks varying in size from gravel to very sharp rugby balls. Then came a few more short but steep dips/hills in the single-track before opening onto a 50m stretch of jeep track. This took you up to a scaffold-supported bridge over the Vista School fence, with a drop off of about 1m onto the grass on the other side. The route then winds through outside corridors, lots of stairs, rooty drops and non-concrete walking paths before ending on sloped bank of rock leading into a small parking lot. A really pleasant route that was technically challenging but manageable.

Johnny's comentary on his ride, "I did my first of my 2 official timed runs at the beginning of the 2nd set of timed runs. The leaders had finished the course in about 2min50s. I had been given a 10 minute head start. So, after kitting up with head, wrist, hand, elbow, forearm, shin, knee and eye protection (It may have been overkill, but I felt like a bouncy-ball). Off I went with a countdown from the organisers and good wishes from the bikers. The gravel half of the race was quite lonely, with no spectators on this dull but fast stretch. I pedalled harder than I did the previous day during the practice, but was careful to not go full speed due to the really loose gravel and sand that had been torn up even more by the bikers. Hitting the speed trap, I clocked a humble 16.7km/h (fastest biker was 64km/h). Then it was onto the single-track. I was tired. I had taken that downhill too fast for too long, and was not as fit as I remembered! Whilst the terrain of the single-track slowed me down a little, it was not as much (relatively) as the bikers. As I approached the corner that would turn me down the main spectator point on the route, the double-log-ramp-followed-by-jagged-scree-slope, I heard people. Lots of people. This was the area that I couldn’t clear during yesterdays practice runs. With fingers crossed and eyes on the trail, I headed into the section slightly slower than the previous. People started screaming. I felt like screaming. But the logs passed by with 2 hops and a split second stillstand. Not quite the monster-truck effect I was going for, but down the slope I sailed with cheers in the background. I felt great! It was exhilarating! I was tired! I then I bailed. Not deliberately, but a rice-grain sized rock through me off the uni with no breathe to curse properly. Thankfully, there were no spectators on this part of the route. I took a few moments to catch my breathe before mounting and promptly falling again. The problem dawned on me immediately ... I had an acute attack of jelly-legs! The only treatment is rest. A few more moments of breathing, and a mount with more concentration got me to a wobbling start, which was soon smoothed out with momentum. I now approached the 2 slightly longer, steeper downhill sections, another spectator point. No bails here, but the sense of mutiny was rising from my legs. The short jeep track section up to the ramp over the school fence was taken at a very average pace, preparing for the burst of energy that would take me up the relatively steep scaffolding. I had just enough steam to pass over the top and onto the grass, with cameras flashing and people cheering as I landed and smoothly rolled away. Now my lungs were joining my legs in their uprising. But I had to clear the schoolyard first. The stairs, which had worried me after some painful lessons on Jammie’s wide-ass trappe, were a breeze, while the rooty sections appeared rather meek compared to Tokai’s lizard trail. The last jump from the stair case to the sloped wall ended without the anticipated pedal-clip, and I rode under the inflated Red Bull arch to applause, cheers, and general feelings of accomplishment."

Johnny's second run down the course resulted in a slightly faster speed over the speed trap of 17km/h, but an overall run time of 5 seconds slower than the first. It was 3 times slower than the fastest biker, but for a 1 wheeled, hardtail, breakless fixie it was an amazing accomplishment. Well done to Johnny for competing in the event and lifting the status of Mountain Unicycling within the cycling fraternity.

Some last words from Johnny, "I had a 5-star time at this event, and cannot wait for next year to ride it again. The idea of having a unicycle category was well received by the crowd and the interviewer, so lets make it happen! A big thanks to Action Cycling for letting me take part in the event, Justin for telling me about it, Andrew for putting up with lots of phone calls trying to find my way around and also for taking some cool photos, and all the bikers and spectators for their interest and encouragements along the way!

Johnny"