Other interesting facts:
- # of revolutions pedaled in 501 miles: 280,927
- # of hills walked up by The Unicycle Guys: ZERO
- Revolutions per minute (RPM) at average speed of 11.2 MPH: 105
- Each unicyclist drank 1512 - 2016 oz. of water (12 - 16 gallons) over the course of the week in addition to Gatorade, Red Bull, etc.

RIDER SURVEY - A WEEK AFTER THE RIDE

How many miles did you ride during GURAI?
George: 501.2... WOOT!
Aaron: 501.2
Jesse: 330.5

How much training did you do for GURAI?
George: around 600 miles, starting with riding around campus in the Spring
Aaron: around 200 miles, starting about 3 weeks before GURAI
Jesse: around 500 miles, starting 2 months before GURAI

Physically, how hard was the trip? (on a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 being the hardest)
George: 3
Aaron: 3.5
Jesse: 4.5

What was your saddle soreness at the end of the ride? (1 - 5)
George: 2
Aaron: 4
Jesse: 4

What is your overall physical condition compared to the start? (1 - 5)
George: 5... my legs and butt have never been this toned. It hurts to sit on a hard chair because I don't have any fat on my butt.
Aaron: 3.5
Jesse: 3... more physically fit, but there are lingering problems with the right achilles tendon

Do you currently have any aches and pains from the tour? Where?
George: no
Aaron: no
Jesse: tendonitus in the right achilles tendon

Would you have done training any differently?
George: practiced more hills
Aaron: no
Jesse: no

How do you rate the group dynamics for the entire trip (1 to 5)?
George: 5
Aaron: 5
Jesse: 5... I had a great time with the other unicycle guys and everyone from Team Kamikaze

Overall, how would you rate this trip? (1 to 5)
George: 5
Aaron: 5
Jesse: 4... I'm glad I did it, but the physical problems were frustrating

Now that you know what it takes to ride across Iowa on a unicycle in a week, would you do it again?
George: maybe if it involved a really sweet sponsorship deal.... other than that, maybe for a day of RAGBRAI, but not the whole thing.
Aaron: Hell no!
Jesse: NO WAY

Would you do another long distance unicycle ride? What geographic area interests you?
George: yeah, but not right away. Rocky Mountains, Europe, Tasmania?
Aaron: See my previous comment. definitely not alone, maybe with a group.
Jesse: Maybe with a group. It would be much more enjoyable if the daily mileage did not exceed 50 miles

What was your favorite part of the trip and why?
George: Smoking all those bikers coming out of Cherokee was pretty cool. The publicity was also really cool. There's nothing quite like riding through towns and having everyone cheering.
Aaron: seeing Joe ride off the house-sized rock in Nora Springs
Jesse: Meeting all the people along the ride. Passing bikers going up hills. Riding by and hearing people cheering. Crazy conversations 60 miles into the ride. And of course, getting off the unicycle at the end of the day!

Day 7: Saturday - July 27th

ANAMOSA TO BELLEVUE - Click here for map of Day 7 Route
------------------
We woke up to heavy rain and lightning. It seems that we camped in the flood plain. George "Lightning Rod" Barnes decided it was best to wait to get on the unicycles until the lightning wasn't so close. At 8:30 A.M., George and Aaron road off into the rain. Many bicyclists rode the bus into Bellevue that day, but it wasn't an option for The Unicycle Guys. Once again Aaron and George ran into our friends at the Des Moines Register midway into the ride. Saturday's ride was a challenging end to a challenging week. The hills started early and didn't stop. It rained hard. Some roads were under up to 12" of water. Riding through these roads caused the Coker tire to shoot a jet of water right up our riding shorts, this was unpleasant to say the least. The winds picked up and didn't stop. It was our favorite headwind/crosswind combo. Headwinds are bad. Crosswinds are hard to control. Both together are brutal. The unicyclists were forced to ride rodeo style with one hand on the handle and the other hand flailing around for balance. Yes, the RAGBRAI gods pulled every trick out of the bag on Saturday: hills, rain, gusty wind, cold, heat, and a broken plastic fork at breakfast. As Seager put it, The Unicycle Guys "out-crazied the gods!" The first 30 miles were small towns without places to fill up water so George and Aaron rode with empty camel-backs for the first half of the ride. George switched to 5" cranks because the downhills were so steep that the 4.3" cranks wouldn't cut it. In George's words, "Even with 5" cranks, there were hills where I was off the saddle, standing up with all my weight on the back pedal just to keep the unicycle under control." Despite the hills, Aaron and George rode never walked (though there were a few times it might have been faster). Fellow Kamikaze rider Seager topped 40 MPH coasting downhill on his mountain bike. George and Aaron were happy to pass a bicyclist walking up one of the monster hills. Thanks to Team Bricky for donating some cold water to hot unicyclists when there wasn't another town for miles. Aaron and George met up with the Kamikaze and cross-country bicyclists in the last town before Bellevue. There they played Gatorade Bacci and rested up for the final few miles. The last few miles were as hilly as the rest of the day and The Unicycle Guys were incredibly happy to see the Mississippi River. At approximately 7:34 P.M. and 17 seconds Central Standard Time, two unicycle wheels hit the Mississippi River after completing every mile of RAGBRAI XXX. Hoorah!!!

STATS for the day
-----------------
Distance: 61.1 hilly miles
Average Speed: 11.2 MPH (not fast enough for Chad)

Unplanned Dismounts
George - 0
Aaron - 0

What hurts the most:
George - "getting passed by bicyclists coasting at 40+ MPH when I'm working so hard just to stay upright and under control"
Aaron - "nothing, I am off the unicycle"
Jesse - "right achilles tendon, left knee"

Day 6: Friday - July 26th

OELWEIN TO ANAMOSA - Click here for map of Day 6 Route
------------------
Friday's ride started off at 7:00 A.M. The sudden motivation to start riding earlier came because we were going to meet a photographer from the Des Moines Register on the way to the first town at 7:30 A.M. The earlier start meant that we were in the middle of the RAGBRAI pack again and the roads were really crowded on the way into the first town. The photographer wanted us in the left lane (the fast lane) for the photo. This was not the best idea on a road crowded with bicyclists. Not long after we moved to the left, a pace line nearly ran into us. This was despite the fact that our Kamikaze teammate Clint was behind us directing bicyclists to go around us. After the leader of the paceline told us to get out of the way, we returned his comment with "it must be rough on a bike!" This is perhaps the first hostile bicyclist we met up with on the trip. Everyone else has been very supportive. We were hoping to meet up with the mayor of Stanley, who used to be a part of the Unicycle Federation of Earth, the unicycle club at Iowa State University in the 70's, but we could not find him and had to move on. The morning chugged along. We were on bumpy roads about 20 miles during the morning but then the roads smoothed out. In Quasqueton George found a barber and got his ears lowered. Aaron debated getting a haircut, but decided not to part with the "surfer dude" look. 40 miles into Friday's ride, Jesse crested his last hill on GURAI. After 330 miles in four and a half days of riding, the left knee couldn't take the pressure and his right achilles tendon was very swollen, red, and tender. It's hard to unicycle when neither leg works. He found a physical therapist from Team Checker who took one look at the achilles tendon and said "you better get off that unicycle before you snap your achilles tendon in two." Point taken. Thanks to Team Bricky for the beer and the ride into town. The unicycle guys are now a crew of two. Aaron and George pushed ahead for the last 33 miles to make it into Anamosa. The hills at the end of Friday were an omen of things to come on Saturday. About 10 miles outside of Anamosa, George and Aaron met up with the Fox news crew. Fox did an interiew with George and Aaron. George had a major unplanned dismount while trying to get back on the unicycle. This was captured on film and shown to news viewers across Iowa. The Unicycle Guys rolled into Anamosa around 7:30 P.M. Thanks to the friendly folks in Anamosa, finding a shower was easy. The first people we asked let us use their shower. Friday night turned out to be one of the best nights of the trip. "The Dean of Juggling" was doing performing downtown and Jesse got to do some juggling with him. There was also an awesome 13 year old juggler from Cedar Rapids who took part in passing clubs. Before long everyone who knew how to unicycle, juggle, or devil stick was out there showing off their talents. With all the talent on Team Kamikaze, we've got big plans for performing in the towns on RAGBRAI next year. Later we headed back to the bus. With all the visitors that night, the deck on top of the Kamikaze bus was full to capacity. Among the visitors were Jaydn, treasurer of the unicycle club, cross-country bicyclists Erin, Ariel, Pan, and Sprocket, friends of Jesse's from Mexico Nick and Howard, and Register reporters Ana Jo and Sarah. Half of Team Kamikaze hung out with unicyclists and friends that night and the other half returned to the bus at some unknown hour.

STATS for the day
-----------------
Distance: 75.1 miles
Average Speed: 11.4 MPH

Unplanned Dismounts
George - 1 (immortalized on film)
Aaron - 0
Jesse - 0

What hurts the most:
George - "I AM A MAN OF STEEL, I FEEL NO PAIN"
Aaron - "rump"
Jesse - "riding into Anamosa in a motor vehicle"

Day 5: Thursday - July 25th

CHARLES CITY TO OELWEIN - Click here for map of Day 5 Route
-----------------------
The unicyclists are a trio once again. With all three unicyclists on the road we could once again use "unicycle attack formation". It's much more impressive with 3 unicyclists. The first half of the day went fairly well. The days are all starting to blur together now. The first 25 miles goes well. The next 25 miles gets tougher. The last 25 miles takes a lot of willpower and silly conversations to get through. George rides the strongest in the last 25 miles. Aaron holds up amazingly well. Especially considering that he never did any serious bicycling in the past and his unicycle training was minimal for this ride. Jesse does well until the knees act up. Now that it's 5 days into the ride, we have been asked everything multiple times. We have posed for countless photos. We take turns as spokesman for the group in order to address the many comments. However, there are times that none of us feel up to playing spokesman. Usually it is when we have been on the unicycles for 10 miles and just want to go that last mile into the next town for a break and someone asks us a question that we've heard countless times before. At these times we sometimes reply with a simple grunt. Even though the questions can get old, it is still a tremendous help to hear everyone cheering us on. Sometimes that is the only thing left to keep us going. The last 20 miles of Thursdays ride were on an old highway with seams in the road every 5 yards. After 20 miles of this, it seems like sitting on a jackhammer. Tender Tom's Turkey was packing up when got to their stand 5 miles outside of town. It's not a good sign when then vendors are packing up as you arrive. After 20 miles on the jackhammer we rode into Oelwein at 8 P.M. We must have been the last people into town. We used the internet at the high school (the internet access was closed before there was enough time to update the website) and by the time we got done it was 8:45 P.M. By now, it seems everyone on RAGBRAI has seen of us or heard of us. While we were walking through town to our campsite with unicycles in hand, we got stopped for questions, comments or photos every 20 yards. When we finally got to the bus it was past sunset. We walked door to door until we found someone who would let us use their showers. A very nice family who was housing a RAGBRAI team let us use their showers. After using Port-a-potties all day, porcelain was a welcome sight. We headed over to Pizza-Hut afterwards and got our money's worth out of the all you can eat buffet. Since it was dark and we didn't feel like setting up tents, we slept under the stars on the deck of the Kamikaze bus.

STATS for the day
-----------------
Distance: 79.8 miles
Average Speed: 11.2 MPH

Unplanned Dismounts
George - 0
Aaron - 0
Jesse - 0

What hurts the most:
George - "seeing all the high dollar road bikes on the Sag Wagon"
Aaron - "cheeks"
Jesse - "take your pick, it probably hurts"

Day 4: Wednesday - July 24th

FOREST CITY TO CHARLES CITY - Click here for map of Day 4 Route
---------------------------
Once again, it was a late start to a long day. George and Aaron hopped on the unicycles at 7:30 A.M. to face another 75 miles. Jesse was out of action for the day. His left knee was not up to the challenge. Riding into Forest City the night before, his left leg was just along for the ride while the right leg did all the work. After the last stretch into town, the right knee was showing signs of wear as well. It was up to Aaron and George to carry the torch on Wednesday. The first half of the ride was without towns. No towns = no food. No food = tired unicyclists. Actually, there were a few vendors along the way, but there were more hungry bicyclists than there was food. Aaron and George waited 2 hours in line to get breakfast burritos. After the longer than planned break, they needed to make good time in order to make it to the next overnight town at a reasonable time. The rest of the breaks for the day were just long enough to stretch out and hop back on. Joe, a unicyclist from Northern Iowa joined George and Aaron for part of the ride on his bike. He towed a trailer with all his camping gear and a mountain unicycle (a.k.a. MUNI). In Nora Springs, Joe used his muni to hop off a "house-sized" rock to the amazement of many on lookers. "I guess all those unicyclers must be crazy" was one of the many comments heard. As usual, there were headwinds to greet the unicyclists for most of the day. George said that the one several mile stretch with tailwinds was the easiest riding of the week. At one point in the day, Aaron and George received unsolicited advice from a unicyclist on what gear to use and how they should ride. This advice was returned with silence. The all-knowing unicyclist could not even mount a Coker. Later in the ride, George and Aaron stopped at the Red Bull vendor to take in some rocket fuel. The rocket fuel was so successful that Red Bull is now part of the daily routine on GURAI. The unicyclists met up with the cross-country bikers again and road the last 15 miles into town with them. At 14-15 MPH average speed, it was the fastest stretch of the trip yet. George and Aaron rolled into Charles City around 7 P.M. Jesse rode the Kamikaze bus on Wednesday and tried to recover from the first 3 days. Another Team Kamikaze member, Clint, happens to be a massage therapist and worked wonders on Jesse's knees. After the knee massage, Jesse exclaimed "Wow, my knees work again!" Unfortunately, the right achilles tendon began to act up on Wednesday, more on that later. The town of Charles City did a nice job putting on a party that night. There were 6 stages with all kinds of music set up downtown. The unicyclists and Team Kamikaze members met up with the Des Moines Register reporters Sarah and Ana Jo that night and hung out for awhile watching the great fireworks display put on down by the River. That night (all night) the sound of an alarm clock going off pierced through the constant rain. A tip for campers: never set your alarm clock if you are not going to be at your tent to shut it off.

STATS for the day
-----------------
Distance: 74.5 miles
Average Speed: 11.6 MPH

Unplanned Dismounts
George - 0
Aaron - 0
Jesse - 0 (it's hard to fall off the bus)

What hurts the most:
George - "kankles"
Aaron - "derrier"
Jesse - "knees"

Day 3: Tuesday - July 23rd

EMMETSBURG TO FOREST CITY - Click here for map of Day 3 Route
-------------------------
The alarm went off at 5:15 A.M. We got up after 6 A.M. Didn't leave until 7 A.M. We were definitely moving a little slower after Monday's ride. Jesse was smelling minty fresh from all the Icy-Hot on the knees. The Ragbrai route didn't come through a town in the first 23 miles of the day, so we stopped for Chris Cakes at a farm for breakfast. Today we were joined by a support crew of two from Team Kamikaze. Mason the photographer/PR-man/smooth-talker and Yosemite Sam who carrys all his gear (and a stereo!) on his bike trailer. Of course, both of the support crew are unicyclists, but just not crazy enough to ride them across Iowa. Tuesday's route was almost completely into the East. We were looking forward to tailwinds since the prevailing winds are out of the West. The only thing that prevails this week is headwinds. Luckily the headwinds on Tuesday were not as strong as Monday. After a morning break, George had a spectacular unplanned dismount when trying to hop back on his unicycle. He amazed everyone by getting right back on the unicycle without any problem. It must have been his smooth shaved legs that pulled him through OK. After the 35 miles into Lone Rock, we were all ready for a nap. An hour later we were back on the road again. With a late start and tired legs we were towards the back of the Ragbrai pack. At one point in the ride, Aaron decided to give George a slap on the back for doing such a great job. BAD IDEA. George responded by slapping him right back, which in turn resulted in two unicycles and two riders on the ground. Luckily, with no hard feelings or road rash, it was time to hop back in the saddle. Making it into the last four towns was a challenge. Somewhere in the delusions, we decided to name our trusty steeds. Aaron named his "bike". George is riding "painful". Jesse is sitting on top of "tiny". Like Monday, the ride stretched into the evening and we could see our tall shadows on the road as we cruised (limped) into Forest City. We were happy to find a Des Moines Register reporter waiting at the bus when we got back. Apparently there were other reporters waiting for us earlier in the day, but they got tired of waiting. Sorry guys, but it's better late than never.

STATS for the day
-----------------
Distance: 73.6 miles
Average Speed: 11.3 MPH

Unplanned Dismounts
George - 1 + 0.5 (way to go Aaron!)
Aaron - 1 + the other half of George's (sorry George)
Jesse - 0 (I'm staying way from you guys!)

What hurts the most:
George - "upper-middle left eyebrow"
Aaron - "ring of fire"
Jesse - "umm...tingley"

Day 2: Monday - July 22nd

CHEROKEE TO EMMETSBURG - Click here for map of Day 2 Route
----------------------
Monday's ride started early at 6 A.M. After dealing with headwinds out of the South on Sunday, we were looking forward to tailwinds on Monday since we would be heading North for a third of the day. We were not so lucky. Our knees were "warmed up" fast with the hills into and out of Cherokee. On the long hill out of town we would have made any unicyclist proud as we passed many a bicycle on the way up the hill. In fact, George was not passed by one bicyclist on the way up the mile long hill. We looked smooth going up the hills, and uttered unpleasant words to ourselves as the many bicyclists zoomed by us coasting down the hills. Through the middle of the ride we rode together quite frequently in "unicycle attack formation" (the 3 of us riding side by side). As the day wore on, the breaks got more and more frequent and we settled into our own paces taking turn leading the pack. When we stopped in the town of Webb, George stopped long enough to stretch his legs and move on. Aaron and Jesse required a bit more of a break before moving on. Once we made it past the 50 mile marker some of us were feeling a bit tired. In the 15.2 miles between the towns of Webb and Ayrshire, Aaron and Jesse dealt with the fatigue by chatting with anyone and everyone passing by. The conversations were quite amusing and far from coherent. When we stopped for a Root Beer break we met Team Tiny, the guy riding a modified childrens bicycle and carrying all his own gear on his miniature wonder bike. The crazy folks on Ragbrai stick together. He joined us for the most of the rest of the ride. The last 12 miles into Emmetsburg was challenging to say the least. In particular the last 4 miles were wicked as we turned North and into the wind. Battling sustained 20 MPH headwinds for 4 miles after 80 miles on a unicycle is something we would not care to do again. Our usual average speed of 12 MPH faded away as we slowly cranked into Emmetsburg, doing all we could not to fall over. Jesse's left knee decided it was not going to help for the last stretch of the trip and his right leg was getting quite a workout. Many experiments were tried with aerodynamic positions on a unicycle. They were amusing perhaps, but not very effective. Amazingly, we pulled through and no one fell over. 13.5 hours after leaving Cherokee we arrived in Emmetsburg at 7:30 P.M. We were happy to be alive.

STATS for the day
-----------------
Distance: 83.4 miles
Average Speed: 10.9 MPH

Unplanned Dismounts
George - 0
Aaron - 0
Jesse - 0

# of times we were asked...
"Are you guys riding those the whole way?" - lost count
"Do you have gears on that?" - way too many
"Is that hard?" - ya, it's tough
"Where's your other wheel?" - have you seen it?

What hurts the most:
George - "my kankles"
Aaron - "South Pole"
Jesse - "LEFT KNEE"

Day 1: Sunday - July 21st

SIOUX CENTER TO CHEROKEE - Click here for map of Day 1 Route
------------------------
We started early waking up to George's alarm clock / missile launcher (140 decibels of pure pain) at 5 A.M. Surely the rest of the campsite appreciated the early morning wakeup. After we packed up camp we hopped on the unicycles at 6 A.M. The early morning hours were nice and cool and we made good time. The response from all the bikers on RAGBRAI was awesome. For the first time in our lives, we found people who appreciate the crazinesss of long-distance unicycling. Surprisingly we kept up with the bikers quite well. On the LONG 15 mile stretch of headwinds into Marcus George drafted off a tandem going 15 MPH and passed everything on the road. There were looks of disbelief, shame, and amazement. We took a much needed rest in the pool in Marcus. At 1 P.M. we saddled up and rode into the oven of Iowa. Breaks were more frequent in the afternoon. We met some girls halfway through their self-supported ride across the country. That's right, they're carrying their own gear. There was mutual respect for both of each others crazy trips. A few breaks, a few hills, and lots of photos later we made it to our host family in Cherokee. A big thanks to Wes and Sue Parker for the showers, food, and A/C. We are currently resting our derriers for the trip tomorrow.

STATS for the day
-----------------
Distance: 53.6 miles
Average Speed: 11.5 MPH

Unplanned Dismounts
George - 0 (woot!)
Aaron - 3 (giving him 4 since he got the coker...attributed to stage fright)
Jesse - 1 (darn railroad tacks)

# of times we were asked...
"Are you guys riding those the whole way?" - 52
"Do you have gears on that?" - 35
"Is that hard?" - an unbelievable 44
"Where's your other wheel?" - a surprisingly low 11

Best moment of the day:
George - "Marcus swimming pool"
Aaron - "dip in the Marcus cow tank"
Jesse - "Marcus swimming pool"

What hurts the most:
George - "posterior"
Aaron - "Florida Keys"
Jesse - "my butt!"

Saturday - July 20th

THE BUS RIDE TO SIOUX CENTER
----------------------------
Hmm...how to describe Saturday. In a word, HOT. 102 degress in a bus with no A/C.

The trip got off to a fabulous beginning when the Team Kamikaze bus would not start. 2 batteries later we were on the road. We didn't make it far until we hit RAGBRAI traffic. Sitting in grid lock traffic soon got boring and it didn't take long before we had the unicycles out. For the first time ever, unicyclists were seen passing cars, trucks, semis, buses, and motorcycles on the shoulder of I35. Amazingly, we survived bus driving skills (or lack thereof) of nearly everyone on the team on the trip to Sioux Center.

Other highlights of Saturday. Unfortunately, the giant pool marked on town map turned out to be a dusty pile of dirt. It seems that someone has a sadistic sense of humor. We found the next best thing. An open fire hydrant. Heaven in a 3 foot tall piece of metal. The night finished off with a fantastic fireworks display put on for RAGBRAI by Sioux Center.