Here are a few reasons why you should visit PA between May and July of 2013:
http://www.uninationals2013.comThe North American Unicycling Convention and Championships a.k.a. NAUCC 2013 is here July 21-27. (Butler County, PA.) If you don’t know about this event, you need to visit the site.
6 Hours of Brady’s Run (Beaver Falls, PA): https://www.bikereg.com/Net/17889. It’s an endurance race with solo and duo uni classes. Only $25 a person if you pre-register! I’ve ridden and raced Brady’s run for close to 10 years now. It’s always one of my favorite places to visit. It’s challenging, but VERY rideable. Sunday, May 5th.
Dirt Fest- May 17-19 (Raystown Lake, PA): http://www.dirtragdirtfest.com/
I’m registered under “Butler Wobble” in the Group Camping section. This event is at Raystown Lake- a fabulous place for Muni. This is a great NON-racing weekend. Last year we had a good time with a learner area:
We also did some riding:
We hope to have some formal Muni group rides this year.
I can’t stress how much fun this weekend is. The MTB community is great. Please sign up under “Butler Wobble” in the group camping section. We’d love to have you join us.
The Fat Tire Challenge (Sigel, PA): http://fattirechallenge.com/. This will be the 3rd year for a Muni specific class. Definitely another one of my favorite courses. Michael, the organizer, has done a tremendous job at reaching out to the uni community and adapting the course to fit our unique needs. The registration link is on the main page.
In addition to these events, there are many more opportunities to ride around here.
I’m already registered for all the events, so I’ll be there. We’ll have other locals too, but I’m committed.
I hope some of you will join us for some great riding this year.
I’m really looking forward to trying to make the DirtFest in Raystown Lake in May. It’s a shame us East Pa riders aren’t closer to Pittsburgh. It’d be nice to get a ride together of all the Pa MUni riders! Hope you’re having a great winter MUni season!
Register under “Butler Wobble” when you pre-register as we’re trying to get a group site and the unis might as well stay together. It is recommended to register well before the event as it does fill.
PA is a big state for sure. If there’s any way you can make NAUCC 2013 you definitely should. Dirt Fest is an awesome weekend. NAUCC is an awesome week!
I WILL MAKE IT TO NAUCC! We, as PA riders, have to REPRESENT our state. =) I’ll be sure to try and get things situated so I can put down reservations ahead of time for the Dirtfest. I’ll try to get some east Pa MUni riders interested also!
If you’re interested in racing- the Fat Tire Challenge is an awesome course. The 6 Hours of Brady’s run will be fantastic too. The trails there are very rideable.
If you want to just hang out and ride flowy trails- Dirt Fest at Raystown Lake is THE ticket. It’s always a great weekend.
If you want both- NAUCC 2013. Registration is coming soon.
The first annual 6 Hours of Brady’s Run is now in the history books. As far as the Butler Wobble goes, we had 3 riders who rode unis for the event and 2 riders who were on bikes for the day.
I won’t bore people with a lengthy race report, but it needs to be noted how AMAZING this event was. No matter the number of wheels it was an incredibly well run event- especially for it being the inaugural run.
The site says the laps were 9 miles and the organizers said 1200+ ft of climbing per lap (I think there were changed from the posted GPS data and the race day course). It was a VERY challenging 9 miles. Some of the fastest Expert bike solos and duos pulled 8 laps with a finishing time between 6 and 7 hours (you had to start the last lap before the 6th hour was up and finish before the 7th hour was up for it to count).
In our group, Ann and Kevin finished 4 laps duo (on bikes), Isaac and Nate pulled 2 laps (uni duo) and I got 4 laps (uni solo). While 36 miles doesn’t look like a whole lot for 6 hours of riding it fails to take the terrain into account. The course was very rideable, but very challenging. There were many short and steep up and downs, and many log crossings. Roots and rocks aplenty were there too. Tight switchback turns and technical moves were par for the course.
In short- it was PERFECT Pennsylvania MUni (without the mud!)
The 29 with a 2.5 was a great choice. It took a lot of horsepower for some of the climbs, but there were a couple of gravel road sections that I wouldn’t want any smaller wheel for.
Next weekend is Dirt Fest in Raystown Lake, PA. We have a learner session on the schedule from 11-12:30 Saturday with a MUni Group ride to follow.
You can still register until tomorrow. Group register under Butler Wobble to join us.
