This weekend my family and I went up to the mountains to enjoy nature and unicycle. The weather was wonderful and the view was spectacular! This is what I call mountain unicycling.
It was the most challenging MUni ride I’ve ever had. Going up into the mountain was very difficult and I had to walk most of the way. Going down on the other hand was fun but really scary. Here are my two scary moments:
I was having a good run when suddenly the trail turned, narrowed and I found myself next to a 20’ drop without much trail (less width than my unicycle). I was warned about this but it still snuck up on me. If I rode on the edge away from the drop, my pedal would go bonk, bonk on the slope of the mountain and I would UPD (no good at all). If rode close to the drop, well… I would be close to the edge and that’s what I had to do (I think I just held my breath and pedaled carefuly). The second time I chickened out and walked through the area. I know my limits and getting hurt would be no fun at all.
Coming down was scary! The last bit of the ride out was nice and wide, gravely and quite steep (for me). I was really moving on my little 20" wheel when it started to roll faster than I could pedal, and that’s when panic set in. I decided the only thing to do was start tacking back and forth on the slope- which worked! I rode down the whole slope without a UPD and was greeted by some cheering nature walkers who were monitoring my ride. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it felt pretty darn good!
Does anyone else ‘tack’ down steep slopes, or is there a better method of negotiating hills? Tacking worked well for me, but my wheel was sliding out due to the gravel and grade of the slope so I almost ‘bit the big one’ a couple of times.
Here are some photos that show Alaskan beauty in the fall:
I recall sliding all over the place going downhill on my little 20" before I got my muni. It’s weird… it wasn’t very steep but it was a loose surface, and short of just rolling with it and speeding up there’s absolutely nothing you could do about it; any back pressure on the pedals just made you skid. I think you’ve just got to go slowly and smoothly…
Of course with the nobbly 24" it’s sooo much easier!
>when panic set in. I decided the only thing to do was start tacking back
>and forth on the slope- which worked! I rode down the whole slope
>Does anyone else ‘tack’ down steep slopes, or is there a better method
>of negotiating hills? Tacking worked well for me, but my wheel was
>sliding out due to the gravel and grade of the slope so I almost ‘bit
>the big one’ a couple of times.
Jason, I’m not sure what you mean by tacking. Is it going down
zigzagging at angles to the slope as opposed to straight down? Then
no, I don’t do it because the few steep bits I usually do are doable
straight down, and too narrow to decently zigzag anyway. I was once on
a steep uphill on a paved road. I found that zigzagging did not make
it easier, as it requires additional energy to turn all the time, and
the distance to ride is increased.
> Jason, I’m not sure what you mean by tacking. Is it going down
> zigzagging at angles to the slope as opposed to straight down?
Yes. Zigzagging. I started out going straight down and then picked up
too much speed to control my Uni. My legs were very fatigued from the
ride overall, so I shifted my weight and started zigzagging my way down.
My wheel slipped allot on the loose gravel as I crossed back and forth
but I made it down healthy.
In article <3D8FA04A.7D2119C2@nospam.no.no.no>,
Jason <nospam@nospam.no.no.no> wrote:
)Klaas Bil wrote:
)
)> Jason, I’m not sure what you mean by tacking. Is it going down
)> zigzagging at angles to the slope as opposed to straight down?
)
)Yes. Zigzagging. I started out going straight down and then picked up
)too much speed to control my Uni. My legs were very fatigued from the
)ride overall, so I shifted my weight and started zigzagging my way down.
)My wheel slipped allot on the loose gravel as I crossed back and forth
)but I made it down healthy.
That’s probably a tactic that works better on a 20" than a larger wheel.
On a 24", you’d have more speed at each tack and you’d go further across
the trail. My 29" doesn’t tack, it attacks.
-Tom
Wow, love the photos…must put Alaska on my list of places to visit. Keep them coming.
>Does anyone else ‘tack’ down steep slopes, or is there a better method of >negotiating hills? Tacking worked well for me, but my wheel was sliding out due to >the gravel and grade of the slope so I almost ‘bit the big one’ a couple of times.
I sometimes find that on loose steep downhills that it’s best to ride it out as best as you can rather than going too slow and locking up the wheel. I think a brake would be helpful (my next MUni upgrade) as it would allow you to use your legs for control only, rather than for braking.
