Well today I went on a really fun muni ride at valley forge park and I had a blast during it so I thought I would make a write-up. so here it is.
I got out of the car on a small gravel parking lot. I took out my unicycle and began putting on my 661’s, I then adjusted my seat height and I was on my way. I started off slow on a gravel path with slight up hills until you hit a part called “the wall”, a section of the path that I have never successfully made up but was always willing to try again.
I stood up and started pedaling and immediately started to lose my balance and swerve back and forth. Walkers on the trail turned around to look at me while I struggled for balance. I stopped to hop a few times then found my balance and began full speed up the hill. As I passed pedestrians they all cheered me on as I powered up the hill pedal by pedal. I turned the corner and saw the top of the hill about 100 meters away. This encouraged me more to stay on my uni and really prove to myself that I could do it. I came to a part of the hill that wasn’t quite as steep and decided that this was a good place to get a drink from my camelback and I swigged down a gulp or two of sweet tasting 1/2 water and 1/2 gatorade and continued up the hill only pecking once when I was in danger of coming to a dead stop and before I knew it I had made it up. By this point I had done about 3 or 4 miles and took a short rest on a very comfortable rock on the side of the trail.
At the top of the hill there is a fork that I normally turn left at but because I was feeling unusually confident I decided to go the long way and took a right turn. The path had now turned into a singletrack trail going through a powerline field and continued up at a very slight grade for about a half mile until it ducked into the forest and the real fun began. It started off with a small drop to a smooth dirt downhill. The trail had a few switchbacks and some great rock gardens with rocks about 4-5 inches off the ground. (This is some of my favorite muni sections of all time) I tried to ride straight at them and stand a little bit to cushion the impact but I soon realized that this wouldn’t work. The unicycle fell down and I ran it out. I decided that I should try it again this time using a little bit more of a trials style of riding. It was a little slower but I managed to get over them without falling. My next obstacle that wasn’t exactly on the trail was a fallen down tree that had a small pile of gravel and dirt packed together next to it. I rolled up to the pile and hopped the remaining foot up to the log and casually started to ride down the fallen tree. As I neared the end, I sidehopped back onto the trail and was on my way down.
After the tree there were some more great rock gardens that weren’t quite as technical as the first but more fun because you could carry more speed into them and a root section about 5 feet long. I was going really fast at this point so I didn’t have time to brake when I saw it and decided it was all or nothing. I grabbed the handle and jumped with every bit of energy I had and cleared every last one of those roots (this is the part I’m most proud of). I then kept riding at full speed so I didn’t lose my touch and did a 3 foot drop to a slight downhill without even thinking about slowing down or making preparations to hop and came out clean. I made it back to the parking lot after getting back on the gravel path that I cam on and decided to do a little bit of trials while I waited for my mom to get done with her jog. So I walked down to a fallen tree near the parking lot and hopped up onto it. I rode down it and hopped from branch to branch (small gaps but still fun) and as soon as I decided that it was time that I stop my mom came jogging back. I loaded my stuff into the car and still felt the rush to go out and muni but my legs were telling me otherwise.
Well there it is, hope you enjoyed it. all comments are appreciated:)