Another 2-day Coker Tour to Monterey

Unicycles and Equipment
1

Over the weekend we repeated most of a great 2-day Coker tour we did last spring (2004 Coker Tour). This time we had 6 unicyclists plus two friends on bike. We had a support vehicle that we took turns driving. This type of tour is really great since you can bring whatever you want but don’t have to carry heavy tools or even spare clothes. Scot and Dez organized the whole ride - including scoring us 3 free hotel rooms and making advance dinner reservations etc. Sunday was Scot’s birthday - what a great way to celebrate!

The route was from just south of Aptos (near Santa Cruz, California) 35 miles to Monterey. It’s mostly backroads but require riding a 4 mile section of crowded route 1. The last 11 miles to Monterey is on a nice smooth bike path. The most amazing thing about this ride was seeing how well Mark and Shel rode. After learning to uni at the end of last year, they both rode the whole first day and parts of the second. Ken rode a tandem solo not only carrying lots and lots of spare food/drinks/tools, but allowing anyone to stick their Coker in the van and climb on as stoker if they felt like it. He always rode right with whoever was last which was great too. Bikes mix perfectly on these tours.

Sunday we retraced our route, but with a strong tailwind the first 12 miles or so. Then, just to make sure we didn’t have it easy, we had strong headwinds for the last 20 miles - very noticeable on the uphills. The rain started a bit after we finished. All in all the weather was great, not too warm or cold.

Various different Coker setups were used, as usual no one was riding the same cycle as anyone else. I used the 110mm cranks again and now after 3 days of trying them (120 miles total), I am very comfortable and feel that for rides that don’t have very steep climbs they are probably better even than 125mm. It is so smooth and easy. And on the downhills, the natural speed they go is just fantastic. I kept having to slow down to let the others catch up. If you haven’t tried 110mm yet, do it. I am using these: http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=165

Here are some pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/309304123CvVCAy

—Nathan

2

Looks like a good time!

Is Scot still having knee trouble? I see the brace.

Happy Birthday, Scot!

3

Cool photos, Nathan. You guys take nice rides. Thanks for the write-ups. You keep your 110’s, I’ll try to keep my kness.

4

Looks like another great ride. Happy birthday, Scot. What a cool way to spend it!
I’m glad Scot’s new knee brace and old knee are working well together.:slight_smile: We are in the same boat.

Thanks for the pictures Nathan.

Scott

5

Great ride, everyone! And Happy Birthday, Scot!

Please keep me in mind for some of these rides. I’m getting better on hills and continue to train.

Ride safely,

Mark

6

Man, I’m going to have to do one of those with you guys. Looks like a great ride!

7

Mark (and anyone else interested), we are doing the Strawberry Fields Forever ride in the Santa Cruz area on May 15, 2005. For unicyclists there are probably only two distances of interest: 25 miles or 100km. Most of us are doing the 100km.

I haven’t done it before but Megumi has unicycled the 25 mile route and bicycled the 100km route and says both courses are great. According to Corbin, the 4000’ of climbing they mention for the 100km is an over-estimate.

Registration continues until they get 900 people or May 7. Last year they sold out by the first of May or so.

This ride is famous for great rest stops and awesome foods (like strawberries dipped in chocolate), so don’t miss it!

—Nathan