Thanks to Tom Holub, the original MUni Weekend is back for 2013! We’re a little late getting organized, but two of the three locations we have planned are brand new to MUni Weekend:
The order of those locations may change. No plans for Trials or similar competitions at the moment, but we might do some fun or impromptu MUni games at the trails.
This MUni Weekend will focus on riding these awesome trails. Each park has many areas of technical riding, and beautiful scenery. Photo album links to follow. I’ve only been to Skyline and Anandel once each, and both of those trips were this year. Excellent, challenging riding! Rockville features a maze of trails for all skill levels, including gnarly descents for people who love a challenge.
Napa allows camping. According to Google Maps, it’s about 43 miles from Anandel State Park to Rockville Hills Park, with Napa roughly in the middle. Plenty of other places to stay (or camp) in that area.
Tom is putting together a WordPress site for the event. When it’s live, it will be located at http://unicycling.com/muni/ but there’s nothing there yet.
Who wants to ride with us? Stay tuned for more info.
I can’t think of one spot that has a lot of good trials lines of varying difficulties. But there are several separate spots for a few lines of intermediate through advanced. If I remember correctly a couple might even challenge someone like Max Schulze.
PM me for trail details. It’d prob be best to visit them to see if your judgement (or someone else’s) matches my memory.
Also there is a large rock garden at the entrance to Angwin State Park, near Calistoga
In only a few millennia, tectonic and erosive effects may create hills in Illinois. Until then, you’ll have to go elsewhere for MUni.
Like the wine country of California! Three days on beautiful, rocky hills, some of the best sessioning MUni anywhere on the planet. Plus wine tasting for you non-riding family. Make the pitch!
Or, on the same weekend you can come to Minnesota for the MN MUni Weekend! No need to wait millenia for tectonics and erosion to occur because we have man-made mountains here. Seriously! A little bit closer to Illinois, though, if you’re going to take a flight, I’d go to Cali.
I was going to say that great MUni can be found wherever there are great trails. So far every state that’s hosted a large unicycle convention, since MUni events were added, has filled the bill. Even when we had to make our own courses, which we did in the “early days” (roughly 1988-98).
I learned to ride offroad in Michigan, which is where I grew up. But there were no MUni Weekends there at the time, for two reasons. One, the term MUni (okay, Muni) didn’t exist until about 15 years later. Second, because nobody organized any. So you could look into grouping up with other riders from your part of the country and see who’s got some great trails to ride on.
Second best bet is to take Gilby up on his offer. Sorry, didn’t realize we were picking the same weekend as MN! But ours makes sense for this area, due to the Berkeley fest the previous weekend, and the general unavailability of a bunch of other weekends. Hey, isn’t it alreay winter in Minnesota by then?
Photo: Early MUni in Livonia, MI; 1981. Equipment: 24" Miyata “regular” unicycle. Safety gear: in my mind. Cycling clothes: cutoff shorts!! Trail: that place is now part of a Wal-Mart parking lot.
Registration in advance is just $10. That’s cheaper than a movie, for three days of rockin’ the rocks! On-site registration will be $20, so you should register in advance. Also, if you’re camping, especially RV camping, you should call Napa Skyline for a reservation. (707) 252-0481
We went up this weekend to scout out some of the main venue trails, and man, they are awesome. Discovered a new trail with rock slabs and drops that’s definitely going on the ride plan.
Note for intermediate riders: If there is interest, we’re looking at putting together B-level rides for people who don’t want to play in rock gardens all day, or even for people who want to ride 29ers/36ers. These parks have the flexibility to do such things. Let us know if you think that’s worth putting together.
We talked to the park ranger, they’re going to have an outdoor cook area available for those who are camping at the park. And we found an awesome Mexican market and taqueria down the street. It’s gonna be a blast!
Here are the routes for Friday’s ride. The main ride will have two loops, climbing on Totally Doable trails with some uphill challenges, then heading down on sweet rock gardeny switchbacks. It’s cool doing two loops in this park because the opposite sides of the canyon have totally different trails; the south is oak woodland with baby heads, the north is manzanita chaparral with rock slabs.
There is also an option for people who want a smoother ride; after a climb up the Upper Skyline Trail, there’s a lot of smooth, sweet singletrack. Ideal for newer riders or people who want to bring a big wheel.
Info is up for the Rockville Hills ride. Rockville was featured in CA MUni Weekend way back in 2003 (my first one!) and it remains a top-notch MUni destination, our favorite in the extended Bay Area. It’s a MUni playground, with incredibly techy rock gardens (some with overhanging manzanita for a 3-D challenge), rock slabs, drops, roots, caves, cliffs; everything you could want! None of the trails is that long but we routinely spend five or six hours playing around out there. And there are good options for people who just want to roll, or bring a big wheel.
