So today I decided to drive down to the entrance of Jonathon Dickinson state park, the 17,000 wildlife preserve right behind my house, to have a go on the mountainbike trail which, in my 14 years of living here, I had never been on.
I had my 661 shinguards and my 20" Nimbus Hoppley, along with about 10 bottles of water. I expected to have a longer ride, but after messing around on the “beginners’ course”, which is mainly skinnies, some triangular wood obstacles, and some boxes, I was feeling pretty tired - not to mention the sweat that had dripped onto my glasses, which obscured my vision.
I drank a few bottles of water and took five.
I decided that maybe it would be fun to go on a little ride along the actual trail, rather than just doing trials-type stuff on the obstacle course - I was, after all, here for a taste of MUni.
About 1,000 feet down the trail, I turned around. Struggling through the sugar sand only to UPD on a large root time after time quickly became too much for me. I headed back to the obstacle course to refine my skills. A few passing cars and SUVs slowed down to watch “that crazy guy offroading on a unicycle”.
I have a newfound respect for MUni riders, especially those who do it every weekend. You must be in better shape than I claim to be
I look forward to taking a trip up to the Carolinas or Tennessee area, as I’m sure the sugar sand played a large role in my failures.
A 20" trials unicycle is not ideal for MUni, especially in loose sand; that tire just doesn’t have the width or the tread to deal with those conditions. You’d do a lot better with a real MUni.
And, of course, practice; rolling over a root in loose conditions requires different skills than trials.
I think that anything characterized as a mountainbike trail should be MUniable. If the sand gets too loose to be rideable on a MUni, it’s not really rideable on a mountain bike, either.
I didnt plan on any Muni when i started either…But now that ive dropped close to $700 on a Custom rig its gotten to be a little more that a big part of my life.
A 20" is OK for MUni as long as the distance isn’t too long and the surface isn’t too loose. But a long ride on a loose surface will not be fun at all on a 20".
I was “muni-gung-ho” loooooong before I changed my username. The “terrybigwheel” thing was because I had a coker, but that turned out not to be my style. From the actual moment I got offroad on a muni, I was hooked.
i went MUni-ing today at some sweet woodlandish trails at pineland. i had never done anyhting like this before and was using my 20" DX, but it was still a blast, i knew it was a loop, but i didnt know it was two miles of either up or down hill, almost no flat at all. i know 2 Mi. isnt a lot, but on a 20" it certainly felt like it was, and then i had to go to flippin’ soccer practice.overal it was a pleasant expirience
