I want to plan an organized unicycle event for these year’s burn. Each year we see lots of us out there, but we’ve never organized (last year we had a word of mouth group ride that gathered 15 unicylists or so).
This year we’ll have an event on the calendar and see if we can’t get 40 unicyclists or so.
…but what should the event be? Feedback please!
This is what I have so far.
I’m planning this event for Thursday @ 4:30. We’ll meet at my camp, Pancake Playhouse, which is in Center Camp usually next to Camp antartica.
There aren’t any trails. It’s a giant man made city in the middle of the desert that exists only one week out of the year. Projected population this year is about 38,000.
It’s basically a one of a kind event where you can find large scale art projects (that are often burned) , it operates on a gift-economy, and many people participate in the form of a theme camp. Any idea you can think of for a theme camp or art project can be a theme camp or art project. You’ll find crazy art cars, unusual bicycles and yes, unicycles. There are ginormous parties going on all night every night, and unusual costomes are par for the course. It’s hard to explain. People bring all sorts of crazy ideas, and everyone is encouraged to express themselves in any way they see fit. Go to the website and check out the pictures.
For those who are unfamilar with BM, while it is not a nudist event, there are plenty of people who choose to be nude.
They have an event called critical tits (parody of critical mass) which is a huge bicycle rally with only female participants, topless of course. People who take pictures (without consent) ruin it for the rest of us. It’s a fun event to witness.
Due to this and other things, people tend to associate nudity with BM, but for the vast majority, it is NOT a nudist event. Although unnamed people have been spotted riding giraffes naked.
Ken, that would be fantastic! If I do the MUT, however, I may not have enough vacation time to go 2007. There’s a group of Kiwi burners on the regionals page.
Sorry for resurrecting this thread, but I’m considering going to Burning Man 2007 and I will definitely be toting a uni.
Is there anything I should know regarding what sort of uni to bring? I’ve heard that the climate and conditions out there can be nasty. Should I bring a MUni rather than something more basic? Will a Coker get trashed by the dust?
Aside from that, are there any other concerns associated with unicycling at Burning Man? I figure maintenance will be the biggest issue, but I’ve never been to Burning Man so I don’t know what I’m in for.
A fast unicycle is a fantastic burning man vehicle. Terrain is flat dirt with occasional loose dust and small bumps. You’ll be ok riding anything, but you’ll want something fast so you can get around town easier. I’ve been there with a 24" Miyata, a prototype Telford, a KH 24, and a coker. They were all fun, but the coker was the clear winner. Instead of my bike-riding friends having to wait for me all the time, I kept circling back for them. A 29er would be great too. Leave the Schlumpf at home though, unless you want to ruin it.
As for maintenance, just make sure you clean the dust off everything when you get home. Most years I’ve had no problems at all, but last year my “sealed” coker bearings got trashed. They were a little crunchy when I got home, and after I hosed everything down they wouldn’t turn at all. There might be a way to keep them clean, but they’re cheap, so it’s not a big deal. If you have a brake, leave it at home. If it has unsealed brazing scars from aftermarket mods, seal them up before you go.
Theft of bicycles is a big problem there. I haven’t heard of a unicycle getting stolen, but I lock mine up at camp just to be safe. Use a combo lock; it’s easy to lose a key there.
Oh, and bring Chamois Butt’r or something like it.
