Last year, three brave riders -Large Eddie, Biped and myself- decided to tackle the Lake Norman park trails. Unfortunately, the weather was… rather wet shall we say. The trails were closed but we had a fun ride on the roads in a deserted park.
I just got to NC and we’ve decided to do it again this year. Weather should be warm - or let’s say hot - so we should aim at an early start.
The idea is to be at 9am at the park (exact rally point to follow, time might move) on Sunday the 16th. Everybody on one wheel is welcome!
My wife is a teacher. With school starting back next week, I don’t know if I can make it out to Charlotte, but it would definitely be nice to meet up with some other unicyclists. I’ll see what I can do.
I hope you can make it! I’ll have my 26" Nimbus muni with an Ardent tire, and I believe pierrox is bringing his KH29. I’ll probably toss another uni or two in the car for fun, but at this point I’m not planning to bring my Coker.
To keep several threads in sync: We’ll be meeting in the Visitor’s Center parking lot on State Park Rd., NC1321, 35.6731869N, 80.9320017W for the GPS. None of us know the park all that well, but it looks like that avoids long rides just to get to and from the trail access points. It’s a pretty big place and the odds of happening to run into us somewhere in the park are slim.
Enjoyed meeting up with you guys. It was a treat to ride with other muni riders, have not seen another unicyclist since December at the Stomp gathering in Alabama. After our muni ride I stayed and mtn biked the longer loop of the Norman trails. It is suited more for fast, flow biking. Lots of fun. Afterwards I was able to shower at the family camp/swimming area so the long ride home was not so uncomfortable from the sweat and dirt.
I’m really glad you were able to join us! It turned out to be a beautiful day, better than last year when it rained and the trails were closed although it was just a bit warmer. We managed to all stay together on the trail and I thought everyone did well. And I’m quite impressed that you went out on your bike for more fun afterward. When I got home, I was ready for a transfusion and a few days in an induced coma.
I overheard someone in the parking lot mentioning showers and hadn’t noticed any in the visitors center. Now I get that they were at the other end of the park, at the swimming facility where we met up last year. Makes sense.
That seems to be a good location with two interstate highways crossing nearby, several of us within an hour or two and quite a few more a few hours away.
Sorry it took me that long to post the photos… international travelling hey!
It was a great ride, and I’m very glad I got to do it with such good riders. My riding is usually in a fairly flat wood, so tackling ups and down and roots on a 29" was a bit of a change.
But enough excuses or blaming my equipment, it was just great!
Not many photos, here are the ones from my girlfriend, thanks for letting her join on 2 wheels!
3 riders last year, 5 this year, we’re almost doubling the crowd each time! Soon Lake Norman Annual Ride will be bigger than Moab!
Large Eddie tackles a technical rooty uphill spot:
Biped in the same spot:
For MrImpossible, nothing is impossible!
And check out gorgescrambler’s perfect line!
Meanwhile, I’m overheating - same spot!
Nice surprise as we hit the car park after the ride. There are new riders around, well done Park, and lucky you for going to a school where they have unicycle on the curriculum!
Thanks for the photos, Pierrox. (Thanks especially to Amy!) I really enjoyed seeing them.
Not to discourage anyone at all from joining us at the next one but this was a very nice group ride size. I’d hate for our friendly little outing to end up being a mob scene, but I don’t sense any clear and present danger of that.
I was at the other end of the parking lot when you met them and didn’t get all of the story, but it sounds like those folks are up to something really good. And it looked like the little guy was pretty jacked up about seeing five full-grown geezers coming off the trail on munis.
It’s that time of year! We’re getting ready to fly to NC on tuesday!
Having consulted the other core founders of the annual Lake Norman ride, we agreed that August 27th (or 28th in case of heavy rain) will be this year’s riding day. We usually meet around 9am before it gets too hot.
Any other riders in the area that would like to join us? We’re no experts but we enjoy spending some time off road once a year. Also, if you know of an amazing uni spot within reasonable reach from Charlotte and Greensboro, we’re happy to change our location.
Wanna join? Let us know here!
I don’t know how much prestige it adds to the event for me to say it, but I’m really looking forward to getting together again.
All levels are very much welcome. It’s been too dang muggy for me to do much (uh, any) muni this summer so I won’t be in tip-top shape. Anyone who’s concerned about being able to keep up, I’d be glad to have your company at the back of the pack.
