We are going to Moab and are stoked. Us are: Judy who freemounted the first time
two days ago, Jared, who has recently learned to one foot idle, and myself. I
have recently learned to jump mount and have a three by twenty six inch tire on
my homemade MUni. Rolf Thompson and family are coming of course.
We look forward to seeing everyone there.
Joe in Idaho
Great riding at Moab. The Slickrock trail is fun, with all sorts of varying
degrees of steepness. The traction is excellent and it was possible to go up
steeper stuff than I had ever climbed before. Also I think we all set new
personal records for steepness of descent. It is possible to go down very steep
slopes because there is very little slipping and sliding as would happen on a
dirt trail. It was also a great deal of fun to just leave the trail and pick and
choose a path across the rock. Frequently we stopped at particularly appealing
obstacles to watch each other make the attempt. The most memorable was a steep
downhill to a lookout point on the practice loop, that was actually labelled as
a footpath and not recommended for bicycles. We all eventually managed to
negotiate the hill.
We had a small group and a fast pace. The first day out we got very excited and
went too far. We rode 9.2 miles over rock that requires constant vigilance
because of the small bumps everywhere. When we got back, some of us were
dehydrated, myself probably the most, and I took three hours to recover. If you
ride there, take lots of water, and maybe some salt tablets.
The group consisted of two families and a friend, eleven in all. The kids wore
me out. There were only five riders who rode the bulk of the slickrock, walking
the steep uphill parts where necessary, and occasionally loaning a unicycle to
another family member or a mountain biker who knew how to ride. I think there
were two of them.
The bikers were all accomodating and we did what we could to stay out of their
way. Many of them were amazed to see us and made admiring comments. The trail
would be very difficult on a bicycle also.
We had two good campsites, right next to each other, and against a vertical wall
of slickrock. The campfire antics were hilarious. I was very impressed with
everyone we met there, not only because of their riding ability but also because
of the great comraderie.
I did like my big 3 by 26 wheel and I did not try any other MUnis on the rock,
but the people who did ride different size tires seemed to prefer the big ones
because they rolled over the little bumps easier. The rock wore off a lot of my
knobbys because it is so abrasive. The wear is a bigger factor when the tires
cost fifty dollars apiece. I did finish Jared’s 3 by 24 in time for the event
and it was a hit, but he said his legs rubbed the rough polypropylene cloth that
I used to protect the fiberglass. I shall have to fill and sand that area.
Names and pictures to follow.
Idaho Joe
Re: Moab
Unicycle17 <unicycle17@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000327211156.28318.00002895@ng-bk1.aol.com…
> Great riding at Moab.
[snip]
> Names and pictures to follow.
>
> Idaho Joe
Joe, that sounds great! Thanks for posting. I wish we could’ve made it. Next
year! See you in Tahoe this fall though. Yes let’s see the photos.
—Nathan
RE: Moab
Interested Moab riders,
> Some of us, my family and the Thompsons for sure, are gathering at Moab for a
> ride on the Slickrock Trail at the end of this month. Rolf Thompson has
> created a website for the event, at “www.moabmunifest.homestead.com”.
> Apparantly there will be another gathering in April so we should not confuse
> the two events.
At the moment Jacquie and I are looking into which weekend is better for us and
Jacquie’s brother, who will drive down with us from Salt Lake City (with his
newly unicycling son and possibly friends).
Meanwhile, Brett Bymaster is planning to drive out there with a friend on the
weekend of April 21-22. He can’t go in March, and I don’t know yet which weekend
we can make but we will definitely try for one or the other!
I’ll let you know…
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone http://www.unicycling.com
“I see the light at the end of the tunnel and it isn’t a train.” – California
Governor Gray Davis on the CA energy crisis
RE: Moab
I plan to be another April Moab unicycler. My plan is to get there Thursday
evening April 19th, ride Friday, Saturday, and part of Sunday–returning on
Sunday afternoon/evening-April 22. It’s possible I’ll leave on Monday the 23rd.
Anyone care to coordinate car rental/car pool, etc?
David Maxfield Bainbridge Island, WA