I live in Northern California. There is a mountain bike race up here that has agreed to make a category for Muni’s. The online registration does not have the category so you have to print out the registration form and write MUNI on it somewhere and send it in. There were three of us that did the race last year on muni’s and it was fun. We did the 8 mile course and you can see our times on the results (we are easy to find, the last three). I think the course offers something for all skill levels. I just thought it would be cool to have more than three of us.
The date of the Race is April 28th. In Redding (Whiskytown Lake).
At the web site there is a good description of the course along with a profile. “Serious” might be overstating. Let me put it this way, I never feared for my life.
A 29er would be great if you have good legs for climbing. The first 4.25 miles are a pretty good fire-road climb with some steep sections. Last year, we did quite a bit of walking up that road just because it’s an unrelenting up up up and (speaking for myself, anyway) I’m not in the best shape (unless you like round! :o ). There are a couple stretches that, when we met course marshalls and were sheepishly pushing our unis, we were told that plenty of bikers were likewise pushing their bikes up instead of riding, too.
The nearly four-mile downhill after the climb is a blast, though–mostly sweet singletrack of hardpacked dirt, with a few rock gardens thrown in and a creek crossing or two. They throw in a couple of climbs in this section, too, just to mess with your head–especially the last climb about a quarter mile or so from the end that does its best to do you in.
We’d love to have more munis there–please do come. Be sure to print out and send in the form, though, instead of registering through Active.com–as Gary said, the print-and-send-in method’s the only way to let them know you’re going to be on a muni.
Hi Peter - would love to join you for this. Not positive we can make it though. We are trying to just do Coker rides the rest of the spring - more training for MUT. Anyway, this is on my calendar and I’ll see if we can make it - maybe drive up with Kevin.
I’m thinking about making several days of riding out of it. Other than the rest of the course, are there other nearby trails for muni that are worth checking out?
Sweet! We’re going to have a good showing this year! I ran into a mountain biker yesterday on the trails, and he asked me if I was training for the Lemurian–he’d seen me there last year, I guess–and I said we were hoping for a larger contingent of riders. Looks like we’re going to get it! Excellent.
Whiskeytown has lots and lots of very nice singletrack–Redding Mountain Biking has trail descriptions. Trails at Shasta Lake are also nice. If you come south a bit, you can hit trails in Upper Bidwell Park in Chico (where I ride regularly–only 5 minutes from my house!), or the Freeman Trail system at Lake Oroville, or Feather Falls loop if you like to climb, or Bald Rock (which I haven’t yet ridden, but is a rock dome similar to those in Yosemite and which is compared by those in the know to the slickrock at Moab). There’s some great riding to be had in the area!
I bet I could attempt this on my coker w/ 150s (i seem to have lost my 170s), and I might be in northern cali by then (miiiight). When does registration end?
The registration form indicates that you can register up until 7PM Friday, the day before the race, as long as the 400 rider limit hasn’t been reached.
It sounds like there are lots of options for extra riding. Maybe I need to take more time off of work.
I would love to see that! I haven’t been around anyone off-roading on a 36er. FWIW (and you have to consider that I’m a. old b. slow c. flabby and d. absolutely not fearless), the downhill last year had several sections too steep for me to attempt on a 26er with 170s. It would be very cool to see you race this on the Coker! Of course, the fact that I’m old, slow, etc., means that I probably wouldn’t in fact see you except at the starting line!
Coker offroading is so fun on not too technical terrain. It is so fast compared to a regular Muni that it feels like a different sport. When entering a race against bikes, you really want it to be just technical enough that it’s tough in sections to Coker, but doable. The bikers love seeing you ride on that huge wheel and you’ll get nothing but positive feedback. If it’s really steep, you might want 165 or 170mm cranks, otherwise 152mm.
We did our first Coker offroad race against bikes in 2002: http://nhoover.smugmug.com/gallery/1454653 Actually we only had one Coker and several of us shared it - Kris even did a night lap on it. From then on, unless the course was too technical, we largely used 36" cycles. Here’s another old photo album from a race we did in Napa in 2002. Gary and I were on Coker: http://nhoover.smugmug.com/gallery/1215726 This one was cool because they set up a whole unicycle category and gave us medals.
If it’s a bit more technical, then a 29er with 152mm cranks (or even shorter if possible). To tell you the truth, I don’t think I’d really be interested in competing against bikes if the terrain were so technical that I couldn’t race on at least a 29er. 24" is just too slow against bikes. One time in England, our 4-man team of unicyclists (Roger and Des on Coker and Scot and I on 29er) beat 139 bike teams, including a couple from the elite-division. Impossible on small wheels.
So tell me. What is the terrain like in this race?
I’m at a little bit of a loss to describe it in terms that would be common to both of us. Having never seen off-road Cokering, I don’t know what to tell you–I feel a bit like a toddler telling an adult how to drive. I have so little experience in such matters!
Remember the second-day ride at CMW 06 in the morning–Hole in the Ground? The ride is probably similar, although I’d say the race course is somewhat steeper and longer. Especially on the singletrack downhill, there were sections I walked last year, whereas I don’t remember even being tempted to walk anything (down) on Hole in the Ground.
Here’s a picture of somebody on Ice Box, which is the singletrack downhill section, that may give a sense of the terrain coming down:
This is not typical, although this particular section is one that I rode (so there are places steeper and tougher). I’d say, really, that the majority of the downhill is similar to Hole in the Ground–mostly smooth, decomposed granite soil, with some rock gardens and roots. As I recall, there’s a really tough downhill with a sharp switchback/creek crossing about a third of the way down that most bikers walked. I recall wanting to whoop along the way a lot, because it was so fun to ride.
