MUni mistake

General
1

Today, Good Friday, I had earmarked for a ride round Llyn Brenig.

This was to be my first MUNi ride round a ‘real’ mountain bike track. I had downloaded the map and it was supposed to take 15 km/1 hour.

Hubby and son came with me and a couple of son’s friends. They were going to play around the visitors centre while I went cycling.

First mistake - we left the map behind. I thought that would be Ok because there was a lake and I was going to cycle round it. Easy. Using a popluar and well used mountain biking trail. Simple.

Before I went I bought a couple of chocolate bars - one for before I set off and another for emergencies (it was round about lunch time).

So off I set, calculating that if the route was supposed to take an hour on a bike, it would probably take me two on the uni. So I said (joking), if I’m not back in 3 hours, come and look for me. Hubby said, if I wasn’t back in 3 hours he would be going home.

Straight away I realised that it wasn’t quite what I expected a mountain bike trail to be. In fact it was along the road. A single track road which, most of the time wasn’t wide enough for me and a car. Nearly every time a car came I had to get off and stand to the side. And I’m not very good at freemounting the 29er.

So there I was - cycle along happily, car comes, dismount, spend 10 minutes trying to freemount, cycle along happily. When eventually the road narrowed and happily I road along the track (another big mistake). At some point I neglected to get on to the double track road that I was supposed to be cycling along. Instead I ended up on a boggy sheeps path that went around the lake that no one had a hope of riding. I staggered around it for about 2 miles, getting very wet feet and probably sunburnt. I was totally isolated (except for a couple of fishermen) and had no phone reception. If something had happened I don’t know how hubby would have ever found me.

Anyway, 2 miles off the track and conscious that I had now been gone 2 hours, I eventually found the road again.

I was so tired from the trapsing around in the boggy fields that when I got phone reception I phoned hubby to come and pick me up - one of the advantages of the trail being along a road.

Lessons learnt:

  1. If I’m going somewhere new, always take a map and give a map to the back up. Even if I think the track is going to be really straight forward.
  2. If I’m going somewhere new, find out as much as I can about the track and not go on one track roads.
  3. It’s better not to ride alone (at times I felt very isolated whilst in the boggy field) but since this is probably my only option most of the time, try not to pick somewhere that there is no phone reception.
  4. Leave plenty of time. If I had not felt pressured to get back within the two hours I could have taken it easy and slow with lots of rests and would easily have actually made it round the lake. I had gone 3/4 of the way - 8 miles.
  5. Don’t ride round Llyn Brening again.

I wont let this put me off though.

Cathy

2

Cathy, your determination and willpower is an inspiration to us all.

I probably would have given up unicycling by now if I were you. (That’s meant as a compliment.)

Cathy: 1
Stuff that doesn’t like Cathy: 0

Booyah.

3

I love life to be a challenge. If it isn’t then I just go and make things difficult for myself anyway.

Most of the things that don’t like Cathy are brought on by my own stupidity. But I’m very good at problem solving.

Cathy

4

when u siad a car was coming andu couldnt dismount i thought ud fall of and get hit be not cathy

5

what?

6

I’ve been in that situation, but without the emergency hubby, obviously.:wink:

The freemounting issue is very important. I can tell you there were times when my 26 nearly went in the river because I was so tired of it taking 5 or 10 attempts to freemount it and I was UPDing or being forced to dismount every few hundred yards. Repeatedly failing to freemount is energy-sapping and demoralising.

These days, on a typical general ride on trails and roads, I only expect to mount at the start of the ride and after any planned stops, and my journey times are way way shorter. I therefore commend the policy of practising freemounts.:wink:

Sounds like you came out of a difficult day still smiling, and still enthused, so that is good.:smiley:

My “mounting mistake” today was to go to a motorcycle dealer and sit on a bike that felt so comfortable it is almost inevitable that I will buy it - a week after I swore never to buy another motorbike as long as I live. :roll_eyes:

7

Sounds like a typical MUni adventure! Good times, a little drama, some muddiness.

I used to think of MUni as mounting practice in the woods. Nowadays that isn’t as true, but it was for quite some time.

I don’t see any real mistakes. You certainly learned a lot!

8

LOL! Indeed!

Cathwood,
Good going. You’ll find some better spots in time. I had good luck I went riding with Unidaddy and we ended up on some nice trails. It was a good beginning mUni experience for me. Generally level to gradually sloping terrain with some rocks to avoid and a few roots to pop over.

Keep up the mounting practice. Mounting for me is all about believing I can do it. It is especially true on my coker. If I know it will be a good mount, it is. If I think that it might be a squirly one to ride out, it is. If I don’t think I can actually do it, I miss.

9

Gee Cathy, Your fun reminds me of an initial local muni run.

I went out alone, eventually got on the wrong trail, had to walk the uni a lot of the time because the trail was overgrown with brush. Ran out of water. When I got out of the woods, ended up following a road, but I went the wrong direction, going away from my truck. Finally tired, closer to home then my truck, phoned my wife to pick me up.

10

I expect you’ll be laughing about it soon enough. Good advice though.

I went for a muni ride yesterday too, going a bit more adventurous than my usual cycle trail. There’s an iron age fortress near here with a path around it, about 2.5 km long. It’s a bit rough in places where the horses have chewed it up, and there’s a narrow strip of rocky path where the walkers walk. It looked do-able. Set off around it, and was getting on fairly well with only six or seven UPDs at the two-thirds oft he way round point. Then I started having problems freemounting - like you, I’m not very confident although I’d been having a good day up to now with getting up first try, mostly. At this point there were four distinct narrow tracks, closely spaced with a short drop between them.

Now, when I mount, I never know which way I’m going - it can be anywhere between straight on and at ninety degrees to the right (any tips please!?). I could not get on without crashing across the fours tracks and falling off. Eventually I did a spectacular UPD and twisted my ankle as I landed. Ended up laying there with my foot up on the fence until the pain subsided a bit. Luckily it was a nice, warm day but it could have been quite serious if I had been somewhere more remote.

Despite that, I had a good finish to the ride, getting over an uphill slope that I had thought was too steep for me, and then descending a steep, rocky slope past a gob-smacked family who just stood there with their mouths open!

Martin/

11

Thanks for the replies. I feel less of an idiot now.
I’ve had a bit of a ‘hair of the dog’ this morning, dragging the family out so that I could do some proper MUni, down a nice muddy, rocky, rooty footpath in the woods. Short but sweet. And hubby and son had a nice walk too - it’s time they got out more anyway.

Cathy

12

Cathy,
You may have broached this subject in other threads that I have missed. Does your family show interest in learning to ride?

13

Jim, my husband does have a cheapy learner and will have a go sometimes. In some ways I don’t really want him to learn because he’s much more dexterous than I am and would learn much quicker and would soon be much better. I know it sounds kind of petty, but there you are. Anyway, he’s not really interested.

Sam (aged 7) also has a cheapy learner unicycle but it’s really difficult pinning him down to practice. I’m hoping that being immersed in unicycling at the BUC, especially with other small kids that unicycle will give him a big push to get going enough to want to keep practicing. I love the thought of mum and son riding together.

The two grown up daughters - not a chance. However, they are turning into me jobs wise, so who knows what they may do when they’re older.

Cathy

14

If you think your hubby is more dextrous and would learn a lot quicker, just wait until your 7 y.o. really shows an interest. The young one’s seem to learn it soooo fast.

Anyway, good write up. I’m planning a Muni ride today if I can get all my household chores done (it’ll be my reward). I went hiking with my wife last weekend on a trail that was fairly flat but with some sandy and rocky sections to provide a little challenge. I thought, “this would make for a nice Muni ride.” I intend to find out.

15

I can handle that. It seems the natural order of things.

cathy