Hell-On-Wheel members and other Virginia area riders:
Mark Stephens (cokerhead) is in the Richmond area until Monday (Independence Day) and he has a MUni and a freestyle with him. He’s interested in getting a ride up but has little or no internet access right now. He’s staying at the Quality Inn in Rutherglen, VA
(804) 448-2828 room 157
His cell is (765) 278 4765
His girlfriend’s cell is (765) 278 4190
Try to contact him and set up a ride if you can on such short notice. It will be worth your time.
Man, just went on an awesome muni ride yesterday with Trip and a columnist from Richmond Magazine. Wish I knew about this earlier (not that I wouldn’t be up for another ride today:) ). I’ll definately be giving him a call.
Thanks for the tip Harper; Mark and I had a blast today. We went to HoW’s old stomping ground, Belle Isle. It was a little crowded as the X-terra triathalon was just packing up as we arrived, but still a good time.
The best moment was when we crossed paths with the event organizer who was collecting the directional aids on an ATV. He said he rode a 20" as a teenager but hadn’t been on one in nearly 30 years. Mark assured him from personal experience that he would still be able to ride. Sure enough, he freemounted my muni beautifully, and even made some techincal turns, on fairly rugged ground no less. Suffice to say he got really excited, almost hysterical. He was kinda making me nervous. But it felt good to bring the joy of unicycling back into someone’s life.
Afterwards we played with Mark’s freestyle a while. That man can pirouette with the best of 'em.
We also had a bit of an adventure fixing a leaky coolant hose in his truck. It was permanently attached to some metal pipe, so a simple “cut and paste” job was out of the question. Advance Auto Parts wasn’t very helpful, so we cleaned it up and wrapped it with about half a roll of duct tape, which at least managed to get him back to Ruther Glen (he called to say he made it).
