The Malvern Hills... Done it!!!

Yeah!!!

I’ve just got back from what was definitely the best ride I’ve ever been on,
and the longest, and definitely the most tiring.

Despite my first attempt at a long ride yesterday being thwarted by a
spurious drawing pin, I was determined to try again. The original intention
was just to follow the same route I did when I fell off; instead, however,
as it was a really nice sunny evening I carried on upwards and eventually
reached the Worcestershire Beacon, over 400 metres above where I set off (I
think).

None of the ascent was really impossible; most of it was on quite decent
gravel paths, albeit extremely steep gravel paths, generally with random
rocky bits strewn all over the place. The main problem I found was after
having to stop for some reason getting on again on such a steep hill was
next to impossible. My most successful technique was turning sideways,
getting on and idling then turning uphill on a power stroke. However this
doesn’t work if the path’s only two feet wide with a huge drop on one side!

I got lots of positive comments; cheers from some kids on a balcony at the
bottom of the hill and quite a few people on the hill itself. The best one
was one bloke saying (something along the lines of) “I’ve never been this
drunk before, I could swear your bike’s only got one wheel…” which I’ve
not heard before.

There were a few people at the very top when I got there; they were very
encouraging; most of them hadn’t seen anyone on a unicycle, let alone at the
top of a blummin’ great hill.

The way down was probably harder… I went the steeper way down the road
from St Anne’s Well; this turned out to be much harder because of the
surface being much smoother, so I went most of the way on the grass by the
side.

Stupidly enough the only time my hands touched down after an unplanned
dismount was on a totally flat pavement, coincidentally enough right in
front a big group of people. Sod’s law…

I’ve put the route map on my website…

http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~pah117/muni.html

Now I’m going to flop in front of the telly, because I’m absolutely
knackered!

Phil, just me


“Cattle Prods solve most of life’s little problems”

Phil,

VERY cool. Do you have any photos of the path, so that we can get an idea of it? I’d love to see a pic from the summit, as well as a few of the trail.

In fact, why don’t you invest in a backpack style storage / water device, and one of those nice palm-size digital cameras and take photos for me from the top. You wouldn’t mind a major investment or two for a total stranger would you? :slight_smile:

Anyway, congratulations on the ride. I have yet to master even so simple a skill as riding up low-to-moderate inclines on my Muni. It is easy to let that skill slip when you live in Mississippi.

Lewis

Well done Phil, haven’t you got anyone to go with you? Or do you only know sane people :slight_smile:

Anyway you’ve knackered me out just thinking about it (and that’s all I can do for another week, think about unicycling) so I’m off to bed.

Gary

Re: The Malvern Hills… Done it!!!

Animation slipped me a tenner and said,

> VERY cool. Do you have any photos of the path, so that we can get an
> idea of it? I’d love to see a pic from the summit, as well as a few of
> the trail.

No pictures, unfortunately… I’ve got a distant photo of the hills in
general but that’s the best I’ve got. I’ve not got a digital camera,
although even before your highly persuasive enticements I’m half tempted
to splash out and get one. Hmmmm…

Does anyone know anything about said cameras? I’ve no idea where to start
looking…

That’s the first proper off-roading I’ve done, really. I’ve been across
the common once or twice which is off-road but quite good paths, but up
the hill was a lot steeper and a lot rockier.

Must do it again sometime…

Phil, just me

“Cattle Prods solve most of life’s little problems.”

Re: The Malvern Hills… Done it!!!

Phil Himsworth wrote:
> Does anyone know anything about said cameras? I’ve no idea where to start
> looking…

No easy answer, there’s so much choice. But if you want something really
cheap that you can carry quite happily on the yike, then I’m sorely tempted
to get one of these:
http://www.digitaldreamco.com/shop/espion.htm

You can see the sort of images it produces here:


Danny Colyer (remove safety to reply) ( http://www.juggler.net/danny )
B4/5v c(+) rv d m(+) w++ q+ k e+ t+ (s) g+ f - http://www.lpbk.net/jc/
“I don’t think proofreading is adequate. All posts should be waxed and
buffed. Then they should wear little tuxedos.” - Greg Harper on usenet

RE: The Malvern Hills… Done it!!!

> Does anyone know anything about said cameras? I’ve no idea
> where to start looking…

If you mean digital in general, start here:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/

This site seems to take every camera on the market (at least the ones I was
looking at) and give them super-thorough tests. I trust this information a
lot more than the advertising jargon on the camera makers’ sites.

Read a lot first, to get an idea of what you want. Then feel free to ask me
questions (but probably off the newsgroup, because we’re off topic). For
example, before buying my current camera (Casio QV-4000) I had a number of
requirements:

  • Small enough to fit in butt-bag
  • Highest possible resolution in small camera
  • Most possible storage space (IBM Microdrive)
  • Zoom
  • Lots of controls, not just “auto” stuff (even the cheap cameras have lots
    of this)
  • AA and not proprietary batteries

My requirements helped me narrow down the choices. My new camera can take
pictures good enough for 16x20 prints from Ofoto. Next I must try 20x30…
:slight_smile:

Stay on top,
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com

“Vehicularly-Injured Sperm-Count seat: better known by it’s abbreviated
name, Viscount.” David Stone, on saddle preference

I would also recommend www.dpreview.com for digital camera reviews. If you want something small, I would recommend the Canon S200. It’s around $300 if you shop around. Try www.dell.com
It’s one of the smallest cameras out there right now. It’s almost exactly the size of a pack of cigarettes. I have the previous model and I take it with me everywhere. It’s small enough that it fits in my front pockets easily.

RE: The Malvern Hills… Done it!!!

> No easy answer, there’s so much choice. But if you want
> something really
> cheap that you can carry quite happily on the yike, then I’m
> sorely tempted to get one of these:
> http://www.digitaldreamco.com/shop/espion.htm

Wow, cheap! But if that’s all you can afford, you should save your money for
food, or save up for a “real” camera. Note it’s 0.1 megapixel! Mine is 4.1.
Tiny is nice, but there are other tiny ones as well. But it’s amazing how
much electronics you can get for such a small price.

John Foss
President, Unicycling Society of America
President, International Unicycling Federation
jfoss@unicycling.com