cool- sounds like a really fun social series! Keep up with the write ups, they are really entertaining.
Mark
Great write up
Great write up.
Really entertaining, and I enjoyed reading it
Rob
2012 SORBA Huntsville - Thursday Night Time Trial Series - Stage #4 - “Arrowhead”
Finished 39th of 43 in the Prize Class. I also improved to 34th of 72 (up from 36th after stage #3 last week). My cumulative time is 1:17:20.
Tonight’s course started at the Trough Springs parking lot on the South West side of Monte Sano Mountain. From the parking lot the course followed the Arrowhead Trail extension out to Natural Well Trail and then followed that trail (old, worn out fire road) back to the parking lot via the Washout By-Pass a.k.a. “Psycho-Cross” the remainder of the old road then up the Trough Springs parking lot access trail to finish right back where we started.
I knew from my pre-riding the course that there was no way I could ride 100% of the route. The first and last 1/3 of the Arrowhead Trail were very rideable but that middle chunk was a rock garden heaven on often off-camber, uphill and downhill, slopes. For those sections all I could do was dismount and run. Along the Natural Well Trail return was where I’d really make time as it was all downhill on a much smoother (though by no means completely trivial) old fire road. Here I could shift into high gear and fly!
So I start, once again near the very back of the pack; just ahead of the kids. I go at a reasonable pace right out the gate but I’m not flying; there are just too many rocks and roots along the twisting path to get too crazy. I manage to make it over the early bridges and into the first uphill rock garden before I have my first PD and run up it. Not long later I’m overtaken by two of the kids that started behind me. However, one of them isn’t really pulling away too quickly as he’s having much the same difficulties I am on the off-camber rock-garden trail. So I know he’s just a kid, but it gives me somebody to focus on in order to keep my pace up (you gotta have some motivation right?). I finally get through the rugged middle third of the Arrowhead Trail extension; mixing running equally with riding and I overtake the kid on a surprisingly rock free uphill that leads into a relatively long, rideable section of trail. I pedal as fast as I can until I arrive at the last obstacle on this section of the course, a narrow squeeze through some giant capstones the trail winds its way through! I’m redlining a bit too much to do this section any justice, instead I run through it (normally I can ride it). I remount just on the far side of the capstones and ride down the switch-backing route to arrive at the Natural Well Trail.
As I hit the much easier trail I immediately upshift the KH-Schlumpf MUni hub into highgear and begin a nice, relatively fast descent. It’s wonderful to be able to ride fast enough to enjoy the cooling breeze! But the descent is all too brief as I arrive near the Washout and have to downshift to ride through a section of the trail that looks much more like a creek bed than a trail! Somehow I manage to ride through it all without a UPD! Amazing! The creek bed section leads into a right hand turn into the Washout Bypass a.k.a. “Psycho-Cross” section. As the Washout itself is a huge gully, the bypass is a manageable though very difficult section of trail that crosses the gully uphill of the Washout. From me pre-ride I know it’s a waste of time to even attempt to ride as it’s very rocky with lots of 3 foot high, steep berms, up and down. Might be fun and doable on a bike but not for me on the uni today; it’s a good rolling trials type section that I’ll probably come back and attempt to ride. So I dismount and run through this section to the other side of the Washout and re-mount. I exit the bypass route and shift again into overdrive as there is still another 1/4 mile or so of 4x4 road. Weeee!
I downshift as the road turns slightly uphill and ugly again, smaller washouts and exposed rock ledges. I clean this last section and now I’ve arrived at the last part of the course; an uphill access trail that leads back to the parking lot. It’s uphill, offcamber and very rough so I dismount and run up the hill. As the hill levels out a bit and I’m passed the worst of the rough spots I remount and finish riding the last bit to finish! Phew!
This was definitely the most technical stage of the series. Short but sweet. I’m going to be missing the next month of the series as I’m going to be on travel but I’ll be home in time to do this stage again and the final stage of the series. Almost done now! Technically I only have 1 stage to go though I’ll get a second chance at this one again which is good. I know I’ll break 20 minutes next time!
Next update: After the time trial on July 26th. Can I improve this stage time? Can I finish strong enough in the last stage to possibly finish in the top half of the field? Stay tuned…
2012 SORBA Huntsville - Thursday Night Time Trial Series - Stage #9 - “Arrowhead”
Finished 27th of 29 in the Prize Class. However, my overall ranking has fallen drastically (48th of 83) since the last Stage I rode; largely because I missed Stage 5 which completed the first round of the series and so was, by default, given the slowest recorded time for that stage + 15 seconds. My ranking should improve along with my cumulative time (1:34:54) when (and if, but more on that later) I get to contest that final Stage (the only one I haven’t done) in a couple weeks…
Tonight’s course was the exact same as the stage I last contested (see previous post in this thread).
Not really much to say. A month off from riding anything hardcore really effected me as did the incredible >100°F Heat index temperatures! In a word: horrible! Was almost a minute and a half slower this time around but I’ll take it considering how many UPDs I suffered. This is not course to be rusty on. At least my high gear riding was I think a bit faster this time around as I did make pretty good time once I actually got to the washed out jeep road section.
Anyhow, I’m now not so sold on my decision to be riding hardcore MUni with an Urban tire (Maxxis Hookworm). Just not enough cushioning and roll-over ability and it’s really difficult to hold a line without any biting tread; tire wants to wander all over the place. I think I’m going to go back to riding a proper MUni tire, either my 24x3 Nokian Gazz or Duro. I may investigate what possible other 24" options are available that aren’t quite so fat or heavy. Ideally I’d like a good tire that has low rolling resistance for hard pack or roads but still has enough tread or outside knobs for proper MUni under most conditions. Any suggestions?
Next update: After the time trial on August 2nd.
Schwalbe Big Betty 24 x 2.4
Very light at 800 gr, plenty grip, and 62 mm wide. Low rolling resistance.
It doesn’t have the cushion feel of a 3.0 tire off course.
Ok, after the dust has settled a bit I felt I was a bit too rash in my decision to just abandon my Urban Tire For MUni experiment. After all my original goal was to complete the entire Thursday Night Time Trial Series using the same MUni setup which includes using the 24x2.5 Maxxis Hookworm (Ok, I did ride my Coker 36er on the first stage). So I’m sticking with the Hookworm for now, especially after the ride I had last night.
Last night I went out and rode some of my favorite trails in Monte Sano State Park (Alabama). Riding at my leisure and not under any race clock I found I was having a good experience riding with my current KH24 GUni setup with the Hookworm. On the easier sections of trail, more XC like, I was able to breeze along fairly fast. On the moderate technical sections I found the tire responded very well, definitely was cushioned and bouncy enough and I think the tire pressure was dialed in just right. On the most difficult trail sections I found this tire to do just as well as my MUni tires. I think the main thing holding me back is the overall tire diameter more than anything. However, when I can I’m going to upgrade to a KH26 so that will help enormously. From a GUni standpoint it was pretty awesome to ride in high gear on some of the double-track 4x4 road sections with this tire. I could go so much faster than I ever could on the MUni tire and I had no trouble roll hopping over some smaller blowdowns, quite fun!
I realize now that the trouble I had the other night had mostly to do with being so rusty on my MUni riding skills having been away for almost a month, the fact that the particular time trial route IS difficult; it’s messed up even the better MTB riders and the fact that the heat & humidity were so high. All that led to great frustration on my part and blaming my equipment and not the rider!
Ride more and fiddle with equipment setup less!
If you do decide a tire that grips better than a Hookworm but is lighter and rolls faster than a Duro would suit your riding check out the Felt Berm Master: http://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2012/Parts/Cruiser/Berm-Master-Tire.aspx
I found it nimble compared to a Duro but still offering lots of cush. Mine weighed 2lbs 12oz so a bit heavier than your Hookworm but 12oz lighter than a Duro. It’s cheaper than converting your 24" to a 26" so could be a good stop-gap.
Thanks for the suggestion. This tire certainly seems like it might very well fit with my style of riding. Can’t beat the price either.
2012 SORBA Huntsville - Thursday Time Trial Series - Stage #7 - “Sinks”
Tonight was a “make-up” night as the night when Stage #7 was to be originally run there was too much rain & lightning in the area (but I was out of town anyhow…)
Had a pretty good race overall finishing in 24:19 on the 3.4 mile course (8.4 mph avg), just a second slower than my ride on this course in the first round. However I’m still off my PB for the course from last year which was 23:53. I didn’t finish too high overall today (everybody improved on their second attempt on this course), basically last as the only guy I “beat” was riding with his kids so it doesn’t really count! No, I’m truly just riding against myself and the course; that’s all that matters to me.
I started out kind of rough with many UPDs just in the first downhill from the Biker’s Lot down to the Mountain Mist Tr. crossing. Not sure why, think I was trying to push to fast and wasn’t focused enough. Plus I think I’m a little gun-shy since my hard crash on pavement last week; seems like I’m mentally giving up sometimes when I hit a rough patch of trail and my line isn’t quite right I just jump off the uni! Finally though once I got past Mountain Mist Tr. and kept descending I just kind of turned my mind off and the flow came easier. My friend Brandon M. came riding up behind and was impressed by my speed and crazy zig-zagging line down the rocky trail. I let him by at three-benches and kept cranking away. I still suffered a couple more stupid UPDs but after I finally climbed out of the Sinks Tr. and back to Mountain Mist Tr. I was able to ride non-stop and UPD-free the entire rest of the way (probably close to 2 miles). And that is no mean feat on a unicycle as the terrain is more XC but still rocks and rough patches abound and your climbing significantly.
Since I started at the back of the racers it was getting pretty dark in the thick woods through the Sinks and onto Mountain Mist Tr. Finally I got to the closed road and happily shifted into the 1:1.5 gear on my internally geared unicycle hub (KH-Schlumpf MUni Hub) and climbed the steady uphill grade fairly strong; probably fastest I’ve ever done it. The mile long climb on cracked pavement of the old road didn’t seem as unbearable as the past and soon I crested the hill, passed through the narrow gate and flew through the overlook parking lot and actually caught some decent sized air dropping off the pavement onto the last section of trail (North Plateau) that connects to the end of the Cabin Road! WoooHoo! No UPD this time! (Last year I went down hard after landing in a patch of sand) I didn’t dare to look at my watch but I knew my time was going to be close to my round one time here and it was. I sped through the finish as hard as I could (safely) and missed my round one time by only a second! I was still almost 30 seconds slower than my one attempt on this course last year. I think all the UPDs these times did me in as I know I rode the route last year fairly clean. I honestly think the course is significantly more washed out and rough this year than last year and therefore so much more difficult; so many more loose and exposed rocks makes line choice tough!
Next week is the grand finale, Stage #10 and a course I have NOT ridden yet though it should be pretty fast and easy much like Stage #1. As it’s mostly pure XC on flattish I’ll probably go with the 36er. I hope I make it back in time as I’m flying back from L.A. that morning and I’ve had trouble in the past with American Airlines! If I don’t make it in time the RD said I could submit a hand timed result… So all is good.
As for my tire experiment, I’m definitely sticking with my Urban tire (Maxxis Hookworm) as it still seems to do fairly well overall. While I wish I had a bit more cushioning over the big rocks, I’ll accept that because the roll resistance is so much lower and I can still fly in high-gear on the easier surfaces; something I can’t do with a fat trail tire. I’ve got a great overall setup going, though I may try out that Felt Berm Master once the series is over as that might be a good compromise until I upgrade to a 26er this winter.
Oh yeah, one last thing. Tonight we received our Thursday Time Trial Series jerseys. I was pretty excited about getting one as I think they look pretty sharp and it will be fun to represent my home trails and club when I’m away from home. Believe it or not this is my first cycling jersey! 
Thanks very much for the race report, loved reading it!
I’m really wondering (or rather: admiring) how you are able to ride muni with this urban tire. Don’t you have problems when it’s wet and muddy and the tire just slips off?
So far so good. For the most part I don’t ride in a lot of mud as that is generally frowned on in the local trail systems I ride. On rainy, muddy days I leave the uni at home and go run (I’m a runner who rides to cross train). However, the few times I’ve had to deal with mud I just stay right down the middle of the trail and keep it slow and steady. Like I said, my goal is to have ONE unicycle for ALL my riding. To that I have to make some compromises and adapt to them. So far it really has been a successful experiment. I really need to post some photos of the terrain I’m riding, if I can ride this rough, creekbed like stuff on this tire I should be able to ride just about anywhere! It’s been a fun experience, forcing myself to ride with less, to learn and grow with the gear I have, to not give up!
Defy convention! 
You don’t want the Bermmaster, it’s heavy, stiff, and twitchy; i.e it doesn’t like to go straight. How about a narrower Arrow DH 2.6 or a Duro 2.6? There are also some jump bike tires that ride nice:
Maxxis Holy Roller: nice all around tire, has more of centerline than it appears.
Arrow Racing Launch: I had this tire, it’s nice for firm to loose, very fast
Arrow Racing Blitz: fast center, knobbies in the edges for cornering, this is probbaly what you’d want for mixed surfaces.
Have you tried tubeless? It’ll drop some weight and prevent pinch flats in these smaller tires you’re running.
When the 36er mtb tire is released, you should try one, they are amazing! I rode single track the other night with knoxuni, he was on his 26er, I had no problem staying up with him 
I wish we had a race series up here, that would be so much fun, I’d love to go ride with the bikers on some short track events.
I think its the other way around 
I had a hard time keeping up with him on a 26 with 150s that 36 is a single track monster!
How heavy is the Bermmaster compared to the Duro or Gazz?
I might consider one of the other suggested tires you gave, just want to stay 2.5 inches or wider I think. Need the cushioning! I haven’t had pinch flat issues, I guess because I’m short and light. Anyhow all this tire discussion is probably moot as I plan to go to a KH26 by early next year, probably will just continue my experiment with the Hookworm until then.
Am interested in experimenting with tubeless though, what products do you use?
A 36" MUni tire? That sounds pretty cool, will have to get one.
The Bermmaster is about the same weight as the Duro 3", may be the same casing. The other tires are quite a bit narrower except for the Duro 2.7 and the Arrow 2.6
If you’re going to bump to a 26", then there are tons of good tires choices, like the Ardent 2.4 
I chose Stans, it’s a water based latex, a bit stickier than some of the others, so it’s a pita to to peel out from a tire if you ever go back to tubes, but it also seems to hold pressure better and it’s easy to find if I need a refill.
Yeah, the 36er tire is awesome, it will change the way you look at 36ers for off road. I ride single track on mine and other than being a bit big in really tight places, I can get around quite well.
For example, I think you know Small Intestine at Raccoon Mountain? I can ride the whole thing on my 36er with only a couple terrain “walks”, so all the climbs and descents are rideable with this set up. On a Nghtrider or Coker, I don’t think I would have even tried to ride that trail.
The Bermaster I had was 12oz less than the Duro I had. The Bermaster casing is a bit thinner and lighter but still gives a good ride at lower pressures. You can read more about it in this thread: 24x3 Felt Berm Master Tire
2012 SORBA Huntsville - Thursday Time Trial Series Finale - “North Plateau”
As predicted, American Airlines screwed me over yet again… On my return trip from a conference in L.A., California I ended up getting delayed in Dallas, Texas and missing my chance to start the series finale, Stage #10 on the “North Plateau” course. Even though I was severely delayed I might have still had time to start since it turned out the race was delayed. Oh well. I still walked over to the start/finish area and celebrated the conclusion with the rest of the riders and friends at the post-race cookout.
However, as I knew I had a chance to miss the last time trial I’d contacted the RD (a friend of mine) before hand and asked if it would be okay, in the event that I was delayed flying home, if I could do a solo time trial on the course and submit my time. Graciously he told me no problem. So the next afternoon after work I set out to post as fast a time as I could on this course.
For the solo time trial I decided to go with my Coker Big One 36" unicycle with 140mm cranks. The route stayed all on top of the Monte Sano Plateau and so lacked any significant climbing or very technical trails. Really, besides the first (and 6th) stage this stage “should” be one of the fastest as it’s mostly fairly nice XC single track trails but with lots of turns but still a few rough spots early on. Perfect 36er material!
After an easy mile warmup riding to the start from my house I was ready to go. I restarted my GPS watch and sped off towards the scenic overlook (paved road). At the overlook I veered off road and onto the bumpy North Plateau Trail. This next mile would be the most technical riding of the time trial course; a very narrow trail that winds along the edge of a steep bluff with a lot of rocks (baby heads) and roots jutting out just trying to knock you off! I figured if I were to have trouble with the 36er it would be in this first mile. Turns out I had one of the best rides of my life; could not believe it but I ended up “cleaning” the entire first technical mile. Not sure how I did it but I just took a steady, not too anxious approach and as NurseBen knows, that Big Wheel just gobbles up the terrain.
Leaving the bluff side the trail does a very steep, narrow technical climb. I knew I’d have no chance to make it on the 36er as it just isn’t possible to get enough speed going in and the overhead clearance is very tight. So, to save time, I dismount and run up the short hill and remount. Now I’m sort of in the clear as the remaining part of the course (a little over two miles more) is on narrow but flowy single track with a couple of paved road crossings. Still, I know better than to get spinning to fast so while I do speed up significantly I try and stay in control knowing that any UPD will set me back on time more than if I just ride a bit slower and avoid coming off the unicycle at all.
Over the next mile on the Fire Tower Trail I make really good time as there are fewer turns and the trail becomes more of a double track with only a slight climb near the end. There was the park road crossing but I timed things just right and didn’t have to slow down for any car traffic. The third mile is back to solid single track on the “Bucca Family Bike Trail” that is used on stage #1 and #6 but now we ride the trail in the reverse direction. I like riding this trail in this direction as there is a net downhill so you can really roll pretty fast; and I do! My only UPD of the day come as I enter the single track trail as I’m unsuccessful getting up the steep and very rocky rise
that cuts very close to an overhanging tree with lots of roots. You have to “thread the needle” with the tire and cranks just right to get through with out either a pedal strike or risking a rock rake to the tire. I fail and come off but I quickly run through the offending area and remount with very little time lost.
I’m fairly fast over the remaining single track trail and emerge from the woods to cross the park road one last time. Now I’m onto the paved Cabin Road (where all the cabins are, duh!) and pedal as hard as I can to the end of the road. At the end of the road there is one last scrap of trail and I race through the end of the time trial course in 20:40. Not blazing fast but for the 5km course it was more than enough to keep me from finishing last overall in last nights finale.
Even though I wasn’t able to ride in the finale the RD still included this time in the final stage results.
Ironically my solid time wasn’t faster than the default finish time I was given for stage #5, 19:40! However, I’m pretty happy about my solo performance and doubt I could have gone much faster. So had I been able to attend stage #5 I’m sure that I’d have been the one to set the default (slowest time + 15 seconds)! Still, I would not have finished last in the finale as the slowest time was 23:22. This stage is just too wide open and fast to compete with a bicycle! Overall I finished 55th of 98 riders in the “Prize Division”, however this includes a TON of riders who only did a few stages and were given the default finish times (slowest time + 15 seconds) for the stages they missed. Really I only “beat” one other rider and that’s generous too as he mostly rode with his kids! But hey, from the start my only goal was to finish as many stages as I could and push myself as hard as I could over each stage. I wanted to set the bar high for myself and other unicycle participants in the future. In that I think I was successful as I’m very pleased with completing the series and I know I won the respect of a lot of the mountain bikers in my community for giving the series my best effort.
At the festival I was presented with sort of a “mock” award for being the top rider in the “Uni Division”. My award was a $2 bill signifying that perhaps next year I could compete on TWO wheels rather than one… 
As the “winner” (and only finisher) of my division I also “won” all the money that was in that prize pool, i.e. I won back all the money I paid into my entry fees! Ha! So basically I rode the series for free! (Not that $2 a race was very expensive!).
So another SORBA-Huntsville Thursday Time Trial Series comes to an end. I can’t wait until next year!
That was so cool of the RD to let you do the ride on your own time! I wish that we had a series like this, I am considering trying to push for one through the local bike clubs, a recreational series that is for fun, so minimal prizes and minimal cost, open to all levels of riders.
Did you ever ride Small Intestine at Raccoon Mountain? It’s a winding trail that doubles back on itself for ~4 miles, starts near the Switchyard power transfer station. I rode it yesterday on my 36er and it was so much fun. I went out with my wife and dogs, ended up riding so much faster than I normally do on a 29er that my wife had to cut out early and take one dog back to the car cuz he couldn’t keep pace
I was able to roll through some super tech rock/root sections that are difficult on a 29er, so that big wheel really is something for getting through obstacles. I am getting to the point that I prefer the 36er for anything fast and flowing, though even the tech stuff is relaly fun. The new tires should be ready next month, get one and go tubeless, what a blast!
Yeah it helps when you know the RD fairly well! 
Plus I was in no danger of threatening the final results!
You should definitely work on getting your local mountain bike club put on a low-key, informal series. That was the intent when the series started last year but the response was so huge that the SORBA club had to retool a bit to handle the demand. This year they had stage sponsors that provided post race refreshments (:cough: beer) and prizes for the stage winners and even a raffle for a couple of bike frames at the end of the series. The big thing was coordinating the racer starts and recording the finishers; basically synching up racer number with two different recorders who tracked the start time and stop time to give the total ride time… Not too complicated and probably could be done more efficiently in the future since they were just writing stuff down that they then and to transcribe into an Excel spreadsheet that they then ran a macro to sort the resultant list…
Anyhow I definitely always have a blast bombing around on the easier trails on the 36er. The problem is I don’t really have too many “flowy” XC type trails around here; very little like the Small Intestine at Raccoon Mountain. If I did I’d be on the 36er a lot more. Most of the trails I ride are ancient hiking trails that were built long before mountain bikes and much thought was put into trail sustainability. So they are very rough, creek bed like surfaces that are very tricky and take absolute concentration at all times. More like doing rolling trials than XC riding. But I love my trail system; makes riding other places so much easier!
So, for me a 26er or possibly a 29er might be my best option for the type of riding I trail riding I do while still being small enough a wheel to get real benefit from the KH-Schlumpf hub on easier terrain and roads.
Don’t worry, I’ll never give up the 36er; it’s just too much fun to ride!
Ok, ok. Some parting photos from the series until next year…
From the start of Stage #7: Sinks Trail.
