Mike and I are slackers on Friday afternoon, so we’ve been getting some nice bonus MUni rides in while the park is empty. Mike cleaned Chaparral from the top of the rocky section, and I got the furthest I’ve ever gotten on Two Dollar Hill (about one pedal revolution further).
California MUni Weekend was fun; a smaller gathering than most previous years, something like 20 riders, which is fine with me. Makes it a lot more manageable than the huge groups, and we still had a lot of different skill levels represented, from people riding with other unicyclists for the first time, all the way up to Kris Holm himself.
From the local group we had me, Ashley for a couple days, and Jimbo on Saturday, with Corbin, Aaron, Geoff, Nathan and Grace coming up from Santa Cruz, and Anya from Germany via Burlingame joining in the fun.
Three days of moderately technical riding with some disc golf and a nice swimming hole made for a great weekend.
Best shots: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tholub/sets/72157627771281011/
Everything: http://flickr.com/gp/tholub/9p22v4/
Tamarancho last weekend was a lot of fun; I’d only been there once before, and I’m definitely going back. The trails are all tight singletrack, with a ton of sharp switchbacks (probably 30-40 total on the loop), and some good technical challenges, although it’s not super-technical stuff. More technical than China Camp, less than Skyline Park or Rockville. It was great fun on the 29er, and Ashley enjoyed it on her 24″. Plus the ride ends right at Iron Springs Brewing Company.
I’m out of town this weekend, but y’all should do some riding to shape up for CA MUni Weekend in a couple of weeks.
Not only did we get in a two-sport day on Friday (MUni and disc golf at Skyline Park in Napa), we got in a two-MUni weekend, adding in Dimond/Joaquin Miller on Saturday. Skyline has some really fun MUni, with sections that are similar to Rockville Hills, and the disc golf course is pretty epic.
Dimond/Joaquin Miller was a great workout as always, and I finally conquered My Own Personal Everest, cleaning the Bishop’s Walk climb (on my third attempt, and without my pack, but it still counts).
I ran my streak of Best Biff awards to four in a row, with a good smackdown on the rocks at Skyline, and a personal record Human Cliffside Retrieval in Joaquin Miller (slid down at least 30 feet). I must be trying hard enough.
Another great day Laboring on the trails, this time over in China Camp (one of the state parks threatened with closure due to insane ideologues). We didn’t get the magical light we had in Joaquin Miller last week, but we had a very pleasant day for a ride, warm with a light breeze. Both of us were on 29ers and we did the loop fairly quickly, for us (not Ryan Atkins quickly). I made the entire climb including the bonus trail, which I don’t think I’ve done before. I won Best Biff for the second week in a row, this time with a lame-ass dismount on a switchback where my wheel got caught in a trench. We each had a cliffside retrieval, which also is good practice for California MUni Weekend, which includes a number of trails with exposure.
We were moving fast, so not many pictures. It was dusty over there; my uni looks like I just got back from the playa, so I figure I got the most important part of the Burning Man experience.
We had a gorgeous ride in Joaquin Miller, with the sun breaking through the mist right when we got to the top of Big Trees Trail. I won Best Biff for the first time in a while, getting too far to the right at the bottom of Cinderella and falling sideways with momentum. Beautiful day and a lot of fun. Up next, China Camp on Labor Day.
I was down in the South Bay this weekend, where a group of us (some still using the training wheel) started out on Rob’s Ride and then embellished it by throwing in Sick and Twisted, the climb on the UCONN trail, and then picked our way down through the UCSC campus on social trails. The embellishments were quite challenging on big wheels, a lot of fun.
Our quasi-official training ride series starts this Saturday; meet at my place at 10:00 for a beginner-level ride in Joaquin Miller. We’ll start with this and work up to some longer, more strenuous rides in preparation for California MUni Weekend (October 7-9).
I was recently in the Buffalo, NY area, and hooked up with a local (Buzz) for a ride in Sprague Brook Park, about half an hour south of the city. The park was nice woodland, with fairly tight singletrack winding through the trees and up and down the gullies, with some stream crossings. No sustained climbs or descents, but a lot of up and down, and a ton of small roots. I had my geared 29er, which was a pretty good setup for the trail, though I only got into high gear a couple of times. Buzz was on a geared 24.
Edit to add: Buzz also wrote up the ride on his “MUni or Bust” blog.
It was another weekend for exploring, this time at Skyline Park in Napa, which turned out to be surprisingly good. It’s way more wooded than you’d expect a park in Napa to be, and while the uphills are no fun, the downhills are great. We did one that had incredibly tight, steep switchbacks requiring enormous leg power for control, and another that reminded me of the Rock Gardens trail at Rockville Hills, only tighter. Overall the park was a little like Annadel, with more technical riding. Really quite fun stuff.
There’s also a supposedly good disc golf course that we were too tired to play. We’ll be back. Watch out for rattlesnakes.
I wrote up a post on a ride I recently did in Rocky Mountain National Park. Summary: It’s hard to ride without oxygen. Beautiful place, though.
