I got wind of a brand new mountain/cross bike event, the East Bay Dirt Classic, sponsored by the Crocker 510 bike club. This was a pretty epic ride, with 25- and 45- mile versions. We got a group together to do the 25-mile version, which was no walk in the park, boasting over 3000' of climbing, mostly on the steep fire roads of Redwood and Anthony Chabot parks. Me, Yu and Dragon joined up, and the two wheelers were suitably impressed.
We participated again in Bike East Bay's PedalFest event, running learn to ride workshops, demonstrating flatland, street, and trials, and entering the amphibious race. Got a lot of love from the crowd!
Chris and I had Monday off (Chris because it’s summer, me because consulting works that way), and were looking for...
We had a warm but not ridiculously hot day for a two-sporter up at Napa Skyline. There was a beautiful light cloud cover and breeze which took the edge off what would have been a really hot day for MUni. Unlike last time, nobody broke their unicycle, and we had a great time on the Upper Skyline rock gardens and the Manzanita Trail, which we haven't been back to since the 2016 Tubbs Fire.
We had a great time at the East Bay JAM. The weather was perfect for MUni, and we wound up doing two rides. In the morning we did a family ride with five riders, including a 9-year-old girl and her dad from Hawaii, and an afternoon ride with eight riders. Plus a bunch of people tried to learn to ride in the meadow. Fun times!
G was in town, and we had a couple of hours to hit the trails, which are way more fun here than in Durham, North Carolina. We didn't have time for much, but played around a little bit with some different loops, especially the downhill on the north fork of Big Trees. Anyone who's in town, hit us up; any excuse for a ride!
Several folks from the uni crowd came up to support me in the Kinetic Grand Championship in Humboldt County, where I unveiled the first-ever truly amphibious unicycle. I got to lead the race on the first stretch out of town square, and managed to Ace the sand section on my new 4.4" tire.
We got to ride with Sarah this weekend, a newcomer to the Bay Area and a relative newcomer to MUni, although she's a former national champion at urban (flatland) riding. We took her on one of our standard loops, hitting Big Trees, Chaparral, and heading down to the overlook, because, Oakland, baby. We also did some scouting for locations for the East Bay JAM, and found a great place for flatland and learn-to-uni lessons. June 16, see you there!
Nathan invited us down to Silly Valley for a birthday ride around Lexington Reservoir, with a bonus climb and descent over Montevina Road. We had total of five unicycles, all Schlumpfs, four 36ers. Everybody did the loop around Lexington (which was not full like last year, but not empty like two years ago), and then most of us went for the climb. Great day!
I'd never done five days of MUni in a row before, but here we were on Sunday. Nathan and I were sore but doing generally well, while Chris and Dragon were still itching to ride more. Today’s plan was to go to the 18 Road trails at the foot of the Book Cliffs, which were repored to be mellower, flowy trails. Because it was warmer, and the trails were supposed to be easy, most of us decided to go without armor. (What could go wrong?)
