4th of July Ride

I rode at Webster Park and Whiting Road Nature Preserve today just like the good old days.

It was a good ride. Everything is mostly the same but I saw some changes.

One thing I noticed were the "Grand Tour" signs in Webster Park. I'm pretty sure they're new to me, though the signs looked weathered, so I assume they've been there for years now. It seemed to be just the main trail. The trail itself isn't new.

There were also a few places where erosion over time had changes the trail a bit. Usually there was just more of a gully in the trail.

On one trail I know to be rooty, it was still rooty, but just different than I remembered. I think between erosion and roots growing, it just changed.

The last section of it had an incredibly difficult surface I wouldn't even try to attempt. It was practically a ladder of roots.

In Whiting I rode the Green trail out to the end where there is a bench, and then back.

I rode 6 miles.

Going For Speed

For whatever reason I had the thought of riding the neighboring neighborhood trail loop and doing laps to see if I could improve my speed. I wear my phone on my Camelbak strap and use MapMyRide to report my times and split speed at each mile.

Since I started on the road to get there, I would only consider miles that started and ended on the trail.

And even then, the miles would span different sections of the trail, which does have some elevation changes, so some miles probably would be inherently faster. But who cares, this is just for fun. 

Here are the results:

Mile	26er	Geared 27.5	% Increase
2	7.74	9.14	+18.1%
3	7.90	9.12	+15.4%
4	7.95	9.12	+14.7%
5	8.30	9.86	+18.8%

I think I have potential to increase my speed on the geared uni, but it's harder to control and feel confident on.

16th Unicycle Anniversary

 Kessa joined the tradition!

Kessa Learns to Ride

For the past month I have continued to ride here and there, but not any solo muni rides. I've been riding while Kessa runs, and we've biked together as well.

But the more exciting news is that Kessa got the itch to learn to ride a unicycle! After several evenings of practicing, she is now able to ride around the neighborhood! I've ridden a number of times side by side with her. Usually that's just under a mile and half. Pretty good for a new rider!

She needs to learn to free mount though, so she likes having me or Amy with her, for a shoulder to lean on.

Sydney also took a ride around the block. She hadn't ridden in years, but I guess it's like riding a bike!

High Speed Hojack

 With my newfound shifting skills, and finally some dry weather, I rode the Hojack again. Kessa joined me on her bike. This time I was hoping to be able to shift successfully whenever I needed. And for the most part, I did!  Very nice.

However, I had an incident at one point, about 1

/3 into the round trip. If I recall the circumstances, at a road crossing I had dismounted and when I went to remount, I was in the middle of the road and I failed and fell. It was a very quiet road and no cars were in sight. I dinged my knee on the road, but it wasn't too bad. When I went to try again, I found my Schlumpf hub was in a freewheeling mode. Turning the cranks just turned the cranks, not the wheel! That's not normal and not good. Shifting the button up and down did nothing. I tried like a dozen times, and bounced the tire and kicked the cranks hoping to dislodge whatever mechanism was getting hung up inside the hub. It made no difference. There was a wooden post nearby and I bumped the unicycle into it with some additional force, hitting the crank. It didn't seem to immediately help, but after pushing the buttons a few more times, the cranks were now engaging the hub. Although then as I turned it by hand it seemed to me it wasn't shifting out of high gear. After another dozen button pushes and questioning what to do, I realized it was in fact shifting properly again.

Although I was a bit on edge from that point on, I was able to ride and shift without incident. I'll have to check with people on the forums and see if there are any thoughts on this.

Overall, my ability to shift with near 100% success made the ride a lot more enjoyable.

My lower back muscles got fatigued and I need to keep working on my posture, I guess.

Over 12 miles.

Shifting Level Up!

Following some advice from a fellow geared unicyclist, I moved my pedals from the 150 holes to 127 on my Spirit cranks. This makes it easy to hit the shift buttons on the Schlumpf hub for some riders.

WOW!  My shifting improved incredibly! I instantly went up to 90%+ for both upshifts and downshifts!

I rode this evening in the neighboring trail path and street while Kessa jogged and ran. So I was generally going slower and less serious, and had the opportunity to practice my shifting.

I even did a few intentional upshift-downshifts in a single rotation! Which does nothing, but is still an accomplishment for me!

3 miles

Sick Unicycle!

I have been sick for about 5 days but was feeling like I was probably ok for a small ride. And it was sunny and warm after work. Kessa and I went around the neighborhood trail path a few times, and around a few neighborhoods. Shifting still needs much improvement. And my lower back muscles fatigue. I need to keep working on these.

4.7 miles

Eggcellent Hojack Ride

Kessa and I rode to the end of the Hojack and back on this Easter day. She rode her bike and I did my best to keep up with my geared 27.5 uni. It was my first real adventure on this uni outside of a few neighborhood rides.

While Kessa certainly would have gone faster and had to wait for me to catch up periodically, I am overall happy with my performance, especially for a first ride.

I need to get better at shifting. Dismounting due to inability to shift were the most costly when trying to keep up with Kessa.

My lower back muscles got pretty fatigued. And I'm saddle sore.

12.25 miles. Average speed was only 7.5 mph. I'm sure I can get that closer to 10 in time.

We stopped a few times to let me stretch my back and for a snack.

mouth full of snack

27.5 Test Ride

I rode my new 27.5 geared uni on a test ride this afternoon. It was 50F+ out and felt like Spring.

My new unicycle works! I like the tire for the road. It's smooth despite the knobs, as was advertised.

I need to get used to shifting. I'm not sure why but I can't seem to click the downshift button with my left foot. I just need to practice.

Looking at my GPS, I think I was comfortable going about 10 mph, but almost got to 12. I'll have to work on it over time.

I also need to try the brake. It wasn't really needed for the flat road today.

The trail path in the neighboring neighborhood was wet and muddy and I didn't want to deal with it today, so I stayed on the road. But it was a good indication of trail conditions right now.

I'll likely stick the road and try the Hojack trail soon.

27.5" Flansberrium Geared Unicycle

Over the past months I've been ordering parts to build a custom 27.5" geared unicycle. Today I put it together!

Flansberrium aluminum frame, 27.5"

Schlumpf geared hub, 100mm bearing spacing, 203mm rotor

Light Bicycle AM733 carbon rim

Sapim CX-Ray spokes

Schwalbe Wicked Will 2.4" tire, tubeless

Wellgo MG-1 pedals

Shimano ZT M8100 brake

KH Fusion One saddle

KH T-bar

I still need to figure out a brake position to lock in, and adjust the brake tube.

I've Got to Bring It

As part of my muni comeback I have been doing P90X like I did in the past. Actually, I finished it yesterday! I'm proud to say I only skipped one Ab Ripper due to being sick, and I substituted the dreadfully long 90 minute yoga for the 30 minute yoga from P90X3. I always did the Stretch X on rest day instead of nothing. My 14 year old daughter Kessa joined me for most of it and helped motivate me to not skip any days.

I'm definitely stronger and more fit than when I started, and I feel it's the required base fitness I need to now get into shape specifically for muni. To me that means more cardio and leg strength.
Today Kessa and I started Insanity, again like I did in the past. Day 1 is the first fit test. Holy cow I forgot how intense it is. I did well but my lungs got worked out so much I'm coughing and sneezing like I have a cold and I want to expel the crap in my lungs. I'm hoping that it's a good thing, and that it passes soon.

One Wheel, Too Icy

Yesterday was a day of thawing that got to over 40°F but we're back to cold, low 20's. Today I thought I'd duplicate my last neighborhood ride and maybe do the walking trail loop a twice this time.

Unfortunately the trail was a bit too icy and wet for my liking. It almost looks ok on the sides but it's inconsistent and drifting onto the wet ice just yanks the wheel out from under me. No good.

Maybe it would have gotten better further on, or if I started on the other side of the loop. But I also noticed my saddle was loose and so, all signs pointed to just being done and I headed back home.

2.8 miles

Rebooting Again

I've been working on making a muni comeback! More about that later, but for today, I did a short ride in my neighborhood. I rode my Oregon fat tire on the road and on the nearby snow-covered walking trail.

There was enough snow and boot-prints on the trail that make it a challenge but still rideable with a fat tire. I had one UPD in a place where the snow got deeper. I kept the ride short as I'm easing back into it.

3.4 miles