First Snow Muni

Yesterday I braved the chilly weather and went for a ride at Tryon. It was about 25°F but it didn't take long for me to warm up. I spent some time trying to ride my first "skinny". It only took about 20 tries! Hahaha.
Here's some video... minus all my failed attempts:

I only saw walker and dog prints in the snow. No tires aside from my own. Some of the trails were hard to find.

The only person I saw was when I about to leave:A friendly bow-hunter. He said he biked the trails too. Nice guy... especially because he didn't mistake me for a deer!

Winter Blues

It's been wet and cold for the past few weekends. I plan on riding even when it's cold, but if the trails are wet I'll just slide around and mess them up.

About two weeks ago I was practicing hops in the garage for a few evenings. But things are busier lately and I haven't ridden in any way for a while.

Hopefully the trail conditions will improve and I'll hit the trails again soon.

Riding with Colin and Taylor

I am not aware of many local muni riders. But two of them are Colin and Taylor. Colin is a college student and his brother is younger and in high school. Five months ago, I stumbled upon a link to the Tryon forums and then stumbled upon a post from Colin that had a link to one of his muni videos. It looked like something I wanted to get into.

Colin is in town for the holiday and we planned a ride at Dryer Park this morning. His brother Taylor also went.


It was cool to finally ride with other muni riders. It can be easier to learn skills that way. I rolled over a few logs I wouldn't have tried in the past, once I saw Colin do it.

I also learned about an access road that goes up to the top of Dryer. We used this every time we went up because it's pretty direct. I was able to climb that hill a few times. That's the longest hill climb I've ever done.

Thanks for a great ride guys. I hope we ride more in the future.

Tryon Take 2

This afternoon I took the advice I was given yesterday and headed back out to Tryon. This time I parked in the apartment complex and rode in from the south. On the access road I met up with two Tryon Bike shop guys. They were cool enough to show me the way into the red trails. (see map) The ride in was a lot of fun, because I was pushing to keep up with their bikes.

The red area on the map has a lot of fun man-made skills obstacles. Things like jumps, log piles, wooden structures to get over, and logs to ride on. A lot of it looked broken apart, and the guys said it kind of comes and goes over the years. They had to leave and I was left to explore.

I had a ton more fun in this area than I had in the blue area yesterday. The trails were challenging but not frustrating. And while I could not quite do the man-made obstacles, I gave some of them a try and I know they're within reach.

My camera crapped out after a few pictures, so I couldn't capture some of the cooler ones, but here are a few of the simpler kinds of log obstacles (jumps for bikers) that I gotta learn to hop up, over, and down.


The camera flattens everything. That's a 24" wheel, to try to give some perspective. And where there are logs next to each other, they go up progressively more vertical. The camera really hides it somehow.

Kyle's Uni

Last week I saw another unicycle on craigslist. This one was a 20". It was of the China factory made style, not something that would hold up for myself. So I thought maybe my son Kyle would like it. He has had some interest since I've been riding, and Syd got hers.

The guy wanted $30, but it seems like a brand new uni of this caliber can be purchased for about $45-50 on eBay. So I told him so, offered $25, and he accepted. But when I went to check it out, I found one of the crank arms was very loose. The guy (college student) only had pliers, but I was able to remove the crank arm on the spot and and see the damage. The spindle and crank arm were both worn from being ridden loose. I wasn't sure I should even both buying it. If it was worn too bad the crank arm would always wobble no matter how tight it was tightened. I explained this and the seller lowered his price to $20. Sold!

I took the entire uni apart, cleaned it up, and swapped the crank arms to opposite spindle sides, tightening them extra hard. In the end the uni looks great and seems to work fine. I rode it a tiny bit, nice and easy. As a bonus, the rim is double-walled, which means its stronger.
For $20 it was a great buy.

Euro Sticker

I put my MUNI sticker on my car about a week ago. I forgot to show it off.
I wonder what people think it stands for.
I didn't take a picture of the whole car. It's a Lexus Escort LX in case you couldn't tell.

Tryon

I rode at Tryon Park this morning. I spent most of my time in the blue area and the immediately adjacent white trail. (See map)

It was hard. A lot of roots, rocks, hills, and some off-camber sections. Looks like a lot of fun on a bike, but at my current skill level on a uni, less fun and too much walking.

There were a few good sections that were smoother but still offered some challenges, so I might try parts the blue area again sometime. If I can figure out a continuous path.

I saw a couple of the Tryon Bike guys on my way out. I got the suggestion to try the lower red or green areas next time. Apparently I can more easily access them from the apartment complex just south of Tryon.

I might try those tomorrow morning.