Today I decided to revisit the scene of some of my earliest
MUni rides: the High Peak Trail, starting from Black Rocks,
near Cromford, in Derbyshire.
See the close up map here:
The High Peak Trail is a leisure path for cyclists, walkers
and riders which follows the route of an old railway. Black
Rocks is a gritstone outcrop at the top of the first steep
incline, and is a popular venue for rock climbers. Nearby
and along the route of the trail there are several small
disused quarries.
The first incline up the trail from Black Rocks is called
the Middleton Incline. When the railway was in use, the
trains had to be hauled up the incline by a static steam
engine and winch. The incline is about
1/2 mile (0.8 km) long and approximately 1:7 (14%) in
gradient. The surface is a mixture of grit, ballast, mud
and the like. Every 20 metres or so there is a diagonal
ledge made of kerb stones, designed to divert surface
water in heavy rain to prevent erosion.
On my first attempt on this incline, less than 2 years ago,
I only made it 2/3 of the way up, and that was with
numerous UPDs, dozens of failed mounts, and I retreated
with my tail between my legs. On my second attempt I did
even worse. I have ridden it since. My best ever attempt
was on a (true) 24 inch wheel with 150mm cranks, and that
involved about 3 UPDs.
Today was a typically English half-hearted winter's day:
there was snow on the ground, but not enough to look
pretty; it was raining, but not enough to need the
windscreen wipers on the car; the puddles were frozen but
not enough to walk on; it was foggy, but only enough to be
irritating when driving; it was cold, but only in that damp
creeping into your bones sort of way. To summarise: yuck!
So, on with the ride:
I park at the car park shown on the map by a P in a blue
square near Black Rocks and ride easily along the level part
of the trail. The mud and grit trail is quite badly rutted
in places by cycle tyre and horse hooves. These ruts have
frozen and are partly concealed by the thinnest dusting of
snow. Now and again I hit a deeper patch of mud that has
only a thin frozen crust, and my wheel slides unpredictably.
Then I reach the incline and bend to my task. This incline
has become my personal Everest, and I measure my ability and
stamina against it now and again. Today I hope to ride all
the way up in one go.
Picking my way carefully around the ends of the drainage
ridges, and trying to use the camber of the track tactically
to conserve energy and momentum, I make the first couple of
hundred metres quite easily. I'm already way past the places
where I had my first 2 or 3 UPDs on that first attempt. I go
over a bridge over a road, and wonder what the motorists are
thinking as they look up and see a unicyclist silhouetted
against the skyline. They probably don't even notice.
Then the trail gets harder, with lots of rock and ballast
embedded in the gritty surface. The rocks are limestone,
which is slimy when wet, and the thin coating of snow makes
it hard to read the best route. My fingers are cold on the
bare metal of the handle. By now, I'm standing on the
pedals, gasping in time with my pedal strokes, and finding
it harder and harder to pick a route between the bumps. The
bumps aren't big enough to present a problem in their own
right, but on a 14% slippery gradient when I'm at the limit
of my endurance, 5% extra resistance could be enough to stop
me in my track.
Yes, on a unicycle, it's track, singular. :0)
There is a bungalow right next to the trail, just before a
short tunnel. Someone is in the garden, half ignoring me,
half wondering what I'm doing. He can see my body bobbing up
and down, and hear my breathing, but I don't think he can
see the unicycle from that angle.
Just as I enter the tunnel, events conspire against me and I
UPD - half relieved, half disappointed. This matches how far
I reached on the
2/150 before UPD- ing. Now I'm on a 26 (x2.6) with 150s, but
I have a handle. How do they compare? I think the 24/150
is a touch easier up hill.
I get my breath back and remount easily. It's now a real
slog over the difficult rocky surface through the tunnel,
then after that the trail seems muddier and more slippery.
Another 100 metres and I UPD. I remount and then UPD about
10 metres further on. I'm not going to break any records for
this ascent! :0(
With two more UPDs, I make it to the top, and I'm able to
regain my breath within a couple of minutes. The first time
I reached the top, a year ago, I was so exhausted it knocked
me out for most of the rest of the day, so that's progress
of a sort.
Now I'm at the visitor centre at Middleton Top, shown
on the map.
I turn back. There is a notice warning of a steep incline.
Cyclists are advised NOT to ride down the incline. Of course
they can't: inclines go UPwards. This is now a DEcline. Thus
protected by my pedantic love of the language, I decide to
ride down. It's easy enough, and I ride over the drainage
ledges instead of skirting round them as I did on the
ascent. A couple of times I feel the rim bottom out, and
this makes me nervous of damaging the wheel - nervous enough
to UPD on one of the higher ridges.
Soon at the bottom, I turn off the trail to the disused
quarry to the north. It's only a tiny little quarry, but I
know there are a few grassy/muddy little paths and a couple
of slopes and small ledges. Here the snow is a little deeper
- just enough to make the ride interesting.
Then I find a bit of a drop. My regular readers will know
that I'm a big believer that wheels are round for a
reason, and I don't do drops... but this one fits my
criteria. It has a slight slope down do it, then there's
about an 8 inch (20 cm) step down to a short but steepish
slope. I can ride it...
I carry the uni to the top, mount and, too hastily, ride
towards the drop. My right foot isn't quite straight on the
pedal, and I should treat the drop with more respect... but
no, I can do it.
I go over the drop fairly briskly... the tyre digs in... my
weight pitches forwards... I sail through the air... I see
the next rocky ledge rushing up towards my face... I know
it's going to hurt... BANG!
I lie stunned for a moment. My head has fallen a distance of
about 8 feet (2.4m) and my jaw has taken the full force of
the impact. It must be broken. For a few seconds, I don't
move, then I see blood on the snow, inches from my eyes. I
move my jaw experimentally. It seems to work. I move it a
bit more. It doesn't feel broken. I spit to see if the blood
is from inside my mouth our outside.
I realise I've badly cut my chin. My tongue discovers that
half a tooth is missing. I've no idea how bad the cut is,
and suddenly I feel a long way from anyone. I'm only 50
metres from the trail, but how many people are using the
trail in this weather?
I gather myself together, stand up, and collect the uni. My
chin is bleeding freely, and I pathetically search my
Camelbak for a bandage or handkerchief I might accidentally
have left in there. No luck... and the blood is dripping on
my new fluorescent green jacket. :0(
It's a good half mile to the car, so riding seems the
quickest option - but riding on frozen rutted mud with a
thin coating of snow looks less appealing when you're
holding your chin together with one hand and you don't know
how bad the injury is.
I pass a couple of groups of walkers who make the usual
comments and don't notice I have blood all over my face and
hand. I suppose the unicycle is unexpected, whereas massive
facial injuries are an everyday occurrence?
Back to the car, and I find one of my Morris dancing
handkerchiefs - fortuitously, a red one. Not sterile, but
red!
I clean my face as best I can, and look in the car's rear
view mirror. It looks bad. I ring a friend who lives nearby
and then drive to his house to be cleaned up. He directs me
to the local hospital where an exceptionally attractive
nurse cleans the wound and applies a dressing. She's not
qualified to stitch wounds, and there are no doctors in, so
I then drive 25 odd miles to Nottingham's main hospital and
wait for several hours before an even nicer nurse applies
seven stitches.
So here's my contribution to the safety debate:
Last year I badly hurt my hand and wrist in a low speed fall
from the Coker. Now I wear Salomon wrist guards designed for
snowboarders. I know my hands took some of the impact
because my right shoulder (sword arm :0( ) is bruised and
that never it the floor. My hands are both uninjured,
although the wrist protectors are clogged with mud and grit.
Wear wrist guards!
My helmet never touched the floor. It never has in any UPD
from any size of unicycle. A chin guard might well have
prevented this injury, though. I am likely to buy a helmet
with a chin guard before riding anywhere near rocks again. I
was damn' lucky not to break my jaw, and that would have
been an awful injury to endure. I will have a scar, and I
will need minor dental repairs. MUni riders, and trialsists:
think about getting a helmet with a chin guard - it doesn't
look as stupid as I look right now.
--
Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling
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