The Uni roundup was a success! Despite the 100 degree heat, we were all
intrepid and made it around the park. The young uns rode up a storm
throughout the day. This year’s turnout brought in some new multi
age riders. Conversations started with unicycles, of course and went
on from there. There were plenty of unicycles to try. Everyone shared
with zest. A bag of Allen wrenches sat on the table for adjustments.
The younger riders congregated in one area and the older riders hung
around the awning in the shady grovelette of trees we were stationed
in.
We changed the schedule in the middle of the day when some of the MUni
riders had to leave to get some grub. Originally, the lunch was
scheduled for after the park ride, but I think moving lunch before the
ride worked out better in the long run. The shaded grouping of trees
provided a respite from the intense heat of the day.
We had a delay in starting the park ride, because I was meeting with
the trials committee. Having not done this part of the event before,
we had to work out some glitches. I appreciated everyone’s
patience.
It turned out that some of the younger riders, had been riding for
hours the previous day and evening, and were already a little wiped.
The MUni guys and Morgan were already wiped from the earlier MUni ride.
It evened things out for all the riders.
We began our park ride with myself at the lead. We turned into a uni
train as we all stretched out along the trail. Al Karel, on his 29er
took the lead from us on our Uni 24s about a quarter of the way. Then,
while in the lead, he does a gentlemanly thing of stopping to taking
pictures. Cars stopped as we crossed the main park road onto a gravel
like access driveway. We continued gallantly around on to a hard
packed dirt path. As I was riding this stretch I noticed a hill to the
left with a fork in the trail. ”Ohhh nuts”, I thought - I
forgot about that hill. Then, instantly, I thought of Jonathan and
Michael… Jonathan Kelley and Michael Carrington got lost last
year on a cross park odyssey that turned into a 5 mile tour of the
Sepulveda Basin because I hadn’t marked the course. I began to
think, “Will some of the riders go up the hill, and in this
heat?” We made it back, but as it turned out, yes, Jonathan had
walked up the hill, not knowing which way to continue. Lightening
strikes twice. 😉 I won’t make that mistake again. We curve
around and are almost back at the encampment. Jess sees a corral type
fencing and then gets up on it. After a few tries, he manages to ride
about 6 feet. The fence is two to three inches wide and about 5 feet
up. Eyal was also up there. I was happy just standing on the cooking
concrete, watching.
Finally back at the ”resort”, we hung out and recovered
from the inferno that consumed us. Erik wrote the directions for the
trials sections and I taped them down.
Then the trials competition started. It’s 2:15 in the afternoon
and the temperature is near the 100 mark. These guys are pouring it
on, and I am not talking just about the sweat. I glanced over at Jess
at one point and watched him fly from one line to another. I had set
the time at 1.5 hours to complete all the lines. Fatigue was setting
in for some of the MUni riders and you could see that they were
“fried”. Jarrin and Cody deserve honors for determination.
Both riders kept on pursuing one or two lines that evaded them well up
into the 1.5 hour mark, but through sheer determination, fortitude and
perseverance, they continued on to finishing all of the lines. Both
were red faced, but smiles when they finished.
Personal schedules called for leaving the trials competition early for
some riders. (I will post the scores later) A number of riders
completed all the lines, but then had to leave while others remained
determined to ride all 16 lines. This created a small problem, which I
have yet to work out. I had some prizes for first and second place and
no opportunity to do a tie breaker.
I really enjoyed meeting everyone again. There may be another Uni
roundup planned for early November which will be organized by someone
else. During the next year, I want to plan the Uni roundup for much
earlier. We can’t due this in the heat anymore. That’s
two years running with high heat.
Many thanks to all my helpers. Mike Sode helped me with the set up in
the morning and laying out the signs marking the trail. John Long led
the MUni ride down Hummingbird. Erik, Jake, Cody, Spencer, and Evan
represented the trails competition committee in laying out the trials
sections and Erik wrote the directions for the sections. Thanks also
to the riders from the Santa Barbara area for making the trek southward
for the event.
Pix to follow.
CHEERS!
--
The Munieer
Rod Wylie - Email teachndad (att) gmail(dott) com
'MountainUnicyclingLA.com' (http://www.mountainunicycling.us)
'Greater Los Angeles Area Trails - Images'
(http://gallery.unicyclist.com/Greater-Los-Angeles-Trails)
'Greater Los Angeles Area Trails - Descriptions'
(http://tinyurl.com/6h8zn)
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