XC and All mountain Unicycling weekend- Canberra Australia 2011

[tomtrevor]

Hey Mark,

Sounds like my kind of weekend, however I won't be able to make it which is a shame. I'll be sure to catch up with you in Italy next year!

[unicycle6869]

Hey Mark, Would love to come tomorrow but going to have to cancel due to my rib. It's a long drive for a day of riding when I'd have to be very careful and mellow. Best to rest it so I can go all out next Sunday! Let's hope the weather is just as good. I'll keep you posted on when I plan to come, Sat. night or Sunday morning. If it's easier you can reach me at 0449 222 012. Have fun and see you next weekend fo shizzle.

[napalm]

Hey everyone,
The first of two weekends has come and gone- and although only one other person could make it, we still smashed out some awesome muni rides. Rob (dragonfly) came down from the Blue mountains with his G26er on the friday night and first thing Saturday we were out in the early Canberra sun taking in the best single track that the Mt. Stromlo MTB park has to offer.

Our first loop climbed to the peak of the mountain on a mixture of windy and fairly technical single track as well as a fair mix of rutted and eroded 4wd tracks. From the top there was more up and down, and a whole section of technical DH with rock debris, loose shale, narrow lines, and off camber turns and drops. After that we turned to some super smooth and flowy trails for a high gear burn and after a bit more climbing to regain all our lost altitude we connected with the bottom half of the UCI world championship DH course for some fast berms, woop de woops, and jagged, rocky descents.

After a rest we hit up the trails again- having a bit of a play on the new skills area at Stromlo that features 3 giant seesaws, and a bunch of skinny- northshore style structures before tackling the most brutal climb (black rated climb) to the summit- Cardiac Arrest. This features some really buff short rocky descents as well as a lot of extremely steep, sandy and narrow single track. We sessioned some of the more fun sections and after making it to the top in the middle of the heat of the day, decided to hoon down on the 4wd trails to make the most of the lovely breeze that was now blowing.

After lunch and a siesta at my place we headed out in the cool of the arvo to the Black mountain reserve and found some really fun single track that was a hoot in high gear- and eventually climbed our way to the summit for some views of the surrounding region. This was my old stomping ground when I lived on Campus at the Australian National University so we tracked down my old favourite DH rock chute and hit it up. Feeling a bit nostalgic, we backtracked down the rest of the mountain and called it a day.

The next day we hit up my regular training ride at Mt Majura/Ainslie- but I might let Rob write up about that (I have to go to work!)

Look forward to having some more of you around this coming weekend!
Mark

[unicycledood]

Originally Posted by scotthue

If it wasn't in AU I'd be there :/

Probably the most racist thing I've read in these forums so far.

[dragonzfly]

The weekend was an absolute blast, and Mark is a brilliant host.
I'll keep Saturday short as Mark has already written about it. but I would like to make a few notes.

On Saturday we had 2 morning rides at Stromlo which were an great. The skills track was fun until I did a belly flop off one of the seesaws, and riding the technical downhills was insane. Just a word of warning, if Mark says we'll just roll our legs over this afternoon, he means we'll do 164m of vertical climb in just over 1km . the downhill after the climb was worth it, and there was a whole heap of single track to ride in hight gear with swooping turns and the occasional drop. Big smiles all day.
Sunday started with weetbix, milo and chocolate for energy. I was already warned that this was going to be a bit more epic so I thought I was ready, I even had my excuses lined up for when I got tired.

It started with a gentle ride along some dirt tracks which turned into a firetrail and then some really nice single track.
This was the warm up as from there we turned onto some firetrail for the first of the real climbing, followed by a fun descent.
This became the pattern for the day morning. We would climb up some hellish hill and then rip down a rock garden or flowing/technical single track. A highlight would have to be a 2.4 km section of technical single track. It was great riding with Mark to see what is possible with technical climbing, as the track was constantly climbing and dropping back to our final big climb.

After a short break (for my sake) we headed back home via some fun single track then swooping fast firetrails.
Sundays ride was 20km with 530metres of climbing.
I took some video photos which I'll post if I can work out how to do it.

All in all it was a great weekend.
So to all you guys who are there next weekend.
Have a blast
Thanks Mark for a great weekend of Muni.

[dragonzfly]

Heres some pictures from our ride on Sunday.

[napalm]

Thanks for the pics Rob. It was great to have you down and share some of my trails with you!

Now, for the 2nd week. Weather forecast is good-
Saturday: 9-27 mainly sunny
Sunday: 9-26 possible shower.

We will ride Stromlo and Black mountain on the Saturday, and Majura/Ainslie on the Sunday (using my house as a base).

Who needs a place to stay? and for what nights. First in best sleeping spot!

mark

[ash]

Yeah Mark,

Can i crash fri & sat night, i got ur number of the earlier thread,
im, 0414 321 150.

Ash

[dmacuni]

Yo Mark,

I'm getting into Canberra friday, staying with a mate and his wife, so i'm sweet for accomodation. I will be up for a saturday ride, i'm keen to see you channel your inner mountain goat and ride some gnarly uphills... haha. I will only have my SS 24" with me, so won't be as fast as those with schlumpf machines, should still be fun though!

I will give you a call Friday afternoon to work out details etc.

Catch you on saturday!

Cheers,

Dan

[scotthue]

Originally Posted by unicycledood

Probably the most racist thing I've read in these forums so far.

OK, I'll rephrase that:

If I didn't live 20+ hours away by plane, I'd be there.

[napalm]

Ok cool. Yep Ash you are fine to stay at mine on Friday and Sat night- It would be good if you could bring a sleeping mat and bag though. I have a classical music concert on Friday night that I am going to but it shouldn't go very late- what time are you expecting to get into town? are you driving or bussing it?

Dan- sounds as though you have been talking to Rob! don't believe everything he says... Would you prefer to meet at my place or at the Mt Stromlo Car park on the morning? It would be good to get the first ride underway by 9.00am to avoid the worst of the mid-day sun.

Mark

[unicycle6869]

Hey guys,
I'm very sad and disappointed to say that I don't think I'll be able to make it on Sunday. My ribs were still hurting just as bad as 2 weeks ago and so I went to see the dr again yesterday and he just called with the xray reports and this time around he said that my rib is fractured. *#^$@&*&!#%# You don't know how bad I want to come down there and have even thought about coming with a broken rib but since my work depends on me being healthy I have no choice but to stay home and rest. Hoping Mark can show me around maybe some other weekend in the near future or in the next year or two maybe when he visits....Have fun guys and try not to rub it too much in my face. Break a rib.

[napalm]

Hi Jamey- Really sorry to hear about your ribs! Hope you have a swift recovery and can be back on the uni's soon. I'd be more than happy to sort out a time to go riding in Canberra once you are back to 100%- maybe between christmas and new years?

mark