Unicycling the California Coast Classic 2006

[nathan]

In a few weeks, two unicyclists from California will be joining a bunch of bicyclists to ride 520 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 8 days in order to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation. This ride is really tough on a unicycle - the days are long (day 1 is 85 miles) and there is up to 5000' of climbing per day. Having no rest days makes this tour quite a bit harder than one of our typical "for fun" uni tours.

Check out the California Coast Classic website and donate generously for this great cause. The two riders are:

Mark Massey, age 50, attempting his first big tour
Scot Cooper, age 45, veteran of many tours - also did CCC in 2002 & 2004.

Mark has already hit the required $2900 worth of donations so please click here to donate in Scot's name. Your donations are tax deducitble and will fund research to find the cure for and prevention of arthritis as well as improve the quality of life for those affected by arthritis.

---Nathan

PS Here's a photo that Mike Scalisi took on the 2004 CCC of Scot Cooper

[Ricky W]

First off that picture looks cool. That would be a hard ride. I would try to start in the front just incase i had to take a break i could just drop back. I don't think i could do it without trianing a little and having a coker with a great seat

[normandie.wilson]

Wow, holy cow.

Awesome picture. Good luck with riding that far, and for a great cause.

[nathan]

I should've posted here after the ride completed. Both Scot and Mark completed the ride and did great. Mark didn't quite ride every mile, but Scot did. Scot had a fall near the end of the last day but was able to finish and is recovering well - he doesn't have internet access right now so won't be able to post.

---Nathan

[benjaug]

That is such a long ride... Everyone in California is so lucky, the have Moab MUni Fest, CMW... on the east coast we don't have anything! (At least in New England)

[mornish]

naucc is close(r) to you guys though.

[nathan]

Originally Posted by benjaug

That is such a long ride... Everyone in California is so lucky, the have Moab MUni Fest, CMW... on the east coast we don't have anything! (At least in New England)

You don't have anything in New England? That can't be true. There have to be tons of interesting road bike and mountain bike events you can enter on unicycle. Over the years I have read here about quite a few awesome sounding events that I wished I could've attended there. Just yesterday we raced the Mt Diablo Challenge (1142 bikes and 8 unicycles) - it was great.

We have the California Muni Weekend because of one person: John Foss. He had a vision in 1996 and through a huge amount of work, made it into what it is today (with lots of help from others along the way of course). You used to have the East Coast/New Jersey Muni weekend put on by Scott Bridgeman originally and later by Joe Merrill. This event went from approx 2000 or earlier through 2004. Now that communication through the internet is so easy, YOU can start your own.

Also, don't discount Juggling Festivals. We had an absolute blast last weekend at the Berkeley Juggling and Unicycling Festival. See, there were so many unicyclists interested that they actually made Unicycling part of the name. At the public show, we had 3 world champion unicyclists in the show and I think the jugglers were blown away by their skills. There are juggling festivals all over, so latch onto one nearby and after a couple of years maybe it will add Unicycling to its name because of your efforts.

Organizing isn't easy but it won't happen unless someone steps up and just does it.

Good luck,
Nathan

[tomblackwood]

Originally Posted by nathan

Mark has already hit the required $2900 worth of donations so please click here to donate in Scot's name. Your donations are tax deducitble and will fund research to find the cure for and prevention of arthritis as well as improve the quality of life for those affected by arthritis.

Dang, just seeing this now for the first time. Looks like even though the ride is over, you can still contribute. It took me all of about 2 minutes to go through the process online. A great cause--and a great rider--to show some support for.

[knobbytracks]

Originally Posted by nathan

... to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation.

This strikes home for me. I don't talk about it much for lack of understanding but I started battling osteoarthritis at the age of 40 and it sucks, especially for someone athletic. Now at 42 I've got one knee surgery behind me and getting ready for another this winter. I've been able to ride/train enough this year to attend the Moab and the Callifornia muni festivals in fine fashion but when you're riding with OA it feels like you're riding on borrowed time. It's always right there on the ride with you, reminding you that the exercise you love is degrading your joints.

I guess I'm through whining but the point being, "do it while ya can and make it count" cause you never know what's sneaking up behind you.

[tholub]

Originally Posted by benjaug

That is such a long ride... Everyone in California is so lucky, the have Moab MUni Fest...

I am happy to report that Utah is not in California.