My stupid muni day

I had a bad case of stomach flu or something on Saturday, and apparently
woke up today with a bad case of bad judgment. I was dying to get in a
long muni ride to try out my new Profiles, and because I hadn’t had a
long ride in two weeks. I knew I should probably take it easy after
being sick the day before, but I really wanted to do 15 or 20 miles and
got up at 6 am to get ready. My wife suggested I take one of our dogs
for a uni run before I left, and I agreed. I have a new wireless speedo
that I can read while I ride, so I immediately, with no warm up, decided
to try to set a new land speed record for a 24x3, 170 crank muni being
towed by a crazy sled dog, on asphalt of course. Well, as soon as we
hit 11 mph, the dog must have surged a little and I hit the ground with
no time to run or roll. I skidded on my wrist guards, and my knees
which were supposed to be protected by my Roach armor (but leg armor
never really seems to cover your knees when you need it). Also one
elbow was gouged pretty deep and I was scraped on my left forearm and
shoulder. The sound of my muni hitting the street was like a car wreck
on an otherwise silent morning, so I jumped up and rode home before
anyone could come out of their houses to see what happened.
I cleaned and bandaged my knees and elbow, and decided I could still do
my long ride. I didn’t get on the trail until 9 am, an hour and a half
later than planned, and it was getting hot already.
I was riding a mostly rocky trail, with some climbs and technical
sections, but I avoided the really brutal rocky stretches that I
sometimes ride. That was the only good judgement of the day.
Surprisingly I felt really good for the first 10 miles, then my left
knee started seizing up. It had apparently hit the street hard enough
to bruise it internally. By mile 12 I was in a lot of pain, but by 13
it started letting up a little and I slowly made my way home. I ended
up with 15.07 miles in 3 hours and 13 minutes. I got the distance but I
would have liked to do it in 2.5 hours or so.
Now that several hours have passed, and I have iced my knees and taken
ibuprofen, it seems like it was a good ride. I guess any ride that
doesn’t kill you is a good ride.

Remember to ride safe, use good judgment, and wear body armor. Lots of
it.

Scott


--
S_Wallis - MUni motivated

"I am always doing that which I can not do,
in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso
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S_Wallis wrote:
*I guess any ride that doesn’t kill you is a good ride.*

I disagree. I think that any ride that doesn't kill you or make you
miss out on other rides is a good ride. So if you get paralyzed or
break a crank arm (or a leg) a week before the California MUni Weekend,
it was a bad ride.


--
paco - Creator of the "BUni"

"One thing is for sure. Inspector Clay is dead. Murdered. And
-somebody's- responsible!"
-Plan 9 From Outer Space
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paco wrote:
*
I disagree. I think that any ride that doesn't kill you or make you
miss out on other rides is a good ride. So if you get paralyzed or
break a crank arm (or a leg) a week before the California MUni
Weekend, it was a bad ride. *

Having something happen to make me miss Cal Muni this year, WOULD kill
me, so my statement stands.
That is why I was almost glad when my hub broke 2 weeks ago. I thought,
at least it didn't happen halfway down Downieville.

Looking forward to seeing you there, Paco.

Scott


--
S_Wallis - MUni motivated

"I am always doing that which I can not do,
in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso
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I'm doing extensive 'product testing' to make sure that nothing breaks
in California because, like you said, it probably would kill me too. My
Velo seat is already getting some holes in it, but it should make it
though at least that weekend. It will be nice meeting people I already
know for the first time. In Moab, I met a lot of people, but I didn't
really know them yet, so I can't remember most of them. This time will
be much better.


--
paco - Creator of the "BUni"

"One thing is for sure. Inspector Clay is dead. Murdered. And
-somebody's- responsible!"
-Plan 9 From Outer Space
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S_Wallis wrote:

I cleaned and bandaged my knees and elbow, and decided I could still
do my long ride.

Scott [/b]


I am highly impressed. I would have taken the first wreck as direct
orders from Up Above to watch football all day.

If Scott continues showing this type of will power, I will have to place
him on my "Uni Hero List".

Let me tell you about my ride today. I was extremely tired from being
at a 12 hour wedding yesterday (my last un-married Brother-in-Law).
Today, the family was going to the mall, so I loaded up my Uni and drove
up to the North Carolina mountains. My idea was to ride 5 or 6 miles on
hard-packed gravel roads and trails, all in the beauty and coolness of
the Appalachians.

What really happened: I drove to NC, parked at the planned start of the
ride, leaned my truck seat back and promptly fell asleep for 2 hours.
Then I drove back home! Hummm, guess I'm getting old.
--chirokid--


--
chirokid

"Unicycling can make you proud then humble in very quick succession."
Mikefule

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That sounds like the right ratio... 2/3 fun and 1/3 strengthening and
conditioning for next time :-)

I didn't do too much riding this weekend--planned on riding a lot with
my KH and Coker, but there were... shipping problems. I rode for a
little while today on my good 'ol 20" and tried a little more on the one
footed pedaling; I'm much better at it when there is a slight decline.

Once I get my new wheels, do any of you want to go riding?

Matt


--
mkuhfahl
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Krashin'Kenny wrote:
*This evening I did manage to pull the 28'r out for a short ride
before the Sun set. With the 140mm cranks on it, I managed to knock
out a quick 4 miles in 38 minutes between the time I left the house
and made it back home including stopping for 2 traffic lights and 4
UPD's!! *


I did the same thing. Just before dark, I did a quick 3.18 miles on my
24" with 145mm cranks. I live in the country, so no red lights for me.
I live in Tennessee, so no UPD's either (why that matters I have no
idea, but I thought it might make me sound as wise as Paco). Total ride
was time was 28 minutes. This ride included an awesome hill that runs
up through a new subdivision. I saw two different families standing in
their windows watching that funny man riding up and down their hill on
one wheel. --chirokid--


--
chirokid

"Unicycling can make you proud then humble in very quick succession."
Mikefule

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hey scott,

glad you seem to be ok. my last wreck included a bang to my 'protected'
knee. it seems to me that roach leg armor does not have adequate knee
protection (and i've never had trouble keeping the knee covered). it
protects against scratches and cuts, but not really hard knocks. i'm
going to rethink my leg protection.

-eric


--
onefiftyfour - Eric
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onefiftyfour wrote:
*hey scott,
glad you seem to be ok. my last wreck included a bang to my
'protected' knee. it seems to me that roach leg armor does not have
adequate knee protection (and i've never had trouble keeping the knee
covered). it protects against scratches and cuts, but not really hard
knocks. i'm going to rethink my leg protection.*
Im fine today, sporting 3 medium size bandages. I hope your injuries
are healing well also.
I haven't had any other impact injury to my knee with the Roaches, but I
know it could happen. My biggest problem is that they are a little
short for me, and a sliding fall pushes them down and uncovers the tops
of my knees. My previous pads were the 661 MTB knee/shin guards
(uni.com) with the hard plastic external knee cups. On several
occasions I slammed my knees down on solid rock with those and had no
pain at all. Also, they slide on the ground much better than fabric.
Unfortunately, they had no calf protection and a bad strap system, and
are way too short if you have long legs at all. I would like to have
custom sized Roach armor with an external knee cup. I think that would
be ideal. Whether they would make that or not, I don't know.

Scott


--
S_Wallis - MUni motivated

"I am always doing that which I can not do,
in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso
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Matt and Kenny,

Whenever Matt gets his muni, I'll be ready for a ride. Email me to set
it up.

Scott


--
S_Wallis - MUni motivated

"I am always doing that which I can not do,
in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso
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