Few weekends ago Dieselbikes tagged
along with MountainUni.com for the first season's trail ride on mountain
unicycles. Yup, we said it, unicycles! These are not your
ordinary run of the mill unicycles; in fact they are very similar to
mountain bikes, except have only one wheel.
Mountain Unicycles or MUni(s) for
short are well built unicycles that use many components found on mountain
and or BMX bikes. Wide rims, big tires and steel cranks - they are built to
handle just about anything the rider can throw at it. These one-wheel
wonders also come in various sizes for different disciplines of riding.
You have a choice of a 20" wheel typically used for trials type riding, 24"
or 26" wheel ideal for trail or urban riding, even a 29er for those who want
to commute and not have the potential hassle of storing a full size bicycle.
Jeff Putnam of MountainUni.com was the
ride organizer for this group of single wheeled no handlebar riders who took
to the open trails in Lynnfield behind the Naked Fish on Route 1 North.
There were 7 riders total who rode
their way over rocks, jumps and steep climbs that even mountain bikers would
not attempt. We spend a few hours with them shooting some film and
snapping some pictures to help promote this alternative trail riding sport
that is growing throughout the country. It was amazing to watch these
riders finesse their way through some technical terrain that was difficult
to walk. If riding level on technical terrain wasn’t hard enough,
watching each rider hop sideways up the side of a steep rock face was a
definite sign of balance and control.
Jeff said, "This is an alternative
sport that may not be for everybody, but once you are hooked, you fall in
love with it." MUnis can cost far less then its equivalent built
mountain bikes starting around $200 but, the fun is all the same. "You just
need to learn a different method of balance, once you mastered that, riding
is second nature."
MountainUni is a Massachusetts/Vermont
based company with a primary focus to promote the sport of unicycling with a
specific emphasis and progression towards riding technical terrain.
They provide "Learn to Ride" clinics for anyone interested in this sport,
plus organize and host events throughout New England.
MountainUni will be holding their
first 2009 MUni Trials Competition & Learn to Ride Clinics at the
3rd Annual
D-Day Expo Event happening on Saturday June 13th in Lynn Woods
Reservation Lynn, MA.
