Report on the Gravity Weekend by Mal Bird
On the 21st and 22nd October, 7 unicyclists of different ages and abilities met at Falls Creek Ski resort for the Gravity Weekend which I organised. The concept was to ride mostly downhill and use Munis for what they are intended for: riding in the mountains.
The riders were Byron Roberts, Barry and Nick Clearwater, Ed Bell, Laurence Harrison, Kevin McKay and myself. We were lucky that we had two willing partners to pick us up at the bottom of the rides and then ferry us back up so thanks goes to Barbel and Katrina.
On the Saturday we started at Mt McKay. Unfortunately there was a howling gale and ice was blowing across the mountain. After Mt McKay we headed down a bit to the protected north side and rode down Wombats Ramble and the Last Hoot ski runs a few times. Wombats Ramble was pretty easy but the Last Hoot had anti erosion culverts dug across it every 20 meters or so. This was a challenge for the better riders but some found them too difficult (like me). To finish off the riding at Falls Creek, Ed, Laurence and Kevin rode down the Summit Walking Track and Byron and myself used the opportunity to go back and ride Mt McKay again as the weather was slightly better.
After lunch we attempted to ride the 30ks from Falls Creek to Mt Beauty and most of us used 36” unis for this trip. The first 15 kls is nearly all downhill, however, the second 15 kls has some pretty decent up hills as well. Barry made it to Howmans Gap, Byron and myself made it to East Kiewa which is halfway, Nick made it to about the 25 kl mark with 125mm cranks and Laurence rode the entire distance on his first 36” experience. Congratulations Laurence!
On the Saturday night we tried to recover by sitting around a fire at my place while some people tried to do other things while they were riding a uni, like twirling fire sticks and playing the didge (yep, Byron hopes this is a first).
On Sunday everyone had a bit of a slow start but after breakfast and we were all moving again, we headed up to a sub-alpine area near Mt Bogong known as Trappers Gap. We rode down the Eskdale Spur 4WD track a few times. This track is not necessarily steep but is very technical. Kevin still had some energy so he rode an extra 7 ks downhill back to my place.
From all the down hilling I think our legs were sore for the rest of the week. Apart from this there were no major accidents and we all had a great time and thanks to the riders who could make it. There are more photos on www.municycle.com.au
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