Kris Holm 36″

It’s been almost 3 months since my last ride on a mountain unicycle, forgive me father!  I’ve been back on a mountain bike and loving it. Doesn’t mean I won’t be doing MUni (Mountain Unicycling) any more though.

I last rode Poverty Gully in October 2008 on my way from Mt Franklin to Castlemaine on the KH29. Back then I arrived at Poverty Gully just on night fall, close to the end of a +30k MUni ride.  It tested me out, as the lights of Castlemaine in the valley below seem so close but so far away, appearing briefly every now and then as the trail messed with my tired head, winding in and out of deep gullies for what seemed to be forever.

Not a new KH shoe accessory but a very cool Australian reptile. Like me and Didj the Blue Tongue lizard was out on the trail today catching some sun, warming up after the unusually cold weekend that saw snow fall across the Central Highlands – don’t see that very often in late Spring.

After a wild morning including snow across the Central Highlands — in October! — and passing storms things started to settle down just in time for a late afternoon cruise on the 36’er.

I headed back to the MTB trails in Wattle Flat, this time on the 36’er. It’s all fun single track but the section I was looking forward to most was the trail that snakes down a long gully, swooping back and forth into a dry creek bed many times. I’d ridden it on the 24 GUni and was interested to see what it would be like on the 36’er.

Huge fun today on the 36’er. A sunny day turned to rain, the single track slicked up, the big wheel cranked some turns, and I managed to get caught out by the same piece of flooded single track, same UPD, same bloody knee … same loser! 😛

The last couple of rides has got me feeling the love for off roading on the 36’er big time – the momentum the big wheel carries through the trail is a hoot, especially when combined with cranks a little too short to be relaxing – but the 24 GUni isn’t so keen on being replaced as the favorite ride.