The 6th British Unicycle Road Race

Our dedicated sponsored rider Julian has added to his collection of Unicycles this week with a brand new 36" Oracle! This takes his total number of Unicycles up to 8.

Here is the story of Julians Unicycle collection by Julian Page



First Unicycle a "Cheepo" internet unicycle for £29.99 -the learner unicycle for myself and my two daughters. It normally lives at my caravan by the sea in Anglesey, hence the rust. Old seat snapped, so has new seat and pedals.

Posted in Sponsored Rider

Matthew, Rob and Julian have been out and about in llandegla forest and made this great MUni Video. Great work guys!

Twelve Unicyclists took Gisburn Forest by storm (Julian P, Julian B, Alex, Jack, Felix, Earle, James, Bobby, Edz, Sam, Stu and Steve, with Pete and Mike on bikes).





With four rides in the 8 weeks, the North West Unicycling group is going from strength to strength -with the support of a quartet of Yorkshiremen).



With bright sunshine and blue sky's booked well in advance, we completed the blue trail with dips into the red. Gisburn Forest is a great place to unicycle, they are constantly upgrading the rides. The mountain bike riders are always friendly. Parking is free but it can get busy. There are no facilities so bring you own food.



There were two notable unicycle sculptures -one with seven unicycles balancing on a pole and another with them balancing under a bridge. There were a few good falls - Julian Barrow's diving picture has been posted to UDC's facebook.



Julian P

Just got back from another unicycling weekend with Ben in North Wales. 42.5miles total. Brilliant Weather - Stayed at Llwyn Onn, a small campsite at Rhydlydan. Only 5-6 miles from the Alwen and Brenig Trails


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Alwen Trail
7.5 miles around Lake Alwen, did it on smooth tyred 29inch road unicycles. A bit difficult for me but Ben was fine. Probably better on MUNI. It’s a good trail about half on great single tracks and half on firm forest roads. Good views of the lake. Free parking -easy to follow with little chance of getting lost. Ben said it was his BEST trail ever!! I would agree but on my 26inch MUNI!


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Lakes Vyrnwy
12 miles quiet road going around lake Vyrnwy, a few gentle hills, but we made it around with NO UPD's. Free parking at head of lake and also at the south end near the Café.


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Brenig Trail
9.5 miles around lake Brenig next to the Alwen Trail. Mostly forest tracks with good surface and a mile section on very quiet main road. Pay and display at the Brenig Visitors Centre. They have toilets and a café. We then went back to the Alwen Trail -a bit much for me - I struggled but we had a great chill on a beach by the lake.


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On the last day we planned to do the Alwen Trail again but the weather broke and I was feeling my achillies tendon so we decided to do part of the Wirral Way on the way home. A great long weekend -but tiring.
Julian


Llwyn Onn Guest House - Campsite
www.llwynonnguesthouse.co.uk

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As Julian’s diary of Unicycle rides grows, he has been spending a few days on Anglesey. Escaping from the main roads and there are a host of quiet country lanes to explore with little traffic. Its gentle rolling countryside has almost no big hills to worry about. Just get an OS map make up a route. The picture is of Lynnon Mill in the North West Corner of the island, note the beads of sweat - He had already done about 10 miles by then, and another 4 to get back to the campsite.

Two of our newest sponsored riders have been out riding over the weekend and this morning Julian emailed us lots of details about the ride. Enjoy..


Spen Valley Greenway Ride 10 - April 2011 (South of Bradford)


I spotted the Spen Valley Greenway on one of my many internet searches and got a free leaflet from Sustrans. I planned the ride with Ben Glynn, my unicycling partner in crime and fellow UDC sponsored rider. The ride follows a disused railway line, so is fairly flat. The best thing is the designers have not just gone for a straight path; the trail meanders so is much more interesting. It goes through gorgeous countryside and does go over the M62. There are plenty of sculptures, bridges and fancy seats. The best one is a big circle of metal hoops that you can ride around and around -great! Kids would love it - I did.


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The day was brilliant sunshine with sun cream applied and bare legs showing. Ben was on a mission, he is training for the mountain mayhem, and filled his rucksack with 5 x 2-litre bottles of water. That’s 10kg, plus water in two bottles attached to his frame. He was off like a rocket, I couldn't keep up with him. He's either mad or fit, probably both!


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Passed loads of walkers and cyclists with the usual variety of comments. Caught up with one bloke who had a unicycle and could only do the grand distance of 2 feet and several local lads who expressed an interest. Due encouragement was given to all.


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About 4 miles from the start there is also a small mountain bike skills area with bumps - Ben was a bit overloaded to do it justice. At the North end of the trail we diverted off a short branch (1/4 mile) to Victoria Park. But horror of horrors NO ice cream van! The total distance, there and back, according to my sat-nav was 13.5 miles. By not diverting to the park we could have gone a further 1-2 miles.


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As the ride first aider, I must report the only injury sustained on the ride. At the final 20 yards Ben had an unplanned dismount; his handle-bars hit his shin, ouch! Looking forward to the bruise tomorrow.


Julian Page
10/4/11


Ride Details


The Spen Valley Greenway stretches for about 10 miles south of Bradford. It is a well surfaced tarmac path based on a disused railway line and is traffic-free. It has a slight uphill gradient from South to North. It's best to start from the south end, so its down-hill on the way back. Park in, or next to the Ravenswharfe Hotel Car Park (post code WF13 3EH), it's on the A644 between Raventhorpe and Dewsbury.


The path runs NORTH next to the car park - you can see a green bridge that goes over the A644. The Path is easy to follow and no maps are needed, about half way along is a supermarket where you can stock up with goodies. It's quite busy so watch out for cyclists and walkers. You can go South on the trail, after a few hundred yards it meets the Calder & Hebble Canal Towpath.


Sustrans Link
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/sustrans-near-you/north-of-england/easy-rides-in-the-north-of-england/spen-valley-greenway


Sustrans Leaflet
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/assets/files/leaflets/SPEN%20VALLEY.pdf