4th Annual Moab MUni Fest (Mountain Unicycling Festival) at Slickrock in Utah

Moab MUni Fest 2003

Is Over

photo MMF2002

What: The 4th Annual Moab MUni Fest, short for Moab Mountain Unicycling Festival

Why: Why not? Its fun.

When: March 28-30, 2003

How: Anyway you can, just be there.

Where: Slickrock Trail at/near Moab in South-Eastern Utah

Who: YOU!!! You are invited and will be welcome.

Cost: No Cost for the gathering, just meeting as friends with a common interest

Tee Shirts are available for $10 or less

Step 1: Dust off your Mountain Unicycle, get one, or make one.

Step 2: Practice staying upright

Step 3: Plan to be there

Organizer: Rolf Thompson

Email: zadig@engineer.com

Announcement: See www.unicyclist.com news forum announcement of the 2003 Moab MUni Fest.

What is the Moab MUni Fest? Moab—located in Southeastern Utah—is the location of the famous Slickrock trail, a well known bicycling Mecca attracting some 150,000 riders annually. The BLM opened and dedicated the Moab Slickrock Bike Trail on July 22, 1969; two days after the first walk on the moon. I started riding it annually at the end of March (spring break) about 14 years ago. In 1999, I got the weird idea of taking my old cottered-crank unicycle along—just for fun. Well, I got hooked on unicycling there. I haven’t ridden my bike since at Slickrock and have, like many others, transitioned into more serious equipment better suited to the rugged terrain of Slickrock and rough terrain unicycling in general. The first Moab MUni Fest was held the following year (2000) when I put the word out on the Internet to see if anyone wanted to come along and ride. I had Joe, Judy, and Jared Stoltzfus along with Rouff—their photogenic K9 friend—come down from Idaho to join in.

“MUni” is short for Mountain Unicycling. The word “Muni” is a trademark of Pashley Cycles a British company. I believe John Foss was the first to capitalize the “U” making it “MUni”, which is the form I favor. I learned a lot about mountain unicycling equipment from Joe Stoltzfus that first year at Moab. The main thing was that many if not most people were making their own unicycles. What little was commercially available was very pricey. Luckily, the last few years have seen great progress made in available equipment for the sport of mountain unicycling. This is due to a number of pioneering individuals who have pursued perfection in mountain unicycles and have worked with frame builders and suppliers to make them available to others. Also, a great deal of credit—at least here in the USA—belongs to people like John and Amy Drummond, owners of www.unicycle.com , who have supported the sport like no others. They can provide parts or complete MUnicycles for just about any budget. Their most recent offering, the Yuni, is in my opinion a good value for the money and is a very adequate entry level machine. In 1997, Brett Bymaster posted a treatise on the Internet covering many of the salient aspects of mountain unicycling. I highly recommend it for newbies (click here to get there, thanks Brett!).

Why? “Fest” is short for Festival, and that’s what the Moab MUni Fest is all about. It’s a time to break the winter cabin fever and get out to the pleasant March climes of Moab; to ride and socialize with other MUni riders in the scenic wonderland of what has come to be known as “Gods Country,” the redrock landscape of Southern Utah. It’s a place to test and expand your limits, hone your skills, and learn new techniques from other riders. The entire Slickrock area is red sandstone rock, which means you’ll have traction to climb and descend angles you never thought possible. The landscape IS a trials course. For non-trials riders it’s just as much fun figuring out how to avoid the obstacles. In either case there’s plenty to keep you entertained. It’s a great place to make and renew friendships within the com-MUni-ty of riders. Check out the pics in some of these Moab Area Photo Galleries:

Moab Desert Adventures

Castle Rock Collaboration

Moab Aerial

Moab Valley

Slickrock Trail

When is the Moab MUni Fest? This year, 2003, it will be Friday March 28 through Sunday, March 30. The Moab MUni Fest is an annual gathering held at the end of March (hopefully during spring break for most schools). I typically drive down Thursday night with a group so we can be there Friday morning to pounce on a cluster of campsites sufficient for the number of people who plan to camp. The camp cluster generally ends up being within a ¼ mile of the Slickrock trail head parking lot. We’ll post a “MOAB MUNI FEST” sign out on the Sand Flats road near the camp cluster we’re in. The city of Moab is only 10 minutes drive from the Slickrock trailhead so those who wish to stay at a motel will find it very convenient to do so.

Various challenges will be held near the camp cluster—more on that later. Some riding can be done Friday by those who get there in the afternoon and for those who get there by 6:30 to 7 pm we’ll try to do dinner together in town. I have arranged for a large dining room at the Szechuan Restaurant for those who want to join us. For those who don’t there are many fine restaurants to choose from. The actual Moab MUni Fest starts Saturday morning at 9 am. The plan is to meet at the Slickrock Trailhead Parking Lot at that time. Various rides will be suggested from the 1-2 hour practice loop (2.2 to 3 miles depending on the source) to the 5-7 hour main loop (9.6 to 12.7 miles, again depending on the source, I don’t recommend this) with others in between. Plan your water and energy-food needs accordingly. The actual riding should get underway between 9:30 and 10 am.

In the afternoon, exploratory riding—akin to canyoneering on a unicycle—is a favorite pastime. There are several games to be played while doing this to add to the intrigue. At around 3:30 pm we should have some trials courses near the camp cluster marked and ready for riding. Challenges will include but not necessarily be limited to:

Idling inside a circle, longest time wins

Staying-between-the-lines riding

High jumping, done with multiple jumps up a steep incline, fewest to the top wins.

Long jumping, from rock to sand

Timed uphill and down hill short course races

Trials courses, fewest dabs wins

Ultimate wheel Challenge, if you can’t bring one, I will have two 24”ers avail.

There will be three categories; beginner, intermediate, and advanced—everyone should have a shot at a prize. Oh yes, did I mention prizes? Prizes for the festival are being donated by:

John and Amy Drummond of www.unicycle.com , (800) unicycle, (800) 864-2925

Tom Miller of Kokopelli Bike & Board in Cortez, 30 West Main Street , Cortez, NM, (970) 565-4408

Joe & Judy Stoltzfus creators of the popular “1x1 off road” unicycling (baseball) caps.

Dylan Wallinger, the great Canadian MUnier

John Foss, Chairman of the International Unicycling Federation

Rolf & Janeen Thompson, your hosts

Any one else who has MUni-sport-related items (new or used) to donate to the cause

Saturday Night Dinner at the Bar-M Chuckwagon

Saturday night we’d like to have dinner together and have the awards and prize give-aways, not to mention a stand up comedy show by John Foss – I probably should have asked him first. With our large group it was necessary to reserve a place in advance. The plan is to meet at the Bar-M Chuckwagon at around 7pm. It is located on the right side of Hwy 191 at about 7.2 miles from the bridge over the Colorado river just North of town. It is their off season so we have the place all to ourselves. A delicious cowboy supper will be served promptly at 7:30. Cost is $15/person, spirits extra, and $7.50 for children up to 10 years old. You’ll have your choice of sliced Roast Beef or Barbecued Chicken with all the fix’ns. Vegetarian plates are available but please let me know in advance so I can give them a count. Also, since we have the place all to ourselves, after dinner and the awards we’ll have an open mike on the stage for anyone who is interested. You can make announcements, entertain us, roast each other, whatever—just remember there will be families and kids present. Should be fun.

Sunday morning, for those with time, we’ll do more riding as per consensus and agreement, in the Moab area but not necessarily at Slickrock. Many great riding possibilities exist and can be discussed Saturday night. Different groups will likely form depending on how much of a challenge each is up for.

How do I join in?

1) You should be a proficient unicyclist and you should have a MUni-ized unicycle. In general, a good mountain unicycle will have a fat tire 2.3” to 3.0” with mountain-bike-type tread. The wheel should be strong with hardened cranks. Typical wheel diameters are 24 or 26 inches. Trials unicycles may have a 20 inch or less wheel diameter. The seat should have a handle in the front for hopping and—for some—a brake comes in handy.

2) You’ll have to work out a plan to get to Moab. For some this will be a drive, for others an airline flight and a car rental out of the Salt Lake City airport will be necessary. The drive from SLC to Moab is about 5 hours. Another possibility is to Fly into Grand Junction, Colorado which is less than two hours drive from Moab, Utah. If you are planning to fly in, there is a chance we can help match you up with others to split the cost of a rental vehicle.

3) If you are planning to come, please contact me in advance at my email to let me know your plans and any particular transportation issues you may have. Also, I need to know if you want a tee-shirt (this year they should be <=$10, if so tell me your size, S, M, L, XL, XXL) and whether you intend to camp with the group or stay at a motel.

Some things to consider: Moab’s elevation is 4000 ft. above sea level. If you are coming directly from sea level you may experience a mild altitude sickness. Shortness of breath and slight dizziness during exertion are common symptoms. Scale your ambitions accordingly. John Foss has likened every Slickrock mile to 1.5 miles on other mountain terrain trail rides. Having completed the main loop at Slickrock in ideal cool whether, he told me it’s the most completely worn-out he has ever felt after any single ride. It took us about 6+ hours. Water-wise we each took full Camelbacks (120 oz.) plus additional water bottles. We all ran out just as we were getting back to the car. During another year which was hotter, a group of us set out on the main loop and went about 4 miles before turning around. We ran out of water on the way back. I was pretty sick from dehydration but another rider spent the next 3 hours near the toilet wishing he were dead of the same. I guess what I am saying is that if you come you should gauge your activity level to your ability and the weather conditions, make sure you have plenty of water (you really can’t have too much), and bring energy food snacks to keep your energy levels up on the trail. The average MUni Fest temperatures are in the 60s during the day and drop into the 30s to 40s at night. So far over the years, knock-on-wood, I have not experienced any significant rain during my March-end forays to Moab; still anything, including snow, is possible. You’ll want to keep an eye on the weather as the Festival approaches (click here for a Moab weather link).

As always in this sport, helmets and protective gear are strongly recommended. This is especially important at Slickrock. If you fall, it WILL be a hard landing—ON ROCK! Additional info and recommendations for biking—or in our case unicycling—in redrock country have been posted can be found here:

Bureau of Land Management

Dream Ride (Excellent ECO and Biking Info)

Utah Mountain Biking (choose and click “Moab Area,” Moab area bike trail descriptions)

Trail Monkey.com great maps and trail guides for the Moab area, also virtual tours

Where is the Moab MUni Fest?

The Moab MUni Fest is held at the Slickrock trail 10 minutes drive East out of Moab, Utah (click here to see the map page). I have provided a list of Moab area links here:

Moab-Utah.com (Top Notch Moab area Information Site)

DiscoverMoab.com (Moab Area Travel Council site)

World Web Travel Guide

iMoab a Moab area open Directory

Driving directions from the Salt Lake City airport are as follows:

1. Take I-80 East bound and after a few miles Merge onto I-15 South toward Las Vegas/Cheyenne.

2. Continue South on I-15 about 50 miles then merge onto US-6 East via exit number 261 toward US-89 East to Price/Manti.

3. Continue 151.5 miles and take the US-191 exit, exit number 180 toward Moab (FYI, at mile 130 of the 151.5 mile leg on US-89 it merges with I-70 at exit number 158 and the two highways are the same for the next 21.5 miles).

4. Turn right on US-191—exit 180—and drive 29 miles South to Moab city center.

From city center, to get to the Slickrock Trailhead proceed as follows:

1. While driving on US-191 through Moab turn right (East) at 300 S. and continue East to 400 E (roads “Ts” here left or right).

2. Turn right (South) and go about a ½ block then turn left (East again) at Dave’s Corner Market onto Mill Creek Drive.

3. Proceed approx 2.1 miles straight on through where this road turns into Sand Flats Road near the Southwest corner of the cemetery.

4. You should now be in the hills at the Sand Flats Recreation Area entrance booth (pay entrance fee here, see info below).

5. From the entrance booth to the Slickrock trailhead parking it is another ½ mile or so.

To get to our camp cluster from the Slickrock Trailhead proceed as follows:

1. Continue on the Sand Flats road up the hill to the left (North, away from the entrance) out of the Slickrock Trailhead parking and drive 1.2 miles to the Loop E Camp Cluster. It is also posted as the entrance to the Fins ‘N’ Things trailhead. You will see a MOAB MUNI FEST sign—that’s where we will be.

2. In the Loop E Camp Cluster we have reserved some group sites and will try to grab other sites sufficient to accommodate those planning to camp. This area was chosen so as to provide us an area off the beaten path for our trials challenges. The Fin ‘N’ Things trail is a great location for this.

Entrance fees to the Slickrock area for 2003 are $5 per vehicle with up to 4 people and $2 per each additional person in the car. For those who will be camping it is $8 per vehicle with up to 4 people and again $2 per each additional person in the car. Since two cars and up to 10 people are allowed at each camp site, we can group together to save on camp fees. The group sites allow up to 4 cars and 16 people. There are bathrooms available at the Slickrock trailhead and near the campsites but no running water. Plan to bring your own water. If you don’t wish to camp with the rest of the group, other camping sites in the Moab area are available and can be found here. For those who would like to stay in a motel I have included a few links here:

I can not, at this time, recommend any specific Motels. None have stepped forward with any reasonable discount offers for our group.

Who should consider coming to the Moab MUni Fest?

You should. If you have read the provided information above and it sounds like something you would enjoy, you are welcome and encouraged to come. The festival is not intended to be super tightly organized but rather a break from the norm and a chance to play and show off your riding skills. You may even learn a trick or two and, with out a doubt, will meet some interesting people in the process. If you are wondering who is coming this year, I have posted a list of planned attendees here. If you want to be included please let me know and I’ll add you to the list. If your name is on the list in error, again, let me know. Thanks to all of you who will be participating this year. If you have any suggestions for this site, please tell me (my email).

Thanks,

Rolf (MUni Dad)

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Page updated 4/12/03