I first got involved with BTCEB back in 2010, when the org helped me get permits to use Joaquin Miller Park for the mountain unicycling events for the U Games national championships. U Games was awesome, and I’m still involved with uni competitions, here and around the world. I just got back from 10 days at the world championships in Grenoble, France.
Anyway, I still keep an eye on what’s happening with dirt events in the East Bay, and 2022 marked the third time I rode the East Bay Dirt Classic, now a Strava-based event in enduro style (five timed segments ridden as part of a long course).
EBDC describes itself as “an epic dirt ride,” and they’re not kidding. I was completely destroyed after my previous rides in 2018 and 2020. The C510 guys like long rides and big climbs, and their courses aren’t exactly uni-optimized. In 2020 it was almost 50km with 1600m of elevation gain. 50km is a lot on a unicycle. You can’t coast on the easy sections, gotta pedal the whole way, so those miles in between timed segments really add up.
This year’s course seemed a little more favorable to unis; only 40km and 1000m of climbing. Plus it included Joaquin Miller, which is home territory. So I headed up to Skyline to give it a shot. What could go wrong?
Wobbling to Lone Wolf’s Walk
The five timed segments are probably only about 25% of the total distance, so there’s a lot of untimed riding. The ride to the first timed segment, starting near Skyline High, was mostly downhill, and probably the longest untimed segment. Easy downhill is the kind of riding where the uni is a lot slower than biking, since you have to pedal the whole way. 40km is a lot of MUni, so I took it easy, trying to conserve energy. The downside in taking it easy is that it means you’re out there for longer; I spent over an hour on this first segment, one of the slowest times on the leaderboard. But it was a pleasant ride, and I was stoked to be riding it on a cool day. The other two times I’d ridden EBDC had both been hot, and I was destroyed by the end of the ride.
On a good solid climb, I can outrun a lot of bikes on uni. My best time up Diablo is 1:20; I’m faster on bike but not a whole lot faster; my best bike time is 1:09, for comparison. (The uni record was set a couple years ago by my friend Harrison, at 1:05).
This segment was uphill but not consistent enough for me to beat a lot of bikes. One of my goals for the day was to finish in the top half of one of the segments; on this one there was too much flattish riding. Those bits in the middle and near the end are way faster on bike than uni. The corrugated bay mud of EBRPD trails doesn’t help, either; smoother trails work better. I came in at 10:34, ahead of just one person on the leaderboard. But I was riding well and feeling OK.
Pedaling to Pants’ Party
Unicycles can’t gear down. I do have one uni with a Schlumpf internally-geared hub, which gears it up to an 17:11 ratio. But it has slop in the drivetrain and isn’t really fun to ride, so, the uni I was on for EBDC is ungeared. We can change the effective gear a bit by changing the crank length. These cranks have two pedal holes, at 137mm and 165mm; having the pedals in the 137mm holes makes for a faster, smoother ride because your legs don’t have to move as far. I’d been riding at 137mm up until now, but the rest of the ride was going to be a lot hillier, so at the bottom the untimed segment of Macdonald Trail I decided to switch to long cranks. I’d already done about half of the distance.
This one was probably a little more suited to a uni, but the first segment is very steep, which is a challenge when you’re being timed. I can ride up climbs like that, but it’s very tiring; it’s a little like trying to ride up a hill in too big a gear on a bike. Actually, it’s a lot like that. It’s doable but really not worth the effort; even if I make the climb I’ll be so blown out at the top that it’d be faster to walk. So, I walked the steep part and mounted when it mellowed out a bit.
Once I got up onto the ridge I was able to ride almost all of it, and made decent time. I wound up coming in at 28:56, which was ahead of 5 or 6 people.
Home-field advantage
Frankly, I hate the EBRPD fire roads. The lumpy dirt, the eroded gullies, the fall-line climbs; those trails would be so much better for everyone involved if they’d let us work with them on trail re-routes. So I was glad to make it up to my favorite stomping grounds, Joaquin Miller Park, which has the best nearby trails. I got to have the first real fun of the ride heading down Cinderella (untimed). Chaparral is more our trail but the rock garden on Cindy is fun, too.
The timed segment was on Sinawik Loop, which isn’t normally the way I get to the overlook (Sinawik Trail is a little more fun), but I know the trail well. It starts out very rideable, then has one steep section, which I walked, and then hopped back on quickly to finish out the segment.
I didn’t expect to be fast on this one but it turned out pretty well; I beat about 15 people. I’m guessing that’s mostly because people got confused about the route, but I did flow it pretty well and felt good about my ride.
Getting to the overlook is always nice, and Bishop’s Walk is a worthwhile cruise at the bottom of the park.
Rolling Ray’s Revenge
From the bottom of Bishop’s Walk, the route went up the paved Sanborne Drive, then found dirt again when it got back to the overlook. The climb from bottom to top of Joaquin Miller is one I do all the time, so I was really in familiar territory. I took a break and had lunch at the picnic area just below Upper Palos Colorados.
I really enjoy the re-route on Palos, but the first segment is too steep to ride quickly, so I walked the steep bit and got back on after returning to the historic trail. I made most of the rest of the climb except for the root section near the top, scooted across Sequoia Bayview, and continued on to Big Trees.
On a normal day, the Big Trees climb is close to 100% rideable for me, but for EBDC I wound up setting my Strava personal best, probably because I walked a couple of sections that I usually try to ride (with great effort, and often a do-over or two). The bonus trail on Big Trees is one of my favorite spots in the park, and there’s nothing better than riding singletrack in the redwoods. Beautiful climb. My effort edged about 10 others in the Strava standings, and I still felt pretty good at the top.
The route now headed back to EBRPD lands, so the rest wouldn’t be as fun, but at this point I knew I’d make it without dying.
Doing Diamond’s Downfall
Crossing the street back to Redwood Park, the route went down West Ridge, which can be fun in sections but only because the trail is so badly degraded that it’s become somewhat technical. Until the next time they bring a bulldozer out there. West Ridge is the best example of EBRPD’s failed trail usage policies; it’s horribly erosive, dangerous because it’s too steep, and not particularly pleasant no matter what your mode is. We could make it into a nice flowy singletrack trail through the woods that would be better for bikes, hikers and horses, and have fewer user conflicts. But EBRPD views themselves too much as defenders of the status quo.
News flash for EBRPD: The status quo is miles and miles of extractive, damaging trails designed for logging and cattle ranching. If you care about the lands you’re managing you need to change the status quo. BTCEB can help!
Anyway, I made pretty good time (for a uni) down to Redwood Road, and took a break before the last climb.
I had ridden down this trail before segment 2, so I knew just what lay ahead. As with Big Trees, on a typical day I could ride all of this climb, but a typical day it would probably be one of only a couple big hills, and I wouldn’t be on the clock. Today, I was on the clock, and going for my fifth climb at 35km into the ride. So I wound up walking a lot of it, maybe as much as half. But I was still feeling OK on the segments I rode; I’d just crank until my lungs gave out, then walk until I recovered a bit.
I’m a little surprised that my time on this one was near the bottom of the list, but maybe this kind of climb is where MTB gearing really works; steep enough to need it but not technical or difficult enough to make slower MTB riders stop or walk. Walking unicycles is easier than walking bikes.
For completeness I hopped back onto the road to get back to where I’d started near Skyline High.
Conclusion
This was definitely my best effort at EBDC. I wasn’t in particularly good training, but the slightly shorter route, along with the nicer weather conditions made for a more enjoyable ride that I was able to push all the way through. I think I won the unicycle category as the only rider this year, and wound up ahead of four guys and one woman MTBers. And exactly tied with Michelle Morrill at 1:16:12 for the five segments. Go figure. Leaderboard
Having two segments in Joaquin Miller made it a lot more fun than being stuck on fire roads all day. For future EBDC events, C510 folks, please include more nice singletrack.
I think EBDC, along with the successful JMP Enduro that BTCEB co-sponsored, prove that our open space can be used for competitive MTB events without causing undue problems for the trails or the other user groups. And they raised over $100K for the Alameda County Food Bank. $100K! From an informal event and a BBQ. Amazing stuff.
Thanks to C510 for sponsoring another fun day out on the trails, and congrats to all who participated.
