Photos from our trip to NAUCC 2007.

Photos from 2007 Christmas parades.

IMPORTANT

Our weekly evening rides will be moving back to Tuesdays at Overton Park beginning April 1. Join us there from 6pm to 8pm.

Saturday, May 10, 2008 - We are planning Tommy's final Downtown Memphis ride. Please join us at 10:00am. Tommy has assured me that he will be there despite his busy schedule.

Meet at our usual downtown meeting place, the corner of Front Street and Court Avenue, near the old Post Office. All riders are invited and welcome to come. There are lots of fun places to ride and things to see. Park on the Court Avenue hill. Parking is free on Saturday.

Hope to see you there.

If you haven't been to a MUC practice lately, then you are just missing out. We always seem to have a great time and you just never know who is going to show up. Joe, who we haven't seen at the park for several years, stopped by to chat and ride a bit. Great to see you back, Joe! We had a total of 16 present with a wide range of skill levels. Just about everywhere you turned you could see someone riding. A few were learning to ride. Some were working on their hopping and stair riding. And others were working on one-foot riding and curb riding. Why don't you come on out next Tuesday and work on some skills with us. Here are a few pictures to look out while you wait for Tuesday to come:

Sarah and Emily with their collection of pine cones	Jarai practicing and Cal resting.
Denzel just before riding down the steps.	Marquise just before jumping up on the bench.

And here are some pictures from our Downtown ride last Saturday (04/05/08):

Hugh doing a still-stand just inches from the raging mighty Mississippi River.	Richard riding down his first set of stairs.

Hugh

MUC practice went back to the good ole outdoors today and what a day it was! There must have been some magic in the air, because everything that anyone tried to do on a unicycle tonight worked! That's right! I was wheel walking, Jarai and Malory and Jamaal were all riding. Cal was able to hop up onto the bench. Richard even rode down the stairs first try! It was incredible! Yep, you guessed it.... APRIL FOOLS!

We did have a good practice, though it was a bit chilly. We had a new visitor come by with his dog and give unicycling a try. Jaria and Jamaal worked hard on riding and were able to get a revolution or two off the wall/flag pole. Cal and I worked on riding down the stairs and on the curb. Our muni excursions have paid off as we were able to go down stairs we were unable to even attempt last summer. Richard spent most of his time teaching the ones wanting to learn. Ronnie, Marquise W and a few others showed up for the last half hour, but didn't do much riding.

We are open to suggestions for Saturday's ride. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. So drop us an email if you have any good ideas.

See ya next time in the MUC!

Hugh

It didn't seem all that crowded at out last practice for the season at First Congo, however, we had 19 people come out. The reason it didn't seem so crowded is that not everyone came at the same time and as some would come, others would go. Tonight was special not only because it is the last practice in doors til fall, but also because we celebrated Richard's retirement. Congratulations Richard! Of course Tommy brought a cake for the celebration which was totally devoured by the end of practice. We had a couple of walk-ins come by and try unicycling. They gave it a good effort and had to go, but they both said they would be back. Aside from having several people working on learning to ride, we had people learning to hop, one foot ride, wheel walk and other miscellaneous skills. If any of this sounds like fun, then you need to come on out and join us. Just take note that our practices are changing over to Tuesday nights from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Veteran's Plaza in Overton Park. Hope to see you there.

Hugh

About a dozen MUCsters showed up for practice tonight. J.D. showed up sporting a brand new unicycle. Jason's father apparently has been practicing because he seemed to do a lot better than the last time he tried to ride. Daniel had a spectacular UPD which featured my Kris Holm unicycle flipping onto its seat and doing a full 360 before continuing to flip and crash into the ground. Fortunately, Daniel let the unicycle do all the theatrics and he just landed on his feet. Tommy stopped in tonight but since he forgot his unicycle, he didn't do much riding. Cassondra came this week despite her son, Jamaal, not being able to make it, so she borrowed a unicycle and began trying to ride. A few more sessions and she'll be riding around the room or should I say the plaza since we will soon be moving to outdoor practices on Tuesdays starting in April. But don't head out there yet, there's still one more practice left at the First Congo, next Thursday. Hope to see you there.

Hugh

Young Emily learning to ride between 2 rows of tables.	A slow moment. Nobody riding.

Tonight's practice saw more new faces than any other practice I have been to. We had 4 first timers trying to ride tonight and they were doing great. Welcome Jarai, Jamaal, Mallory and the unknown guy who I didn't get a name from. We also were surprised by the appearance of Kazu and Cordell who we have not seen since last summer. Ronnie came by and worked on some uni spins and other crazy stuff. Richard and I kept working on our one foot riding. Robin, Jason and Alice were there and Jason was gracious enough to lend his unicyle for the newbies to learn to ride. Come on by and visit us.

Hugh

Kazu and Cordell came back to show us they can still ride.	Cordell and Mallory.
Hugh worked on one-foot riding.	Mallory and Jarai made great progress on their first night.

Cal, Hugh and Carl did a weekday afternoon ride and some creative photography at Shelby Farms on Tuesday.

Cal riding into the sunset.	Hugh catching a hill.	Carl beats a monster hill.

March seems to be coming in with a roar as the temperature started dropping Thursday. I went to eat lunch and it was such a nice day, I called Carl to see if he wanted to go riding at Shelby Farms later in the afternoon. He agreed and we went, but the temperature must have dropped at least 10 degrees in that time and by the time it was MUC Practice time, it had fallen even more. It was a good thing we were practicing inside where we could keep warm. We had 9 MUCsters present. Matt, Richard and I all worked on one foot riding/idling skills. Julie and Robin worked on their riding. Tommy popped in and chatted for a little while. Sarah, Emily and Jason played tag and watched a video. All in all it was a rather tame practice. I did manage to snap some pics, so here they are.

Looks like we may have some inclimate weather on the 8th, so we probably will not have an official ride. Hopefully next week will be better.

Hugh

Matt started working on one-foot riding.	Robin learning to ride.	Richard learning to wheel-walk.

Shelby Farms

Parking was hard to find, tons of "dog people" were walking their canine friends, hikers of all ages were abundant and numerous cyclists were hitting the trails on their two-wheeled and one-wheeled vehicles. It was a great day to be outside at Shelby Farms!

Hugh, Carl and I spent the afternoon riding and playing along the way. Hugh and Carl have been getting in some extra riding during the week and that really shows in their one-wheeled abilities. Both of them are riding up and down things that require some serious strength and technique. For 3 1/2 hours we rode and played along the trails.

Richard

Carl riding down a drop-off.

Hugh riding up a long and steep hill.

Richard speeding along a flat stretch of trail.

Happy birthday Ronnie! This week at MUC practice we celebrated Ronnie's birthday with a cake that Tommy brought. We had 15 people present to celebrate including Elizabeth and Michael. Elizabeth learned to unicycle with the club at least a couple of years ago; but, tonight was Michael's first time and he did very well. Some of the more interesting things going on included J.D. riding on a little 12" unicycle, Daniel trying to ride the mighty KH 24" unicycle, and Marquise F practicing his coasting. We also started discussing the possibility of a trip to the 2008 North American Unicycling Convention and Championships (NAUCC) which will take place in Rapid City, South Dakota in July. Those of us who went to last year's NAUCC know how incredible it is to experience a national unicycling event. If you are reading this and you would like to help sponsor our trip, please get in touch with us, we would love to talk to you about it.

As usual, we are planning a ride for Saturday. This week it looks like it will be the east end of Shelby Farms at 1:00 pm (3/1/08). Please join us.

Hugh

Part of the crowd enjoying cake in honor of Ronnie's birthday.	J.D. riding a 12-inch unicycle.

Stanky Creek (Bartlett Nesbitt Park)

MUC riders Richard, Hugh, Carl and Cal arrived at an empty parking lot (very unusual) on a beautiful cool day. We decided to ride the White Trail clockwise, rather than the usual counterclockwise direction. We had gone about 300 yards before we hit the first of many lengthy muddy stretches of the day; quoted Richard, “well it’s a nice day for a hike” as we picked our way around the bog. The woods were quiet and scenic, visibility excellent in winter bareness. We stopped at many hills and drops to play and try our skills, and take videos with Carl’s groovy helmet-cam. Hugh was riding so well that the rest of us got really annoyed. Carl proved to be the Mud-Master as he forced his way, slipping and twisting, through the wet trail stretches. We learned that MUC’s soon-to-be prez Richard was the person who blazed all the trees with the trail markers, a thankless but exceedingly helpful piece of work. Two massive trees were down as a result of recent storms. We spotted 5 deer that seemed as interested in us as we were in them. We stopped at the BMX pit to play on the dips and humps; a few of the young riders seemed impressed with our skills and then we saw them ride their bikes, pulling off some great jumps and ramp moves – wow! Topics of conversation included the identification of sassafras trees in winter, recreational boating on the Mississippi River, and our extensive knowledge of elephant lore and jokes. As the day went on, more people started showing up to enjoy the trails, and as usual we got comments on our mode of transportation (what’s new?). Total ride distance was right at 5 miles, and it was a really fun day.

Come on out next time and join us on our ride – it would be nice to outnumber the bicyclists just once…..

Cal

Cal riding on a large fallen tree.	Hugh riding down a small but steep and bumpy hill.

Here is some information about our ride.

Seems that a few of our MUCsters took a break this week as we only had 11 show up for practice this week. However, we had a productive practice. Marquis C and Duke worked on several new mounts like the leg around mount, back mount and jump mount. Richard was doing quite well with is one foot riding and wheel walking. I even made progress on my one foot idling with foot extended. Robin and Julie continued to work on their riding. Sarah and Emily (5 years old) even worked on their riding some. Then there was J.D. and Jason who rode quite a bit though J.D. stopped a bit early due to some soreness that was not unicycle related. Of course, Tommy stopped in for a while as well. So we had a great practice. Oh wait, it seems like we were missing something this practice. Now what was it? Oh yeah, that's it. It was YOU! Don't miss it next week. We'd love to have you join us whether you can ride or not. Hope to see you next Thursday night from 6 pm to 8 pm at First Congregational Church.

We are also planning a Muni ride Saturday (2/23/2008) at 1:00 pm at Nesbit Park (Stanky Creek). Please join us. If you can't ride a unicycle, bring one with a training wheel (bicycle). :)

Hugh

Well lots of MUCsters celebrated Valentines Day by coming out to practice at First Congregational Church. There were 20 of us in all. We had Marquise C. wheel walking and riding seat in back. Theo made some more good progress towards riding. Davis joined us from St. George's and practiced some hops and wheel walking. I practiced my one foot riding, one foot idling with foot extended and some hopping. J.D. was making good progress with his riding. Richard practiced his one foot riding and wheel walking. Tony managed to start hopping while riding which was a first for him. Six or seven of the guys formed a line and worked on some of the fancy group maneuvers like turning the line into itself. It was fun to watch them trying to make it work. We also had a couple of group star spins. Feel free to come out and join in on the fun. You don't have to know how to ride, we can help you learn. If you can walk, you can ride a unicycle. So come on out next Thursday night from 6pm to 8pm at First Congregational Church.

We are planning a Herb Parsons ride Saturday (2/16/2008) at 1:00 pm. Please join us. If you cannot ride a unicycle, bring one with a training wheel (bicycle). :)

Hugh

A line of riders.	Marquis riding seat-in-back. Theo made good progress tonight.
Richard, Davis and Tommy.	Some sort of chaos.

Davis wheel-walking.	Hugh hopping.	Jason hopping.
Tony stopped in for a few minutes.	Julie riding.	Marquis has made great progress with different variations of one-foot riding.

Here are some pics from one of our latest muni rides.

Richard, Tom and Carl on a recent Saturday ride at Shelby Farms.

Hugh riding down hill at Shelby Farms.

Carl riding downhill at Shelby Farms.

Stand up wheel walking, one foot riding, seat drags, hopping. These were just some of the things that went on tonight at our weekly MUC practice. I have been coming to these practices for almost two years now and I am still amazed by the wide range of skills possessed by the Memphis Unicycle Club. It's simply amazing what is possible on a unicycle. Check out a few of the skills demonstrated below. If you would like to see more of what is possible on a unicycle, come on out and visit us on Thursday evenings from 6 to 8 pm at First Congregational Church. We'd love to ride with you or help you learn to ride.

If you would like to get in some outdoor riding this weekend, join us at the Ranger's Station in Shelby Farms at 1:00 pm Saturday (2/9/2008). Hope to see you there.

Hugh

Theo getting the hang of riding.	Marquise standup wheel-walking. Also J.D. and Jason.
Marquise turning while one-foot wheel walking.	Richard one-foot riding.

The weather outside was frightful, but we had a great time inside the First Congo basement. We had 13 people and 12 of them were on a unicycle at one point or another. We had four people make great progress on their learning tonight: Julie, Daniel, Theo and JD. Tyler's dad showed us some contact juggling which is really cool. Contact juggling is a form of object manipulation that focuses on the movement of objects in permanent contact with the body. In this case, he was using a silvery sphere. It is simply mesmerizing to watch. We also had a little toss juggling demonstrated by Richard. About half way through practice we almost got overrun by violinists. They were looking for a room to practice in and they ended up going in the little kitchen area by our practice room. So we got to hear a bit of their practice session for a little while.

So if you want good exercise and good fun, come join us next Thursday night at First Congregational Church from 6 pm to 8 pm.

We are going to do an urban ride Saturday at the University of Memphis campus. Meet Saturday at 1:00pm at the east end of the big parking lot on the north side of Central Avenue. Parking without a permit should not be a problem on Saturday.

And in case you are wondering if unicycling is a good workout, here is a picture of Daniel after a good hour of practicing.

Hugh

Daniel riding.	Julie making great progress.
Daniel resting.	J.D. improving after only a couple of weeks.

Herb Parsons Lake - Hugh, Cal and Richard made another MUni trip to Herb Parsons Lake today. It was supposed to be a somewhat mild winter day but the weatherman missed the predicted high of 48 degrees. The temperature made it up to 35 degrees! The trail was slick and wet and muddy and frozen. Despite that, we were slipping and sliding and sweating and having a hot time as we slogged along the trail.

We continue to meet on Thursday evenings at the First Congregational Church. Attendance has been good. Young J.D. was back again tonight, working to learn how to ride. Unfortunately, we did not have a unicycle that fit him very well but he struggled along just the same. Just think how easy it will be for him next week when we have a better fitting unicycle for him.

Marquise was up to his usual skillful tricks again tonight. Take a look here to see why he was riding two wheels instead of just one.

If you would like to learn how to ride a unicycle, come by the Congo any Thursday evening and we will help to get you started.

Richard

Richard

Happy New Year! We had a great practice tonight with several people making good progress. Jason can now ride all over the room whereas last week he was only going a couple of revolutions. Daniel and Julie both made progress tonight and managed to ride across the room. Richard was in control of his one foot riding tonight and we got to see him dodge several obstacles in one run. We had a new visitor come by and start to learn. Hopefully he will be back next week. In all, we had about a dozen people there and everyone had a great time. Come join in on the fun with us every Thursday evening. We'd love to see you there!

We are also planning a Saturday (Jan 5, 2008) morning ride at Herb Parsons Lake at 9:00 am. Herb Parsons has a great trail which is a little over 5.5 miles that goes completely around the lake. Hope to see you there.

Hugh

2007 is almost over and we have had our last official practice for the year. It was well attended with 16 present and the skills again ranged from just learning to ride all the way up to one foot wheel walking. The boys got in to a game of uni tag for a little while. Richard continued to work on his one foot riding and wheel walking. I worked on my one foot riding as well as tried to get the ever elusive extended one foot idling. Ronnie was doing a great job at one foot wheel walking. The visiting family from last week returned and their two sons seemed to have made a lot of progress. Looks like we are winding up 2007 with new riders and new skills. I can't wait to see what 2008 will bring. Help us get 2008 off to a great start by joining us next Thursday. Til then, hope you have a Happy New Year.

For those who can't wait til next year to ride, we will be meeting at 8000 Wolf River Blvd at 1:00 pm on Saturday (Dec 29) to ride the paved Wolf River Natural Area trail. Hope to see you there.

Hugh

We had quite a few people practicing Thursday night including 4 out of 5 members of a first time visiting family. We always love to have new folks show up. We had quite a mix of skills being worked including, stand up wheel walking, one foot riding, spinning, wheel walking, seat in front/back riding and just plain riding. Approximately 18 present with at least a dozen of them riding or trying to ride. I think there was quite a rousing game of Duck, Duck, Goose going on with the younger ones there (not on unicycle). Everyone had a good time. Looks like Christmas is coming up in just a few more days. Hopefully Santa will bring you a new unicyle for Christmas and you can show it off! We are planning to practice on Thursday, December 27th, so come on out and play in the MUC with us.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you from the Memphis Unicycle Club!

Hugh

This week's practice saw about 13 people including a couple of visitors. Seems like there's been a lot of progress made by a few of the riders in the last week. Marquise C. was working on wheel walking and doing pretty good. Duke was riding around like nobody's business and also working on a jump mount. Richard did his first 540 while one footing! Everyone else just worked on various skills. It was a lot of fun and a nice relaxed practice (if you don't count the girls running all over the place!). Come on out and join us next Thursday for another great time in the MUC!

If you just can't wait til then, Richard and I are planning a muni ride at Herb Parsons Lake on Saturday starting at 1:30 pm. Herb Parsons Lake is on Fisherville Road which you can get to from Macon or Raleigh LaGrange. Hope to see you there.

Hugh

The MUCsters had an incredible week this week. We started with practice on Thursday at First Congo where we had over a dozen people present. KC, after a long absence (welcome back!), showed up with a Ripboard which is basically a skateboard with only one wheel in front and one in back and it can rotate horizontally in the middle. Some of the kids gave it a try and got to where they could ride it pretty well. Then a bunch of the guys got into a spinning contest. It was amazing watching them spin and spin. The only thing that would make the practice any better was a nice pecan pie. Well, wouldn't you know it, we had pecan pie too. What a night! I can't promise there will be pie there next week, but come on out and join us next Thursday night from 6pm to 8pm at First Congo.

Friday night the MUCsters along with St. Georges Unicycle Club were in the Collierville parade. We had all kinds of unicycles including a Coker and a giraffe. We had 16" wheels all the way up to the 36" wheel on the Coker. KC had his ride all lit up with Chrismas lights and it looked really good. The crowd enjoyed our riding and especially the guys doing their wheel walking, seat drags and one foot riding. After the parade, we went to CiCi's Pizza and had a great time.

Then to top it all off, we rode in the Germantown parade Saturday afternoon. Again the Memphis Unicycle and St. Georges Unicycle clubs put on a good show and had a blast doing it. All in all we had a great week and lots of unicycling action. If you would like to get in on some of the action, come on out the First Congo on Thursday nights from 6pm to 8pm. We would love to see you there!

Hugh

Photos from 2007 Christmas parades.

Richard and I did a repeat of last Saturday's ride. The temperatures have been dropping so we figured we would start in the afternoon. Even at 1:00 pm, the temperature was still in the 40's. We put our gear on and once we got going, the cold was not much of a factor. We made a great start and rode past some guys that looked like they were doing a photo shoot for some sort of hunting magazine or something. They were impressed with us riding by them on the unicycles. I think Richard and I both set a record for the longest distance we had gone without UPDing on that section. When we got to the BMX playground, we saw a rider playing around a little and he came over and talked with us for a few minutes. He got some good air on a jump or two and I tried my luck going across the course, but couldn't make it up the last hill. We said goodbye to the BMX dude and continued on. We made our way around to the back side of the trail and instead of taking the bypass like last week, we decided to do the outhouse loop which added a good mile or so to the ride. It was mostly flat but had a couple of challenging sections in it. Back on the main trail we continued on and passed a few bike riders who gave the usual comments about missing wheels. Richard retorted with "we have all we need" or something similar. Richard and I both seemed to get further up more of the hills than last time - could be riding in the afternoon makes a difference. Towards the end, my endurance was waning and I started UPDing and falling. One such fall busted the display on my camera. Hopefully, Santa can bring me a new camera. At the bottom of the last hill, Richard and I took a short break and then tried to make it all the way. No luck this time, we made it about half way. Next time, though, we're gonna make it all the way up. It was a fun ride. Hopefully next time you can join us.

Hugh	Richard

Hugh

Saturday morning turned out to be a beautiful day to ride. Richard, Cal and I met about 9:00 am in the parking lot of Stanky Creek. After a few minutes to get prepped for the ride, we took off for the White Trail. This is the longest yet tamest trail at Stanky Creek. However, tame does not necessarily mean easy. Most of the terrain was ridable, but there was a lot of uphill. Somehow, someway, there seemed to be a lot more uphill than downhill. Most of the trail was carpeted with red and yellow leaves. The trees were not quite done shedding so they still had a nice fall coloring to them. We rode through one patch of the trail that was surrounded by a brilliant green mossy type stuff which was almost like a twilight zone moment after riding for so long in the reds and yellows. We played for a few minutes in the BMX playground mainly just trying to ride across all the hills. About 15 feet up one of the trees in the playground there is a sign that reads "ON THIS SPOT IN 1837 ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED" which I think is pretty funny. Once done with the playground, we took a relaxed pace and covered about 4.5 miles in 2 hours in 22 minutes. We all had a good time and just really enjoyed being out in the park's new fall colors.

Just a reminder, this Thursday there will be no practice due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Richard and I are planning on riding next Saturday (11/25/2007) possibly again at Stanky Creek though that is not carved in stone yet.

Hugh

Nothing here.	Cal and a big leaf.
Richard riding.	Trail map at Stanky Creek.

We had a very tasty practice tonight! We celebrated Marquise F's birthday tonight with pizza and cake. Too bad Marquise wasn't able to make it. It wasn't a total loss because it was also Ellen's birthday and she was there. Sarah M, Tom and Mrs. Tom, Tommy, Rody, Ronnie, Marquis C, Richard, Megan, Hugh, Julie, Sarah G, and Emily all were there to celebrate. After the pizza and cake were devoured, we started riding around and various skills. We had to do all this while the poles were being painted. Fortunately, the paint and the unicyclists were able to keep well separated and no accidents happened. We all had a great time.

We have a ride scheduled for this Saturday (11/17/07) at Stanky Creek. If you would like to join us, meet in the parking lot on Yale road at 9:00 am. Hope to see you there.

Hugh

We had a great practice at the First Congregational Church tonight. Ronnie, Marquise, Denzel, Duke, Shardale, Richard, Tommy, Hugh, Julie, Sarah and Emily were all present and we were all working on our on things. Marquise was working on a one footed coast/slide that was pretty awesome. He was also doing some one foot SIF riding and some spinning. Ronnie was rolling hopping over folding chairs laying on the floor. Denzel worked on some wheel walking. Duke was making good progress on learning to ride. Julie was making laps around the room with me riding beside her holding her hand. Richard and I worked on one foot riding. Richard also was practicing wheel walking. Tommy continued to work on his wheel walking (one and two foot versions). We put two tables side by side with a gap between them and let Emily and Sarah and Shardale practice getting use to sitting on a unicycle and getting the feel for it. Emily and Sarah did really well, but Sarah kept practicing it over and over and she could almost go around the table before the night was through. Shardale was doing good too, but the unicycle she was using was too big for her which made it extra challenging. Everyone had a great time and it was good to get back to the indoor practices for a change of pace. And if you want a change of pace, why don't you come on out on Thursday nights to First Congo and play in the MUC with us!

We have a ride scheduled for this Saturday (11/10/07) along the Wolf River trails from Walnut Grove to Summer Avenue. If you would like to join us, meet at the Visitors center at Shelby Farms at 9:00 am. Hope to see you there.

Hugh

Duke learning to ride.	Ronnie doing a 360 uni-spin.
Denzel after a fall.	Richard working on wheel walking.

We had a good turnout for last Saturday's ride and the weather was just about perfect. It started out a bit cool but we warmed up quite quickly. Carl, Davis, Richard, Tom, Tommy and myself took off on the blue trail at Stanky Creek about 9:15 am. We completed the blue trail in under 45 minutes which means we were going at a pretty good pace (especially for me). We managed to stop long enough to try the big downhill with some of the guys making it all the way down. Others started below the really difficult (scary) part and made it down from there. After we finished the blue trail, we took a break and then started around the yellow trail. Things were going pretty good until about 45 minutes into the yellow trail when Tom took a spill and injured his knee. We still had about a mile of trail left, but unfortunately, Tom was unable to ride out. We never like to see anyone get hurt, but it does happen from time to time. Tom is a tremendous rider with incredible skill and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Hugh

All I can say about last Saturday's ride is "Wow!". We had quite an adventure. Cal, Richard and I started out at our normal Court Avenue and Front Street location and decided to head south to see if we could make it to the old bridge and maybe try to cross it. We made our way to the walkway in Tom Lee Park by the river and rode it south until it ended at the First Unitarian Church. We found a little path down to the river bank and made our way down the river bank under the three bridges and then back up the other side. This was not a rideable section for any of us. And it included quite a climb back up on the other side of the bridges. But we made it up and into a parking lot which turned out to be secured by electronic gates. We had to wait for a car to come in so that we could get out. Once out, we had to make our way up West Illinois Ave. which was very steep and about 250 yards long. Props to Cal and Richard for riding up the entire hill. I only managed about two thirds of the way. Once at the top we made a couple of rights and turned into the National Ornamental Metal Museum where we explored for about 30 minutes. We saw a great view of the Mississippi River from their lookout point and we went in their Smithy Shop and talked with the head blacksmith for a little while. They have lots of neat things in there and it is well worth a visit. We did not go in the museum itself. Once through there we headed across the street to an old Indian mound which was hollowed out during the Civil War for ammunition storage and subsequently collapsed in the middle. We climbed up the mound and Richard watched me and Cal trying to ride down it.

After several ups and downs on the hill we decided it was time to make our way back to the bridge so we headed back north till we ran into it. We got on the side walk and started pedaling. About 50 yards into the bridge, Cal nearly ran into an open access hatch in the sidewalk. Luckily he saw it and avoided a catastrophy. We closed the hatch and made our way across the river into Arkansas. This was our first interstate ride. Each time we stopped, the vibration of the bridge was unnerving. And when the big trucks zoomed past, it moved the bridge even more. Not sure I want to get back on the bridge ever again! We turned around and headed back to the Tennessee side with a feeling of accomplishment and relief to be off that bridge. We rode in the park that is immediately south of the bridge where we saw the biggest magnolia tree I have ever seen. It had a low lying limb and Cal climbed up on it with his unicycle.

At this point we were ready to head back and call it a day (we've been riding for about two hours). However, we realized that we had a slight problem. We were not sure of the best way to get back north of the three bridges. We tried the direct approach and we made it easily by two of the bridges, but the third bridge with the railroad tracks had fencing that prevented us from crossing. So we had to turn back and try another route. We tried climbing down the bluff again, but the bluff was too steep to climb down. We didn't want to try to get back into the secured area so we decided to try to ride the back roads around to find one that would cross all the tracks. With the help of an MLGW worker who actually drove down a few blocks to see if there was a path for us and another worker in one of the local businesses, we finally made our way to the north side of the tracks. Looking back at the satelite images, we could have just walked the tracks for about a quarter of a mile and saved us a lot of time and riding. But we made it and had an adventure in the process. Instead of heading straight back to our cars, we decided to drop by the Memphis Farmers Market. Since I had left my Camelbak at home, I was glad to see their water fountain. They had a bluegrass band playing (Open Window Bluegrass Band) and Richard new one of the band members. After a bit of a rest, we made our way back to the River Walk and took it back to our cars. We ended up riding about 8.5 miles in 3.5 hours. It was an incredible ride and a lot of fun. You just never know what's going to transpire whenever you ride with the MUC!

Hugh

Six riders got together Saturday morning for a uni assault on downtown Memphis. Tommy, Tom, Richard, Cal and myself took off from Court Avenue and Front Street shortly after 9:00 am. Court Avenue turns out to be pretty steep so some of us rode up it to Main Street while a couple of us chose to conserve energy and walk up. A minute or two after we got started, Carl came blazing up to join us. We had taken off before he was ready and we did not even realize he was there. Sorry about that, Carl and good job catching up to us. We continued down Front to Union where we cut over to Main Street and continued south all the way down to the Amtrak station. Just past that was a farmer's market where we stopped and took a break. It was beginning to heat up pretty good. After our break we started riding again and got some applause from the people at the farmer's market. We headed east on Patterson and then North on Second street passing BB Kings making our way to Beale Street. We went west on Beale and since it was Elvis week, we had our picture taken with the Elvis statue at the MLGW building. Turning north we went up Main Street and briefly played and talked with some people in the park at Court Avenue.

Tom broke off at this point as he had some things to take care of so the rest of us made our way over to Mud Island. We rode across the pedestrian bridge and snapped some pictures along the way. We rode up and down the Mississippi river. Cal even rode around in the fountain. It was so hot, Cal thought it would be a good way to cool down and it definately worked for him. We made our way past the Gulf of Mexico and up to the observation area. We saw a guy with a UNI shirt and thought we found a new riding buddy. But it turns out UNI also stands for University of Northern Iowa. Who knew? Some of us rode down the grassy somewhat steep hills and through some sprinklers. We were looking for any opportunity we could find to cool down. Somewhere along the way, Tommy's tire developed a slow leak. So we decided it was time to head on back to our cars and call it a day. It was a blast to ride around downtown and I'm sure we will do it again sometime. Hopefully, it will be a bit cooler next time.

We always send out an email when we have scheduled a ride and we usually post it on here. So if you want to know about our upcoming rides, send us an email and let us add you to our email list. We would love for you to come out and ride with us.

Hugh

Team MUC has returned from NAUCC 2007 in Michigan. Participants were:
Davis
Denzel
Hugh
Marquise
Richard
Ronnie

Our pit crew and support team was:
Julie
Phil
Tommy

After 6 days in Michigan and a long trip, we are all happy to be home after a great week of unicycling. I will start posting some information and photos over the weekend.

Richard

Wow! We had 24 people turn out tonight plus 2 dogs. Carly has been working hard and looks like it has paid off cause she was able to ride solo for limited distances. Keep working on it, Carly, you are doing great! Christy came out briefly just to make sure she could still get a decent ride going. Once she did, she had to leave, but at least she left after a good ride. Mark managed a ride of about 40 yards which included a left turn and slight uphill. A lot of the kids tossed the football around, but most of them did get in a little bit of riding. Ronny and Marquise showed their hopping talents by hopping up on almost anything they could find. Richard was getting some practice with the 24" Torker LX so he can race at NAUCC. I actually rode a little bit (very carefully) in spite of my wrist injury. (My stitches were removed today but the fracture is still sensitive.) I think all had a good time and we are definately looking forward to NAUCC. So we'll see you next time in the MUC!

Hugh

Tonight's practice was pretty awesome. We had 14 participants plus some non-riders. We even had a visitor from South Carolina! Glad you stopped by, Adam. We had quite a few people who were working on learning to ride. Carly was making good progress with her father helping her. And Christy rode the length of the plaza. Even my girls, Sarah and Emily, were trying their 12" unicycles and Jake was working on his 16" wheel. Richard led a small group around the park for a nice little ride. Cal brought out a bongo board and several of us had a go at it. Even some of the bikers gave it a try. You just never know what's going to happen at MUC practice. So come on out and join us next time.

For those of you interested in some muni action, we will be riding Saturday morning at Stanky Creek. We are getting an early start to beat the heat. So be at the parking lot on Yale Road at 7:30 am and show us your off-road unicycling skills.

Hugh

Greetings MUCsters and friends! Tonight was a perfect unicycling night! The weather was great! We had about 15 people including two first timers, Hunter and a man who was walking his dog. Hunter did great and was eager to learn. He'll be free-mounting and riding in no time - quite possibly in that order! Rick returned after a winter hiatus from riding - welcome back, Rick! He led me through some of the trails at the park which made for a good ride. I just need to get in better shape so I can keep up with him.

Denzel and his new Torker DX trials unicycle.		Hunter, on his first try riding a unicycle, was making significant progress before the evening was over.

Kazu was honing his riding skills. Marquis C. worked on his hopping skills up and down stairs. Marquise F. was working on more of his freestyle skills - spinning, one foot stand up wheel walking, etc. He also rode the giraffe backwards around the plaza. Denzel is now the proud owner of a Torker DX. He'll really be able to hit the muni trails now with that beauty. Barrett took the giraffe out for a good ride. Richard and I did a little curb hopping and riding. Also, though he wasn't on a unicycle, it was still nice to see Charles again who stopped by and chatted for a few minutes.

It would be nice to see you too. Just stop by any Tuesday evening from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Veteran's Plaza in Overton Park. We have a lot of fun and would love to share our fun with you. Also, just a reminder, we will be doing a unicycle demo at Saint George's Independent School a little after 2:00 pm Saturday, April 21. And we will be doing another demo at 12:00 pm on April 28th at the Memphis College of Art. Hope to see you there!

Hugh

After a couple of weeks away from my unicycle due to traveling, I was glad to be back riding with the club again! It was good to see everybody again along with some new faces. We had a variety of unicycles and even an "ultimate wheel" which is not the ultimate wheel that unicyclists are familar with. This one had three wheels in a circular frame. The seat was in the middle with two big wheels on either side and one small wheel behind the seat. The two big wheels had handles that you used your hands to turn the wheel. There was also a giraffe and a "stack" unicycle (3 wheels stacked on top of each other). And if all that wasn't enough, Marquise Carter was awarded a unicycle, t-shirt and helmet tonight through the club's Earn-A-Uni program. Way to go Marquise!

Barrett	Tommy	Marquise

Hugh

Despite chilly temperatures, a moderate breeze and a slight sleet shower, about 15 local unicyclists attended the off-road riding clinic today. For most of the young riders, it was their first experience riding in the dirt.

Also present were a reporter and photographer from the Commercial Appeal. Look for the group in the newspaper!!

Current Skill Levels