The numbers:
Fist Ride
Distance 90.04 km
Ascend 538 m
Descend 538 m
Modifying factors
Light rain 90 km
Soft gravel 5 km
Night Riding 10 km
Difficulty rating
Objective 159
Subjective 101
Final Rating 260
Second ride
Distance 62.57 km
Ascend 440 m
Descend 440 m
Modifying factors
Light rain 62 km
Soft gravel 9 km
Difficulty Rating
Objective 97
Subjective 55
Previous Day Carryover 52.5
Final Rating 205
The Rides
I got to my campsite at Nemekus Lake on the evening of Friday October
12th. I could tell by the lack of vehicle tracks that there has only
been one other person out there since it snowed there the day before.
The road from Waskesiu was intermittently covered with light fluffy
snow and the entire track down to Nemekus was covered. I found a site
to my likening in the deserted campground got all my stuff ready for
the morning, set up my tent pulled out the extra sleeping bag and had a
good sleep.
When I woke up the sun was just getting up, the air was crisp and clean
but there was a very light misty sleet falling. I had a quick breakfast
ran to the outhouse and back to warm up and then got on my wheel.
The first couple km up the clay/sand/gravel road to the highway felt
sluggish and by the time I saw pavement I decided to add a bit of air
to my tire and take off the balaclava and heavy mitts I started with.
Once I was on pavement things started to fall into place. I was able to
get into a comfortable rhythm and my core started warming up. After
10km I stopped to do some stretches then kept going. The sleet shifted
to rain around the time I got to the Waskesiu townsite and I was
feeling pretty dam good. I kept going through the townsite and up the
264 to LT’s at the junction with the #2.
I made it to LT’s in just over an hour and a half, I was pretty happy
with that as it ment I was averaging around 20km/h. At LT’s I met a guy
who said he had a couple unicycles but could only sort of ride them,
apparently he collects classic bikes and has a few of the one wheeled
variety. He said that he even had a giraffe, I asked if he would be
interested in selling it, he said no but I could give it a try if I am
ever in LA (that’s La Ronge, not Los Angeles). Unfortunately I can’t
remember his name but LA is small enough that I might be able to find
out who he is and where he lives by asking a few people.
On the way back to Waskesiu my right knee started to feel a little bit
weird so I got off and ran for a couple hundred meters. I got back on
and everything felt great again. When I got back to the town site I
decided to wait in one of the kitchen shelters for my mom to show up
instead of start the next leg of the trip to the Heart Lakes. She said
that she ws going to show up at noon and call me on my cell phone. She
showed up closer to 1:00 but that wasn’t too bad cause the rain was
getting heavier and I had an opportunity to dry out a bit by a
woodstove while I waited.
The Ride to the Heart lakes was really nice and it felt easier than
last time I did that road. I saw a few deer, a pilliated woodpecker and
a nice bull elk. I took out the camera for the elk and almost fell over
taking some ride by shots. Unfortunately only one really turned out.
The Heart lakes were nice and I walked a little way down the
interpretive trail until I realized that I could only walk “a little
way” as the trial was only about 100m long. The ride back to Waskesiu
was fairly uneventful but my mom was still there when I got back which
was a surprise to me but I guess if she drove out 3 hours and had 3
hours to drive back home then we might as well spend more time
together. We had an early supper at the restaurant. The Food was quite
good and surprisingly cheep for a facnyish place but the service was a
bit slow and it was getting dark by the time we got out of there. I
forgot how early it got dark this time of year at this latitude but
fortunately I did have my headlamp in my bag.
It was pertnear pitch black out for a good section of the ride back to
my campsite. On the “gravel” road my tire slipped out from underneath
me on one of the steeper sections but I managed to land mostly on my
feet. I had planed to do 90 km each of the days and when I got to my
tent the cyclometer was reading 89.52 km so I rode to the outhouse and
back to make it read 90.04 km. It felt good to have the first day done.
I made a fire for a bit then went to bed around 8:00.
Day 2
I woke up not quite as well rested as the first night, my thermo rest
had developed a leak but the night was definitely warmer than the
first. I had some cereal and drank part of an energy drink and got back
on the uni. I was feeling really good and when I was near the top of
the gravel road I decided that I should leave my fleece behind because
I ended up just carrying it around in my backpack yesterday once I
warmed up. This is where I took the picture of the wolf track in the
road. I dropped off the fleece and then went for about 15km before
stopping to do stretches like the day before.
I got to Waskesiu in good time but when I got to LT’s I was not so
happy with my time. It took me almost 15 minutes longer than the first
day, I was not thinking of the extra 4km I did to drop off my fleece
and my averages were almost identical both around 19.5 km/h.
On the way back to town my knee started feeling weird on the same
downhill section as last time so I ran for a little bit again but this
time It did not seem to help as much. I took some Advil and rested for
a while and took to easy when I started again. It wasn’t getting
better, it was getting worse. Since I was about 25km from my campsite
and truck I didn’t really have much of an option so I decided to
abandon the heat lake section of the ride and just try to get back to
my campsite and truck. I started to get cold because I left my jacket
behind and with the sore knee I was not able to keep my heart rate and
body temperature up. When I finally got to the town site I built a fire
in one of the camp kitchens again to warm up and dry off a bit. I
swapped out my 127s for 150s then started going again after a good
break. It hurt to walk as well as ride but it was not as bad with the
longer cranks.
After what seemed like an eternity of wet, cold, painful pedaling I got
back to Nemekus Lake by walking the steeper parts and riding the flats.
I was quite disappointed in myself for being over 25 km short of my
goal. I decided that I would pack up, and drive back to Prince Albert
and if I was feeling OK maybe finish the ride on the bike trail that
goes partially around town, especially since I could just call someone
for a ride if my knee totally gave out and I was in PA. After eating
supper my knee was feeling a bit better but I decided the best thing to
do would be to sleep for a few hours then ride in the early morning so
I could get the rest of the ride in before 9:00AM, the time I started
my first ride. I figured if I finish my second ride within 48 hours of
starting the first one it should be OK.
I woke up at 6 and didn’t feel to bad. The knee wasn’t stiff but still
a bit tender. I did one loop of the Kinsman Park which is right by my
place but decided that the trail was too uneven and windy to be a good
place to ride a fair distance especially since only half the park had
lights so my eyes would adjust for the light then need to adjust to be
good with just the headlamp. I decided to go down 22nd street but after
a few blocks my knee started to really hurt again all of a sudden. I
walked back to my place defeated by my knee.
On Wednesday of that week I was doing a cutblock and road layout in the
bush for school and then on Thursday I could not walk. I am slowly
recovering and went to a doctor who said that I did not do any long
term damage and that I just need to limit my activity for three weeks
to allow it to heal.
I did not think that the ride I did was good enough to qualify due to
the second day being only just over 65 km but when I decided to put the
numbers into the Unicycle Long Distance Rating Calculator I was
surprised to see that I did indeed make it by a considerable margin.
Although I think the modifier is too high for light rain I will gladly
take it.
I am not going to count the early morning portion of the ride as it
stretches the meaning of “in one day” and is also not needed.
The elevation change measurements were done today using my truck and
GPS borrowed from a friend. To check the accuracy of my cyclometer I
also tracked the total distance driving the route I unied the first
day. The GPS tracked the distance of the roads I rode on as 89.256 km
I’m pretty happy with that as its less than 1% difference.
See ya all in Nova Scotia!
ERIC
--
saskatchewanian
The Coker isn't elegant, it's majestic
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