Unicycling in a cave



K

Klaas Bil

Guest
This weekend, I had a work outing to Limburg, the southmost province of
the Netherlands and the most hilly one. One of the activities was
mountainbiking in a man-made cave system. I consulted with the guides
beforehand and was allowed to bring my unicycle while my collegues were
on "grotbikes".

It was a unique experience, but quite tiring since most of the caves
were so low that I had to crouch all the times. I can still feel it
when I crouch again. The bikers had their heads lower and were fine
most of the time.

This particular cave system is called 'Sibbergroeve'
(http://www.aspadventure.nl/grotten-programmas.php), and is the longest
of its kind in the Netherlands, total length is 140 km. It was created
to obtain the marlstone that these hills consist of, to be used for
building purposes. It's still used for that, but only for restoration.

On the picture you see me heading the group (next to the guide) because
of my lower speed. This is the highest part where I could ride upright
though.


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Klaas Bil
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Wow! great Picture!!
You must have had great fun havent you? Such an experience should be
reported into the "been there, done that" page;).
Note to myself: Take the 20'' and lower the saddle for cave riding:p


--
Zzagg

Zzagg - Air Circus Team (Nantes)

Riding day, dream away...
Still riding, still dreaming.

please excuse me for still thinking I can write correct english :-o
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Wow that sounds fantastic. Unicycling in a cave. I'm going to add that
to the 'things that I want to do on a unicycle oneday' list.

Cathy


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cathwood

Disclaimer: Everything I post (unless otherwise stated) is my own
opinion, based on stuff that I've learned over the years.

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Oh, very nice Klaas.

How did the guide react to your initial query?


--
GILD

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hahaha a geared 12''!! that would be amazing...im gonna make one


--
trials_uni

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It's not very often that overhead height is a problem when cycling
(except going under fallen trees/branches). In a place like that
mine/cave, the unicycle could be more disadvantageous than usual. Looks
like a rare situation where riding with the seat too low would be a
good thing.

Cool story!


--
johnfoss

John Foss
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
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GILD wrote:
> How did the guide react to your initial query?


I don't know really, the contact was made via the lady who did the
booking for us. But when I was there I heard that some unicyclists had
ridden in the cave before, so they may actually not have been overly
surprised.


silverfridge wrote:
> Man, how long have u been riding? and what kind of uni, i also love the
> idea of cavew riding, that picture is greater than a cheese grater, can
> u go unicycling under water in ur next thread please?;)


I've been riding for a bit over 5 years. This was a KH24 (and indeed
not ideal). I'm often riding underwater in a sense i.e. below sea
level, see caption of last pic on
http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/beest_photos.htm .


rvs wrote:
> How much Km's did you ride in the caves??.
> I heard some rumors that we going to do this on the next "Unicycling in
> the Dutch Mountains 2006".
> Now i kown what unicycle to use the 20".


I think we did about 6 - 8 km. I was in contact with Geert Mestrom and
indeed they are considering this, that's why they have been trying it
out a few months ago.


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Klaas Bil
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I wonder why it's so low there. I went to similar mines (Limburg too) ,
but the ceiling was almost so high as to be obscured in darkness. The
walls were all scribbled full with signatures and names too. Not sure
if they were open to biking though. (Or unicycling for that matter).


--
Erant

Live free, prosper, and under my rule.
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