In the forest where no-one can hear you fall (a story)

It´s been nearly a month since I last touched the uni. That was when I
entered a 24 hour mountain bike charity event with the KH24. I had
thought of writing a short story on that, but it just became a drivel
of Finnish geology and the stubbornness of the early inhabitants. I
never got far into the part where I actually ride the course, in the
end of which I slightly hurt my knee, thus losing the desire to ride
muni for a while. So I´ll use that story somewhere else.

This week has been rainy and cold, brief heavy showers following each
other like small ducklings follow mother mallard. It does wonders to
the nature - trees, flowers and grasses of all kinds are flourishing.
Being forced to sit indoors, bored like a slug, I could feel my muscles
atrophy. I just hate getting wet if I´m not swimming or in a nice warm
shower. Like in many aspects of life, best motivation is often found at
a time when there is no choice. I was quickly approaching such a
situation. I had promised to take my unis to a friends´ birthday party,
and before going I need to be sure that I can still ride them. Luckily
the rain ended early this morning, and a nice breeze came, drying the
ground. I could even see the sun. I came quickly home from work, packed
my equipment and left again.

First I thought that I´ll take it easy today, a nice leasurely ride
along the gravel paths by the sea shore or something, the nice smell of
the salty wind and the shade of the tall pines, it would be just
perfect. However, on my way to the coast I remembered one place where I
rode once last autumn. My biker friends had told me of nice single
tracks in a nature preserve/historical site on the east end of the
town. That time I parked my car on the wrong place and never got to the
good bits. That wouldn´t happen today, this time I knew where I should
leave my car to get to the correct paths.

The car park is small, there is only one other car and room for three
more. I put on my gloves and guards, unpack the KH and mount it. The
paved path leads towards the forest and a hill, where the surface
changes to fine gravel. I wobble left and right, can´t seem to find any
kind of balance. I try holding the handle with my left hand, right,
then without holding anything, nothing works. The wheel keeps turning
like a snake on sand. The hill is long, not too steep, but still I
struggle. I arrive at an intersection, to my right there is even
gravel, up to the left goes a smaller path which is covered in stones
the size of my fist. These stone paths and other structures found in
this forest are of historical significance, they were built by the
Russians in the early 20th century as a part of the defences for
St.Petersburg.

I choose the stone path. I walk up the hill and start riding again at
the top. The path is very uneven and my riding hasn´t improved a single
bit in the last 10 minutes. Wobble, wobble, upd. Repeat. I dismount
often to check the path ahead. I remember reading the back-breaking
stories only a few days ago, and this path is, if not a potential
back-breaker, at least very potential bruiser and blood-shedder. The
stones in the ground look sharp. I also remember that no-one knows that
I´m here. Better not to do anything stupid. At a couple of places the
downhills are steep and wet, they might be challenging even when dry. I
take no risks and walk down. I have ridden a couple of kilometers and
then the ground gets more even. There are no longer stones on the path,
just hard soil. For the first time on this trip I feel that I´m in
control of the uni, and start riding faster. The path goes slightly
down and gets narrower, I get some air when I ride fast over some
larger roots. Now this is starting to get fun.

I come to a field, and there are two choices. Either I go over the
field, this leads to paved roads and back to the car park, or I´ll take
a lot smaller path which goes back into the forest where it seems to be
following the edges of the field. I choose the forest. I have no idea
where the path will take me. It seems to head south, so it can only go
on for perhaps five kilometers before it hits the sea. We´ll see, I
think, and start riding. The path is narrow, the width is roughly one
foot, not the official measure but the one at the lower end of my legs.
It goes up, down, left and right, sharp turns follow in a quick pace. I
upd often, large roots lie hidden in tall grass. I end up walking long
sections of the path as it seems quite unrideable. Highest roots are
something like 20 centimeters, and there are lots of them. There are
also some fallen trees, here they are left to rot wherever they happen
to fall. At places the path goes under the trunks, sometimes mountain
bikers have ridden over them leaving chain ring marks on the wood.
Sometimes a new path has formed where the trunk is too low to be ridden
under and too high to be ridden over. I keep going because the bits
between the high roots and other obstacles are awesome, tricky narrow
turns and fast straights. The field is not in sight anymore, and
shadows of tall spruces and birches fall on the path. Somewhere above
there is a birds nest, I hear lots of squeeking. The bright greens of
the spring are starting to turn into the dark greens of summer.


--
jarkko
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There is also lots of something quite different. There is one mistake I
make every year, and again it happens. There is one thing that one must
always carry when leaving the Finnish suburbs at summertime, one thing
which must not be forgotten. That thing lies neatly in a cupboard in my
living room. Mosquito repellant. They find pray by smell, heat, carbon
dioxide. A muni rider smells of sweat, bakes in heat under the body
armour and breathes heavily. The tone of the trip changes at this
point. Stopping is not an option anymore, in the case of an upd it is
necessary either to start riding immediately again, or to walk. I walk
a lot. I´m starting to get thirsty, but can´t stop for a break. Those
small blood-suckers would drink me dry in minutes and leave only a dry
corpse behind. The crows and ants would take care of the rest. The path
widens a little and I start riding faster, faster. I come to an
intersection, a wide sawdust path. I remember riding here before, so
I´m back on the map. There is a small patch of treeless land under a
high-voltage wire, and there I dare to take a break. Here the number of
mosquitoes is more manageable, I kill a few and then there are no
more.

Back on the uni, I head to the sawdust path. Those are made for
running, nice and springy, they are easy on the knees and ankles.
Riding them on an uni is a different story. The tire sinks deep into
the sawdust and every meter is hard-earned. I ride it knowing that
there´s only perhaps half a kilometer of sawdust and then I´m back on
gravel paths. The gravel path leads back to the direction of my car. I
soon come to the intersection where I first went to the stone path. The
car is less than half a kilometer from here, downhill all the way. So,
what would a clever person do?

I choose the stone path. I ride up the hill and continue riding at the
top. The path is still very uneven, but my riding has improved a lot in
the last hour. It is a lot easier to ride when the path is familiar. I
upd only once on the stony part of the path, but still I walk down
those two small gnarly hills. At the field I see an another path going
on the edge of the field, heading to the opposite way. I´m starting to
feel a little tired, so I go there. It would be nice to get back to the
car. The path is more rideable than its southern part, and I travel
fast. The path gets a little uneventful, only some large roots here and
there, lots of fun and fast riding between them. I really need to
practise hopping and jumping, most of these roots are definately
suitable for such. Suddenly the path ends, and I´m back at the car
park. The ride is over. I´ll definately come back soon.


--
jarkko
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hmm.

'this submarine' (keywestsub.com) is from finland.


--
Sgaterboy
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Sounds like an enjoyable place to ride! Thanks for the write-up, it was
a good read. Have fun at your friend's party, especially that you're
sure you still know how to ride.


--
jmando

Cpt: what do you run on, Rockette Morton?
Rockette: I run on beans...I run on laser beans.
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im dissapointed... you didn't even fall.


--
iPod_therefore_iUni

SHUT UP AND UNI!
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You have 5 messages stored, of a total 10000 allowed. Estimated time
until full capacity reached: 100 years.
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Nice writeup. Sounds like a fun trail except for:
[image: http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/mosquito6a.jpg]


--
steveyo

steveyo
...like having your own personal rollercoaster...

- a few 'uni race write-ups'
(http://home.nycap.rr.com/rduhan/uni_race_writeups/)
- muni and kokopelli uni 't-shirts, mugs and stickers'
(http://www.cafepress.com/steveyo)
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