Saturday Activities

MUni Weekend returns to its roots!

Location:
American River Confluence in Auburn, then the Granite Bay area of Folsom Lake. Auburn is where it all started in 1996. It's the place that gave me the idea, and the anchor location for the first all-offroad unicycle event in the world. We came to Auburn for the first three years, but haven't been back since '98, the year Kris Holm first came, and blew us all away.

• Trail Page description of Clementine Loop
• Stagecoach Trail
• More trail info
• More more trail info
• Additional more trail info

Start time:
9:00 am at the Confluence. It'll be a busy day!

Getting there:
See the Maps page for directions.

Confluence Uphill Race:
This area is called the Confluence because it's the joining of the North and Middle forks of the American River. Our meeting spot is the base of the Stagecoach Trail. From this area, there is a short little trail going down to the river. The Confluence Uphill Race, which we held at the first three MUni Weekends, goes from just under the bridge, up to the point where that little side trail connects to the main trail. Fastest rider to the top, without a dismount, is the winner. Age groups TBA.

Schedule:
Aside from the 9:00 starting time and 7:30 dinner, the details are flexible. The Confluence Uphill race may be held first, or saved for after we ride the trails, to give people something to do while slower riders return. After riding at Auburn, we will head to Granite Bay, for some riding on the rocks along the edge of Folsom Lake. There will be time to shower and change at the Hooten or Riegel homes, and then we'll head to Mark & Monica's for our dinner and video fest.

How much time we will devote to the afternoon riding will depend on what activities we come up with for that time. If we don't have much, we can spend some more time on the Auburn trails.

Clementine Loop:
My favorite trail in Auburn is the Confluence Trail, which is part of a loop of trails called the Clementine Loop. This is a 7 mile loop that starts and ends at the Confluence, and has about a 1000' climb. Much of the climb is on a paved road, so we can also shuttle people up to a higher point, at the end of the paved road, so they can save some time (and some energy for Downieville!). See some images from that ride here:

• MUni Weekend '98, introducing Kris Holm
• MUni Weekend '97 (1)
• MUni Weekend '97 (2)
• MUni Weekend '96
• Pre '96 MUni Weekend trail shots
• Seth Golub's MUni Weekend '98 pictures
• Dana Schneider and Andy Cotter hold up bridge

Lunch:
You can either bring something and picnic at the Confluence, or drive back up the canyon and to one of almost any fast food (or other) place within a few miles of the area. Most of these are along I-80, between Elm Ave. and Foresthill Road, two exits East.

Alternate Trails:
Since time will probably not allow us to do two separate consecutive group rides, people can do these alternates instead:

• Quarry Road Trail: This one goes on the opposite side of the Middle Fork from the Confluence Trail, and was what we labeled as our "novice" ride in '96-'98. Since then we've learned that even if people consider themselves novices, they'd rather watch the experts and walk over the technical bits of the trail. But for a relaxing, more level ride, the Quarry is available. It's out and back, however far you want to go. The first two miles or so are completely non-technical.
• Stagecoach Trail: This is basically a fireroad that goes down from town to the Confluence, coming out at the outhouse where we start the day. You can ride up and then down, or I can provide directions for you to park at the top and ride from there. This is an easy ride, non-technical.
• Manzanita Trail, with option for "new" Flood and Mossy Rock Trails: Manzanita is a more technical trail that sort of parallels the top part of the Stagecoach Trail and then connects to it. The Flood Trail branches off from Stagecoach near the top, and leads to another trail called Mossy Rock. These two have not been a part of past MUni Weekends. All three of these trails are singletrack, with a couple of sections on Manzanita that I'm still chicken to attempt. For these trails you can also park at the top (Russel Road). Maps should provide the necessary info.

Afternoon Riding:
The location is the Granite Bay area of Folsom Lake. It's a boat launch parking lot, where we might do some gliding (don't forget to stop before you get your feet wet). Lloyd Johnson will bring some small Trials toys he's made. Nothing huge, only what fits in a pickup. And we have a beautiful location along the shore of Folsom Lake with all sorts of shapes made out of decomposed granite. The rock is a little bit like the slickrock of Moab, but has more of a texture and is more crumbly. We will set up more games in the rocky area marked on the map. Another one of our challenges will be to ride down what John Hooten calls the "Stupid Steep Trail." I can't do it, but I'm sure some of you will!

Dinner:
Mark and Monica's is a sports bar in Granite Bay, between the Hooten home and Folsom Lake.

We now have the Banquet Room reserved for 7:30. It will be a salad and pizza buffet, with all you can drink sodas. Plus you can order whatever food and drinks you want off the menu, at your expense. Since our time will be limited, I think we will do dinner and awards at the same time, and follow that with the screening of Universe II. This will be a not-quite-finished version of the video, which Dan Heaton is still working on. It should be pretty amazing. The Banquet Room contains a giant TV projection screen on which we will show the video. We will probably run some other video clips as well. If you have anything interesting, please bring it along. No guarantees we'll be able to fit them in though. VHA only for the restaurant, but we can watch the DVDs at the Foss, Hooten, and Riegel homes.

It will be an early day on Sunday, so don't stay up too late!