Any Mountain Bikers Here?

“Actully I had to Learn to ride a bike. Ebarrassing huh? Oh well I'm doing good so far, I ride through the neighboorhood just about every morning. I want to try a real trail but am almost too freaked to do it. I was thinking this weekend if it isnt too wet out here. Any suggestions about taking my first plunge onto a real trail?”

“Good for you. I love Mountain Biking. that's how I spend most of my free afternoons.

Loclly I'd look at some of the hiking trails you may be cofortable with. There's nothing like trail knowledge and familiar surroundings to build confidence. Check the local regulations to see if bikes are allowed. For the first tile I'd I'd limit your ride to five miles or less. Off roading is much more stressfull and tiring than pavemment.

Once you've mastered the beast and want to tackle the Holy Grail of mountain biking, ask me about Moab Utah.....”

“great news, you will love mt. biking. start out on some double track trails or fire roads first so as to get a feel for what your bike will do on the dirt.”

“There are some trails by the Amarican River not to far away. I was thinking of going there. I lot of people ride their horses along there so It shouldn't be too tough just as long as I can get confident enough to try it.”

“Stay Away from horse trails!!!!!!!

I cannot emphasize that strongly enough.... Why? You may ask.

1) For some reason bikes spook horses EVERY TIME. Not a good situation for horseman or bikier...

2) Horses hooves tear up the trail to the point of being unrideable. If you want a miserable riding experience, just bike on a equesrian path....

3) Horse poop and mountain bike tread act like magnets and iron filings. They just seem to attract each other and once together, you can never seperate them...

Loot into other options.”

“These are what you should be riding...

http://community.webshots.com/album/55620221XjTVnN”

“Those don't seem too bad. :) I just want to find a trail thats not too steep for the first time. Uphill doesnt bother me but the idea of heading down hill at 40 mph on two wheels over bumpy ground seems kinda freaky.”

“Trust me, the downhills are the easy part.......”

“down is where all the fun is though. check out www.mtbr.com they have lots of trail info for every state. If you are ever in the NW let me know and I will take you out for some of the best riding around”

“Hikingirl, I'd say try some easy double tracks at first... or an easy singletrack. You're very new to this, so don't go nuts right off.

I ride some trails that horses used. They are mostly double track in a state forest. Yeah there's poop and yes, horses do get scared. I always get off my back, talk to the people and let them go by. (Mountain bikers have a bad reputation, so I figure I'm doing my part to alleviate that. Plus, I used to have a horse!)

The trails can get really bad, especially if the hoof marks and indentations left dry out. Bump, bump, bump.... Or, they leave nice muddy spots (but I think dried out is worse)

Just take it easy. Try to find some other mt. bikers to ride with, to get helpful hints. That's the best.”

“mountain biking is ssssssooooooooooo sweet. (road biking is also cool for the simple fact you can go really fast.) Our troop sometimes goes to Island Lake to go mtn. biking there and its a blast. And our high adventure last year was biking across michigan, Sleeping bear dunes to Tawas point. We did do some mountain biking on that trip to, but if you ever in michigan, avoid the trails at Rifle River State park, THEY SUCK!!!!!! One more thing, if you ever want to come really close to death find a BBBIIIGGG downhill on a highway, go down it and pedal as fast as you can. we hit a few of those on the trip, theres nothing more exciting than going forty on a mountain bike that sounds like its going to fall apart and then seeing the driver of a car look at you like your out of your mind as he drives by.”

“The only thing worse than dogs in the backcountry is mountain bikes in the backcountry.

LNT = LDH.
LNT = LBH.”

“RichB mountain bikes quite a bit, I'm sure he'll chime in here at some point.

GREAT sport, and a lot of fun.

The only thing worse than mountain bikes in the backcountry is a Micah in the backcountry.

LNT = LMH”

“I am with Artex on that one. Who is this micah person anyways?”

“I have a MTB, its great to alterante hiking some days, MTB another, road bike another. I'm not very technical, can't hop over logs and stuff like that.”

“A word of warning... I know a guy who was screaming down a gravel road when a squirrel ran in front of him (PsychoSquirrel??) He hit it and had a major accident.”

“Too bad it wasn't a dog.

LNT = LDH.
LNT = LBH.”

“I almost collided with a moose biking in Fairbanks. Had another time when one was very close to charging us.”

“Lizs, why are you on your back? Or is that how you say 'bike' in those parts of the Midwest? ;)

Hikingirl, be aware of trail etiquette on the trails you use. I think in most places mountain bikers have to yield to all other users. I know most of the trails in the SLC area are that way.”

“Too bad it wasn't a Micah.

LNT = LMH”

“Mountain biking is one of my favorite sports. One thing I like about it is that you can cover so much ground and see more things that just walking. Like cross country skiing, you can make it as hard as you want. Nice and slow to relax or all out for one of the best cardio workouts going. It's a lot more fun and safer once you develop a good fitness level and to do that just keep riding. Throw in some good hills too once you start getting stronger because off road riding has more rolling resistance than road riding and is more anaerobic. You'll need strength to ride trails. Just be careful going down hills on trails since you can be seriously injured if you fall. If the hill looks dangerous to ride, just walk the bike down. I walk my bike down lots of hills I used to ride down because after a few hospital visits I don't need anymore pain. Just ride some easy roads and trails at first until you get stronger and your riding skills improve.”

“hehehe, I am a chicken on a lot of downhills and walk them, I 'fess up!!

mediaman, LOL, I had to go back and see what the heck you were referring to. LOL! As they say in the biz, "Good catch!"”

“Hey Lizs do you have the tires that have the studs in them for ice?

8)”

“Awsome! I love mountain biking. Where do you live? There should be a local cycling club that you can join. That's a great way to get into the sport. DO a web search for your state and mountain biking, chances are there's a page of trails. If your just starting out, I would definatly try an easy trail, even single track if you take it slow. If you find a hill or a log or something you don't think you can clear just walk it, or make sure you can bail. As you get better you'll find yourself liking going faster and you'll be clearing all those hard sections like a pro. A really good resouce is www.gearhead.com
Have fun with it, ride hard.

ps: what kind of bike do you have?”

“About 3 years ago, I mtn. biked every weekend...even biked on packed snow in winter. I've been cutting down because of my work schedule. I really did enjoy it...hopefully will do more this year.”

“So you want to hit some trails, huh?
GET A HELMET!!!

(and stay away from trees)

”

“Hey enjoy! Do what is comfortable to you and as your ability increases take on more stuff for a challenge, remember wet rock = oooow!, deep stream crossings = possible screwed up bottom bracket and ---- well, anything else?”

“I have a Magma...It's a cheep bike from Walmart but it's all I could afford right now on my pay.”

“a Magma?God,no!That's a death trap that'll snap in half.Get a used bike like Specialized for 3-400.Anyway,anything from walmart etc is junk and a deathtrap.Honest.”

“Yikes...Wall-Mart????
Look here...

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47602081&parent_category_rn=4500839

My Wife and Daughter each have a Piedra. Great bike for the $$$$$”

“Used bikes are pretty easy to find. Look for a bike swat too. Local bike stores often advertise them for bike clubs.”

“Last time I biked, a root jumped out and grabbed my tire, throwing me, fracturing my knee on a rock and causing a nice gash, which turned into a sweet scar.

I can't wait to get out again soon!”

“I wouldnt consider myself to be a mountain biker even though I trail ride (in the warm months) 2-3 times per wk. I enjoy the physical aspects of it and the challenges of learning a new skill with many necessary techniques. But I prolly wouldnt do it if it wasnt a mandatory part of multi-sport racing. Plus I crash a lot.”

“Birch, crashing...that's the fun part!!!

Did you hear about the Ukatak race that were held in Northern Quebec last week? The participants (some 20 teams of 4) had to do 400 kms by biking, skiing, snowshoeing, dogsledding, climbing and rapelling. The whole thing took about 6 days.

Unfortunately...that week was really really cold (-22F) and windy (80mph), which brought the temp down to -69F...alot of teams could not or weren't allowed to finish. Here's a link; http://www.ukatak.com/en/”

“Brrrrr......To cold for me, I have experienced windchills as low as minus 60 and it was awful. It actually wrecked the car I had, warped the head.

If its warm enough I am gonna get on the bike on tuesday for the first ride of the season. Got a new shock absorbing seat post (no jokes please lol) for Christmas an am anxious to see how it works.”

“The area I went hiking today seems to be a mecca for mountain bikers.I thought the trails would be empty today with the game and all but there were plenty out there enjoying the good warm weather!”

“When I first started mtn biking, my bike didn't have any shocks. Four years later, I added a front shock to the bike....I couldn't believe it...I shaved over 4 minutes on a bike trail that I always rode on. Imagine if I had a full suspension bike.....

Birch, let us know how effective is that shock absorbing seat post. I might even get one for myself.”

“I have the U.S.E. suspension seatpost on one of my bikes and it works well. When I ride my other bike that doesn't have one it feels harsh. You can tune it with different elastomer bumpers, but I think the new ones use a spring in there too.”

“I have a rockshox post that has saved my back many times. I now have a full suspension so it is not being used if you are interested I can dig it out.”

“Turns out I am not going ridin tomorrow as the UPS man will be delivering our new packs!!!”

“haha, you should ride anyway, the packs will wait”

“I dont want to miss the driver and get that little " ha ha better luck next time pal" note on my door.”