New Trail Toy!

“Just picked up my new mountain bike, a Specialized Enduro full suspension. I picked it up yesterday afternoon and went for my first ride. Clipless pedals take some getting used to. I kept stopping and falling over.
This should really get my thighs in shape for climbing those dang hills.”

“LtHiker, I know what you mean about using clipless pedals for the first time. I felt like such a fool the first few times I stopped.”

“Sounds like a nice bike. Once you get used to clipless pedals they are light years better than toe clips. Cycling won't do much though to get your legs in shape for hiking as surprising as that sounds. Only hiking will do that. I had a rude awakening to this last summer when I didn't do much hiking, but almost rode my bike everyday thinking I would be in great shape for fall hiking. My heart and lungs were in good shape, but my legs croaked really bag on the hills and filled with lactic acid and I was sore for days afterward. Turning cranks on a bike uses totally different muscles and isn't weight bearing, so for hiking it doesn't really carry over. If you ride often though you can get in great shape for cycling.”

“I agree with richb. It helps some, but biking gets you in shape for biking, hiking gets you in shape for hiking.

I went to clipless pedals about 6 years ago, after a month with toe clips (which I hated). The bike shop guys said I should expect to fall over a few times and to lean up against a telephone pole and practice clipping out. I did that on my bike trainer, but silly me kept clipping out with the right foot first, when I normally step down with my left foot first.

I've fallen over twice, once to the left in front of a stopped car. Actually I was trying to cruise through an interestection without having to stop, so it was my bad. Second time I fell to the right into a ditch cause I was being nosy about some road kill. I looked around to make sure no one saw me, LOL, as I kinda rolled down the banking and it was really embarassing. Made me laugh though.

=D

I got fitted for my road bike on Saturday, now that's gonna take some getting used to!”

“I think i fell over about 20 times last night my hips are killing me!
the ground was still snow covered and icy and I have some serious ice burn on my calves.”

“I use to argue with the whole "cross training" thing..I too believed that there was some carry over, but the only real way to train for a specific sport was to do it.

I do remember one day with Spirithand, we were riding our bikes on a particularly nasty trail (OK, we were lost) when we had to do a traverse across a bare face high above a creek....she had the bike hooked over her shoulder and was making some rather tenuous 5.6 moves on the rock when she looked back at me and said..."Now this is cross training!"”

“20 times! LOL...you poor man...

maybe you need to loosen the clips until you get used to them??
or are you just forgetting that you're clipped in?

=D”

“Congratulations on the new toy. Specialized makes some fine machines.”

“After a 2 month layoff I started
peddling to work just yesterday.
My 18 mile (one way) commute has
been shortened to 14. Myself,I think peddling has changed the way
my knee works. Just walking down
a steep slope for a couple of miles makes my knees hurt. When I
do some peddling before a hike they don't.
Toe clips are great because you can use both sides of the peddle.
If you come out of your toe straps
they hang upside down and can catch a tree root. A real pain either way going uphill!
Congrats on the bike!”

“Twig, I knew I was clipped in but I kept trying to pull my foot out to the back like a toe clip, instead of twisting out my heel. Course a couple of times I was clipped in and didn't realize I was clipped in. That was the worst you just fall over slowly and there is nothing you can do about it.

The suspension works great it ate up the bumps 5 inches of travel front and rear I think.”

“Ahhh, see I didn't have toe clips long enough to get used to them, so clipless was an easier adjustment for me.

have fun with your new toy!

o(=D”

“I'm happy with my Pro-Flex.With
spring mud riding around the corner,one ride will look like I've been out for a week!
YEEHAW!!!”

“Yeah, they do take some getting used to, but I've been racing for four years now and I don't know what I'd do with out them. Eventully it becomes as comfortable as riding the bike itself.”

“the reason you don;t get in shape for hiking by biking is that you use different muscles you stay in shape. You just don;t beef the right muscles.”

“http://gizmodo.com/368651/new-video-of-bigdog-quadruped-robot-is-so-stunning-its-spooky


This is going to be handy when I want to bring some extra gear on the trail.”

“that is spooky. Had it not been for that link I may never have thought of an AT-AT again.

is somebody holding a remote control guiding it or what? what keeps it going in the right direction?”

“from Boston Dynamics site -

BigDog has an on-board computer that controls locomotion, servos the legs and handles a wide variety of sensors. BigDog’s control system manages the dynamics of its behavior to keep it balanced, steer, navigate, and regulate energetics as conditions vary. Sensors for locomotion include joint position, joint force, ground contact, ground load, a laser gyroscope, and a stereo vision system. Other sensors focus on the internal state of BigDog, monitoring the hydraulic pressure, oil temperature, engine temperature, rpm, battery charge and others.”

“well my God looks like they could get a volume control on it too.

still ...interesting. but if I see/hear one of those things coming thru the woods I'm gonna crap my pants then run.”

“Mmmmmmmm .... yummy.

Yeah, that thing is LOUD.

My answer was not the greatest - I'm still wondering if it is told "go from point A to point B" ... or what.”

“its gotta be otherwise what would keep it from running into trees and such. Then again it the beginning of the video it wasn't on a "trail". There maybe something to that stereo vision system....its like a bat I suppose...on steroids.”