BikeMomma
01-01-2007, 08:42 PM
Started to post this in the "New Years Day rides" thread, but felt it fit better here....
Did my first mountain bike ride today....this is our traditional New Year's Day mtb-only ride, but I've never done it until today. Have never done ANYTHING mtb until today.
This was a pretty brutal ride to do on your first time out (leave it to me to choose this one!). I was also on a borrowed bike, so not only did I face different terrain than this roadie's used to, but I had a strange bike to ride. Heck, I was just glad to be there at all.
There was absolutely no warm up -- went uphill steeply right off the bat, and didn't stop for a loooonnng while. I had to stop first to strip off my jacket (overheated fast), then stopped for the leg-warmers, then stopped to take off my gloves (even those were hot!). After that, I was fairly comfy just in a base layer, ls jersey, and shorts. In addition, Me-With-No-Mtb-Skills had to stop a few more times to walk the bike over the ruts that I was sure to end up on the ground from. Problem is, since I would stop on a steep incline, I then had to push the bike further up the hill to the next switchback to get back on. Yep, it was hysterically comical, like I knew it would be. I laughed at myself alot more than once. :p
Once I got up that hill, it was brutal rollers with a short fast descent and then a very steep hill on the other side -- three or four of those. Chickened out on the ones with ruts, but took the others. Fun!!
From there, it was all downhill, back the way we came. With Charlotte's help (she's my roadie racing buddie -- Vino here, but rarely posts) giving pointers, I negotiated my way back down the rocky, muddy, sandy, gravelly, you-name-it hill. WAY way way way way (think I liked it???) WAY fun!! It helped that the bike I borrowed was a softtail and took the ruts and jars like a champ. Also, since I had gotten fairly used to the bike by then, I was totally comfy at the nearly-out-of-control-but-still-IN-control descent. Good, as I was nervous about that part.
One of the best parts about the ride was the view from the hilltops. The area where we were riding is in the Sierra Nevada mountains, close to Yosemite National Park (on the way to, in fact). At one particular hill, we were treated to a view of Half Dome and El Capitan from across the way, maybe 4 miles away. Snowcapped and very awesome. :D
Anyhooo....that was my ride for 2day! I'm hooked, I believe. :p I'll be looking for a mountain bike sometime within year.... :D :p :cool:
~BikeMomma
Did my first mountain bike ride today....this is our traditional New Year's Day mtb-only ride, but I've never done it until today. Have never done ANYTHING mtb until today.
This was a pretty brutal ride to do on your first time out (leave it to me to choose this one!). I was also on a borrowed bike, so not only did I face different terrain than this roadie's used to, but I had a strange bike to ride. Heck, I was just glad to be there at all.
There was absolutely no warm up -- went uphill steeply right off the bat, and didn't stop for a loooonnng while. I had to stop first to strip off my jacket (overheated fast), then stopped for the leg-warmers, then stopped to take off my gloves (even those were hot!). After that, I was fairly comfy just in a base layer, ls jersey, and shorts. In addition, Me-With-No-Mtb-Skills had to stop a few more times to walk the bike over the ruts that I was sure to end up on the ground from. Problem is, since I would stop on a steep incline, I then had to push the bike further up the hill to the next switchback to get back on. Yep, it was hysterically comical, like I knew it would be. I laughed at myself alot more than once. :p
Once I got up that hill, it was brutal rollers with a short fast descent and then a very steep hill on the other side -- three or four of those. Chickened out on the ones with ruts, but took the others. Fun!!
From there, it was all downhill, back the way we came. With Charlotte's help (she's my roadie racing buddie -- Vino here, but rarely posts) giving pointers, I negotiated my way back down the rocky, muddy, sandy, gravelly, you-name-it hill. WAY way way way way (think I liked it???) WAY fun!! It helped that the bike I borrowed was a softtail and took the ruts and jars like a champ. Also, since I had gotten fairly used to the bike by then, I was totally comfy at the nearly-out-of-control-but-still-IN-control descent. Good, as I was nervous about that part.
One of the best parts about the ride was the view from the hilltops. The area where we were riding is in the Sierra Nevada mountains, close to Yosemite National Park (on the way to, in fact). At one particular hill, we were treated to a view of Half Dome and El Capitan from across the way, maybe 4 miles away. Snowcapped and very awesome. :D
Anyhooo....that was my ride for 2day! I'm hooked, I believe. :p I'll be looking for a mountain bike sometime within year.... :D :p :cool:
~BikeMomma