i'm now a mountain biker roadie! lol!

ok.... i read the posts you all made up to leaving for shopping (well.. i read the other ones.. but i had already taken the plunge! :cool: )

friday we went to palm springs cyclery to look at bikes... got a TON of information from our favorite guy there.... test rode a couple of bikes (i now know i DO make circles when i pedal.. cuz i kept lifting my feet off the pedal! *rolls eyes*)

he was leaning toward the trek 3900 or higher (said anything lower was more of a street bike and i would not be able to do any harder trails, etc)

ok.. that was fine.. i liked the matte black/grey and he could order it in my size... they had nothing available for hubby.. not even to be ordered! (well.. not within our price point for him) hey also said to stay away from the specialized hardrock cuz it was more bike than either of us needed and heavy (uhm.. they are ALL heavy compared to road bike!)

so after our ride saturday morning we set off for a day of bike shopping.. first store.. nothing... 2nd store.. they had the 3900.. in my size.. AND the hardrock that i fist posted about.. it's even prettier in person! (even though it's the same dark blue as my dolce!) i LOVED the little dolce diamonds on it and the scripty writing... they had a small so i made hubby get it off the rack... but i kept remember what scott had told us the previous evening.. OH... they also had the cute little trek steel 820! (and yes it is heavier than snowtulips, corsairmac... but such a CUTE bike!) i kept looking at the hardrock wds.. finally the guy said to take it for a ride.. i did.. YUCK! the seat was way too low.. didn't realize it was QR so brought it back in and hubby fixed the seat... took it back out.. and liked it much better... in the meantime they found a nice 2004 bike and showed it to hubby... so he came out and we tooled around the parking lot together.. then i went up on the sidewalk and off the curb... FUN! lol :rolleyes: then i did it again! and again! (i know.. i know! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ) hubby liked the bike they showed him... so i asked "what do you want to do".. well.. he wanted to keep looking.. so we checked closing time... the guy said "you'll be back" referring to the bike/deal for hubby... and off we went!

we went to REI... i did love their poweder blue wsd bike... but it was more (better components)... found a gary fisher tassajara (spelling?).. cute.. better components.. but didn't like the color... even checked out performance and supergo.... they had the specialized hardrock, too... didn't find anything else i like (or that hubby liked)... HOWEVER! i did find an adorable pair of baggy mtn bike shorts and matching shirt on clearance! and some full finger dark blue gloves on sale! :p ) we also bought 2 inexpensive cateye wireless 7 computers... cuz hubby already had 2 bikes programmed in his polar and i plan to one of these years! lol! and candy sl pedals....

i was still undecided.. knew the hardrock was "heavy" (that being relative cuz ALL the mountain bikes felt heavy to me!) but i really liked it... thought it was pretty.. would have preferred the better shifters/components.. but also didn't really want to spend the extra money not knowing if i would take to mtn biking AND... even more importantly.. i know me.. and i wanted to have STUFF to go with it! (as in the outfits, puter, and also shoes etc!)

finally hubby said: i've never seen someone have so much fun on a bike in a parking lot... so if that's the bike you want... then get that one.... sooooooo rather then spend the extra money on the rei bike.... we called in cycle to make sure they hadn't sold "our" bikes and headed back up to chino! as we walked in.. he was smiling.. and hubby said "go ahead and say it: i told you so!"

i kicked myself for not picking up spare tubes at specialized (did put in an order to performance.. so will have them by wednesday!) and i shoulda picked up a topeak wedge at rei... (will order it or just wait til we are down there again!) (see what i mean about needing STUFF!!!!)

we went for a roadbike ride first thing in the morning... came home... i added some shorts over my bike shorts (won't do that again! they kept catching on the seat.. but they were also too large anyways!)... and off we went to tool around... started out on our streed (that is full of sand and huge rocks that i can't ride on with the road bike)... no problem!... then turned down a street and road in the dirt on the side of the road! rode over the humps (not curbs.. but at the side of the road....) then headed to the "road" that is next to the flood wash... have to climb a little bitty short but steep hill... uhm... nope... good thing the candy's clip out easily! went down.. tried again.. nope... however.. the third time's a charm! i DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!! tooled around on the "road" went down and came back up on.. went the opposite way where there was a lot more rocks.. then headed into the wash.. hmmmm no fun anymore :mad: the sand was way deep and way loose... did a lot of pushing.. so we came back closer to the "road" and harder packed ground.. ahhhhh fun again! went up the hill on to the road and headed for the desert across the street from us... had to push the bike part way up that hill (hey.. i'm still a newbie!)

then headed down the street to another area of the desert... again with the soft, deep sand (i don't even like walking the dogs in that one spot)... and headed up the hill... i got quite a ways!! woo hoo!!!! took a few pics and then headed down the hill... fun! i made it up to 10mph coming down... i'm so brave!!!!!!!! i was sad when it was time to go home.. but it was getting hotter and hotter and you don't get the wind cooling you like on a road bike!...

so my first ride was a pleasant experience (even with the icky deep, soft sand part) and i can't wait to ride again! i told hubby that tonight instead of the road bike.. i want to ride the moutain bike some on the road and do a bit of tooling around the desert!

(he even rode his mtn bike to work... IN THE RAIN this morning! it wasn't raining at home when he left.. but there was thunder... he rode about 1.5-2 miles in a downpour and was soaked.. but said it was fun! lol!) ya... i don't even care if it rains all day or is raining tonight cuz now i have my fun new roadbike!

(sorry so long....)

Cool! :) :) :) :) :)

sounds like you had a blast cali!! I suck at riding in the sand but one of these days - I'm gonna get it right......just wait and see! soooo pixs??...name???

lol! no name yet... just "the mountain bike" (i still call my road bike: "the dolce") :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

only a few pics

he shoulda taken some of me struggling in the sand!

This is me :D Green with envy but very excited for you. Your 1st ride report makes me want to throw some knoobies back on my old GT and go find a trail. Or maybe go shopping for a new mountain bike hmmmm.......

I just checked out the pictures and it's beautiful! I love the matte black

Heh. And you weren't sure you'd like it that much... :p May you have many more hours of fun together. :) It's a good looking bike. The decals on the Specialized women's mtbs are way kewl, and you're right about the GF Tass - how can that bike be so ugly when the Tass Disc and the Tass GS are so damned hot?

i went on my second ride last night... i had to go alone.. cuz before hubby ever got home (he had ridden his MTB to work) he got called back cuz of a power outage :mad:

so i set out.. planning to do more road riding to get some miles in... UGH! after 3 miles i was thinking "ok... i'll just check out baseline... go home.. and get the roadbike and ride some more"... well... i get to our normal hill and decide to climb a little ways... but even better.. i decided to get OFF the road and ride in the desert... ok.. that's better! i come to a dirt road and check it out.. it's short... back down the hill (i didn't climb all the way to the entrance booth.. just a little ways)... then coming back i made a detour on a dirt... errrr sand road.... turned around cuz it's that icky soft sand.... next turn... i do the same thing... ride the side of the road... took another detour... next road... i road most of the way on the opposite side of the road but out in the desert..... i got to go across a LOT of little washes that the rain had made... WOO HOO! there was another dirt road with a small hill... i took it and climbed the hill... again! WOO HOO! i was having a blast! i was laughing and having a good ole time! finally i cut through the desert (including some icky soft sand)... behind the park and got to our street (hubby had called in the meantime and told me to head home if i didn't want to get wet... i told him i heard the thunder and saw the clouds but i was having a blast!) i got home and decided to climb the hill across the street from our house... but it started raining hard... i wimped out :rolleyes: and went home! TOOOOOOOOOOO much fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so is it really official???? am i really a mountain biker now???????????? :cool: :cool: :cool:

Congratulations Caligirl on your new mtn bike and I am just smiling while reading all the fun you are having. I have to say mtn bike is a nice alternative for me to road. I can't say I love it. I don't mind riding though dirt and trees, but I don't like decending down steep hills. I am just glad when I get down without falling. Now a winding singletrack I do enjoy!!!!

Keep writing about your adventures. The way you word them makes for some really fun reading!!!

~ JoAnn

i think a step hill would freak me out right now... and probably for a while! :eek: the ones i've been on aren't too bad (the little ones on and off the berm were quite steep for short...)

hubby and i have talked about packing the bikes up and heading to big bear one day... but i want to tool around here and in the national park a bit longer first! (i'll feel SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO guilty going to big bear without the dogs though! they soooo love hiking up there!)

First, Congratulations on your new mtn bike!!! Keep telling us about your adventures. Combined with the way you wording I get such enjoyment reading about them.

Keep having a blast!!!!

~ JoAnn

Caligurl - Congratulations! It sounds like you are having a blast already on your new mountain bike. Enjoyed reading your ride reports!

Emily

Hey, let's not diss the GF bikes - I bought a Sugar 3 a few years ago & love it.

MTB is so different from road! I'm sure there are others WAY more experienced than me - but the most important thing I learned was to let the bike be a little slippery underneath you (IRULAN!! What do you call that?) Coming from the road where sliding is a big NO NO - it's too cool to be able to slide & live to tell about it.

Oh, and soft sand - so fun! I get up a big head of steam and see how far I can hydroplane until I go FLOP! I've dumped that bike WAY more than my road bike and just came away with bruises - rather than a big nasty (and infected) road rash.

My Fisher on the headset says "All work and no play is not good at all." There you have it!

Waiting for the mud...

Caligurl,
Congratulations :) :)

Your writing is great, really inspired me to want to get back out and ride, even though it's so humid here.

Your pics look like you were having fun.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dogmama

Hey, let's not diss the GF bikes - I bought a Sugar 3 a few years ago & love it.

---

:eek: Never! I love mine! :D

All I was talking about was that when I checked out the GF site, the paint job on the ordinary Tassajara for some reason does not look at all like (or in my opinion nearly as good as) the other two bikes in the range. Just strikes me as a bit odd really. I wonder if perhaps some of the pictures on the website are a little outdated - the Marlin in my LBS had the same graphics as the Tass Disc shown there except it was green, but the picture of it on the website looks quite different...

Anyway, sorry if it looked like I was dissin' your ride! :)

Welcome to mountain biking! I had a wonderful road ride yesterday, and a great ride mountain biking today, and I honestly cannot say which one I enjoyed more. Each is a different experience, and each is good. Enjoy both worlds!
Jan

OH! i got new toys for my MTB!!!!!

i haven't ridden it since wednesday (and that was even an "accident" as i was supposed to ride the road bike to get some miles.. but it POURED and POURED just before leaving work.... so no road ride (rain in the desert maked roads HORRIBLE!) well... i didn't want to sit around doing nothing.. so i climbed on my MTB and road around the neighborhood area... up and down the hill across the street from us (if you walked straight across the street and straight up... you'd end up on the national park land... nice for hiking and even riding!) hubby got bored (and i think saw all the fun i was having) and next thing i know he was out there with me! we had a BLAST!

so anyways... we both decided we didn't like the cheap little cateye computers we bought.. we are spoiled with the info you get from the s720i... but both "bikes" are taken up on his and i plan for mine to be eventually! so that meant.. yep... buying another 720i for each of the MTBs... i did look to see if i could find a less expensive one that has altitude... HR.. etc... but we ended up with the s729i (price matched and 20% off coupon from performance.. so not AS bad!) i even got the cadence sensor... what the heck! lol

then saturday i got a new elite side entry water bottle cage (it was hard to get the large bottle out with a regular cage)

i decided to give the specialized BG hand thingys a try... i found some grey and blue ones at supergo... hubby put them on last night and they felt good just holding them while in the garage.. we'll see...

i got a new topeak under the seat wedgie bag! a new rear flashing light.... some tubes... a patch kit... i have a co2 pump on the way...

so i'm all decked out.. just need to ride.. i may get that opportunity tonight.. i want to ride the road bike.. do some more climbing.. but the weather may not cooperate (well.. it already destroyed the roads overnight with rain.. whatup with that anyways.. i live in the desert for pete's sake!) the roads were a MESS on the way to work....

now that i'm all decked out i need to get a new pick of my baby with all her new digs!

OHHHHH and i got 2 more pair of mountain biking shorts and another shirt that matches one pair of the shorts! woo HOO!!!!!!!!! so both of us (bike and me) are stylin'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, caligurl! My hubbie and I just got the 2006 Hardrock Sports, mine is kind of an Elkectric Blue satin finish, and his is called Burnt Sienna. Our LSD didn't have the 2005's, but they told us there were some pretty significant upgrades on the 2006's, and mine even came with shifters BETTER than what they are supposed to have per the website, I've got SRAM X-7's instead of X-4's.

There's a pic of me and mine here.

'Grats on the shift toward MTB!

A chain tool, tire levers and small multi-tool are nice little add-ons too. I also carry a powerbar wrapper for slices in the tire, to keep the tube from bulging out. Dollar bills work too.
Hope your riding is going well. Around here we have to ride the road when it's wet because our trails get muddy and riding them then ruins them. So funny it's backwards there!

oh... danariel.. you bike is pretty! i like that blue!

singgletrack... hmmmm chain tool.. i don't have one of those... i do have tire levers (at least i meant to put them in the bag.. i'll have to double check now!

power bar wrapper for a boot... good tip! the dollar bill one i've read about for road bikes!

i haven't ridden the mtb since last monday cuz i had to get some climbing and saddle time for a double metric i had coming up last saturday... we're gonna ride them either tonight or tomorrow!

ya.... i like when it rains and makes the dirt more packed! easier to ride on than the soft sand! :D

Hey CaliGirl- Good job on your double Metric. Was that the first one for you? How did it go?

My century ride yesterday turned out to be a metric century- broken spoke at mile 68! :( Missed the best part of the ride! :mad:

Lucky you- crosstraining will make your road bike skills even stronger! Wish I could do MTB, not on your life! Too much chance of broken bones (already have osteopena)! :( :(

But, that's okay- I'll just read about the rest of you! :D :D

oh sure.... :D :D :D wish the broken bones on us! :D :D :D i'm sticking with the easier dirt roads for now! less of a chance to get hurt! i would be sooooooooooo devastated if i couldn't work out or couldn't ride! :eek: :eek: :eek: i mean... i took up road riding cuz i hurt my toe and couldn't do aeeobics for a few days.. but i NEVER gave up on the weights! i hobbled around to do them!

this was my second double metric.... we did the double metric of the grand tour a couple months ago... that was a GORGEOUS ride.... i think if i have to pick.. i liked the grand tour DM better only cuz there was more coastal riding! simply gorgeous! but this one has more rest stops.. i always like the rest stops! :p

they are both long days when you factor in the drive to get there and the drive to get home..... but the scenery and support make them worth it!