Bobs get dirty!

[jobob]

Hell hath frozen over - the Bobs have gone over to the dark and dirty side!

After the fun time we had with SadieKate & Bubba in Bend, where minimal blood was shed, Lee and I decided to take the plunge and get our own mtn bikes.

We figured we'd go the cushy full suspension route with the hopes that our equipment would help compensate for our lack of skilz.

We bombarded people with questions, did lots of reading, and initially narrowed the choice down to Giant or Santa Cruz. Then Lee did some more reading and concluded that Specialized might give us lots of value for the buck.

We were able to borrow a Santa Cruz Superlight from Chris at Robinson Wheelworks (thanks again Chris!) and Lee took it out for a ride on Friday morning out on the dirt trails in Coyote Hills park, while yours truly was working .

That afternoon he made a return trip to GoRide Bikes in Redwood City and took a Specialized Stumpjumper FSR out for a test ride. GoRide was having a clearance on their 2008 models, and for what we figured we would pay for the Comp (lowest) level, they had an Expert level with far better components.

Long story short, Lee called me up and said "honey, I'm buying a bike" to which I replied "that's nice, dear".

Lee was absolutely delighted with how the Stumpy performed so, to cut to the chase, we schlepped back to GoRide and I got myself one too.

So, we have matching bikes for the moment, but I'm already thinking about accessorizing.

It's a wonderfully cushy ride, so I've named mine Doughboy (DB for short):



Yes, that's a Doughboy hanging off the saddle bag.

Lee, in typical fashion, named his "gray bike".

Here's Lee with gray bike pointing to where his tire caught and he endo'ed on his Friday morning test ride



We're having a blast with these bikes! We've gone a couple of times out to the dirt trails out in Coyote Hills and Don Edwards parks. I have the shifting down pretty well (it has SRAM shifters, a bit different than the Shimanos - but boy they work great) and I'm more confident with climbing & descending. We've been tweaking lever positions and such, and I've been back to GoRide to swap out the stem for a slightly shorter one, and it fits me fabulously now.

We'll venture off to more 'technical' trails next week (am I getting the lingo right?).

I'm a little embarrassed about getting such a tricked-out bike for my first attempt at mtn biking - the shock has a brain for chrissakes!!! - but heck, you only live once.

Plus, it's such a hoot to hear my husband so matter-of-factly state "I'm going to tweak my brain tomorrow". I don't think he's said that for over twenty-five years.

But one thing I'm wondering ...

Why didn't you guys tell me this would be so much fun?!?
ducking & running

[maillotpois]

Very cool! Glad you have a new adventure ahead of you.

Come to Marin.... Seriously - let's ride Saturday....

[Trekhawk]

YAY!!
Great looking bikes. I hope you and Lee have heaps of fun on them.

[crazycanuck]

Sweet Jobob!! Nice to see you've come over to the dark side!!! Does this mean we'll see you at a local mtb xc race or 6hr or 12hr or 24hr event one day?

Enjoy the trails & remember mtn biking is much more fun than road riding! How can you not enjoy the peace & quiet?

[jobob]

Come to Marin.... Seriously - let's ride Saturday....

Sure! We can deliver your, ahem, supplies from Bend as well.

Just go easy on us, OK???

[maillotpois]

Ok! So mid morning - meet in MV? We'll do a nice RR grade loop - maybe we can get to the top - not a difficult ride all things considered. I will be moderately hung over from my b-day party the night before. It'll be great.

[snapdragen]

Birthday! Virtual polenta coming your way........

[Veronica]

MP is going to be the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything!

Veronica

[maillotpois]

Birthday! Virtual polenta coming your way........

YUM!

[Selkie]

Jo - You have the best calves! Looks like you were having a blast - nice trail and the best of company. How could you go wrong? Can't wait to see photos of and hear about future rides. ENJOY.

[andtckrtoo]

So, Jo and Maillotpois - how was the ride?! What did I miss?

[jobob]

What a great day!

We rode from mp's place in Mill Valley up mostly fire roads to the summit of Mt Tam.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I've never actually been to the summit of Tam - either via a bike or car. So this was a real treat. And it was gorgeous up there - but no cameras came along so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Heading back down was loads of fun - the trails were well groomed with conveniently located bumps for a bit of airtime. Yee-hah!

As we approached the West Point Inn I rode thru some thick gravel, skidded and fell over - onto my left side, natch. Oh well, the bruises on my left leg needed some touching up anyhow, they were starting to fade.

The rest of the ride down the mountain went well. It started sprinkling but luckily it didn't amount to much. It was pretty chilly out but I had ample woolage on so my body temp was fine, but, just as well we didn't get more rain because it probably would have turned to sleet, yech.

We headed down the Panoramic Highway part of the way. It felt so odd cruising downhill on a paved road on the mtn bike! It felt like I was crawling but evidently I was going a reasonably good clip. I had my Garmin in my Camelbak and I couldn't really gauge how fast I was going. Those disc brakes work very nicely when its wet out - I felt very secure even on the wet road.

A few miles from mp's home she suggested we take a trail that cut through the woods. We had to walk parts of it - lots of ruts and tree roots and tight steep ascents & descents.

There was one section that we were riding that was starting to give me a serious case of the willies. The left edge of the trail dropped off steeply down the side of a hill covered with lots of brush & trees & gawd knows what else. About the time I was about to get off, I went thru a tricky bit and yep, fell over onto my left side. (Do we see a pattern forming here?) The good news is the ground was nice & soft there. The bad news is, I fell over onto the very edge of the steep downslope! It was one of those slo-mo falls and I distinctly remember thinking to myself "this is gonna turn out bad". But somehow I managed to put my left arm out and stop myself from sliding down the hill.

So, there I was, lying on my left side, still straddling my bike, my upper body pointing downhill and supported by my left arm. There was no way I was going to be able to get up without some help. Lee & Sarah were a bit ahead, and I figured sooner or later they would notice I wasn't behind them anymore and come back to investigate. In the meantime I just laid there like a doof.

Moments later a really nice lady out running along the trail ran up asking me if I was OK, and I told her I was fine, but I really could use some help getting up. So she pulled my bike out from between my legs and then I was able to scooch back up to more level ground. After she made sure I was fine and brushed some of the leaves off me (she was really sweet) she took off on ahead. She encountered Lee & Sarah a little ways ahead and told them I was OK and would be there in a moment.

The rest of the short ride along the trail went sort of without incident (unless you count the near miss with the falling tree log that some other guy who was behind us experienced ), until we reached a short steep narrow downhill section with a 90 degree turn at the bottom. I was up ahead at this point and naturally I walked down, but Lee behind me decided he was going to ride down it.

It didn't turn out so well. He got to the bottom, didn't quite make the turn, and flipped around. Somehow his bike was facing the opposite direction when he came to rest in a heap. He banged up his knee pretty badly - popped it out actually It was scary there for a while, I thought he might be hurt really badly. But after a while his knee popped back in again and he was OK for the rest of the way back.

Once it became clear that Lee was going to be OK and we were just hanging around until he was ready to go, mp blurted out "Oh My God, I broke the Bobs!!!". Her expression was priceless.

Thank goodness we were at the end of the Trail of Death by then and it was only about a mile back to mp's place from there, all downhill on paved roads.

Since it was so damp and chilly, instead of beer I opted for a cup of tea, followed by hot chocolate with a goodly slug of peppermint schnapps. Hit the spot. Lee got some ice for his knee and a couple of vitamin I's - and a cup of tea.

Lee's still hobbling around a bit, and the finger he jammed is swelling some, but all in all he's fine. And I have a few new bruises to add to my collection.

But we had fun!

[Blueberry]

Once it became clear that Lee was going to be OK and we were just hanging around until he was ready to go, mp blurted out "Oh My God, I broke the Bobs!!!". Her expression was priceless.

LOL! Thanks for sharing the day (and next time, pretty please take a camera).

Here's hoping LeeBob has a speedy recovery

CA

[aka_kim]

Oh no! Hope LeeBob's OK.

Popping knees, hanging upside down from a cliff, yeah, sounds like fun!