First ride!

[Aggie_Ama]

I have been mountain biking twice on a Walmart bike, but today I took my new (to me) Scott on her maiden ride. It was mostly a hiking trail, but DH did take me on some technical stuff. This was my first ride with mountain shoes (the tread is weird to me) and my Crank Bros Candy Pedals. I ended up taking a tumble because I did unclip quick enough. Other than a couple bruises and a few scratches, I am ok.

I am ready to go out again and work on my skills. By then end of the ride I was fairly confident climbing, but the downhills freak me out!

[KnottedYet]

Congratulations!

[Aggie_Ama]

Thanks Knott. I really hurt this morning, but I am determined to improve. My arm is bruise and scraped, I have a bruise on my ribs, knee and left shoulder. The wrost is this little tumble was practically standing still, I didn't realize my rear wheel got caught and unclipped too late!

DH said the part that was technical was very technical, so I shouldn't feel bad that I couldn't do it. He didn't even want to take me on it, but I insisted on seeing what I would need to learn. I did climb some pretty crazy rocky terrain, I felt like a superstar! Of course, this was pre-crash.

[Trekhawk]

I have been mountain biking twice on a Walmart bike, but today I took my new (to me) Scott on her maiden ride. It was mostly a hiking trail, but DH did take me on some technical stuff. This was my first ride with mountain shoes (the tread is weird to me) and my Crank Bros Candy Pedals. I ended up taking a tumble because I did unclip quick enough. Other than a couple bruises and a few scratches, I am ok.

I am ready to go out again and work on my skills. By then end of the ride I was fairly confident climbing, but the downhills freak me out!

Good going!! Im the opposite love the downhills but the rocky uphills freak me out. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that uphill is always when I seem to crash.

[emily_in_nc]

Congrats on your first trail ride!

I got a full-suspension mtb and started riding single-track trails (rooty but not too rocky) last summer, and I find the downhills and switchbacks the scariest. There are still several parts of the trails where we ride that I get off and walk every time. I'm a wimp!

My goal for this season (I'll start mountain biking again in April) is to get to where I can ride all the trails without having to get off and walk at all - and without crashing, at least not often. I crashed about 50% of the times I rode single-track last summer/fall! So, I didn't get to ride nearly as much as I wanted, since I had some weeks where I couldn't ride at all while I was healing from injuries (minor, but enough to set me back). Mountain biking is definitely a whole different world from road riding and will challenge you in ways you never dreamed possible. But when it goes well, it's a blast! And no dogs or cars to worry about either....

Emily

[fatbottomedgurl]

No dogs or cars... but I have close encounters with deer, cows (almost broadsided one), and kamikaze squirrels! LOL It is so much fun. We are having gorgeous weather and I am dying because I have been laid up for the last five weeks with a lumbar strain from a car accident. My DC keeps asking, "You aren't riding your bike, now are you?" as she's adjusting my back and pelvis and hips. (How do doctors know we don't want to follow orders?)

I don't believe in Peter Pan
Frankenstein or Superman
All I wanna do is
Bicycle bicycle bicycle


Get on your bikes and ride!

[emily_in_nc]

No dogs or cars... but I have close encounters with deer, cows (almost broadsided one), and kamikaze squirrels! LOL

I've had close calls with squirrels (several times) and deer (once) on the ROAD (but not on the trails - YET). Scary! No cows, though. They're behind fences in pastures here in the south, nowhere near our wooded trails!

Emily

[CyclChyk]

WOOOHOOO! WTG AGGIE! You are a much braver soul than me. I gave up MTB after about 2 runs. I'll stick to either dirt path type stuff or road. ALTHO I have taken up motorcycling so maybe I SHOULD have stuck to MTB....

FBG - hope you heal soon!!!

Em in NC - I love your dedication! I will keep my fingers crossed that you fall only 25% or less this season.

[Aggie_Ama]

WOOOHOOO! WTG AGGIE! You are a much braver soul than me. I gave up MTB after about 2 runs. I'll stick to either dirt path type stuff or road. ALTHO I have taken up motorcycling so maybe I SHOULD have stuck to MTB....

Well, I cracked my tail bone over 2 years ago mountain biking and it took forever to get the nerve to say I really wanted to try again. I kept telling DH I would go again, but luckily didn't have a bike. My tailbone is still intact, so I will ride again. It was horribly painful and if I crack it again, I will be done for good. So, I don't plan on cracking it!

[CyclChyk]

well I will definately keep my fingers crossed for you!

[LBTC]

Yahoo! Fabulous, Amanada! Glad you enjoyed and are already planning the next ride! I'm really looking forward to riding more this year and learning more trails. We walked in the park we do a lot of riding in here on the weekend, and it was snowy enough that I think we are 4-6 weeks away from the first trail ride. I plan to be feeling fantastic by then! And, yes, need to work on my downhilling skills that I once had but have departed....

My favourite isn't so much whether it's climbing or descending, it's the tight winding single track through the trees....bumpy but not the complete rock garden works very well....oh, and the really really fast single track, where you can just hammer as you and your whole posse thread your way through the trails....oh, yes, and those winding switchback climbs in a bit of shade in the trees, with the sudden steep ups that crank your heartrate, and then the gentler climbing that challenges you to get your breathing back to normal....and the short steep downhills that make your heart skip a beat even when you know you can do it...you're doing it...you made it through....and the obstacle that you just know you can do every time....and the section that you can do half the time but you try every time...and the hill where you pass the guys....and....

yes. I miss it.

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~