What's your goal this summer?

[Trigress]

Trying not crash too often.

[bounceswoosh]

To enjoy every ride and not beat myself up if I'm not as fast as someone else, or as I remember myself being, or if I don't do as well on technical stuff as I think I should, or even if I walk it ...

Basically just to be kind to myself =)

Also to ride tougher technical stuff more confidently, and to do it without fear. I think that will come naturally, though, when I'm treating myself with love.

Don't I sound like a new age Boulder hippy =)

[kat_h]

I'm hoping to take a few days at the start of July to ride out to the badlands east of here and explore a couple of ghost towns, an abandoned coal mine, and some not-yet-ghost towns. It will be my first little tour and on the first and last days I'll have 99 km rides with no towns, restaurants, gas stations, or stores so I need to plan a bit more than I usually do. I'll carry a tent and sleeping bag but I'll be able to buy food each day, so that cuts down on the carrying.

[atombessy]

A general goal is to increase my time in the saddle, I can mtbike for about two hours comfortably right now, I'd like to be able to spend 3 or 4 out and about. I'm also debating doing a race in August, just for the challenge and something different! I have a lot to do though to get there, even in the beginner class.

And I'd like to do the occasional half century on my poor neglected road bike as well! Working on that will help with my general endurance on the mt bike I hope.

[teawoman]

A general goal is to increase my time in the saddle, I can mtbike for about two hours comfortably right now, I'd like to be able to spend 3 or 4 out and about.

Me too. Only on road bike.

[jayjay]

Me too. Only on road bike.

Me too, on all three bikes : commuter, road , and trail.

Riding 3x a week now.... revvin' it up.

[makbike]

Ride and have fun! After the summer I had last year I simply want to relax, recover from a hard school year and ride, ride, and ride some more. I would like to log at least 1,800 miles for June and July.

[bluebug32]

A general goal is to increase my time in the saddle, I can mtbike for about two hours comfortably right now, I'd like to be able to spend 3 or 4 out and about. I'm also debating doing a race in August, just for the challenge and something different! I have a lot to do though to get there, even in the beginner class.

And I'd like to do the occasional half century on my poor neglected road bike as well! Working on that will help with my general endurance on the mt bike I hope.

I did a race after my first season of mtbing a couple of years ago. It's a great way to gauge where you're at and what you need to work on...oh, and if you like racing. It really forces you to push with everything you have. I was surprised. Going into it, I thought I would finish last or near to last. I rode hard, even crashed once, and came in 6th! It taught me that short endurance races aren't necessarily my cup of tea right now, but that I was a better mtber than I thought.

I've also just started road biking this season and I feel stronger on the mtb already! Especially climbing and endurance-wise.

Good luck to you!

[bounceswoosh]

I did a race after my first season of mtbing a couple of years ago. It's a great way to gauge where you're at and what you need to work on...oh, and if you like racing. It really forces you to push with everything you have. I was surprised. Going into it, I thought I would finish last or near to last. I rode hard, even crashed once, and came in 6th! It taught me that short endurance races aren't necessarily my cup of tea right now, but that I was a better mtber than I thought.

I've also just started road biking this season and I feel stronger on the mtb already! Especially climbing and endurance-wise.

Good luck to you!

Agreed -- I did one mtb race a couple of years ago. Came in dead last, but my bike skills improved monumentally after the race (for which I had done a fair amount of pre-riding of the course), and I was much more likely to keep riding than to stop half way up a tiring hill.

I did figure out that mtb races may not be my cup of tea -- a lot of people were faster than me by picking up their bikes and running over the technical or steep stuff. I'd much rather go slow but actually clear, or at least attempt everything. Even though I finished last, I did ride the entire length of the initial climb, whereas many faster people got off their bikes. And for my personal goals, I liked that I did that.

I find the whole dynamic of passing / allowing people to pass weird in racing. I guess if I really wanted to start racing, I would have to figure that out.

[atombessy]

thanks for the encouragement! I'm sure if I actually decide to go ahead with it I'll be full of questions for the board....

I'm encouraged by the running over obstacles scene that you encountered bounces, I'm normally rushing to keep up with people, so I've definitely gotten in the habit of hike a bike over something if I fall or slip....i guess that could work to my advantage in a race...

[limewave]

To actually get out and ride the trails a few times!

Last year I had mntn biked five or six times already. I haven't even had the time to think about it yet. It's depressing.

[teawoman]

To enjoy every ride and not beat myself up if I'm not as fast as someone else, or as I remember myself being, or if I don't do as well on technical stuff as I think I should, or even if I walk it ...

Basically just to be kind to myself =)

Also to ride tougher technical stuff more confidently, and to do it without fear. I think that will come naturally, though, when I'm treating myself with love.

Don't I sound like a new age Boulder hippy =)

Nope, I love it. Very good to think about.

[MALcontent]

My first goal is to ride in my first mountain bike race this year. My second goal is to not finish last!

[dirtygirl1]

I love these kinds of discussions ... it inspires me to see everyone's goals for the year and gets me pumped for more riding!!

I have two types of goals: racing and riding

For racing I want to keep my title at Spokane 24 hr Solo and place in the top 5 at 24 hr World Solos. The second one is going to be tough as there will (as usual) be loads of pros out who ride and race full time ... but it's fun to play with the big girls.

For riding I want to increase the speed at which I ride over technical stuff. I want to speed up before big scary drops and big logs; instead of slowing down (which actually makes it harder even though it makes me feel better - ha!). I also want to get out on my DH bike more often

Thirdly I want to meet some riding ladies in my area (seattle) ...

Whew. Aren't I expecting a lot from this season

Happy Trails

[bounceswoosh]

For riding I want to increase the speed at which I ride over technical stuff. I want to speed up before big scary drops and big logs; instead of slowing down (which actually makes it harder even though it makes me feel better - ha!).

Amen!

I had an icky fall right after my car accident last year (silly me; I really wasn't in any condition to be riding) where I slowed down so much before a little rock lip and then drop that the lip stopped my front wheel and my bike flipped over on top of me. If I'd just been rolling at a reasonable speed, it would've been nothing (and I've ridden that spot so many times .. and if you saw it you'd probably laugh at how such a tiny bump could cause so much trauma).