ACK! so i'm NOT a MTB-er

[caligurl]

hmmmm ok.... so i'm not a mountainbiker

perhaps you've read of my mishaps on the road bike... none of which have ever caused me to cry! and i've ALWAYS gotten back on the bike and ridden...

uhm... not so last night... nope... we ended up riding the MTBs cuz of the overnight rainstorm trashing the roads to the point they weren't passable on a road bike... we went over to a friend's house to show him our new baby's.. and he decided to come along and show us some places to ride... and what do i do? i crashed!!!! i went over the handlebars and i IMMEDIATELY started bawling like a baby and saying over and over again between sobs: "i want to go home!" "i want to go home!"

i have fallen over once last week.... no problem.. i even laughed... and last night i even fell over HARD on the rocks... sat there stunned.. but got up... (i wasn't happy though ) continued on... and that's when we came to the short little downhill.... i don't know what happened.. it was steep... too steep for a newbie... i think i hit my breaks.... i went flying.... landed on.. i don't know what? my hands? then the bike had the audacity to come flipping on top of me! i put up my hand (hands?) to fend it off and thought it was going to break my fingers

after hubby got to me and got the bike off me (he was behind me and got smacked in his tail bone either stopping or at some point trying to get to me)... he got the bike off me and i kept trying to grab my bike (cuz i kept saying "i want to go home".. duh!) he kept telling me "nevermind the bike" and wouldn't let me take it finally after he checked me over well enough he let me have my bike... i headed up the hill (walking) and he said "walk it" DUH! ... he said he was going ahead to tell KC we were going home (he's an experience mtb-er... and was way ahead of us!) i was mumbling, crying, sobbing and walking my bike out of the desert... back to the road.. at one point i did even laugh at myself cuz i sounded like a 2-year old.. but i was still crying and sobbing! "i'm NEW" "i can't do this stuff..." etc etc.. i'm glad hubby and kc were too far back to hear my tantrum!

when they finally caught up.. i was still walking and KC said he was sorry for taking me on the course... (too hard for a beginner)

hubby asked if i wanted to ride.. "NO" i did start riding again before i got to the highway... but i was darned close! then KC took us on dirt roads.. MUCH better! i even started having fun again! phew!

my poor legs and arms though just under my left knee a HUGE bruise coming on... same leg.. just above the knee.. smaller bruise... right knee.. smaller bruise.. right arm.. bruising and a bit of gravel scratches.. and my left palm from the first fall over

i don't like getting hurt.....

[bikerchick68]

ugh... I feel for you... and this is exactly why I switched to road biking... the mtn bike trails were so danged technical and I was so new I crashed and bled, and crashed and bled... and my ex-DH was NOT so nice about ti...

sorry you got banged up...

[caligurl]

ya... kc realized too late that it was too hard for me.... i know he felt bad for taking us (me) out there! he did say there are a lot of dirt road areas and he'll show them to us!

i do have fun riding on the dirt roads i've found and on the side of the road in the desert!

i'm just a baby!

even last night when hubby couldn't sit from hitting his tailbone... he said he didn't want to whine cuz "you crashed".. but i was doing a bit of whining too while icing my leg!

[KSH]

Sounds rough lady!

That is why I do not want to mountain bike... I like the roads and staying on my bike... thank you!

I hope you heal up and that you get back on your road bike again... soon!

[Trekhawk]

Caligurl - you are definitely not a baby. That sounds like a horror crash to me.

Take it easy and hope you heal quickly.

Look forward to hearing more of your adventure stories with hopefully a happier and pain free outcome.

[caligurl]

thank you for saying that!

i posted about it at another cycling forum.. and they are being pretty brutal

i've always said i'm a sissy.... (that i REALLY am!) and prissy too!

i'm only going to do what "I" am comfortable doing! and if that's tooling around on dirt roads.. so be it! but i have no doubt as i get more comfortable.. i will take on bigger challenges! i just need to work up to them!

i DON'T think i'll ever do a lot of that wild downhill stuff though! i AM to chicken for that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Irulan]

most mtb-ers go over the bars sooner or later, consider it an initiation There are even OTB Club socks.
The bigger question would be, were you having fun up until that point? Did you enjoy being out in the woods? Did you like the quiet, the lack of traffic?

There is a definite skill set for mtb that is not part of the road ride skill set. Many roadies forget this. Many folks taking new mtbers out forget to teach them about correct body positioning, brake skills and so on. It's no fun to thrash on the trails - if you were having fun up until your crash, analyze what went wrong and try and learn from it.

Personally I'll take the trail over the road any day.

check my bike stuff link for mountain bike skills tips.

Irulan

[AutumnBreez]

I can't seem to walk without crashing- This has always been a challenge for me. Feet too big all my life and the balance of a ball. Took forever to convince myself of clipping into clipless pedals for road cycling. I did it and love the pavement/asphalt. Just Lov'n it!! But MTB with cliffs, large rocks, medium- small rocks ...FORGET IT! Regular gravel, yes, I will ride as long as the holes are not too deep to get out of easily. I don't even attempt jumping street curves, did that too many times without success to just accept my abilities and keep my body in one piece for my true love of road cycling!!!!

[caligurl]

actually... no... it was too hard even before that! from the time i fell over cuz of the rocks... i did a bit of walking... got back on some... got part way up a hill... THEN could finally ride.. then that little hill.. the whole area, once we got off the highway was way too rocky and way too hard for m!

i WAS however, haveing fun once we got onto the dirt roads again!

i think maybe KC wasn't thinking that i'd only had the MTB for a week.. and i've only ridden it 3-4 times before yesterday!

i DO think i will enjoy trails and fire roads... KC mentioned big bear and riding up there... telling hubby if i got bored with the fire roads that i could try some single tracks... but for now i would want them to be easy.. for a beginner!

i LOVED last week when i was out riding and riding in the desert vice on the road... going throught the washes... around the bushes (errrr.. throught the bushes even!) but that was all easier stuff! even the area across the street from our house.. uphill.. was FUN! it's rockier in some aread than others.. but not like yesterday! i kept going up.. coming down.. going up in another area.. coming down... had a BLAST!!!! (even fell over once.. laughed and got back up!) i was loving seeing how far up the hill i could go before i got stopped!

but yesterday.. no... i wasn't having fun... thus.. the little tantrum.. cuz i had already been thinking to myself "i don't want to do this.. i want to go home"... )

i need to ease into it more slowly! i may never do hard stuff.. and that's ok! (or at least that's what i keep telling myself!)

p.s.... i wasn't in the woods.. i live in the desert.. and we left the highway and were riding out in the desert... up into some hilly areas... with a LOT of rocks!!!!! i guess they do a lot of MTB/dirt bike stuff around there.. we were supposed to make a big look that went around and hooked back up with another road.. til i turned around and headed "home")

[Adventure Girl]

Poor Cali!!! I consider myself a mountain biker who also road rides. I have fallen countless times on my mountain bike -- probably more than 50 times. The falls have included clipless tipovers, low side skids, earth/sky/earth/sky roll-overs, a face plant in a race, and a handful of endos. But I've never fallen on my road bike (knock on wood!), and I am PETRIFIED of a road fall.

I hope (physically) you're ok. And I hope (mentally) you don't get freaked out! I think the mistake was to bite off more than you were ready for. Take baby steps. Do a 4 foot drop in comfortably before you attempt a 10 foot drop. Challenge yourself, but stay within your limits.

And here's one "silver lining" to those bruises... I fall so often and almost always have some sort of damage showing on my legs. So when I spazz out and hit my shin on the coffee table, or skin my knee from trippping while walking down the street, everyone just assumes it was some sort of biking incident. So most people don't know just how clumsy I am....

[Crankin]

Caligurl, you sound like me. I like being out on the trails, in nature, etc. But i find mtb so draining and scary. I know if i practiced more, it might come easier, but I am not a very daring person. Everything around here is pretty much single track, rocky, big ups and downs. Part of me says keep trying and another part of me says this is crazy for someone my age. I don't mind the small crashes, I've had plenty of bruises, but thankfully, I've never gone over the bars; either dumb luck or I am listening to my husband say "get your a-- off the seat, or I'm walking down the hill. I do feel guilty about the $1500 mtb I bought. On the other hand, my husband doesn't use his very much either.

[caligurl]

lol! yes.. too much too soon!

physically i'm banged up.. but thank goodness will heal!

mentally... ya.. i was NOT getting back on that bike! well.. at least not til i got to pavement! after walking and whining a while.. i did get back on in the desert.. gingerlly! by the time i rode some on the highway and we turned off on the dirt road.. i was ok again!... at least ok for that type of riding! i will wait a long while until i try something like that area again!

and ya.. crashing on the road freaks me out too! my road "crashes" have all been skids on sand.. but they still freak me out.. but not like last night!????

[caligurl]

I do feel guilty about the $1500 mtb I bought. On the other hand, my husband doesn't use his very much either.

that's why i only bought a $300 bike to start! i fugure if i take to it.. i can always upgrade down the road!!!!!!!!!!!!

ya.. i don't think i'm too daring either! i need to stick to the easier FUN (for me) stuff!

[Ionic]

Ouch! I know exactly how you feel. My first time ever on a mountain bike my husband made me go clipless and on a tight single track trail. I fell so many times, including over the bars. But, if you keep at it you'll learn to love the sport. You should try and easy trail and if there are hills you are unsure of, just get off your bike and walk them.

Also, have you checked if there are any girl rides/groups you can join. I know here they have no drop girl rides and they are nice to start with. Also, they have a womens mountain biking worshop every year for beginner/intermediates where they teach you the skills you need to mountain bike and will help you along tough areas so you don't get hurt. They'll help you with any skills you're having troubles with and break some of your fears on the trail. I've never participated, but I've heard a lot of good things about it and hope to participate next year. You should definitely try looking in to some of those things in your area.

[Jo-n-NY]

Oh Caligirl, I feel so bad for you and I don't think I would have acted any different if it were me. Although it is not often I have taken a spill or two on my road bike, as I call it, quite gracefully. Going over those steeper hill on a mtn bike scares me to death. I just mtn bike not be be left out. I give you much credit for all that you have accomplished on a mtn bike so far. Now you know your limits for now.

~ JoAnn