I see everyone riding in these cold temps, and feel like the weenie I am about the cold. I have stuck to the rollers on the road bike, but two days ago it was warm (er) and sunny, so BF and I took the MTBs out. He is a very experienced road cyclist, rides at the track and is a CAT 3 race rider, he bought the MTB to make me happy and ride with me. We have done two MTB rides, one in lots and lots of mud, one with the daughter that was cut short by daughter's problems, so I was looking forward to getting him out with me..
The trail was very basic, very little technical stuff, just windy with some up downs and such. I took the lead and was zipping along, humming King of the Road, when I looked back to check on him...and he was nowhere to be seen. I grabbed a tree so didn't have to unclip and waited and a few minutes later he chugged into view. He unclipped and leaned on his handlebars to catch his breath and complained about being out of shape (keep in mind, he smokes me on the road bike). I couldn't believe he was struggling to keep up with ME. So I hung on to the tree until he was ready and pushed off again, this time going slower. We did ok until we came to a little place where the mud was still deep and sticky at the bottom of a steep hill. I sized it up and went down carefully, sure enough it grabbed my tire. I put a foot down and pushed off, I called out to him to be careful...but it was too late. He hit the bottom and wound up in the bush. I knew better than to comment, so I grabbed a tree and waited. He was so frustrated and irritated with himself that the rest of the ride was not fun for him. He was out of breath, tired of falling, and certainly not used to struggling with the bike. I told him that the MTB is *different*, techinque is different and takes a little time to learn. He did calm down, but it took a few minutes...and some McDonalds....to make him feel better.