Do you mountain bike alone?

[limewave]

I'm bumping this up from years ago. It wasn't too long after I posted this question that I got pg which put a halt to my mountain biking.

I'm finally back! And have some big goals for myself on the trail this year. And if I have any hope at all in accomplishing them, I HAVE TO RIDE ALONE.

So, alone it must be. There's some great advice in here.

This Friday I will venture out for my first solo mntn bike ride. I'm nervous, but excited. I'll be able to go my own pace without stopping every 1/2 mile to a mile. I'm planning to ride the 12 mile loop, but I know a short-cut at 6 miles in case I'm feeling like I need to bail early for any reason.

Will be bringing:
Map
Bike tools (&pump)
ID
Whistle
Pepper Spray
Emergency Blanket
Extra food
Extra lightweight jacket
First Aid kit
Compass
GPS computer

I've done a lot of adventure racing and backpacking, I'm feeling more prepared now than I did a few years ago. I have a lot of packable gear and more experience being out alone in the woods.

Happy Trails!

[moonfroggy]

i almost always ride alone but there is very good cell phone reception where i ride and i have only seen a creepy guy once but have occasionally met nice guys (i have yet to see another women mountain biking on the trails i ride solo) also the days i ride are days my husband is working from home and able to watch my 2 year old ds. i wear a road id and my husband always knows where i am. the days i have seen no other mountain bikers i have always seen rangers doing work on the trails. not lots of rangers just one but i figure if something happens i will get found within a few hours and if i am able to use my cell phone to call for help then a lot sooner. i love riding alone i love being surrounded by forest and nature and having that solitude it is something i get so rarely as a stay at home mom to a 2 year old. when i ride in a group i always learn a lot and i have fun but it isn't really relaxing and i just don't enjoy it the way i enjoy riding solo.

[lph]

This thread passed me by last time, so i'll pipe up now. I ride 90 % alone, commuting, road and dirt road, but these are not isolated areas and I have cell phone coverage everywhere. If I endo'ed and was knocked unconscious it would be a rare evening that someone wouldn't pass me in the course of 30 minutes. I carry some mechy stuff, money and bus pass if I'm riding somewhere more than an hours walk or so home.

But I was curious as to how several of you mention "creepy guys". What makes them creepy? This may be a very safe area (or country even) compared to many of you, or maybe I'm just blind to creepiness but I've almost never met anyone I felt threatening in the woods. Now that guy on the pier that Miranda (?) described - that was def creepy behaviour!

[zoom-zoom]

LW, something my hubby and I have noticed around here is that even when we don't get a good cel signal for making a phone call, texts seem to go through just fine. I think I know where you are planning your ride (it's one of DH's favorite places to ride and I always get nervous when he goes it alone, too). I can ask him how his phone works out there.

[moonfroggy]

the one time i saw a "creepy" guy when i was in a trail he was wearing a black ski mask like a ninja and yelling things and i couldn't make out what it was he was yelling. he seemed creepy. i wasn't that afraid of him but i was a bit startled and i was glad that he rode by really fast and i didn't have to be around him for more than a few minutes. normally everyone i see seems really nice though.

[zoom-zoom]

Hey, I just talked to my hubby...he said texting from out there shouldn't be a problem. He also is thinking about biking out there on Fri., too (one advantage of the economy is that his company shuts down every-other Fri.). If you wanted some company I'm sure he'd be happy to meet you at the trailhead.

[limewave]

Zoom-Zoom: I am planning on doing my mountain biking alone on Friday. I would imagine there will be a few riders that take Friday off or are forced to take Friday off because of the economy. That's probably my best day to have some traffic through there. Although, they will be closed after May.

Not sure what I'll do then. The trail I really want to ride can be very remote. But I'd rather do that than hit the trails in GR that are a super-highway. I want some wide-open trails so that I can get good training in for Ore 2 Shore and Iceman.

[Melissa71]

But I was curious as to how several of you mention "creepy guys". What makes them creepy?

I ride alone on biking trails all the time. I don't have any trail buddies, yet, and my husband doesn't enjoy riding like I do. What makes a guy "creepy" to me (and unfortunately I've been running into a few of them lately) is that they look completely out of place. Not like a casual stroller,biker, jogger or nature observer. It's hard to explain, it's more of a feeling or intuition than anything concrete. Usually it's in a remote location where there is no one around. That might make someone who normally wouldn't make me feel threatened, seem more sinister.

[Voodoo Sally]

Yes, I mountain bike alone.

[Aggie_Ama]

One day while riding alone my husband saw a group of ninjas. No I am not kidding, they must have been role playing or UT film students (they were recording). I was riding at the same trail but I missed them, darn. Weirdest thing I have seen alone is someone riding a unicycle on the trail.

[pinkbikes]

Yep - I ride alone on the road and the trails. I like my own company and am happy to ride alone. I find I probably ride harder when I do than when I ride with friends since I don't spend so much time chatting! And since I am not noted for my hill climbing talents, I enjoy going out for long hill climbs by myself so I am not pressured to ride to somebody else's rhythm or feel I'm holding anybody up. And I feel safer doing a long firetrail hill climb rather than hitting up single track by myself (which is not say I don't do that now and again too).

I don't think I've ever really felt afraid due to "creepies" although there are always plenty of idiots who will heckle given a chance! I sometimes ride on the road at night - DH and I often tag team if we go to friends or family for dinner. He will ride there and I will ride home. And I have also been known to ride in the forest by myself at night. That is just a little spooky sometimes but always so beautifully peaceful. When I ride dirt at night alone I am pretty much confined to trails I am 100% confident with. Our local forest is only about a mile away on bikeway.

I have really fantastic lights (Ay-Ups on the front and helmet, and RoadID Supernova blinky on the rear) and I always carry a toolkit, spares, pump, CO2, a compact first aid kit and foil blanket, a compass, whistle, snack, pen and paper, RoadID and my mobile phone. Oh - and I have my Garmin which some enterprising local has produced trail maps for, so I can always work out where I am. And DH usually knows where I'm going.

We don't have too much in the way of wildlife I would be afraid of, although DH got bitten by a spider one night and we do get ticks now and again. The closest call I had was almost colliding with an owl one night. I wasn't sure what was sitting on the trail until I got quite close, and when it took off it nearly flew straight through me and the bike! Not sure who got the bigger fright.

Oh - and we have toads. Big slimey cane toads! On summer nights when the weather has been damp there are hundreds and thousands of the blighters on the trails. You can ride right up to them and just about over the top of them before the deign to get out of the way. I am quite terrified I will run over one by accident, slip on it and fall, coming face to face with the horrid gnarly thing! Actually, a couple of times I have been riding along and one has jumped as I rode toward it and has collided with my shin and then been flung through the air as I kept pedalling. YUUUUUUUCCKKKKK!!!!