Very first trail ride...

[jessmarimba]

The Shimano triggers on my LHT won't allow me to shift the rear more than 2 gears at a time, and of course my SRAM shifters on the Jamis allows me to shift as many gears as I want - this is going to require me to learn more finesse in shifting as well so I don't accidentally shift 5 gears at a time again unless I mean it

I tell ya what, I LOVE being able to just shift all the gears on my bike with the bar-end shifters It's so nice to get to the top of a climb, slap my hand down, and instantly be in the gear I need for the downhill. It can be pretty startling to accidentally miss one on the way back to easy though. Tough to shift delicately when you're on a trail full of rocks. I guess every system has its trade-offs.

[spokewench]

...was awesome! It was just a little double-track fire road with some grade to it - certainly far from a groomed mountain bike trail. There were fallen logs we had to move out of the way, and a couple we had to stop for and lift our bikes over. This was also the ride when my Jamis started having issues with "new bike cable stretch", and I learned real fast that I need to get a better feel for my disk brakes and shifting.

The shifting, outside of needing some adjusting, is fine. The problem is that now I have three bikes with three different types of shifters, and my two sets of triggers (Shimano and SRAM) shift opposite each other....couldn't figure out why I kept shifting the back the wrong direction, the solution dawned on me while driving home.

After that I hiked one of the easy groomed trails for the future - and glad I didn't try it today. I think I need to wait for the clinic before I try that - and that will give me time to work with brakes and shifters before then as well.

Wow, I'm glad you had a good time. Too bad about the stretched cables, but as you know, that is an easy fix.

Now, I have a question. What is a groomed mountain bike trail? I've ridden hundreds of miles of trails all over the west and I have never heard of a groomed mountain bike trail. What is that???

[Catrin]

Wow, I'm glad you had a good time. Too bad about the stretched cables, but as you know, that is an easy fix.

Now, I have a question. What is a groomed mountain bike trail? I've ridden hundreds of miles of trails all over the west and I have never heard of a groomed mountain bike trail. What is that???

I just meant the difference between the built trails with the nice cleared track, rocks placed for stream crossings and so forth and the overgrown doubletrack fire road I was on Saturday where there was a good amount of eroded channels that had cut into the track and fallen logs that had obviously been there for for some time. Of course the fire trail isn't an official mountain bike trail, but it was still fun to ride! We knew how far we were allowed to ride it before it connected to a horse trail and of course that isn't allowed. Sorry for any confusion, was just trying to distinguish the two kinds of trail.

[spokewench]

I just meant the difference between the built trails with the nice cleared track, rocks placed for stream crossings and so forth and the overgrown doubletrack fire road I was on Saturday where there was a good amount of eroded channels that had cut into the track and fallen logs that had obviously been there for for some time. Of course the fire trail isn't an official mountain bike trail, but it was still fun to ride! We knew how far we were allowed to ride it before it connected to a horse trail and of course that isn't allowed. Sorry for any confusion, was just trying to distinguish the two kinds of trail.

Oh, I think I got you. I just thought they might groom trails in the midwest where you are, kind of like they do snow ski trails. We don't have a lot of easy, well maintained trails here; as it is always rocky and always eroded - even if you work on a trail, it can be a mess just a few weeks later.

[Catrin]

We have a great mountain bike association where volunteers work to build and maintain trails of all difficulty levels. I am a newbie but already know how lucky we are to have such an organization as HMBA. So much work is done at the volunteer level to support regional mountain biking, if it weren't for the efforts of HMBA members we wouldn't have the wonderful trails that we have at Brown County State Park and the others. As soon as I get over these unexpected dog-induced medical bills I will certainly become a member and help as I can.

[Irulan]

Oh, I think I got you. I just thought they might groom trails in the midwest where you are, kind of like they do snow ski trails. We don't have a lot of easy, well maintained trails here; as it is always rocky and always eroded - even if you work on a trail, it can be a mess just a few weeks later.

Thanks for inquiring, Spokewench, I was wondering about "groomed" trails to. I think Catrin just needs to learn the lingo. Groomed mtb trails might scare me as in "why would you do that?" Now, you can have buff trails and manicured trails, but never groomed.

Buff : really smooth and fast, no technical features to speak of.
Manicured: leaves and sticks and loose rocks cleaned off, bushes trimmed back

[Catrin]

Thanks for inquiring, Spokewench, I was wondering about "groomed" trails to. I think Catrin just needs to learn the lingo. Groomed mtb trails might scare me as in "why would you do that?" Now, you can have buff trails and manicured trails, but never groomed.

Buff : really smooth and fast, no technical features to speak of.
Manicured: leaves and sticks and loose rocks cleaned off, bushes trimmed back

I figured I had the lingo wrong, but was trying to come up with something that distinguished the two - thanks for the terminology