MTB Fun! First MTB ride in 15 years on new bike (pics & video)

[Artista]

I loved my SPD's in rock gardens and moderately steep hills. I hated them on steep climbs...which, of course, contributed to my broken ankle. I'm switching back to plain platforms. They seem to be the best compromise for my capabilities, the technical trail sections that I ride, and my confidence level.

The bottom line is that mtb'ing has the potential for injury regardless of the pedals we're on. I always recommend that people follow their instincts. What works well for one rider may not be best for another. Sure, you could experience an injury from toe clips but you'll never know how many other injuries you avoided by not using clipless on super steep hills, (and few people do hills better than you!). To each their own

[luv2climb]

+1! After many years of cycling, I have found that toe clips and straps work best for my needs, especially while mountain biking. I had fewer slow speed crashes on my road bike with clipless, but they still happened. The toe clips have saved my butt many times by keeping my feet from slipping off the pedals.

Since I like to ride technical trails and climb steep hills, I need to be able to unclip quickly and safely. Toe clips allow me to do that every time.

Now in the old days when roadies used cleated shoes with toe clips and straps, I imagine it was much more dangerous. I use regular shoes that allow me to quickly pull straight out when necessary.

[limewave]

Nice. Makes me want to try mountain biking outside of MI right now!

[Susan]

That trail looks great, and your weather looks great too (it's freezing outside here :/).

[luv2climb]

Here's a longer section of that steep sufferfest climb I ended up on by accident. I feel that this video captures the essence of the suffering perfectly, thanks to the chest mount and original audio (caution heavy breathing!).

http://vimeo.com/36362744

I also recorded video with the ContourHD mounted on my helmet, but the footage was just as bouncy, plus it had way more wind noise and a knocking sound coming from the mount, even though I made sure it was good and tight before I started the ride.

Even worse, the camera being higher up made it look like I was crawling up all the climbs and descending like I'd never been on a mountain bike before. I'm really glad I had the GoPro mounted lower, as that footage turned out much better.

I did get some nice screen captures from the Contour though. Here they are.

Clementine Trail (facing south)


Clementine Trail (facing north)


Confluence Trail and some cliff climbers


Culvert Trail


Steep climb at start of Stagecoach Trail


Further up the steep part of Stagecoach


A little further up the steep part of Stagecoach. Kind of rough here.


Switchback I overshot the first time I climbed Stagecoach


The steep climb I ended up on instead (grimace!)


Stagecoach Trail first switchback, the second time up when I actually went the right direction


Rougher section of Stagecoach, but not as steep


Smooth section of Stagecoach