Weekend MTB Rides

[Irulan]

You can find plenty of smaller drops on an technical XC trail too, depending on where you roll.

[Catrin]

You can find plenty of smaller drops on an technical XC trail too, depending on where you roll.

Yes, your description reminded me of plenty of places on the trails I've been riding - I just never gave them a different name Obviously they weren't extreme.

[indysteel]

I guess that I've never given those things a separate name (or heard it being used). I just think of it as mountain biking/riding. I know someone in Texas who uses that term for the down-hill side of things so I was wondering if this was the same usage. Thanks Irulan!

Catrin, I can't think of any true "drops" or "drop offs" on the trails you typically ride, i.e., Limekiln, Pine Loop or North Tower Loop. That's not saying there aren't any; just that none come to mind. The ones I can think of are on the the Connector heading toward the North Tower Loop trailhead that are from roots across the trail. They're small enough that you can generally just roll over them, making sure to keep your butt back as you do. They've gotten a bit more pronounced with the erosion we experienced this summer.

[limewave]

I did a short mtb ride yesterday on the demo bike with one of my friends. It was cold but sunny and beautiful out. Even so, we sold out after just 8 miles (planned on riding 24) and went to get coffee! We figured that no amount of training we did that day is going to improve our chances at the race this Saturday It was nice!

[Catrin]

Catrin, I can't think of any true "drops" or "drop offs" on the trails you typically ride, i.e., Limekiln, Pine Loop or North Tower Loop. That's not saying there aren't any; just that none come to mind. The ones I can think of are on the the Connector heading toward the North Tower Loop trailhead that are from roots across the trail. They're small enough that you can generally just roll over them, making sure to keep your butt back as you do. They've gotten a bit more pronounced with the erosion we experienced this summer.

I was thinking of a couple of rocks on Limekiln, and that section on the NT Loop where the combination of roots, ruts, and divots tend to have me walking. I remember that section of the Connector you mention. The rocks on Limekiln do have a way to get around them - but I always had fun rolling over them from the campground direction.

[Giulianna23]

I am glad you enjoyed Town Run yesterday, sweet! I am curious, however, what you are calling "drops". I've not really heard that term from my other mtb friends and I've been having fun figuring out what you mean by this. Are you referring to downhill (the reward for climbing), the downhill side of rollers, ledges formed by roots or something else? A friend of mine in Texas uses that term to refer to going downhill in general.

Yes Catrin....I loved it...its different...you get a good workout there even if you take it slow.

I also call drops to deep downhills ...thats how some of my friends call them so I don't know if I am using the right term. They have several at that park that I really enjoyed. ...I am looking sooo forward to mountain biking this weekend. I may go back to Town Run or may try Ft. Ben.

[thekarens]

Managed to finally get a couple good rides on my new Jamis Friday and today. 10 miles on Friday on a beginner's trail that rides a lot like a roller coaster. It was a lot of fun. Saturday it rained so took the road bike out. Today we went to a beginner's trail that while not technical is super twisty turny, with trees crowding in on both sides and as usual lots and lots of roots in the path. We only went 11 miles, but it took me 2.5 hours.

[Giulianna23]

Went mountain biking today ...don't know how many miles I did but spent about 2 hours out there. I am just loving this and hope to continue through the winter at least the MTbiking if possible.

[indysteel]

I'm lovin' all these pictures! I better get out there myself. It's been a few weeks.

[Artista]

I did two mountain bike rides this weekend after 6 weeks of being off the bike to heal my broken arm. I was thrilled to find that my hiking and fitness classes maintained most of my strength and endurance. It'll be at least a few more weeks before my shoulder can handle bigger drops and jumps again but just being back on the bike felt great.

I was reminded how nice it is to ride in November here. We have a lots of sunny days with mostly moderate temperatures and the rattle snakes are safely holed up until spring. I love Colorado!

[ridebikeme]

Ahh I also got out for a ride today... here in Maine you never know when your last day might be HA! We rode for about two hours or so, temps were 34 with a 30MPH wind and SNOW! But the snow ended quite early, so it was fun to be out! Hopefully we'll have plenty of days left to sneek out before snow arrives for good... then we move onto studded tires/chains.

[limewave]

I raced Iceman this weekend! It snowed. It was beautiful. I had a good time :-) I was getting a little burnt out and had lost interest in trail riding. But I had so much fun this weekend that all I want to do now is ride my bike in the woods!

[ridebikeme]

Limewave, glad that you had a good time! I know that you were stressed about your bike and its shifting problems earlier in the week...

[limewave]

The whole shifting thing was a DEBACLE. I picked up my bike from the LBS on Tuesday or Wednesday. It was not shifting properly. DH said he would recable it but did not get a chance to until Friday morning. We arrived at the race venue late afternoon and I went for my first ride on the bike. It would NOT SHIFT. At all!!! The back kind of shifted but the front would not budge. Then DH was mad at me and frustrated that he had to spend his afternoon fidgeting with my bike. He was trying to fix it and ended up ruining the cable. He stormed off to the car telling me he was going to get new cable. I kindly suggested we bring the bike along and that if they had a free mechanic maybe they could install the cable and fix the shifting. This brought on a whole new level of grumpiness in DH. But he finally complied. Thankfully the bike shop there could squeeze us in and were able to fix it while we waited. They did an awesome job! It was shifting perfectly after we left!!! Yay! There was a few hours through that mess that I thought I may not be able to race at all

[ridebikeme]

Oh! Great news!! Did you end up having to replace parts other than new cables? New cassette/derailleur? Just curious...