Barbie Doesn't Have Bruises

[Lv4Tunes]

...but I do...

Rode all weekend - 3 out of the 4 days in 2004 so far! And my legs look like they have been through a war zone. I have to admit - I am determined not to let the trail (or the roots or the coral rock) beat me - but I feel a bit frustrated.

Please tell me these are just the knocks that you experience when you are just starting out? Is there anyone out there that can sympathize? Advice anyone can offer? Is this normal?

[Irulan]

wear them with pride. As you get better you'll get less little ones, and big ones less frequently. They are great conversation starters.

If you are using flat pedals with toe clips for moutnain biking, those are a real culprit. And if you are really crashing a lot conisider some leg armor like the 661 pads

Irualn

[jobob]

Oh, I can most definitely sympathize - I bruise incredibly easily, always have. Doesn't help matters that I'm a klutz. My newest collection of bruises are right smack dab in the front of my thighs, where once in a while I make contact with the levers of the bar-end shifters on my road bike. Don't ask me how I manage that, told you I'm a klutz.

I can only imagine the magnifient collection of bruises I would develop if I took up mountain biking

I wish I could give you some advice on how to prevent your bruises, but perhaps time & experience will help.

All the best, - Jo.

[annie]

You bet, I can sympathize! When I first started mountain biking, I had bruises, cuts, scrapes, on my legs, on my arms. I remember the first time I drew blood. I was proud! Still....... I could have lived with fewer bruises. As your skills improve, you will see less injuries. Remember to look where you want to go, not at the obstacle. Point your chin ahead down the trail. Follow someone that knows what they are doing and try take their line. Try do what they do. It really helps. Have fun and don't give up!

[TwoTiredGal]

I probably got less bruises when I first started mountain biking because I was so careful. As I got more confident, I became more aggressive and started to get scratches, bumps, and bruises up a lot more. Like Irulan said, wear them with pride!! In fact, take pictures...

[Lv4Tunes]

Thanks for all of the encouragement.

Purchased shin/knee coverings - and I must say - although they are awkward, they protected my already cut and bruised legs.

Strange thing - I am not afriad at all. It is just that recovering from the bumps and bruises takes a bit longer...

I have been riding intermediate/advanced trails with friends that have been riding much longer than I have and have kept up for the most part.

Next adventure: a beginner race on 1/18

There I will be - pads and all.

Thanks again for all of the encouragement....

[Adventure Girl]

I agree! You should wear those bruises like badges! Be proud of them. You earned them. Last summer I fell down a canyon and got REALLY bruised up. Big bruises, little bruises, dark purple, black, everything in between.

The only problem is when going out "in public" (non bike-related places) wearing a sun dress and sandles, I got some pretty strange looks. I think people thought my husband beat me up!

Cycling does some really great things for the looks of your legs, but those bruises (and those tanned legs with white feet) are really only attractive when you're on your bike!

[Lv4Tunes]

Living in South Florida it is hard NOT to wear shorts - and I agree, you feel like one of those people that people are looking at and whispering about in the grocery store...

Not too concerned - I know they came from the challenge of trying something new.

[missliz]

Any sport you take up seriously will bruise you up pretty badly for a while. As you get better and get technique down, there will be fewer of them. Just think of them as a mark of commitment. Or a badge of courage. And take tylenol, not aspirin- aspirin is blood thinning and will aggravate it all.
Get some bike porn, like Mountain Biker or Bicycling and read the articles on technique, or check a good bookstore for info. There are right and wrong ways to do things, and knowing them will save you some trail battering. Like"Where you look is where you go". Look at the way around the root and the bike will follow that line.
Acertain amount of getting smacked up is normal, but it gets old. Most us us learned things from magazines- don't underestimate it. And there's the cool stuff to buy ;D....

Lizzy

[missliz]

Oh, and I'm totally serious- If people try to give you cards for the battered womens shelter, you might want to say thank you and take them. They never beleive you if you try to explain it's from mountain biking I wasted a lot of breath on that over the years.
And besides, we want them to keep that up. It is the right thing for them to do, just really funny if the big shiner has a great story only a rider could love.

It's Carnival time!

Lizzy

[kpc]

I just got an ad/offer for Bicycling mag. It looked kind of hokey. Things like how many candy bars you can eat if you ride 20 miles and how to look hot. Is this magazine any good? I need something to read to keep me alive until this cold ends and i can just go pedal around.

[Irulan]

I got that junk mail too. I find I can read the whole thing in ten minutes of less, I used to subscribe.

Irulan

[missliz]

Actually, for us, those rags totally bite. But for newbies they have new and exciting info and they are useful for the first year. I learned an awesome lot from mags at first and they were really helpful. Thats why I recommended them- we know how to pick a line and repack a bearing and use a heart rate monitor. Lv4tunes is in a strange new world and needs a primer.
I like Mountain Bike Action- or at least I did, haven't seen it in a while. "How to win at Dual Slalom" is an article worth reading. BIKE was amazing- (anybody read the Burning Man issue? ) but Peterson Press keeps buying up all the good bike magazines and ruining them. Since Mountain Biking and Bicycling keep reprinting EXACTLY the same 12 issues every year they aren't at all interesting after that, but yeah, they have a place in the world.
I'm sure there are good mags, it's just hell to find them in New Orleans so maybe we need a bike porn thread?

Lizzy


We don't even have a single news stand left in this pathetic town; can't even get regular porn, much less foot fetish or surf magazines. BORING.

[Irulan]

For mtn, I think Dirt Rag is the best. But I agree, most of them seem to regurgitate the same things over and over again, in the same way that Shape does.

Maybe we should look at best bike reads... as in books?

Irulan

[kpc]

"A Woman's Guide to Cycling" by Susan Weaver is the only book I have. It's good. And of course, It's not About The bike" by Lance A. What else is good?