Mountain Bike Training Thread

[Ashy Larry]

6 hard miles at the local trail. Might be the last time for a while, it’s getting pretty grown up with several sections overgrown on both sides with poison oak.

 

[7mmremmag]

I throw my 2 cents in. Go fat. Winter riding you are covered in summer you can go everywhere as well. It is a little more effort but its exercise right? With a fat bike you can get different wheel sets. I have a 26 inch full fat wheel set that has studded 4.8 inch tires on it. For the summer I have a 27.5+ wheel set.

The full fat has gone everywhere I have wanted including from stop sign to stop sign on the Denali highway.

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I have gravitated to riding my fat bike full time with 4.0's. The 29er just collects dust.

 

[Ashy Larry]

What’s the communal opinion on plus bikes. It was very recommended to me at a Local bike shop today.

 

[7mmremmag]

Plus bikes are awesome, accelerate better than a full fatty with most of the extra traction. In my opinion they are a perfect choice for the majority of trail riders/non-racers. I have friends with Trek Stache's and Roscoe's and have spent some time on them. Good bikes.

I'm considering the Full Stache for my next bike, keeping the fatty for hunting and snow use.

 

[Ashy Larry]

Sunday: did a greenway/singletrack combination of 7 miles that started and ended at a brewery

Monday: had a hot lap of 4.8 miles at my local trying to chase down an old man that passed me.

Tuesday: lunch break ride at the same local and best the Monday time by 2 minutes.

Kinda wondering what are symptoms of pushing it too hard and when I should rest. I feel good today.

 

[Vids]

Kinda wondering what are symptoms of pushing it too hard and when I should rest. I feel good today.

Your body will tell you. For me it's feeling weak, sluggish, sore, extremely hungry.

I rode 15 miles on Saturday at Buffalo Creek. Up Shinglemill Trail, then the dirt road loop back around to the parking lot. Beautiful place, lots of fun. Need to get better at this and increase my technical skills and confidence.

 

[sodaksooner]

11 miles on the bike path last night. Felt slow but on my mtn bike averaged 14mph(very flat) on a 1 x 11. My road bike is packed away and needs new tires. Nice little 45 minute training ride. Pretty quick for how fat I am and that particular bike.

 

[7mmremmag]

Your body will tell you. For me it's feeling weak, sluggish, sore, extremely hungry.

I rode 15 miles on Saturday at Buffalo Creek. Up Shinglemill Trail, then the dirt road loop back around to the parking lot. Beautiful place, lots of fun. Need to get better at this and increase my technical skills and confidence.

I always feel super hungry first, in a funny way.


Tonight is our IMBA chapter group ride night at the Jakes Rocks PA trails.

 

[boom]

this is my main workout. saves my knees.

on my trail, i focus on the climbs. there is one trail that is super rocky and technical. my goal is to cleanly make it to the top without putting my feet on the ground. very unsuccessful thusfar. reasons vary, but the main one is the foot hiker. i am on a mission to be polite on the trail. if there is questionable room to pass; i will stop and let them walk by. safety first. this trail is ugly and my path thru the rocks is a bit unpredictable. when i do stop, i vow never to push my bike any. i get my feet spinning and my bike started back uphill no matter the cost. i have toppled over plenty of times. kneepads help.

my heartrate RED-LINES!! my cardio health is way better. i think even my asthma seems to have let off a bit. i am riding 5 days a week now. i am taking a break tonight..my legs are jelly.

 

[Lawnboi]

Finally got a ride in, most trails around here are finally starting to open. Last year I built a new bike after not wanting to invest anymore into a beat up full suspesion 29er frame. Bought a hardtail frame and moved all the parts over. Ended up only going for one ride last year, as I spent most of the year trail running. But it's time to dust off the bike and put some miles on to give my body a break.

6 miles of some close by, old school single track, it was enough for a start. I can tell I haven't put any serious miles on a bike in over a year.

 

[Ashy Larry]

That’s funny that your trails are just opening and ours are already overrun with vegetation. The more miles I log, the more miles it is taking to scratch the itch. I’m debating one of those trainer thingys for rainy times or times when the kiddo doesn’t allow me any time to run out and ride. Not wanting to lose the cardio/leg gains I feel like Ive earned. Nothing but rain and tstorms on the extended forecast. Might have to frickin shred some greenway gnar.

 

[Lawnboi]

That’s funny that your trails are just opening and ours are already overrun with vegetation. The more miles I log, the more miles it is taking to scratch the itch. I’m debating one of those trainer thingys for rainy times or times when the kiddo doesn’t allow me any time to run out and ride. Not wanting to lose the cardio/leg gains I feel like Ive earned. Nothing but rain and tstorms on the extended forecast. Might have to frickin shred some greenway gnar.

Iv always wanted rollers, but havnt been able to get myself to pull he trigger.

We had a really late winter, this is the latest Iv ever had to wait to ride the bike.

 

[Ashy Larry]

Constant rain and thunderstorms for over a week here. Finally got back out and did a personal best 10 miles at Lake Norman State Park. Great system of trails and I still have another dozen miles I wasn’t able to do today.

 

[Ashy Larry]

Rode the hardest trail I’ve been on so far. Tried to beat the heat early this am but it was still super humid. It was 5 miles of misery. It’s fairly old one, so it’s a little more deep rooted than most. Super technical is how I would describe it. The climbs were steep and rooted, and the downhills were short and straight down. I never found any flow, too many tight and unbanked turns. I walked the bike many times and haven’t done that in over a month. It was rough slow and exhausting. The local bike shop guy had warned me that it really wouldn’t be fun for me on my current bike and he was pretty much right. Need to get a lot better I guess.

 

[Vids]

10 miles for me today, very hot here so the long climb at the end turned into a hike-a-bike because I was drained. Still need to get a lot better, but it's great exercise.

 

[Lukem]

I have gravitated to riding my fat bike full time with 4.0's. The 29er just collects dust.

I switched over to a Mukluk, then added a Bluto up front. It's now my only bike. Rode Land Run 100 this spring with it, then went to Fruita, CO and rode everything out there, will do Gravel Worlds in August on it. One bike to rule them all. It may not be the fastest method, but it can handle everything.

I rode last night for the first time in a few weeks due to some sciatic issues. 14 miles of gravel in less than an hour. Felt good.

 

[SHTF]

I kinda let myself go since hunting season. Pregnant wife (great for your diet), followed by a newborn and all those delicious holidays in between. I still lifted some, and did a little on the stairmaster...but i ate like shit. A couple months ago i had a coworker that moved, and offered me his college campus-ridden Gary Fisher Wahoo for $20. I obliged, and proceeded to take it to the local bike shop for a tune up. $360 dollars later - brand new bike! (right?). The weather has been basically rain followed by rain and then topped with snow, but it finally has showed off some Spring type attributes. I took the opportunity to hit up a singletrack in my hood. Holy shit, i can safely i do not, in fact, still "have it." This thing is wearing my out. Not a beginner track by any means, but i am shocked out how whooped i get. Im gonna stick with this, mostly because i hate running and other forms of cardio besides weighted hikes.

Any other bikers want a dedicated thread to this most excellent lung buster?

Riding a Gary Fisher Wahoo also. Its alot of fun. Stick with it. Mine is in the shop now as we speak getting the spring time tune up and I dropped about 300$ on amazon for a back rack and bag and some other touring goodies, as Im wanting to do some touring with it and really put some miles on it this year. Ive only played around in the years passed on a few 5/10 mile rides but I plan to really get out and stretch my legs on it this year. The wahoo is a bombproof Bike the reviews back in the day on it are unbelievable for a hard tail.

 

[Ashy Larry]

It’s sturdy for sure. I think my issue with it is very mediocre braking and the shitty front fork. Also it doesn’t shift smooth. I’m up to about 100 miles on it since I started this thread and hope to double that figure a lot quicker. 29” tires, newer geometry and a rear shock are very enticing but not at that price tag. At least not right now. I see the other guys on $3k+ bikes with fancy racks behind their truck and expensive outfits...and there I am chuckin my bike in my work truck and ready ride in 2 minutes. I don’t really envy worrying about theft either. There are trade offs with everything but for now I’m gonna stick with the sportfish.

 

[7mmremmag]

Finally got a ride in, most trails around here are finally starting to open. Last year I built a new bike after not wanting to invest anymore into a beat up full suspesion 29er frame. Bought a hardtail frame and moved all the parts over. Ended up only going for one ride last year, as I spent most of the year trail running. But it's time to dust off the bike and put some miles on to give my body a break.

6 miles of some close by, old school single track, it was enough for a start. I can tell I haven't put any serious miles on a bike in over a year.

Love the Canfield!!!!!

 

[Lawnboi]

Love the Canfield!!!!!

Really liking the frame, best yet it was cheap on sale, and built up with take off parts. Works very well for techy singletrack here.

Finally was able to put in some more miles. Did a 7 mile local loop of single track, it will be a while before I'm back in shape for biking. Bike handled great, my lungs and legs, not so much.