How's your riding year going?

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    • #237732

      How’s your riding year going?  Fantastic, so-so, on-scheduled, or otherwise?  Mine is going TERRIBLE.  It is the worst start to a year I have ever had.  Here in Mongolia, one never rides in January.  That’s a given; it’s just too brutally cold.  Usually in February, I can get in at least a few rides as the temps start to rise out of negative highs and single digit highs.  This year? Nope. Zero.  Again, much too cold.  Then March came and it started to warm a little, and I got a ride in the first week, and I was starting to get hopeful.  Then my wife and I both got sick with strep throat and some flu viruses, and we were just physically wiped out for three weeks.  It was all I could do to get through my work responsibilities.  The sicknesses, along with some big work items, blew out most of the month for me like a big old burp of a tubeless tire. Finally, I got a couple of rides in this past week, and I was really excited about taking a long ride today — the last day of March and there was a beautiful forecast.  Well, I got away from work by about 3 pm and was all ready to ride at 4 pm.  I looked out the window across the valley of Ulaanbaatar and the mountain on the south side of the city, and here is this massive Mongolian dust storm enveloping the entire city west to east.  The storm lasted for nearly four hours and well after dark, and buuuurrrrp, there went my ride, and there went the first three months of the year with only three rides thus far.  Last year by the end of March, I had been on the bike 20 times and logged over 250 miles.

      So who has some good news?  Let’s here some good stories of how your year is going.  Or some awesome ride you have already done.

    • #237739

      Unfortunately, I can only share your frustration. The local weather, my work schedule, and freeze-thaw cycles have had me off the bike as well. Different situation that yours, but the net effect is the same -no bike riding. I may need to relocate.

    • #237744

      Whoa!  I knew about the cold weather you face, but dust storms too? You definitely have it tougher than most.

      I’d love to contribute to your thread, but the year so far has been unremarkable; coulda’ been better, coulda’ been worse.  We’ve had an unusually warm, dry winter, so weather has not kept me off the bike, but that has largely been offset by health (or more accurately, lack thereof).

      I did really enjoy my month testing the awesome Fatback Corvus which really had me wishing we had more snow.

      I also had a couple excellent rides on the new trails in the Royal Gorge system.  I think you’d really like them… would be happy to sho you round them next time you’re in Colorado.

    • #237745

      Hey John … yes, much like CO, there is never a dull moment in Mongolia in terms of the weather.  And ooooohhhh yes, do we get dust storms.  The Mongolian dust storms coming out of the Gobi Desert are infamous for wiping out Beijing.  Grounding air traffic etc.  It’s Mongolia’s only way of getting a little payback on it’s big over-controlling neighbor.  The storms usually occur from early spring to early summer.

      • #237747

        So far pretty good. I get out 2-3 times a week, weather is great right now, actually since last Oct when I got my bike.

    • #237748

      Where do you live GJ?  What are some of your favorite local trails?  And what bike are you riding?

      • #237754

        mongwolf, Near CMU. Second Thoughts, Gunny Loop, Twist N’ Shout/Rocky Stumble, Good Vibes, Pet N Kes……. 2017 Specialized Camber FSR.

    • #237749

      Warmest winter maybe ever here in AZ. Riding hard and training for a new bike, Turner Flux to replace my 14 year old Turner Burner. In ski shape but mediocre snow in the southwest so missed the year. If you want to ride year round, AZ is hard to beat. In summer just go higher into the mountains.

    • #237755

      Bummer mongwolf. I heard that sand storm reached Russia as well and they had orange snow. Oh well, the weather has to get better from here, and hopefully you’re healthy now!

      I’m off to a pretty good start. Rode Pisgah in early March, then two big rides this weekend at the Singletracks Brutal Weekend. My spring/summer travel calendar is more packed than usual, so I’ve got something to look forward to as well.

    • #237774

      Here in North Texas, my daily rides (well, almost daily, 5-6 times a week) have been hindered by spring rains.  Doesn’t rain daily, but downpours tend to shut down most trails for a week or more at a time.  My home trail (Knob Hills) is partially underwater at this time. 🙁

    • #237787

      Interesting start to the year for me, but it’s beginning to look up. I started slow due to ACL rehab, and then I thought I was crushing it….and then I went backsliding for a couple of weeks with patellar tendonitis and some other swelling and issues. Now, though, I’m beginning to feel a lot better and am looking forward to what will hopefully be a fun summer!

      While I’m not supposed to mountain bike yet and I probably won’t be able to for another 2-4 months, I’ve been able to log a good number of gravel road miles. Strava shows 426 bike miles on the year so far, but remember those are relatively flat gravel roads for the most part 🙂 Elevation gain on the year across all activities is just 23,506ft, which means I’m WAY behind pace for 333k this year. Hopefully I can make up some mad vert once summer hits. Still, no dust storms or sub-zero temps over here!

    • #237790

      Jeff, hope you see this.  How was the Brutal Loop Weekend?  I hope you’ll put up an event/trip report soon.

       

    • #237791

      abegold, I lived in Flag and Payson for almost 15 years in the 80s and 90s.  Love the region and the climate.  YES, ride The Peaks and high country in the summer and Sedona in the winter.  It’s hard to beat that.  Throw in fat tire snow riding in the winter around Flag and the north country and you really do have an idyllic riding setting.  How many places offer both great fat tire snow riding and amazing trail/slickrock riding in the winter?  Thanks for the update from my alma mater. =)

    • #237792

      Nice to hear some good reports from Flagstaff, Grand Junction and North GA.  I needed a few vicarious experiences.  BUT next week both weather and work are looking much more promising for me, so hopefully my riding season will begin in earnest then.  It will probably be like starting over I’m afraid with basically 14 weeks off the bike (3 rides in 14 weeks).  Uuuggghhh.  But what’s behind is behind.  There is light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully couple thousand miles of trail ahead.

    • #238094

      In Canada Southern Ontario the weather is crazy so the trails are not rideabe right now so I mostly ride gravel roads on my Salsa Warbird in about 0 degrees temperatures. Gets tough on windy days. Hope everybody will get healthy and has better riding days!

    • #238096

      I sold my full-sus end of last season so I’ve been putting in a lot of road and gravel miles. As others have said, unusually mild winter in Colorado, so the wife and I have been taking long Sunday rides to visit breweries in nearby cities. I’ve been riding a rigid or hardtail on the trails so I’ve gotten a lot of miles in, but I’ve been missing out on the chunk. Spending next week with a rented Evil The Calling in Sedona should cure that though!

    • #238097

      Well, considering I just bought my bike at the beginning of last September, this year is going great compared to last year!!

      I had bought a VeloSport Banff way back in 1997 and rode it all the time, for many years.  But since it was not the right size for me, and I never knew how to customize it, I slowly rode less and less as my back and knees wouldn’t take the punishment.  Every now and then I would take it out, and end up hurting.

      This past August I was sent to Brampton, ON for work training.  I decided to take my bike and go riding along the Toronto waterfront.  In the first kilometer, my front shifter exploded.  The plastic was just too old.  I pulled the spring off the derailleur, set it on the middle gear, and rode with 7 gears.  I decided then and there that it was time to buy a new bike.

      Now I have a 2017 Rocky Mountain Fusion 29er, hard tail.  Buying a bike in September didn’t allow my a whole lot of riding time, but I’ve managed to ride at least one day every month so far!  I know, not that great of a record, but winter in Ontario is not super friendly towards biking.  I tried riding in snow, but that’s rather sketchy.

      Right now, my bike is at the shop for it’s complimentary first check-up.

    • #238098

      I seem to have more time in the winter to ride up here in southwestern ontario . Started this Jan. with a trip to Arizona and i’m able to get out 3 times a week all winter in snow . In 2016 i had  680 k  mtb , last year 2017 -2400 k missing 2 x 3 week periods with sciatic nerve problems . This year i built up a Bucksaw with full size fat tires to help my back problems and things have been  good  with 775 k on fat bike so far .I ‘ve even cut out the chiropractor and just stretch multiple times a day including before and after rides.

    • #238099

      lhzawd, glad to hear you are riding a ton AND overcoming your back issues with stretching. I have had back issues for years too because my left arch is broken which in turn lowers my left hip, which ultimately alters the discs in my lower lumbar.  I always say no one’s solution for their back problems is guaranteed to solve someone else’s.  But after many years of suffering, I figured out that I can prevent spasms with stretching, particularly stretching  everything from the hamstrings to the obliques and especially the all the hip muscles (360 around the hips) and butt muscles.  I too religiously stretch 2 to 3 times a day.  There are some great stretches that have kept me moving and healthy.  I’m guessing you have discovered those too.

    • #238430

      I’m finally starting to “look on the bright side of life”.  Gotta a couple of rides in this week.  One was awesome on a smaller range just east of Ulaanbaatar.  The other ride was limited by stretches of deep snow on the mountains on the north side of the city.  But I was still able to find some great riding and some new trail on the lower slopes of those mountains.  It’s snowing tonight here in Ulaanbaatar (1-3″), typical for spring, but the forecast looks awesome for the next two weeks.  It’s time for life to get faster in the right kind of way.

    • #238450

      I live near the coast in Southern California so my only excuses for not riding are work, occasional rain, or laziness.

    • #238474

      T

    • #238578

      Picked my bike up from the shop this afternoon.  Just needed it’s first checkup and adjustment.  The mechanic wasn’t there, so I don’t know what he did to it, but I know he was going to re-grease the head bearings as I was noticing some creaking when I got some weight on the bars.  And I noticed the brake levers feel firmer (hydraulic).

      I really want to get out and ride, but we’re being slammed with a rain/freezing rain storm right now.  Soooo…. waiting for decent weather!

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