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Hopin’, Scopin’, and Ropin’. =)
Agreed the.bler. I don’t know how many times I pull over for mtbers coming downhill, and they don’t say thank you when I actually have the right of way going uphill. I don’t want to ruin their fun so I pull over. They should at least acknowledge my courtesy, which is above and beyond the normal trail courtesy, with the common courtesy of a thank you. We need to do better as a biking community.
C-Lo, one trail for three years! How did you do it!? Hope it was a good one! Where will you be riding now?
Captain Jacks, Jones Downhill, Buffalo Creek, Green Mountain … the Front Range classic scree trails are all better rides during or just after a good rain. Strange but sweet.
This is a late reply, but what a story Ken! Thanks for sharing it! Taking on 50 miles at age 66 is admirable to say the least, especially considering all that you have been through. Ride on dude! … Or as one elderly man exuberantly shouted back to me as he zipped away on the Colorado Trail after talking for a while … “Ride on the edge!” and down a long 3-mile descent he went! He must have been in his mid-70s! Crazy old guy! =)
As some of you know, I lived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for 22 years. It is hardly a destination city of any sorts, but it has both amazing, remote trails in the hills and mountains surrounding it and also amazing urban riding in the city. The urban riding is one of the advantages of being a second or third-world city. We lived very close to downtown – just two miles from parliament – and yet, there was amazing riding directly out our front door.
My job is very relational and cognitive, and yet, I have always been a person who needs a lot of physical activity. So mountain biking is a perfect balance to my work and in many ways my sanity. Though I enjoy riding with others, many times I need to ride solo and to get some alone time. Also, my work affords me some flexibility in my schedule and requires that I work some evenings. So it makes it possible for me to ride in the afternoon on some weekdays which is really nice during the short days of winter. All in all, my work and riding are quite complementary and fit together pretty seamlessly. I certainly count myself blessed in that and know that many others do not have such an opportune lifestyle for riding.
Totally agree Killer Climb staying on the bike weekly year around is critical. I had a streak of 20 months in a row of at least two rides a week going until this past month. My rear shock has finally given up the ghost and had to replace it. I couldn’t get a new shock for forever it seemed. So I’ve been off the bike for five weeks now. I know it’s going to hurt getting started again.
Hey mtbjennings. I’m chiming in here late but just want to join in on the encouragement. Good for you for getting on the bike. Should you stop? In general? Hell no! But maybe you should take a day or two off in between rides to let your body recover. You need more recovery time than 20 somethings. I too started riding when I was 49 or 50 years old. It was certainly tough in the beginning, but eight years later I’m still riding with a passion. Even though it hurt at first, I loved it. So I knew it was the right thing for me. I came from a running background, so I wasn’t in bad shape in generally, but I quickly learned that I was not in biking shape, or maybe better stated, mountain biking shape. Mountain biking is rigorous. My weak spot was my hips. They would just burn in their weakness during difficult parts of rides and towards the end of rides in fatigue. I think all the running I had done had thinned down and weakened my core. The first two years, every time I advanced my distance on rides, I would feel the burning in my hips. BUT I stuck with it and finally got past it. Today, I still do not feel like I’m a strong rider, but I love to ride. I love the exercise, the downhill thrill, the technical challenges, seeing the beauty of nature, the adventure, exploration in the backcountry, the solitude, riding with friends, riding alone, … I could go on. If you love it, don’t give up. Instead, pace yourself on distance and also giving your body recovery days. In time you’ll get to where you want to be … well, at least close probably. =) Ride on!
Loooooove tailgate pads. Such a great option if you own a truck. For years, I just used a rug with a rubber backing and some straps on my older bikes as a cheap alternative. No damage to the truck, but a little rub of the paint on the downtube of the bike. Tailgate pads solve all the issues AND is looks so cool! Ha!
Hey Rdrydr954. Thanks for sharing how your trip went. Glad you a great time. Hope you get another chance soon.
There are definitely good and bad bike shops out there. You pay a lot of money at a LBS, which I do not have a problem with, but you should get outstanding service with unhurried and thorough explanations. For the bad shops, I would recommend that you give them a rating here on ST and never go back. For the good ones, be courteous, give them some latitude at times when they need it (their job is not easy and their margins are tight), become their friend, appreciate them regularly, and give them a good rating here.
Hey Jeff. Great to see the new format, especially a better map system, =) which we have talked about in the past. Love the map! You said it was coming, and here it is! So nice to have a more interactive map along with the best trail user reviews on the internet. I also love having the actually trail rank instead of “Top 100” or “Top 1000”. All the changes must have been a ton of work. Thanks for all the efforts. I assume there is still a lot you have to work out. Here is some initial user feedback and food for thought that hopefully is useful as you seek to improve it. I’m sure there are a thousand considerations I’m not seeing. So take these as a grain salt. First, maybe consider putting the Trail Conditions up where Total Riders count is. Then put Total Riders just below State and Global Rankings. The current location of both of these seem out of place at least to me. For example, Total Riders is not about the physical nature of the trail like the rest of the info it is placed with. However, Trail Condition is about the physical nature of the trail. Similarly, Total Riders seems quite connected conceptually to the trail rankings. Second, would it be possible to move the Elevation Profile to immediately below the map, so it could be more spread out? It is visually a little difficult to use being so small located on the side. Third, you might list the details under “Before You Go” in two columns instead of single column. Fourth, you might do the same for “System Trails” or in a palette as before. Again, thanks so much for putting together this new format. Super cool.
@Rdrydr954, if you only have a week, I think you would do quite well to land in the Breckenridge region. There are a ton of great trails in Summit County, and it truly is a beautiful area. You can easily extend out from Breck to the Salida area and do the classic Monarch Crest Trail (and others maybe). If you have the stamina and a way to do the shuttle, definitely look at doing the Kenosha Pass to Breckenridge ride on the CT. Of course, if you had the time to get as far as Durango, the San Juans from Ouray to Durango provide as beautiful a landscape as there is in CO. That is a long drive though. If there, I would ride north of Durango on the CT etc., not the in-town trails. The in-town trails are good, but there is much more of an adventure factor as you get away from town. That would seem important on a trip like this. Also, I don’t want to be a downer on anybody’s party, but of what I have seen in the Crest Butte area some of the trails seem worn and overused. The scenery is exceptional, but the trails themselves seem tired and old to me. I would hate to see you come as far as WI and experience something less than hoped for.
The trails around Colorado Springs are open. They are also open throughout the state, but traveling between counties is being discouraged.
@iliketexmex, where do you live? If I remember right, you are in Ohio. If so, what part?
I am holding off making reservations and buying airline tickets to do the float plane trip to the South Chilcotin Mountains sometime this summer. I expect by late summer we’ll be able to do the trip. Besides that, I am riding as usual. Ride on!
Palmer Park in Colorado Springs and the system of trails in and around North Cheyenne Canon.
Like m.krupp, my biggest challenge is keeping my fingers and feet warm in colder weather (0-30°F). The fingers are an easy fix. I just wear a pair regular warm winter gloves and slide them into bar mitts. Bar mitts are amazing. For my feet I have to wear a warm pair of boots and warm socks. Then I have to make sure that the circulation to my feet is in no way cut off. For my legs I just wear a pair of warm bike pants and long or short spandex depending on the temps. For the upper body, if temps are in the mid to upper twenties, I just wear a few wicking summer tees (one with long sleeves) and a windbreaker/rain jacket over top. As temps get colder, I add on a true thermal layer and ultimately a coat. For my head I vary between just a thin hood and ear muffs to a full ski mask.
@ Bike Nerd … It looks like the HD5 gets upgraded with a lot of the advances of the Ripmo. I’ll have to test ride a couple of other brands just to make sure, but I’m guessing my decision will come down to the 2020 HD5 and the Ripmo. I’ll test ride a couple of Yeti’s, but I am NOT a fan of press fit bb, so that will likely keep me away from Yeti. Too bad. And I definitely need to give a couple of Evils a ride or two.
