What is a big mountain bike ride? We all have our own definition, relative to our abilities and experiences.Riders new to the sportmight consider ten miles on a greenway to be a big day while others measure their big rides in days or weeks, not miles or hours. Most of us are somewhere between those two extremes. I did my first big ride about six months after I started mountain biking, and it was a fantastic experience, one that had a profound impact on me as a mountain biker and as a person.
The Beginning
I bought my first mountain bike right after I graduated college. I got a job, moved to a new town, and bought the bike on credit before I even had my first paycheck. This was backwhenbanks were just giving money to anybody. I didnt even have a place to live yet – I was staying in a hotel on my company’s dime for a few weeks until I found a place. The bike I bought was a full-suspension model with adjustable air shocks (what!), hydraulic disc brakes (I didnt even know those existed til I bought it), and 27 gears to choose from. It was a previous year model and on sale ($1,000 instead of $1,600) and the shop was offering 0% financing. It seemed like too good a deal to pass up. I signed some papers (and put no money down) and became the proud owner of a new bike, helmet, and flat repair kit. The bike was the most expensive thing I had ever owned and paid for myself (even though I hadnt paid for it yet). I didnt take it home because I had nowhere to put it. The shop let me store it in their back room until I found an apartment.
My first real mountain bike. We had some good times together.
About a week later I couldnt take the waiting anymore and picked up my bike and went on my first ride. I rode the towpath alongside the canal, trying to find the pumping station trail. I was the typical newb. Shiny, new and expensive (to me) bike, gym shorts, cotton t-shirt, and sneakers. I was in heaven, the bike was so smooth, light, and fast. I never found the trail, but ended up with about 14 miles of flat as a pancake pedaling. I was completely wiped out. Once I got back to my hotel room I ate a footlong sub I picked up on the way back, took a shower, and then took a four hour nap. I don’t normally take naps – but I was just plain exhausted.
The Idea
Six months later I had become a real mountain biker – well, I had more of the gear anyway. I had baggy bike shorts with padding, a hydration pack, a shirt made of fancy hi-tech fabric that dried way faster than cotton, and I had just upgraded to clipless pedals. The local bike club was putting on an informal big ride to raise a little money for the club. It was a point-to-point ride that linked several trails together using forest service roads and a little pavement. It was 49 miles long, so they called it the 49er ride.
When I first heard about this ride I thought it was crazy. Forty nine miles? People can ride that far? But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try it. I talked to my friend Kris and we decided to go for it. I dont think either of us had ridden more than 20 miles at once when we decided to do it. By the time the ride rolled around we had upped our personal bests to somewhere just north of 30 miles, but that was all singletrack. The 49er had a good bit of road, and road riding is easy – or so we thought.
The Ride
When we showed up to do the ride we were excited we were going to attempt the superhuman feat of riding our mountain bikes forty nine miles. FORTY NINE MILES! We each gave a donation to the club and were given a map and cue sheet, and the club took some food we brought to the halfway point for us. It was a beautiful January day, it wasnt too cold, and we were ready to ride.
Pit stop on a 50+ mile day this past fall. Riding with friends makes the big days even better.
The Horn Creek trail went by easily. Then we did the first big section of road to get to the Wine Creek trail. We rode Wine without any drama and then stopped at the halfway point at Key Bridgeto eat. This is where things took a turn. We stayed way too long, and each of us basically ate a whole meal. When I got back on the bike and hit the Turkey Creek trail my legs just werent feeling it.
No Pain No Gain
By the time we finished the Turkey Creek trail we were officially in the pain cave, a place I had never really been before. Everything hurt. My arms hurt from supporting my torso. My legs hurt from so many pedal strokes. It hurt my neck to hold up my head and look further down the trail. Of all the things that hurt,my butt hurt the most. It was on fire. It hurt to sit and it hurt to stand, but it hurt the most when going from seated to standing or vice versa. When standing up it felt like I was leaving a layer of skin behind still plastered to the saddle. When sitting down it felt like the seat had been replaced with hot coals. We left fun behind at Key Bridgeabout ten miles ago – this was pure misery.
We still had several miles of road ahead of us before reaching the final piece of singletrack, the Modoc trail, the most difficult trail of the whole ride. I didnt want to do it; I didn’t think I could do it. When we stopped to check the map I told Kris I was done, I wasnt riding Modoc. I just wanted to finish and get off my bike. I was going to take the road around the trail since that would be faster and easier.
Key Bridge is a great spot for a pit stop. Photo: mtbgreg1
Man, Im glad Kris was there. He said I should keep going, wed ridden this far, we might as well finish it. I knew he was right. So I sucked it up and we headed on to the Modoc trail. I dont know how long it took us to ride those six miles of singletrack, but it felt like forever. Ive never been so happy to see my car as I was when we rolled into the parking lot at the other end of the trail. We had just ridden our mountain bikes forty nine miles and I could hardly believe it.
The Aftermath
I expected to be really sore the day after the 49er, and I was. I spent the day on the couch eating everything I could find. What I didn’t expect, however, was the spark it would ignite – I enjoyed it, and wanted to see how much faster I could do it, or how much further I could go. I didn’t enjoy the sore muscles and firey taint, but the experience as a whole was awesome. I rode my bicycle 49 miles for crying out loud! I didn’t know I could do that. I learned what it was like to really push myself, and I learned I could go farther than I expected.
It’s been a few years since the 49er ride. I’ve increased my ‘personal best’ to 70 miles since then, which isn’t a huge improvement. But, 50ish mile rides are no longer a big deal to me anymore. Sure, I’m not fast, and they’re certainly not ‘easy,’ but I can ride fifty miles without it being a death march. Bonus: I actually enjoy myself the entire ridenow and can function the next day.
I’ve retired that first bike I bought, though it’s still hanging on the wall in the garage. I’ve learned a lot since the original 49er ride. Best of all: there’s still so much room to grow, so many bigger rides to do, new personal boundries to push past. I mean even my biggest day is still short of what many riders consider a ‘decent training ride’.
Your Turn
So, what’s the point of this whole post? Hopefully it’ll encourage you get out and push yourself harder and further. Get in a little over your head. Ride a little further, climb a little faster, jump a little higher. Dig deep and see what you find – you’ll end up surprising yourself.
Great blog post dgaddis–inspiring! I don’t remember the last time I’ve been pushed that far outside of my comfort zone. Sure, sometimes I do really long rides that I feel horrible after, but I always wonder if I could have gone farther…
Yeah, 49 miles is pretty aggressive being such a new rider. I was riding years before I attempted that sort of distance and when I finally did it, I found myself deep inside the pain cave too. It was also one of those “easy road rides” I figured would be less strenuous than riding singletrack. Classic mistake. 🙂
Dude, that bike has antlers!
My biggest days in the saddle have been two trips over Monarch Crest, the second time including Rainbow Trail, and then 3 laps at 24 Hours of Moab. (45 miles)
I’d love to put together a 50 mile ride. I know I can do it, but I wonder how much it will hurt. On a related note, a friend and I are planning a ride of the Kokopelli Trail this fall, which means 40ish miles a day … for FOUR days in a row!
49 miles seems like a very long distance to ride. I know I’m still considered new to the sport but man- Don’t know about 49 miles on a mountain bike. Wonder what peoples average speed was while riding long distances ????
Good inspirational stuff there! My goal this year is to get off of some of my local trails and experience some of the “bigger” rides in the southeast area. One step at a time.
@cubanchurchill – locally (rolling hills, not mountains) I can average a little over 10mph on 50-65 mile days when I’m feeling good. Going to the mtns brings those speeds down. At Fools Gold last year I did the 54 mile race and finished in 6:10, the pro that won the 100ish mile race finished in 7:11 – like I said, I’ve got PLENTY of room to improve 😆
@madd – good luck dude! That’s something I haven’t really done yet, big days back to back. My butt is fine with one big day in the saddle, but I think a second would be painfull. I just need to ride more I guess.
I’ve been thinking about riding from my house to breckenridge on the colorado trail this summer, i’m guessing it would be about 110 miles. now your blog inspires me.
Like maddslacker, my longest ride to date is Monarch Crest which I rode last September. It didn’t destroy me like I feared it would. The gray around the edges vision & pretty stars at the top of some of the climbs caught my attention but other than being a little saddlesore, I was pleased & wondering how much more I could endure. I’m definately riding the Crest again this year with hopes of cutting some time off of last year’s leisurely pace. I’ve also noticed that the 50 mile race ads in magazines seem to be catching my eye more & more. I may enter one, not to compete, to experience it & see what the distance does to me.
Good post dgaddis – thanks!
The 49er Ride was one of my ideas to raise some money for the club and have some fun. It started as the full Dark Star Loop (which become the route for the SMC), but I was talked into making it shorter to appeal to more riders and make raise more money. IT wasn’t a race. We asked for a donation. We expected maybe 25 riders, and 53 showed up. We had one rest stop and 3 volunteers that ran the whole show. I even got ride in it.
But I only typed all this to say this…..It is awsome to read this about it…..”it was a fantastic experience, one that had a profound impact on me as a mountain biker and as a person.”
I have watched DGaddis come of age as a rider. It has been fun. I only wish he would go back to where he came from, and bring about 20 more people just like him.
@ dgaddis- sounds like it would be fun but I’m just now starting to get into the idea of my first race. Probably a 6 hour for my first time out….. But the thought does sound very interesting indeed
Last August, propwash and I rode Monarch Crest and Trail 401 on consecutive days. We were pretty tired driving home Sunday night, but it was SO worth it!
Another Monarch Crest Veteran here–that was big–but I’ve had a few that were bigger–truly big rides are fraught with peril if you’re not up to the task logistically as well as physically. Especially if you’re riding solo.
My first perilous journey started at the summit of Rabbit Ears Pass in Colorado. After riding a combination of trails to the summit of Buffalo Pass, I started on different trails to loop back. I hit a fork not indicated on my Trails Illustrated topo map and, of course, took the wrong fork. A couple hours later I was dreadfully lost. I had a map and compass, but pea soup fog had rolled in making it impossible to get a reading on any landmark. I wandered for hours through the Lord of the Rings-ish landscape, periodically calling out in hopes another human would be there. Oh, I was also clad only in shorts and a shortsleeve jersy and the temps had dropped into the 40s and a heavy mist was falling. Eventually, some clouds parted and I realized I was on the west flank of Mt Werner (Steamboat ski area). Bein many miles from where I needed to be, exhausted, shivering, out of food with darkness coming and no idea how to get back to my trailhead, I simply pointed my bike down a ski trail into town and paid a rather hefty price to get a cab to take me and my rig back up the 3K vert to my vehicle. All in all, it ended up being about 43 miles (estimate) of rugged terrain in horrible conditions, most of it over 10K feet.
The other big adventure came in a similar length on the Maah Daah Hey trail in the North Dakota Badlands. Here, the opposite problem arose. I was never lost, but rather it was about 98 degrees with searing sun and no shelter. Even with a 100oz Camelback and two 24oz water bottles, I ran out of water a good two hours from the trailhead. I became woozy to the point I could barely maintain balance on the bike. I would ride from scrubby little bush to scrubby little bush, trying to scrunch my body under them just to get some shade. I ended up slowly walking the last four miles and collapsing at my vehicle. The water I saved in the car could have been used to make hot cocoa. After a short drive where it probably looked like I was driving under the influence, I arrived at a convenience store, never so glad to pay two bucks for a Gatorade!
Unlikde dgaddis, my rides have shortened quite a bit since I was an energetic newb looking to stretch my limits, mostly due to age and health issues. But things are looking good this year and I’m planning some biggies this summer. Thanks for the inspiration as it will help me push through those training days when I may not really want to ride, but will need to to build the endurance necessary to hit the likes of Curly Lake.
Great post! Definitely inspired me to try and get a bigger ride in this summer (at least 40 miles). 28-30 miles is probably the farthest I’ve ridden since I started riding a singlespeed, but I think by this summer I’ll be ready for more. Hoping to head west to raystown / rothrock state forest for a few days with my brother this summer, maybe we’ll be able to pull it off.
First BIG ride was my 25-mile race in Levis Mounds. That day I’ve learned a lot for myself. The second was Monarch Crest a couple months after the race. On Monarch we rode about 5 miles from campsite (and back) to shuttle, so total was 48 miles that day. And now Mah Dah Hey and Kokopelli are on my list 🙂
Thank you, @Dustin Gaddis, for this great inspiring article. Looks like our experience from that first BIG RIDE are very similar 🙂
Dude!! I’m so fired up right now after reading that, I usually wind up biking alone because it seems all my buddies are either lazy, fat, or combo of both. (talk about having to self motivate to get out the door)
Anyway I’ve been pushing myself further, and faster lately. I was the “push up and fly down” and maybe squeeze a couple of tricks in guy, in the beginning, but somewhere something, somehow along the way changed me into a XC/T/Enduro type and I never realized the pain and level of commitment there was. Or as I like to say “Mud, Blood, Sweat, and Balls!” at first I almost said “F- this” but I stuck with it, eventually found new trails and have been pushing father, and faster (unfort. I don’t have a comp=distance??speed??) and now thoughts are creeping in my head to find/enter a race or a fun ride etc. No grand illusions here I don’t see a podium in my near future but I’d “give ’em a run for their $$”. I’m on the door step of 40yrs. old and I’m in prob. the best shape of my life and I hate to say it but its all due to “push it till you puke” mentallity
so….when is the next local 49er ride going to happen in the CSRA? I would be willing to give this a shot to see if I could push myself to the limit.
I imagine I’m a bit older, and just started last spring at 43, and then had a bad fall that put me down for a couple months. I had a good laugh rite away relating to the food. One of the first things I noticed when I started going longer was how atracktive resterants were at the end of a ride.
So far my biggest day was 38ish of easy paved trail on Potomac or yesterday with 10+ of mostly single track switch backs and hills and MUD.
Great posts seems like I’ve been in the same predicament assume of y’all. Although I stared when I was 55. Didn’t take but 2 times out and I was having rotator cuff surgery . Now another seasonuponusandraring to go. I evenwentas far as buying another bike , this time a road bike to ride some road events. Still riding mountain bike and like the feel of it better but hard to really put any big miles up.
Looking forward to riding some rails to trails this summer.
Hope evryone has a safe and fun summer. Truely a beginner here.
Ernie
Should have proof read before I posted , sorry typing on iPad
Great article! Very inspirational to a new rider like myself. Makes me want to go out and make a day trip like that this weekend, even though I know it’ll be really painful. How far can I ride? For how long? How far can I push myself? What am I capable of?
Great post! I am totally on board with you — almost the same experience here: I bought my first (and only, so far) bike two years ago. Last year model, hybrid, disc brakes, adjustable suspension. I rode 20-30 miles few times. And this year I *survived* my first long ride – 75 miles from Milwaukee to Chicago… Mix of trails and roads. In clipless shoes/pedals that I put for the first time on the morning of that day. Pain was beyond unreal, but what an achievement!