Mountain Biking 2017!

[Monique]

There are some older triple crown forks that were more all-mountain than DH. Maverick and Specialized for example. Hopefully he was on something like that.

I did not know that! I don't recall the specific fork. It sure did look bad-ass coming up the trail. The geometry seemed much more upright than my Dare.

 

[MT Skull]

First trail ride of the season completed without incident.

Celebrating Muddy Mudskipper's 10th birthday with a new front hoop.

(memo re. death of 26" didn't make it past my spam filter)

Monique, one of my favorite things about this frame is the stand-over clearance. It's also why I sold its predecessor, a Rocky Mountain ETSX. (lack of)

Stand-over does matter.

 

[coskigirl]

I went for a night of camping with some mountain biking last night. I don't know any real mtb trails in the area so I stuck with the fire road used to access the area but it actually has some significant rock gardens and larger embedded rocks which I used to practice skills. In fact, I went over some larger rocks than I've done previously. I think having plenty of space visually helped me so I didn't freak out that I was going to fall off the trail if I went over.

 

[Tony S]

I think having plenty of space visually helped me so I didn't freak out that I was going to fall off the trail if I went over.

I was thinking about this on my ride yesterday. Around here if you fall off the trail it's no problem: You'll hit three or four tree trunks before you land on anything that might hurt.

 

[coskigirl]

I was thinking about this on my ride yesterday. Around here if you fall off the trail it's no problem: You'll hit three or four tree trunks before you land on anything that might hurt.

We have some of those trails but we also have the kind where you go off cliffs, hit cactus, or the ones that really freak me out are pointy rocks.

 

[Monique]

I rode Trestle (Winter Park's summer alter ego - a lift-serviced bike park) with my husband and @Michael R. today. The SB5 acquitted itself well. We rode blues and greens except for when we found that Shy Ann was closed and decided to try a blue-black, Double Jeopardy. This was blue-black in the sense that it was mostly blue with two decidedly black features. In fact, I've been on black trails there that are less technical. It was comical how quickly we dismounted. Then we had to wait for roughly one million riders to zoom past before we could get started again.

Honestly, I'm pretty sure the feature was one of those that looks more intimidating than it actually is. But it does look very intimidating.

I decided not to wear my Leatt neck brace. It never seems like it fits quite right, and it did seem like a tiny bit of overkill. But I wore the FF helmet, hard plastic shin/knee and elbow guards, full DH jersey, and shorts long enough to extend below the tops of my knee guards. Oh, and a G-Force t-shirt thing with shoulder, back, and chest protection. Because honestly, why not, when you don't have to pedal? As it turns out, the wind on the lift and at the top was pretty brisk, so I was happy for all the layers.

I did have a few silly moments where I nearly launched myself off the bike, which I largely think was because my knee was getting cranky, so I was getting lazy (okay, lazier than usual) about riding position. So I called it quits after four runs.

I also replaced my boring grey full face helmet - which must be 6-7 years old, but I didn't ride last season - with a lovely bright green Seven. No one will have trouble finding me on the runs! (I ran into friends on the way out - he thought he'd seen me, but couldn't be sure with all the gear. Now he'll know!)

Once again, my short hair is doing its level best at a Medusa or Ursula impression!

 

[Monique]

I forgot the most important part of the day! I met a young lady (7? 8? I don't know kid ages) who was riding Trestle for the first time. She was SO STOKED. I gather she rode Green World and had a blast. She showed off her "superman outfit" (rented chest protector and misc), and I particularly liked her pink full face helmet.

I made sure to fully stoke the stoke of the future generation of female rippers

 

[Brian Likes Pow]

 

[Mike Thomas]

My post work ride was interrupted by a surly juvenile porcupine. He wasn't very interested in sharing the trail... he also wasn't very scared of us. We eventually reached a compromise after about five minutes of discussion, he could hang out in the trail and we'd take a short walk through the woods to get around him.

 

[scott43]

My post work ride was interrupted by a surly juvenile porcupine. He wasn't very interested in sharing the trail... he also wasn't very scared of us. We eventually reached a compromise after about five minutes of discussion, he could hang out in the trail and we'd take a short walk through the woods to get around him.

Porcupine 1 - Mike 0...

 

[Erik Timmerman]

My post work ride was interrupted by a surly juvenile porcupine. He wasn't very interested in sharing the trail... he also wasn't very scared of us. We eventually reached a compromise after about five minutes of discussion, he could hang out in the trail and we'd take a short walk through the woods to get around him.

Where did you see him?

 

[AmyPJ]

My post work ride was interrupted by a surly juvenile porcupine. He wasn't very interested in sharing the trail... he also wasn't very scared of us. We eventually reached a compromise after about five minutes of discussion, he could hang out in the trail and we'd take a short walk through the woods to get around him.

That's funny! I haven't come across a porcupine on the bike here, just on skis!

I did a big ride (for me) in Park City over the weekend. Up Armstrong (what a lovely climb!) and across Mid-Mountain all the way to Deer Valley, then down the pavement to get back to PC. 18.6 miles and 2600 of climbing, which over 15 miles or so, doesn't seem so bad! We did take quite a few breaks, including a snack break. And the weather was breezy and in the 60s and slightly overcast, so truly perfect weather. I was pretty stoked, because I used to become exhausted by a 10 mile ride. And there was a section that I crashed on 3 years ago on Mid-Mountain that seemed SO scary at the time, and this time, I rode through it and honestly don't even know where it was! I've improved so much!

 

[Mike Thomas]

Where did you see him?

Dave and I went up to Split Rock to ride the new stuff then rode back to town via 8 Bridges/ Mapple Run/ Tamarack/ Tony's. He was just above the big field crossing on Tony's. I thought something was wrong with him when he didn't run off... then I realized that "running off" isn't how they defend themselves. He was cute, but didn't make any cool noises like the 'porcupine eating a pumpkin' (on my phone so can't link video, worth a Google search).

 

[AmyPJ]

Dave and I went up to Split Rock to ride the new stuff then rode back to town via 8 Bridges/ Mapple Run/ Tamarack/ Tony's. He was just above the big field crossing on Tony's. I thought something was wrong with him when he didn't run off... then I realized that "running off" isn't how they defend themselves. He was cute, but didn't make any cool noises like the 'porcupine eating a pumpkin' (on my phone so can't link video, worth a Google search).

Those videos of the porcupines eating really are stinkin' cute. It's funny, the one that was hanging out at Snowbasin last winter could have cared less about all the skiers that would surround it.

 

[Monique]

I demo'd the Pivot Mach 5.5 this morning. Hated it. Fell twice, once on nothing at all. Nearly fell a million times. Lost all confidence and walked many things I'd ridden on the Yeti and Ibis. This trail gets progressively more technical - at 2.5 miles in, I was thinking of calling it quits. At 4 miles in, I turned around before I got to the most sustained gnarly riding. I'd thought at least it would excel at the downhill, but no.

Note: This is all completely subjective, could be due to some misconfiguration, maybe I was having a bad day, who knows. I'm sure the bike is awesome for someone who is not me.

I turned around and bought the SB5, which I knew I'd enjoy.

 

[Monique]

Drat. After my two falls yesterday, both of which were slow-motion tips - one put a lot of weight on my knee as it bent, and the other just involved slamming my knee into the ground - both my post-surgery knee - my knee hurts. I am sure this is not permanent damage or a true setback, but this knee is still very much sensitive to impact and weird motion.

Ah, well. It's too blazing hot anyway, and I have stuff that needs doing.

 

[AmyPJ]

ICE ICE BABY! Any swelling?
Sorry to hear that. It's taken me two years to not feel pain when riding.

 

[Monique]

ICE ICE BABY! Any swelling?
Sorry to hear that. It's taken me two years to not feel pain when riding.

It doesn't seem swollen, or at any rate no more swollen than the minor stuff I've had going on already.

Riding itself seems to help. Landing my knee on the ground or slowly bending it at a weird angle so as not to go sliding down the side of a mountain, not so much ...

 

[AmyPJ]

It doesn't seem swollen, or at any rate no more swollen than the minor stuff I've had going on already.

Riding itself seems to help. Landing my knee on the ground or slowly bending it at a weird angle so as not to go sliding down the side of a mountain, not so much ...

Lack of swelling is always a good thing, IMO. Go for an easy spin later, after it cools off?
Biking has been GODSEND for my knee(s).

Tried something I'd been told before, but kind of forgotten, for cornering and switchbacks today. Pushing down on the inside handlebar, if that makes sense. Made my 29er feel a LOT smaller, if that makes sense. Honestly, I rather love the 29er EXCEPT it can feel kind of cumbersome when cornering. This little change in technique made that much less of an issue. It also made my riding a lot more proactive and aggressive than reactive and defensive. Same principle that is so helpful in skiing.

And this heatwave needs to end. At least I'm lucky enough to be able to ride in the morning.

 

[Monique]

Tried something I'd been told before, but kind of forgotten, for cornering and switchbacks today. Pushing down on the inside handlebar, if that makes sense.

That's a technique taught for motorcycles, as well!

For faster turns, I've been working on remembering to keep my outside foot down (6 o'clock) to help with traction. I usually forget or put the wrong leg down - doh!

F this heat. Really.