Mountain Biking - RR: possibly the worst ride ever

yesterday may have been the worst ride ever, well hopefully. my friend and i went out to our local trail, the weather was awesome.. not many people out there though. started off ok, but it was a strange coincidence that for the whole 12 mile route, we were both having shifter problems. not just little problems.. it was almost so bad that i had to almost rely fully on my front shifter. in order to shift in the rear.. i'd have to shift 3-4 times before it would even move.. on flat ground. my friend was having the same problems.. only his was also making a strange "clicking" sound the whole time. even if i wasnt touching anything, my rear derailleur would randomly shift for the hell of it. on top of the shifter problems... for some reason my saddle wouldnt stay tight to the seatpost.. i tightened it down all the way, went off a nice drop, and sat back down to have my saddle jab me right in the ass because it had come loose. my friend's front disc brake started rubbing pretty bad during the ride, so that was yet another adjustment stop we had to make. also, i was riding pretty fast along a really easy stretch when i caught my handlebar on a small tree and took a huge spill. eh well, at least it beat going to school.

maybe you passed through the bermuda triangle of mountain bikes. :s

Just remember your best days. What makes a good rider is someone who can work past the bad days. I have a number of horrible days per year. But the AWESOME days far outnumber them :)...

Too bad about your ass though :)

Been there... done that. Didn't have the brake-rub but had the exact same problems. Shifting issues, slipping seatpost... In the end, I found out that my new seatpost clamp I bought was the wrong size and that I had partially snapped a sideplate on my chain early in the ride which was causing it to skip all over the place. But as Maelstrom said, the days when you find yourself floating over the obstacles with everything just clicking right will more than make up for the times like you just had.

You have not had your worst day of riding yet. The worst one will be the one you don't ride away from due to injury. To date yes, not yet the worst though. The last bad ride for me started the first half on the bike and the second half in an ambulance.

You have not had your worst day of riding yet. The worst one will be the one you don't ride away from due to injury. To date yes, not yet the worst though. The last bad ride for me started the first half on the bike and the second half in an ambulance.

crazy downhillers

So....is your bike okay now?

nope, havent even messed with it yet.. i think it just needs a tune up but i have no $$$

The worst day riding is better than the best day at work.

The worst day riding is better than the best day at work.
absolutely

i was riding today and got to trail head and found the hard way someone had put fishing line about neck hi across it.after that i was all over the place and unable to get into a groove.i wrecked more times today than in the rest of the year combined!to end the ride i rode past a mud hole i have gone by at least 100 times with no problems.today my bike went right ,i went left into a mud pit that was above my knees.that tan stinky crap too.i looked like arnold swarteneegar(sp?) in the movie predator when he coated himself with mud to hide from the alien.i am glad i rode from home and did not drive there as i started to do.no way was i gonna get in my truck like that.i was so muddy my ass stuck to my seat when i tried to get off to climb the last hill on the way home and i wrecked again.i am going to go to verizon next thurs. and get a camera phone so i can start getting some pics of this stuff.i would not believe it if i did not live it today.was it a bad ride?yeah,i feel sorry for the idiot that gets off putting line across a trail like that. yet it was good ,i learned a lot from all the mishaps today,i did not have to be at work during my riding time,my wife and kids got a kick out of the way i looked when i got home(even the dogs barked at me cuz they not know me)and i got to ride my bike in the great outdoors,it was cool to let loose, fail,get up,fail again,etc.etc.i ride harder when no one is around so i crash more crazily and i will start looking more carefully as i ride trails that i am used to as well as new ones.it is great to be able to ride a bike!!!