clearwaterms

over the weekend, I went mountain biking for the first time. WOW that is so much fun. granted, i was very scared doing it, and it's not relaxing like most bicycling is, this is an intense sport. I can't WAIT to do it again.

just had to share.

for those of you around chicago, I was at palos. We rode bullfrog lake, out and back, and three revines.

synergy

I'm hooked too... just went for the first time last week. Time to spend more money on a REAL MTB

funrover 

YOU HAVE BEEN BITTEN!!!!!! I MTB more than anything else... Far more fun for me! Keeps you on your toes and has really contributed to my bike handleing skills!

jboyd

Very Cool for both of you! I started back in June and have had a blast. My first couple of trails were extremely hard and yet I had a ball and did not know that my local trails are really just horse and motocross trails so the inclines were extreme. Back the first weekend in August, I went down to NC and rode all of the TSALI Trails. OMG It was wonderful. Well maintained single track. We would ride for 5-6 miles and end up on top of the mountians above Fontana Lake and not really know that we had gone up that far. The trails snaked around the mountians and gave you more of a level rolling ride even though we were climbing. But, the down hills were incredible. One of the downhills was 3 1/2 miles long with banked swithbacks and plenty of opportunity to get some air

Here is a photo clip of our trip which includes some mountain bike shots. https://video.google.com/videoplay?do...82940667&hl=en

Thanks for sharing and for letting me share too.
Jay

RB1-luvr

hey clearwater glad you like mountain biking. welcome to constant bike maintenance :-)

Pamestique 

Pretty much the last 5 years has been me transitioning to MTB from the road. I love it. It's like being a kid again! Welcome to the "dark side"!

UtRacerDad

Since I got hooked on Mountain biking first and fell in love with single track and trails, I always considered Road biking as the dark side .

There is nothing like flying down some mountain alpine single track, it is like nothing that you can describe , and fall is my favorite time for mountain biking.

Pamestique 

I love Fall as well and can't wait to get out and do some longer rides. The Summer heat has kept my riding miles down.

And Ut you live in Utah... I am so jealous. It's a cyclist's (road and MTB) paradise! I'm hoping to retire there (or maybe Idaho) some day. Southern California has had a bad weather year and things are very dry. I understand many areas to ride will be closed down due to potential fire hazard. Pray we get some rain this Fall and Winter. We really need it.

clearwaterms

well, I did 13 miles last weekend, supposedly this weekend we are going to do another several miles at a different place. I am excited.

RB1, what types of things break on these bikes, so I know what to look for. Im very new to the bicycle maintence, but not afraid to get my hands dirty. and because my dad is a TV repair man, I have an awesom set of tools.

clearwaterms

it's funny that you say that, the midwest in alot of parts was too wet, so the trails were not rideable.

Pamestique 

We all have our weather woes (except Utah - it's perfect!). I am able to ride all year round in So Cal but the trails right now are silty and dusty as this is the rain with the lowest recorded rain fall ever! The hills have been brown and tinker dry since February. We have already had several bad fires and more to come I fear. Wildlife is suffering. Mountain Lions have become more prevalent, moving down towards water (like golf courses) which is a bad thing. People don't want lions in their back yard so they are being shot! As are bobcats and coyotes!

A number of years we had heavy rainfall and many of the trails were damaged when dry stream beds became wet but for mountain bikers, what a joy! We actually had some gnarly singletrack and stream crossings to play in. Now everything is wide open fire road and no water anywhere. The roads are all plowed over, smooth and sandy/silty. Nothing really exciting to ride. Even the regular ponds are all dried up. So give me too wet anytime. Once the water starts to dry up it's fun to play in!

UtRacerDad

So I would say we have had our weather woes as well, seems that we have only had 60% of our normal rainfall (now I live in the desert, normal rain fall is only 11 inches a year, but then I live in the desert ), the mountain trails are finally getting some moisture off and on and right now most of the trails are in great condition. I do ride all year round, the lower foothill trails are open even when there is snow on them, and there is plenty of road riding during the winter. So I would have to say yes, Utah is a great place for biking, both road and mountain, but the mountain always seems to be just a bit funner.

clearwaterms

well, its considered bad form to ride on the trails here when they are wet. The trails here are very switchback like single track (at least that is what we were riding in) I guess when they are wet and muddy people ride them and that increases errosion, and we don't want to have the trails closed down. so its never a good idea to go out there when they are wet

Pamestique 

I agree with you, never ride a wet trail but once the trail is dry enough it does mean good riding, green vegetation, water crossings etc. The last photos I got of green trails was about 3 years ago. It's very sad here.

seosamh

if i had to wait till trails were dry i'd have a very short window of opertunity to ride!!! plus offroad in the mud and rain is about as close to as much fun you'll ever have on a mtb!! provided you don't mind getting wet and muddy that is!

Wogster

Especially when the guy ahead of you is a little too cocky and does an over the bars airborne, into a thorny bush (ouch).

Caincando1

I do a little off road riding with my Navigator, but it's not really built for it. I'm planning to pick up a hard tail this winter.

v1k1ng1001

I love mountain biking but I don't do it as often anymore. I keep breaking stuff and it gets expensive! I also keep picking bad places to live for off road riding. I have to imagine rochester's got some great off-road riding.

wireless

Palos is my favorite too. I think for beginner psychopath and turf1 trails are better for improving your skills.
If you have time - try John Muir trail in Kettle in Wisconsin. It is longer drive , but worth it.
https://www.backyardbikes.com/Trails.asp

This summer was very wet and I did not ride on MTB too much. Last year I was going on MTB every other weekend. It is quite a different experience physically and mentally

cohophysh

Mtb is a ton of fun, enjoy yourself

clearwaterms

do you have links for either of these places? are these seperate trails within palos? or are these different areas.

are there other single track trails around chicago?

bautieri

Mountain biking is 10lbs of fun in a 5lb bag. Welcome to the dark side but don't worry, we have cookies and punch.

wireless

CAMBR site is a good source of information:
https://www.cambr.org/

they have trails descriptions, maps, etc..

psychopath and turf1 - are just different trails in Palos.