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Mountain biking and the over middle-ager

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Mountain biking and the over middle-ager

Old 10-26-11, 04:55 AM
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Originally Posted by cleon
I love that kind of terrain...fast, smooth, serene. Reminds me of Buffalo Creek out here.
Yep, it's pretty fast and smooth but best ridden after a rain since it is in the sandhills of South Carolina. When it's dry the turns tend to soften up enough to become treacherous at speed. But it's still fun.
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Old 10-27-11, 10:56 AM
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I guess if you want to avoid any mountain technical there is always this...I wonder if he's had a bike fit? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o
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Old 10-27-11, 06:38 PM
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Here are a few of my favorite Mountain Biking locations - all in Washington State. We are blessed with some truly spectacular biking terrain!

Methow Valley, north-central washington


Trail to Cutthroat Pass, North Cascades:


At Cutthroat Pass:


Mt. St. Helens - Ape Canyon Trail


Mt. St. Helens - riding the Plains of Abraham in the blast zone:


Mt. St. Helens - Coldwater Ridge:


Mt. St. Helens as seen from bounddary trail #1:
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Old 10-27-11, 06:45 PM
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Awesome pics...beautiful!

(I wonder if there is a recommended chain lube for Volcano Ash?)

Originally Posted by woodway
Here are a few of my favorite Mountain Biking locations - all in Washington State. We are blessed with some truly spectacular
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Old 10-28-11, 02:34 AM
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Originally Posted by cleon
(I wonder if there is a recommended chain lube for Volcano Ash?)
LOL. Well, depending on how much we are talking about, it may not matter much
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Old 10-29-11, 09:48 AM
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Woodway, what a breathtaking set of trails ! I,ve been apprehensive about trailriding but it's too much fun to give up. Today i bought a set of lights that are totally overkill for roaduse, Exposure Lights Diablo and Maxx-D (2011 so I got a good price for Norway). Hopefully I'll be inspired to go blasting through the forrests after work with 2000 lumens showing the way.
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Old 10-30-11, 08:32 AM
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I am 53 and have been riding dirt for about 6 years. i have gone through 3 bikes and have ended up with a Giant XTC-1 29er Hardtail. i can't get enough of dirt, rocks and roots as the obsession grows.

Here is a video I shot on Friday that gives and idea of my ride style (which is very specialized. i would be considered an "old, fat, mountain bike poser"

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Old 10-30-11, 09:35 AM
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Link?
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Old 10-30-11, 09:46 AM
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Originally Posted by cleon
Link?
Hmm? The video shows up on my post on this end. Here is the link. It was shot in 720P HD @ 60fps so it might load slow depending on your internet speed. If so, just click on the HD in the bottom right corner of the video and it should play at a lower resolution.

https://vimeo.com/31285396
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Old 10-30-11, 09:56 AM
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Mountain biking our very hilly single path 6mi course on the back of town made me realize just how much I love road biking.
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Old 10-30-11, 12:31 PM
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Finding partners is the only thing that keeps me from xc mtn biking exclusively. All of my posse are gun shy from getting injured (which I understand) and I can't keep up with the kids anymore. I'm giving road biking and touring a shot this year. I see the appeal but I'm missing my singletrack.
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Old 10-30-11, 12:56 PM
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Lack of friends is why I Mountain Bike. Prior to trail riding, I spent a decade whitewater kayaking. I had several friends, but two in particular made up my safety triad. One (a female), got mad at me for getting married and bailed, and the other, my best guy friend moved to Alaska. I tried to get another group back, but I could not find the connections.

I have had the same problem biking. Either they act like there is a prize at the end and everything is a competition, or they bike like they are in a park on a mup. So, I decided that the thing that causes me the most smiles is mildly technical (stress mild) and fast flowing single track in the woods and i have weighed the risks and understand that I may become a statistic someday, but with cell service and texting and some planning and caution it has not been a problem YET!

And to ride on pavement is like watching grass grow to me. I don't care how fast or how far, just how many smiles I can find.
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Old 10-30-11, 07:55 PM
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Originally Posted by jboyd
I am 53 and have been riding dirt for about 6 years. i have gone through 3 bikes and have ended up with a Giant XTC-1 29er Hardtail. i can't get enough of dirt, rocks and roots as the obsession grows.

Here is a video I shot on Friday that gives and idea of my ride style (which is very specialized. i would be considered an "old, fat, mountain bike poser"
Finally, something I recognize as singletrack.
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Old 11-01-11, 08:11 AM
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Originally Posted by woodway
Here are a few of my favorite Mountain Biking locations - all in Washington State. We are blessed with some truly spectacular biking terrain!

Methow Valley, north-central washington


Trail to Cutthroat Pass, North Cascades:


At Cutthroat Pass:


Mt. St. Helens - Ape Canyon Trail


Mt. St. Helens - riding the Plains of Abraham in the blast zone:


Mt. St. Helens - Coldwater Ridge:


Mt. St. Helens as seen from bounddary trail #1:
Beautiful vistas for sure. If we had those around here I would be more inclined to ride my mountain bike in spite of there being too many chances to crash. But here we have hike and bike trails like the Ho Chi Minh trail with it's merciless tree roots and Anthills single track surprise (there's another rider heading right at you...bam!), both of which are a little too much for this old dude. Fell over last week on my hip, but no break, just a bruise. This old geezer doesn't need any more of that.
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Old 11-08-11, 05:40 PM
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I ride MTB and Road about 50/50. Most of the immediate area is fire roads, with a little bit of singletrack mixed it. I love riding fire roads in late summer, when they are flat and fast. I don't enjoy overly technical stuff, but a little bit is ok. I have, at present, 3 MTB and am building 29er. I usually ride alone, but it's not wilderness, so no biggie. I just like the solitude and I like that a 15 minute ride has me immersed in peace and quiet.
1993 Miyata Elevation 2000. A fast, fun fire trail bike.

No Name AL frame I built up as a 1X9, this is currently my most ridden MTB.

Haro Shift R7, for when gears and comfort are needed. Just seems overkill on late summer fireroads, but early on, with all the cow-prints it's a blessing.
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Old 11-09-11, 05:14 PM
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Just tried mountain biking today for the first time. It was great. My son lent me his old Specialized Hardrock and took me to a greenbelt area right on the edge of our neighborhood. It's pretty flat around here, but this tiny area had lots of varied terrain: wide, smooth paths through a mature pine plantation, boardwalks over marshland, smoothly eroded rock hills, and narrow, rooty, rocky paths. What with all the braking, accelerating, climbing and descending, it was a pretty good workout. The scenery was nice, and the place was crawling with smart deer taking advantage of the no-hunting rules. Fun stuff.
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Old 11-15-11, 12:20 PM
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I really haven't ridden much off-road since the late '80's. But they recently opened some new singletrack just a 30 minute ride from my house so I put a suspension stem on my old rigid steel MTB and have been hitting the trails nearly every weekend. I also just got back from a trip to MO, OK, and TX where I rode off-road for 3-4 hours every other day or so - single track and old logging roads.
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Old 11-20-11, 07:49 PM
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I have done very little MTB riding this year. I think my new carbon road bike deserves the lions share of the blame for that. But today I joined some of my young friends for a ride on one of my favorite trails, Dauset Nature Trails near Flovilla, Georgia. There was a steady rain as we loaded the bikes and gear for the one hour drive to the trails. We took a chance that the weather reports were right in saying there had been little or no rain at our destination and were rewarded by near perfect trail conditions. The dirt was moist and tacky, but never wet and sloppy. The thick blanket of fallen leaves was the only problem as it made the trail hard to see at times and sometimes made the turns a bit slippery.

These are well designed trails with many twists and turns and enough roots, rocks and trees to keep things interesting and make you want a full suspension bike, but nothing extremely rough or technical. Same for elevation as there are many climbs and descents, but the trails flow well with plenty of flat and downhill breaks mixed in with even the longest climbing sections. There are a couple of fast downhill sections which can be a lot of fun for the confident and scary for the timid.

The toughest climbing section, Huff 'n' Puff rolls along smoothly, but with more elevation gain and with several nearly vertical 4 foot drops and climbs breaking up the more gradual changes. Some of these features are very intimidating the first time you ride them, but with proper weight distribution combined with braking on the drops and quick pedaling in the right gear on the climbs, they quickly become doable and fun.

Including several stops to rest and to let slower riders catch up, the 15.5 mile ride took us a little over 2 hours. MTB riding on trails like this is a much more intense workout than road riding. I managed to keep myself from overdoing it for the most part, stopping often to catch my breath and left my heart slow down, but did start getting tired and slowed considerably in the last couple of miles. We then made the pilgrimage to nearby Fresh Air BBQ for some good smoked pork and stew.

A very fun day with some good guys. I need to do this more often.

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