Month: January 2020

Continuing the new things

~ reluctantroadie ~ 1 Comment

Today, my friend Jodey and I visited east Mesa to ride some of the Hawes trail system. We were both interested in trying out new-to-us trails and potentially testing our resolve to “challenge ourselves” on the bike. Well, after our 10 mile ride, I can definitely say that Hawes is hard. That is, hard for someone who is hesitant about trying steep, rocky inclines and descents (at this point, you may ask why I mountain bike at all?). Because the Hawes trails are right in the middle of a rather posh residential area, we knew that the first couple of miles would be on residential streets, eventually leading to a trail access point.

When we hit the access point, this is what we saw:

I wish the above picture did a better job of showing how crazy steep the beginning is. Normally, when I go for a mountain bike ride, I expect to ride my bike. Today, I mainly hiked the first few miles of the trail, accompanied by my bike. The trail was so steep that I actually lost traction, slipped, and fell. Also, I wasn’t a fan of the rutted trail (i.e., there was a narrow track that you either followed or avoided by riding on the sides of the trail) and the loose gravel/rock that made the trail slippery.

On a brighter note, it appears that any falls I’ve had while mountain biking occurred when I was OFF of my bike. Does that mean I can bike better than I can walk?

Our goal those first few miles was to reach the power towers, where the trail levels out a bit.

Goal accomplished, albeit with a lot of huffing and puffing. The second half of the ride was MUCH more enjoyable, as we got to RIDE our bikes for more than 2 seconds at a time. I surprised myself a few times by successfully riding some downhill sections I wouldn’t have considered riding normally and even (halfheartedly) tried sessioning a boulder obstacle. Did you read that, my SAT (self-appointed trainer)? I tried doing something hard voluntarily!

The weather was beautiful today and we got to see some pretty views, like this one:

All in all, a successful day: we didn’t incur any injuries, we tried something new, and stepped out of our comfort zones. Bonus: no boys to tell us what to do. 🙂

Trying some new stuff

~ reluctantroadie ~ 1 Comment

Today, my SAT (a.k.a. self-appointed trainer and my husband) and I went on some different local mountain bike trails. Instead of riding the same (easy) trails, we did one trail backwards and one entirely new trail. I don’t tend to do the same trails backwards because I like doing what I know in the direction I know. I found that doing the one trail backwards was….harder. But, I got one obstacle on my first try and have another obstacle to work on for next time. The new-to-me trail is a wee bit out of my comfort zone, but still within my reach. There are about 3 obstacles on the uphill I need to work on….but, I “cleaned” (i.e. complete a section of trail on the first try) the downhill! In addition to doing new stuff, I “sessioned” things I didn’t get on the first try, which means that I repeated the sections I didn’t get until I did get it. It’s similar to practicing a hard part in a piano piece until you master it.

Anyway, I thought I’d document my first (and only, so far) session ride of 2020 for posterity. I have to admit that being able to do harder things is cool. Yes, the practicing part is work, but the concept is something with which I’m familiar from years of piano practice. Stay tuned for more skill development on the mountain bike from yours truly. 🙂

2020 Vision

~ reluctantroadie ~ 5 Comments

Happy New Year, dear readers! I trust that all 5 of you had lovely holidays. 😉 I’m amazed that we’ve hit the year 2020 and still don’t have the ability to apparate, i.e. transport oneself instantaneously, or have access to flying cars. However, with this new year, the temptation to make one of those ubiquitous resolutions is strong and I am currently trying to come up with a resolution (or, at least a challenge) for….mountain biking.

<insert shock, awe, gasps of surprise>

Although this blog started as a training log for my first (and only) double century via road bike, I expanded the scope of the blog to include adventures of all kinds, like hiking, mountain biking, and becoming a cat mom. I have a fancypants mountain bike and in keeping with my penchant for using everything I own, along with pressure from my SAT (i.e. self-appointed trainer, a.k.a. hubby), I’m now officially soliciting ideas for a mountain biking goal. Should that be a weekend bikepacking trip? A challenge ride of 50, 75, 100 miles? Skill development?

Side benefits of increasing my riding include a stronger cardiovascular system, losing a bit of holiday weight, and french fry consumption (the last benefit is the best one, in my opinion). #eyesonthefries

So, chime in, dear readers! What should I consider doing on the mountain bike this year?