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?
reluctantroadie 
Make it a technical MTB goal! Instead of distance, it will develop long term confidence. Do the endurance/distance stuff next year. ☺️
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I actually LIKE the endurance stuff! But, I see your point. How do *you* go about developing mtb skills? Do you just get out there and try stuff over and over? Or, do you have a more systematic method?
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A good clinic will give you a strong foundation to start with. Then ride! Keep trying the stuff that challenges you. Give obstacles a few tries before moving on. Pick trails that are slightly out of your comfort zone. Most times we do better than we imagine we can. Of course loving endurance rides will help as well because more trail time gets you in tune with your bike and how to work with it. 😉
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I want to work on technical skills too! Like you, I enjoy pedaling my bike and riding lots of miles which means I tend to stick to trails I know, and that I don’t slow down to really work on sections that challenge me. I just kind of hope I’ll do it better the next time.
I like the idea of choosing some challenging sections of trails that we already know. I had really been doing this on the Javelina trail after I did a clinic last spring. I would try the same feature several times, until it felt like diminishing returns, then I would move on down (or up) the trail. But I’ve gotten a bit lazy and I have just been walking through my challenges on that trail lately.
Let’s pick something to work on! We can beat ourselves up on the technical terrain at South Mountain on Saturdays, then reward ourselves on Sundays with a 20 mile pedal fest on the sweet flowing trails at Brown’s Ranch. Boom! Weekend plans made for the next 3 months! Just kidding. Kind of.
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