This is a Big Mountain Riding classic, an event I’ve finished three times, and one that almost finished me at least twice. It is a two-person team event, so I’ve convinced a friend to join me in this mad endeavor. Well, after 10-hours of technical riding, friend may not be the most accurate description of our relationship.
Going forward I will highlight our preparations for this beast-mother of an epic, and will debrief it after the fact. To get started, here is the required gear list for the back country adventure:
Required Gear:
Helmet. (1 per racer)~~~Racers must wear helmets ANY TIME they are riding their bikes. Uphill, Downhill, Gravel Road or Pavement. Racers not wearing a helmet while riding will be DQ’d.
Rain Jacket (1 per racer)~~~ (Plastic Trash bag doesn’t count as a Jacket) Even if it’s 70 degrees and sunny, don’t mess around. I don’t expect anyone to spend the night in the woods… but if you do, you’ll want a jacket. I promise.
Water Filter or Iodine (1 per team) ~~~ For the sake of your stomach, and those that will be around you after the race, DO NOT DRINK DIRECTLY FROM RIVERS OR CREEKS.
Emergency blanket (1 per racer)~~~ See above
Timepiece (1 per team) Watch, cycling computer, telephone, any device with the correct time.
First Aid Kit w/ Gauze, Tape, Ace Bandage, etc. (1 per team)~~~ Be prepared for anything!
Whistle (1 per team)
Lighter (1 per team)~~~ see #2
Compass or GPS unit (1 per team)~~~ What good is a map without a compass?
Red ‘Blinkie’ rear light (1 per racer)~~~ Riders must burn a tail-light anytime they are on pavement or gravel roads, day or night.
Emergency Light Source (Flashlight, LED, etc.) (1 per racer)~~~ There is a good chance your team will be arriving at the start/finish after dark. Bring appropriate lighting to get off the trail.
Can’t you tell how much fun this is going to be just from scanning the list?
Eight hours into the gnarly technicality of the Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race, I’m feeling battered and bounced into oblivion. My Gary Fisher HiFi boasts almost 5-inches of suspension front and back to “float” over the rocks and roots, and I have 27 gears to get me up those steep trails. Yet, inside, I’m begging for mercy. Then some dude on a single-speed bike with no suspension passes me on the next climb. Actually, that would be inaccurate. Most of those singlespeed riders passed me on the first nasty climb of the race. I’ll only see them back at the finish when they’re collecting prizes for taking most of the top spots overall.
How can a single-speeder be faster?
-Momentum: Single-speed riders rely on momentum to move quickly. Because of their one gear, restarting requires a lot of energy, and may take more time than someone with a working drive train. So SSers like to keep rolling once they’re on pace. This is even more true when paired with 29″ wheels, as many SS bikes are. On climbs, the SSer has incentive to keep the hammer down and maintain his momentum. This is easier the faster he pedals. Think of riding in your big chain ring up front. Geared riders often slow down and try to spin in an easier gear on prolonged climbs. Single-speeders will pass them on these climbs if they are rideable. “Momentum’s key for a single-speeder in other ways; keep your momentum on the rolling hills, especially the short steep ones. And truly I’m only working half the time compared to the geared guys. I work on climbs, but every where else I’m drafting off of them and recovering,” says single-speed champion Fuzzy Mylne.
-It’s not the shoes: In Michael Jordan’s heyday, Nike used to run commercials quipping “It’s gotta be the shoes.” Well, those single-speeders that are rocking their way to the podium would be really fast on geared bikes too. Additionally, riding a single-speed bike all day takes a special form of tolerance for discomfort. So does marathon racing. So the SSers are suited to the event.
-The Law of Averages: Successful single-speed riders try to maintain momentum and pace, to make their riding easier. So, if their gearing is higher than the average of your gear switching, and they push that gear to a consistent max, they will outpace you. SSers don’t lose time on shifting, they get up to speed and try to stay at speed. Better single-speed riders adjust their gearing to be as efficient as possible depending on their strengths (spinning versus stomping).
Poor conditions are a chance to gear down to pass up SSers
How to beat single-speeders in an epic event:
-Big Ring – Play to your advantages. One of your biggest is that large chain ring up front. Every chance you have, level trail, slight descent, downhill … run the big ring and crank it hard. Every turn you make in the big ring is an advantage over the single-speeders with their smaller gearing. To win in the battle of average speed, you have to up your average. Pedal in the big ring past the point of pain. If you need inspiration to keep going, look back and see how far back the nearest single-speeder is.
-Granny Gear - Sense a theme? On those long technical climbs, leverage your easier gears to make ground on the single-speeders. Any section that disallows a steady pace (i.e. rock gardens, tight switching climbs, roots) is where you can whip out your granny gear and flog the SSers with it. Soft ground or poor conditions are another place where you can gear down and keep pedaling while the single-speeders walk. This only makes sense if you can up your average speed over the SSers. If you’re spinning away like a mad hamster, and they’re keeping up with you on foot, then you’re not heeding our final tip on beating Single-speed riders:
-Efficiency – Learning to spin efficiently will mean you’re getting the most out of your +20 gears. Shifting at the optimal time leads to less gear grinding and chances for the dreaded chain suck. Keep your drive train in prime condition with lots of TLC. Improve your strength and style so you can push a harder gear on the climbs and save that Granny Gear for super technical and steep stuff.
Thoughts for the trail: Put in the miles, pushing bigger gears and mastering your shifting. Boost your technical skills and stop and start riding skills to take advantage of trail sections that will disrupt SSers momentum. Be ready that local single-speeders will know the trail better than you and will be ready to compensate for the momentum loss. Watch and learn from how they tackle those sections. You can apply it to your riding. Remember, we’re all part of the mountain biking culture, and we all succeed or fail together. So, if you haven’t tried one, get on a single-speed and see what it’s like. SSers, keep pushing the envelope of what we can do on one-geared cycles. I know I’ll continue to see mono-coggers on the podium at epic race events.
Riding with others is safer, can push you to new heights … or can look a lot like what you went to the woods to escape
Story & Photos: Randy King
Riding at night is best with a group or at least with a buddy
For the first time in my mountain biking life I am part of a regular riding group. Over the last year I have ridden with these guys in rain, summer’s heat, by blue light of LED’s and on a misbegotten adventure in the snow. The cast of characters shifts around one central figure, Scott, who recruits and bonds with the rest of us.
In the late ’90’s I came out for a few night group rides. However, they were things of pain and suffering, cut with only slightest companionship. So for years after most of my rides were just me and two wheels.
Yet riding with others makes sense for most big mountain riding, both for safety’s sake, and for the companionship that forms when we share a big adventure. It’s also a great way to get and stay motivated. So, how to keep group rides at their best and minimize the downsides that can spoil everything?
Ingredients for good group rides:
-camaraderie – If it ain’t fun, why do it? The best groups get along well. Or at least well enough to stick together and have some fun. In Active.com, Active Expert Joe Decker, an ultra-endurance power athlete and renowned fitness trainer, says: “Get out of your cubicle, your car or your house and go meet other people that have a common interest just like you. You never know, you might just meet some real friends instead of the ones you find online.”
-competition – If you can’t test yourself against somebody, why do it? Friendly competition is a vital element of mountain biking. It’s a lifestyle where every yard of trail may present a new challenge. It may not matter who gets back to the parking lot first, but great energy will be spent on who can master one log or that 20-foot long rocky section. “Not only are you more motivated to get out of bed and exercise, but there’s the motivation to improve your current fitness level.” says Active Expert, Joe Decker on Active.com. “If you work out with people who are faster, stronger or fitter than you, you are probably going to get in better shape.”
-patience – Group rides are group efforts. The odds are slim of assembling more than 2-3 riders of exactly the same skill level with the same tastes in trail preference. Group rides are about compromise on both ends. The faster riders get to wait for the slower ones, and the slower ones should push themselves to ride faster than they would on their own. Downhill demons will hang out at the bottom for the mortals to descend; climbing freaks get a welcome break at the top while the lung-limited masses claw their way up. A good group adopts the Marine Corps mantra of never leaving a buddy in the field.
-organization – So it’s about compromise. That being said, somebody has to line up the dots to pull the thing off. Especially if it’s an out-of-towner. Ideally the load of logistics will get spread around. And the rest of the group should comply by being on time for rides, bringing along their own food, common repair items, and adequate clothing, safety equipment, etc. On the trail someone has to pick the route – if you’re blessed with a trail system with more than one loop. Share the load, or keep the complaints to a minimum.
-variety – shake things up a bit. Go for out-of-towners, ride the same-old loop the other direction, mix in night rides. Invite new folks. Few mountain bikers enjoy doing the same lap every time. Have somebody else lead the ride if the normal leader is feeling burnt out. We don’t ride mountain bikes because we love predictability. If you’re getting burnt out on mountain biking, than I say drive somewhere – it doesn’t have to be far – and point your knobbies down a trail you haven’t rode. It will remind you of why you love this fat-tired fad. And, if you have a strong group that likes riding together, start planning your trip to a mountain biking Mecca. When my brother and I were in Moab in 2007, we shared our campground with a big group from CO. They were a Tuesday night ride group that had grown and bonded and now made multi-day trips to places like Moab to ride together. Those folks knew about camaraderie! Watching them jump their blazing bonfire to the tune of their own guitar music made me envious of such a tight-knit riding group.
Spoilers for group rides:
-selfishness - Group rides are not about stomping the rest of the group into submission or surrender. Nor are they about being the center of attention. They are about the group and everybody having a good time. Riders who are always dragging the group along at a lung-searing pace, or those who are dragging the end of the line all the time should consider finding another group. If you’re all friends then you should ride at a compromise pace. That’s what friends do.
-unfriendliness - Nobody likes a jerk. Just because someone’s the best rider doesn’t mean they have the right to rebuff the rest of the group. These are the people who may be carrying you out of the woods if something goes wrong. Save the attitude for race day. Be friendly, get others interested in our sport. Like we learned in grade school, it takes less effort to smile than to frown.
-unsafe practices – I know, it’s an unsafe sport, so what is an “unsafe practice”? It’s relative, but riders who put others in danger don’t belong in a group ride. Danger comes in many different packages. Consistently riding beyond personal abilities, riding poorly-maintained equipment, not wearing a helmet, taking the group on trails that exceed the experience of group members, not waiting for the slow riders, bailing out without telling anybody, etc. A good group ride depends on the right people. If you’re in with the wrong folks, find yourself a new group. If you’re guilty of some the above, then now is the time to turn over a new leaf.
-poor planning – No big deal, right? And so it might be on a 1-2 hour friendly. However, it gets serious fast when somebody has a mechanical failure or breaks a bone several miles from the nearest road and nobody has any tools or a working cell phone, or has told anybody where they are or when the ride should wrap-up. When it comes to planning, the old proverb rings true: a stitch in time saves nine.
I definitely recommend riding with others as part of your time on two wheels. When you’re out with a bunch of amigos, remember to have fun and be safe. Patience, organization and variety are keys to making that happen. Happy Trails!
Group rides in Lynchburg, VA: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday @ Winngate Inn on Candler’s Mountain Road. Park in the lot to the right of the entrance. Usually a 2-2.5 hour ride, medium pace.
Come up for some air and solitude - See the high country in a different guise
Story & Photos:Randy King
Winter is not a wonderland for most mountain bikers. The altitudes we love are prone to snow and wicked winds. Bicycles meet their match in crusty snow or on icy rocks. Fortunately, winter doesn’t have to mean we all transform into pudgy sofa pilots or pasty-skinned gym rats. Here are five activities that will keep your trail riding skills sharp when the weather turns cold and wet:
Alpine skiing – Hones your skills through speed, line selection, and leg strength. A day on the boards will work out your quads and sharpen your eyes for reading terrain. The speeds involved (up to and over 60 mph) exceed those of downhill mountain biking, and your friendly terrain park will give you more chances for air than any mountain bike trail. A true carved turn will haunt you with its beauty and flow. Tips: Spring for a lesson or two. It is worth it. If you fall for the sport, used equipment can help you save big. Downside: expensive both in equipment and pay per play.
Cross-country skiing – Builds muscle, endurance and cardio strength. Did you see the Nordic ski competitions at the Olympics? This ain’t your granddad’s way of getting to the one-room schoolhouse. Pain lovers can build phenomenal strength and endurance on the skinny’s. Buy a pair of skis and the special boots and find a snowy forest service road or field. You’re making the rules. No lift lines, no lift tickets, and you have to make it up every hill under your own power. Or get involved in local races if you need the competition. Tips: Packed down trails are easier for the beginner. The buddy system can save you (0r at least your toes) if something goes wrong far from home. Downside: Only practical where the snow stays on the ground for awhile, and it ain’t as glamorous [or easy] as it looks
Cyclocross – To paraphrase Jack Nicholson’s Dr. Buddy Rydell in the Adam Sandler masterpiece Anger Management: In Europe as many as a hundred men often race their skinny-tired bikes through the winter woods in a cyclocross event. Most of us would voice Sandler’s sentiment verbatim: “That’s why I’m proud to be an American.” However, this masochistic sport will get you outdoors on a bike in winter, and will force you to consider traction and bike carrying in a new light. Not for the faint of lung or legs. Tips: You can get the flavor of the sport using your current ride by racing a Mountain Cross event, or see if a cyclocross event will let your compete on your mountain bike. Downside: Hard to find local events, may mean buying another special-purpose bike.
Floating atop VA's Little Rocky Row Mountain
Snowshoeing – Like XC skiing, snowshoeing is easy enough to learn. A pair of big feet, some snow and you’re on your way. You push yourself as hard as you want. If you live in areas with deep snow, a pair of snowshoes will open up a whole world of exploration. A great way to seek out solitude. I’ll never forget ’shoeing down a gentle ridgeline atop two-feet of drifted powder, in the silence of a snowy day on a side trail. What a peaceful sensation. Downside: Need sufficient snow to make it worth the effort. ‘Shoes take up a lot of storage space.
When Quinn the Eskimo gets here ...
Winter biking – When all else fails, get on your bike and ride. The roads are cleared first, so you can risk your life and limbs road riding on narrow roads. Or you can try to make your way on your local trails. Your success will depend a lot on the type of snow that covers your trails. Studded tires and tire chains may help with forward momentum and turning, but it’s not going to feel like the same thing as flowing a nice packed single track trail. Downside: wear and tear on your drive train, hard on you.
However you chose to do it, just do it. Get outdoors and stay active. You’ll be glad you did when you get back on the trails and begin prepping for the season or your next big adventure.
We can agree that the best training for riding your bike is to ride your bike. And for big mountain riders, practicing for events that are often 80 to 100-miles in distance, and require more than 10-hours of saddle time, putting in many hours on the bike is a requirement. But for large swaths of the country, it’s no-go weather outside right now. How do you stay fit and strong without burning out on riding in the cold, or when the weather and the early winter evenings refuse to comply with your plans for a two-wheeled workout?
If you have access to a gym or to free weights, you can not only stay in shape, but build muscles that will have your back on the big mountain rides of the warmer months coming. Here are a few of my favorite cross-training activities, and how they apply to mountain bike riding:
From Livestrong.com
Swimming
Swimming is a whole-body workout. If you think you get the munchies after a few hours of hard trail riding, wait till you swim a half-mile or more. You will be craving carb’s. The water can help you build cardio endurance with underwater swimming, exercise your whole body with different strokes, or burn fat with low-intensity laps. Using just your legs, you can isolate those pedaling muscles. When back floating, you can mimic the exact movement of spinning. I like swimming the length of the pool in one breath, and the crawl stroke – the first for building cardio and mental strength, the second for burning calories and a whole-body workout.
However, for cross-training I focus on muscle groups that may not get worked out every ride. These include my upper body and arms, and core muscles. For all of the following exercises, I go for higher reps with less weight, since I am aiming for more endurance and muscle tone than for bulk. I usually do three sets of 20 reps of each exercise.
Upper body
Many cyclists don’t dwell on upper body strength. However, those muscles that have probably embarrassed most of us the most over the years are important to technical riding and to big mountain riding, with its long hours and laissez faire trail conditions. ◊Shrugs – using dumb bells or bar bells, stand up with your arms hanging straight down. Lift the weights by shrugging your shoulders. Try to lift with just the shoulder muscles, not your back. You can work your way up to more reps as you go, or to more weight. Works the trapezius muscles and is great for helping heave the bike over trail obstacles, or to snap the front end back on line during sketchy descents. ◊ Lat lifts – Your Latissimus Dorsi muscles or Lats, contribute to lofting that front wheel over an obstacle at speed, or to pumping your bike through the trail. You can work them out by using two dumb bells and raising your arms straight up from beside your thighs to shoulder height. My favorite though is to use a bar bell and, grasping it at handlebar width with arms extended, hold it just slightly lower than straight out from my chest. Then I pull back till the bar almost touches my chest near shoulder height.
Arms
Forearm curl: Pull up on those bars!
◊Forearm curls – Your forearms are the nearest muscle of any size controlling your handlebars. They also are inline to take the shock of many crashes. Working with a dumb bell, curl your arm at the wrist, contracting and extending. Do reps in both directions – working the top and bottom of your forearm. See illustration.
◊Bicep curls - The old standard. True, if you’re built like most mountain bikers, you’ll never have guns big enough to grab attention in public. But the biceps are key to controlling and powering the front end during rough downhills and through rock gardens, or when you need to lift the bike in one hand, etc. When the going gets rough, it’s time to put the guns to use, and you’ll be glad that you have paid attention to your biceps. This exercise can be done free-standing or with a curl bench to really isolate the biceps.
Core
Because of its central location, it is important to properly develop your core both for overall strength to allow you to work the rest of your body, and for balance and control aboard your bike. It’s hard to overwork the core muscles.
It's even called a "bicycle" crunch - of course it's good for riders!
◊ Bicycle crunches – one of the best according to the American Council on Exercise’s study to determine the most effective ab exercises. A personal favorite.
1. Lie face up on the floor and lace your fingers behind your head.
2. Bring the knees in towards the chest and lift the shoulder blades off the ground without pulling on the neck.
3. Straighten the left leg out while simultaneously turning the upper body to the right, bringing the left elbow towards the right knee.
4. Switch sides, bringing the right elbow towards the left knee.
5. Continue alternating sides in a ‘pedaling’ motion for 12-16 reps.
Prepare for pain! The Captain's Chair
◊ Captain’s Chair leg lifts – another great isolator of the ab muscles. As you gain strength and control, you can pump this exercise up with a medicine ball held between your feet or knees, or by slowing down your lift and extending the hold time. I try for a five-second hold at the top of the lift.
1. Stand on chair and grip handholds to stabilize your upper body.
2. Press your back against the pad and contract the abs to raise the legs and lift knees towards your chest.
3. Don’t arch the back or swing the legs up.
4. Slowly lower back down and repeat for 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps.
These are just a few of the many exercises that you can do at home or in the gym to improve your riding. Watch for a future article on mountain bike-specific calisthenics, or workouts without weights. Meanwhile, stay fit, get strong, and dream of dryer days when the trails flow and you have the endurance to ride all day and night!
A simple, shocking fact is that, all too many times, one second makes all the difference. Sickeningly, we are usually never aware which second is that second until it’s too late. We say we’d love to go back and relive whole chunks of our lives, so that we could make different choices. Yet really, if we could relive less than a minute or two of key seconds, we could change so much.
Cold creek crossing on Candler's Mountain
This was brought home yet again for me on Saturday’s friendly at Liberty University’s Liberty Mountain Trail System. Mid-ride, we headed back to Five Points for a rendezvous with a friend.
Our amigo Ricardo, ever searching for the perfect bike, immediately asked if he could try out her 29-er Specialized hard tail. He jumped on her bike and took off up Rogues Gallery trail while the rest of us chatted about where we’d head next.
A minute may have passed, and then Richard began yelling from around the bend in the trail. We were bemused. However, his tone grew more strident, and Scott said “We’d better go find out.”
Just as I approached the log crossing and saw the bike lying twisted on the other side, Scott rode back and reported, “He says he broke his arm.”
As indeed he had. Broke it in such a way that he needed surgery to ensure it would reset properly.
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In the late ’90s a friend and I were visiting family in the hilly suburbs of Knoxville, TN. We borrowed two mountain bikes and as we rolled them out of the garage, I thought to warn my friend of the powerful grab of the V-brakes, but then I remembered that she had a bike with V’s. We started off down the hill and within seconds she was lying on the ground, bleeding from deep cuts to the face and hands from a too-hard brake pull.
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The summer following my senior of high school my dad and I were putting a new roof on a lake house and our boss left us in the evening with the instructions that we didn’t need to finish off the job that day. Dad kept on pushing, though, because a storm was rolling in and he wanted to get to a certain point before the rain. Tired, teen-aged and harassed by the onslaught of pre-rain mosquitoes, I badgered him for his stubbornness. Finally the rain arrived, and we struck the scene. I scrambled off the roof, and had to grab at the eaves as the ladder slid a bit on the slick deck below. Eager to depart, and angry that we had tarried so long, I didn’t offer a warning of the precarious ladder, and moments later I heard the crash and yell of pain. Broken ribs and bruised lungs resulted.
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In both of these cases mere seconds made the difference. However, two things can help us better the outcomes of these crucial seconds. Read more…
Debriefing the Big Mountain Riding 30 ‘n 30 Challenge
"They's folks as ain't come back from them hills, sonny."- From ride 23 'n 23
I haven’t been on my bike in a week and a half. I’m taking some time off following December 30. That’s when I rode home in the light of the full moon, finishing off the 30 ‘n 30 Challenge. The next day we hosed off my brother-in-law’s bike and gave it the TLC it had long needed. The day after that I arrived back in Virginia, to freezing temps and snow on the shaded side of everything.
Happy cows come from California
The Big Mountain Riding 30 ‘n 30 Challenge threw down the gauntlet for 30 rides of at least 30-minutes in 30 days. Unfortunately, the challenge started on Nov. 30. I pedaled in the snow; I pedaled in freezing rain. I pedaled in the dark and against the wind. I pedaled on Christmas Eve and Christmas. I pedaled on opposite sides of the country, in six trail systems and two neighborhoods. By traveling to California to see family for Christmas, I dodged the biggest snow in 10-years at home. I rode with my 50-something friends, I rode with my 12-year old nephew; I rode a lot by myself. Animals encountered included deer, rabbits, turkeys, buzzards, hawks, owls, cows and coyotes. I rode pavement, sidewalks, gravel roads, drainage ditches, doubletrack, singletrack, cow trails and cross country. I broke a few regulations along the way, and alarmed a few cows. Damages incurred included a new fork for my bike Jack Rabbit Slim, brakes for my brother-in-law’s bike, poison oak and a head cold for me.
In the 30-days, I rode +/- 150 miles and put in a work week on the bike, logging 39-hours in close proximity to my trusty steeds. Among my California relatives I’m the guy who rides bikes, and this holiday season solidified that stereotype.
Moments I will remember include: catching a coyote on his way home from a night of naughtiness in Hayward, CA’s Garin Park, railing the teeter-totter at Danville, VA’s Anglers Ridge, taking my nephew on his first mountain bike ride, encountering a red-tail hawk on the hillside at Lynchburg’s Blackwater Creek, the eye-watering full-speed doubletrack descent into Garin Park from Bailey Ranch Road, soldiering through the ice rain at Candler’s Mountain at dusk, the final ride home with my moon shadow stretching behind me like the 30 ‘n 30 challenge.
"Some of dem trails down in der woods is's slick as snot." - From ride 17 'n 17
This challenge provided a hearty serving of both learning and self-awareness.
1. It takes time and willpower to ride every day. Sounds obvious, but as the daylight bleeds away around 5 p.m. in December, procrastinators will run out of time. And time aside, you’ve got to push yourself to go out and ride. Nike has it right. Just do it.
2. Bikes are beautiful. What an instrument for speed and harmony. It’s an extension of your body, but not part of you. And on a sweeping curve of a narrow trail through the woods … what could provide more feeling of flow?
3. We’re trashing our planet – even if we aren’t killing it. Ironically – given that I was only able to access these hills for 30-minute sound bites because of all the roads and cars – I was saddened by all the garbage and scars we leave on this land. Roads reaching into every solitary place, litter lining even the smallest of foot paths. We are creatures of destruction.
4. Mountain bikers live on variety, so vary your rides. Riding every day means some duplication. However, most of us would quickly lose interest if we continually had to ride the same trail in the same conditions. Seasons change, leaves and trees fall, rain makes mud, sun makes dust. All this and so much more means that even the same trail differs on different days. I sought out various trail systems and different routes, yet I wish I would have ridden even more places, like VA’s Sherando Lake SP and CA’s Lake Chabot RP.
5. Take care of yourself and your stuff to extend the miles. One of the biggest lessons of the challenge was when we looked up the manual online and took apart the Manitou Axel fork on my brother-in-law’s bike. With a few hours of time and a $10 bottle of fork oil, we revived that fork and saved a couple hundred bucks. A little more frequent cleaning and more lubing can cut down on those costly repair bills. In the same way, stretching, eating right and cross training means more and more enjoyable miles. This was brought home on my first day in Garin Park after a year of eating better, more exercise and more time on the bike. I immediately noticed the increase in skill and power.
Now that the 30 ‘n 30 Challenge is complete, I am already thinking of the next challenge. Initially, I had thought of just letting the 30 ‘n 30 roll into the 365 ‘n 365. However, I chickened out and am looking for something different. Hmm. Ideas anyone?
"Must think it ain't hard enough as is, 'cause they done built a bunch of crap in the woods." From Ride 13 'n 13
Ride 30 ‘n 30 – About as “all climb” as one can get. 1-hour 10-minute, 4.4 miles back through Garin Park from the Zeile Creek entrance to the Bailey Ranch exit and up the hill home. Riding into the woods at Zeile Creek at dusk went against my better sense. I was hoping any lurking mountain lion wouldn’t be a fan of the Subway club sandwich I had in my back pocket. Once I cleared the damp dark of the woods (without popping on the head light – though I did sing a bit out loud) the nostalgia hit early. I would miss this purpose of riding my bike every day. And I’d miss the odd beauty of Garin Park – we were to fly out East the following day. I stopped at the saddle where the jeep road heads uphill toward Bailey Ranch Drive. In the light of the full moon I ate the rest of the sandwich and let my eyes adjust enough to see my moon shadow. In the midst of a park with cows grazing and wild pigs rustling in the canyons as well as wild turkeys roosting in trees, I ate my club – roast beef, ham and turkey – sandwich and was not slaughtered or banished from what was now, in the dark, their domain. Then I got on my bike and made my way up that hill one last time. The moon stretched my faint shadow out behind me and ahead I saw the warm lights of home. Part of me wanted to turn around and ride all night in that other and colder ghostly light.
See the rest of the rides below …
Garin Park's bald hills
The Big Mountain Riding Thirty in Thirty challenge:
30 rides of at least 30-minutes in 30 days. Inspired by an interview with Mark Wier on the Fox Racing Riders web site, it started as a goal of riding seven consecutive days. And then, while tooling through the wet woods on day 3, I scoffed at how mundane that was and upped the ante. 30 days. And I knew already that those days included Christmas, coast-to-coast travel, and a few other minor obstacles – not to mention the weather. Things got rough quickly, with three rides in the cold rain within the first week of the challenge and snow flurries and iced-over puddles along the trails on some days. Ah, but other days were sunny and in the 50’s. And on one Tuesday night we rode for more than 20-minutes without lights, rolling in the luminescent glow of the full moon. Another day I saw a red-tailed hawk take flight off of a behemoth fallen tree on a steep side hill. The challenge moved to California, and I encountered a coyote creeping back home in the early morning, and heard owls hooting at dusk
These are the moments that I sought with the 30 ‘n 30 challenge. Those “pocket miracles,” contained little moments of wonder and delight that only come to the work-a-day biker, spinning the cranks regardless of the weather. The 30 ‘n 30 plan had other benefits. In an epic race one rides rain or shine. See the 2009 Middle Mountain Momma XXC race. So riding regardless of the weather is good training. Additionally, I want to make a living (or something) writing and talking and riding bikes. As anybody who puts in miles by themselves in the woods knows, it’s a great place to think. New story ideas, union with the bike, increased skills.
However, is there such a thing as too much of a good thing? And would this be too much too late in the year? The play-by-play follows. You can read the post-challenge debrief here.
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1 ‘n 1: 45-minutes in the cold rain at Lynchburg’s Peaks View Park, solo, riding the perimeter. Weight after ride – 174 lbs.
2 ‘n 2: 2-hours in the moonlight at Lynchburg’s Liberty Mountain Trail System on Candler’s Mountain , group ride, Lower Dam to Five Points to DH trail to Paw-Paw to fire road to Powerline hill to fire road to Great Escape to Rogue’s Gallery to Horton’s Loop to Five Points to Upper Dam and out.
3 ‘n 3: 1-hour 10-minutes in the cold rain at Candler’s / Liberty Mountain, solo, U. Dam to Monorail to Peak-to-Peak to Five Points to fire road to Bobsled to climb DH trail to Five Points to L. Dam and out. Weight after ride 171 lbs.
4 ‘n 4: 1-hour 10-minutes solo in the sun and wind at Bedford County’s Falling Creek park. Parked at Turkey Hill, followed the race course out to White Rock Hill and the Slickrock trail. Did the Ridge Loop with Fat Albert and then Creekside, came out and rode back to Deer Trail, connected with Piney Ridge Trail and rode back on Turkey Hill trail. Weight after ride 171 lbs. Resting heart rate: 64.
5 ‘n 5: 1-hour 10-min. 6-mile solo in good, cool weather at Lynchburg’s Blackwater Creek Recreation Area. Took the Rail-to-Trail (R2T) to Creekside Trail and back to R2T to cut over to the Daura Rd trail. Did a short right loop on Sticks & Stones trail and back to R2T to the connector back to the Creekside Trail near the crest. Out on the “new” climb back to the R2T. Seen: Red hawk taking flight over creek valley, whitetail deer, one mad Kung Fu squirrel whose air walking chops would turn Jackie Chan green.
6 ‘n 5: 35-min., 3.25-mile solo at Candler’s / Liberty Mountain. 2,000′ of climbing. Started at Ridge Top Rd T.H. DH Trail to Bobsled to Paw Paw to Fire Rd almost to the top of Powerline hill to Bobsled Trail and back to T.H. Weight after ride 171 lbs. Resting heart rate: 64.
7 ‘n 6: 35-minutes solo neighborhood ride in the icy mix. Car struggles to start. Jack Rabbit Slim (the bike) is ready to roll. 3.6-miles, 500′ climbing. Mostly sprinting up the hill from the soccer field at the YMCA. Rode the drainage ditch on the way down – or attempted to. Thought I had it on the final run. 5-yards from the end, the front wheel stops like it’s planted. Back wheel comes up, I go forward, perch on the top tube, balancing one-wheeled, trying not to fixate on all the “so sharp! So hard!” rocks lurking all around. Bike falls back and I fall sideways, unable to unclip my right foot from the pedal. No rocks struck, though. Woo-hoo!
8 ‘n 7: 3.5-hours at Candler’s / Liberty Mountain. 9.9 miles, +/- 3,000′ climbing, group ride. Climbed Peak to Peak’s north face in the snow, coming up from Five Points. Lots of “just try it” moments and crashing on log rides, slippery descents, etc. Rode the dam again. A new bruise or two, a new raw spot on my shin.
9 ‘n 8: 30-minutes solo on Blackwater’s Sticks & Stones on a cold, sunny day. 2.03 miles.
10 ‘n 9: 50-minutes, 3.9-miles solo at Candler’s / Liberty Mountain in the 35° rain. Upper Dam to Five Points to Bobsled to climb up Downhill trail back to Five Pt’s. Lower Dam back out in the last wisps of light. Soaked from feet to thighs from tire spray.
11 ‘n 10: 1-hour, 4.2-miles solo at Candler’s / Liberty Mountain. 45° and sunny with water running everywhere from the rain. A Trail Too Far to Hydaway Rd, back up to the lower end of Blind Faith and then down to Lake Trail before cutting over mid-point to A Trail Too Far. ATF was a running stream in sections. Saw a whitetail running.
12 ‘n 11: 30-minutes solo at Peaks View Park. 40° and sunny with the trails drying out. TH 1 to TH 2 via Rollercoaster trail. Then the climb on Rockpile Trail. Back out to TH 1. Across the park to ride the drop down to the creek from the disc golf course. Almost savaged by a standard poodle who thought it was Kujo.
13 ‘n 13: 4-hour group ride at Danville, VA’s Angler’s Ridge, 15.5 miles of twists and turns and the occasional slick patch. 40° and partly sunny. We were plagued by mechanical issues – a flat tire, a broken chain, shifting issues, tweaked drive trains, etc. Still nobody got hurt, and that was good considering a few of the spills. Hit a teeter totter that was short and steep and pretty intimidating rolling in.
14 ‘n 14: 1-hour solo ride at Candler’s / Liberty Mountain. Sun had just broken out after a morning of icy rain. The trails on the front side U and L Dam and DH, were awash with running water. Cold day too, with temps in the high 30’s.
15 ‘n 15: The half-way point of the 30 ‘n 30 Challenge! 1-hour solo ride at Candler’s / Liberty Mountain. Gorgeous “warm” day, sunny with temps in the 50’s. U Dam to Luge Trail – Hike-a-bike up to Monogram Rd. Then, a grueling pedal up Peak-to-Peak to the top of the Monogram. Made it! Down the always-fun Psycle Pathe, all the way to the bottom. Connected to Alternate Flight Pattern up and out to Monogram Rd. Peak-to-Peak over the next ridge. Across the fire road and down Monorail. Lost it on the wet switch backs and bombed down through the woods to U Dam and out. Tomorrow’s supposed to be in the 60’s! Then the challenge shifts to Cali.
16 ‘n 16: 40-min solo ride at Candler’s / Liberty Mountain. Repeat of 15 ‘n 15. Without the trail repair stop.
17 ‘n 17: The initial California ride. A fun and relaxing solo foray into the woods at Hayward, CA’s Garin Regional Park. Mostly stuck to singletrack, and it was rewarding to see what a year of frequent riding has done for my skills in negotiating slick and twisty singletrack. Approximately 8-miles with +/- 1,400-feet of climbing.
18 ‘n 18: California cow trails. 2.5-hour solo with some free-form navigating from point to point. Missing the full sussy with the new Fox front-end on these hoof-trodden cow paths. Rode past a buzzard skeleton, what goes around … Approximately 8.6-miles with +/- 1,200-feet of climbing.
19 ‘n 19: Some rough-shod fire roads and cattle-cut singletrack. 1.5-hour solo with some free-form navigating down the steep side of a bald hill. Really wish I had the full sussy here (whine, whine, whine) or a 29-er. Approximately 7.9-miles with +/- 1,000-feet of climbing.
20 ‘n 20: Quick out-and-back sally to Garin Park 45-minute solo morning ride. Saw a coyote slinking back from a night of coyote-ish debauchery and devilry. 4.6-miles with +/- 400-feet of climbing.
21 ‘n 21: 35-minutes solo ride, 4.8-miles, racing the sun back to home base. Garin Park in the cool dusk. +/- 600-feet of climbing.
22 ‘n 22: 35-minutes solo grind around the neighborhood in the cold, windy rain – in the dark. Punching the clock. Luckily, didn’t get nailed by a car in the fog.
23 ‘n 23: 1-hour solo exploration around the neighborhood and then dove into Garin Park to rustle up another coyote and find a calf skull on a cow trail. Beautiful sunny day, but windy. 5.8-miles.
24 ‘n 24 - Rode a new downhill route from Bailey Ranch entrance to Zeile Creek exit. 6-miles on Christmas eve. Then it was all uphill back home. What a hill climb. 700-feet vertical from the bottom back to the top.
25 ‘n 25 - 1-hour ride with my nephew Ajay. Downhill in Garin Park to Zeile Creek exit. Then the shuttle car picked him up and I rode back up to Bailey Ranch and out by myself.His first real mountain bike ride. Not sure he was a big fan.
26 ‘n 26 – 30-min solo morning commute to Garin Park. Hit the first rise and circuited the hill on cow track. 3.6 miles. Back in time to kick off the tourism for the day. A trip out to Point Reyes – a real wow-er. Got in even more exercise there with a mile run and a 300-step stair climb up from the light house.
27 ‘n 28 – 30-min. solo in the neighborhood. In the dark and rain. Getting back on the wagon.
28 ‘n 29 – 1-hour race against dusk in Garin Park. XC’d over to Newt Pond Trail and then up and out to the Bailey Ranch Rd. entrance. 5.9 miles. Just me, the owls and the cows.
29 ‘n 30 – A 30-min. DH bomb run of 4-miles through Garin Park and then climbing out Zeile Creek entrance to Dobbel Ave. and over to the Subway by the Cal State East Bay campus. Ate some energy there, watching the bike the entire time to make sure no one pedaled off with my brother-in-law’s ride.
What makes an out-of-town trail sparkle? Should we seek out new trails, or keep our footprint small and ride local?
I’m out of town, visiting family near where mountain biking was born. In northern California I’m able to ride out the front door and be at the trail head of a 5,000-acre park within 5-minutes. Once inside the park I can challenge myself on singletrack designed and maintained by cows, or man-made sidehill trails that dizzy the rider with the vertigo-inducing steep hillside dropping away below. Within an hour or two’s drive are some legendary trails, like Mount Tam and Santa Cruz.
Teetering on the totter at Danville, VA's Angler's Ridge trails
Before heading out to Cali, I wanted to get in an out-of-town ride with our weekly ride group. We headed south an hour, to Danville, VA, and hit the Angler’s Ridge Trails for a day of fun and flow. We are already talking about a trip up to the sharp-edged rock gardens of Sherando Lake State Park and a weekender to Pisgah National Forest in the spring.
Many people have to drive an hour to set their fat tires on good singletrack. However, I live within 12-minutes of a 60-mile trail system. So, why do we mountain bikers always seek out different places to ride? I think it’s a form of A.D.D. We like trying different things – that’s why we ride on trails, with all their varying surfaces and terrain, instead conformed ribbons of pavement. So, getting off of home turf and trying something new feeds off of a basic need in mountain biking. The need for variety.
So, enjoy your local trails and get to know them well. After all, it’s your home turf. However, also take the time to get out and try something different. You won’t believe how it will improve your riding and inspire you to keep on riding.
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On those long technical climbs, leverage your easier gears to make ground on the single-speeders. Any section that disallows a steady pace (i.e. rock gardens, tight switching climbs, roots) is where you can whip out your granny gear and flog the SSers with it. Soft ground or poor conditions are another place where you can gear down and keep pedaling while the single-speeders walk. This only makes sense if you can up your average speed over the SSers. If you’re spinning away like a mad hamster, and they’re keeping up with you on foot, then you’re not heeding our final tip on beating Single-speed riders:
