Congratulations on choosing mountain biking from a wide variety of summer sports! It is among the fastest-paced, fun-filled, and rewarding of athletic challenges. You might be so excited about digging those new treads into dirt that reading up on a lot of guidelines doesn’t seem important.
Are you getting the new bike “I wants?” Everyone gets these from time to time and some of us get it more than others! It is a natural occurrence with cyclists as new products come to the market with the promise of being the next great design that will make you that great rider you have always wanted to be.
I come across articles on the web…mountain biking related of course…that I really like, so in the future, I will try to share more of those here. If you come across any that you think I would be interested in, pass them along!
The momentum that 29ers create is well documented. On my local trails, the larger diameter wheels are incredible. Locally, almost everything is typical rolling cross country loops with rocks and roots, but there are no major drops or typical “all mountain” riding. The low top tube of the Evolve really gives the bike a lower center of gravity causing you to feel in-between the wheels instead of on top of them.
I read other bike blogs as much as I write on my own. After our regular Tuesday spin this week, we starting talking about blogs over a huge dish of “2 for Tuesday” wings. For me…sharing our life and biking experiences is just as great as the ride itself and with blogging, we are able to share these experiences to a much wider audience than just our dinner tables and trail heads.
I was right on board with the anti 15mm crowd from the beginning. It was actually my first post on this blog. The 15mm axle creates a problem for manufacturers and end users by creating yet another “standard” by which we have to live by. The increases prices and makes replacement parts harder to come by.
Okay, I thought I could avoid this whole “tag” thing. You see, Ron hit me with the dreaded “six things about yourself” tag a couple weeks ago. At the time, I was too busy to respond so I used the convenient excuse that I had been tagged before and that the same six things still applied.
I have seen this once before and I always find it intriguing. Markus Stockl does 210.4 km/h on an Intense in the snow to break the mountain biking speed record. I can’t even imagine going 130.736499 mph on a bike. That is insane and you have to be insane to do it! My hat is off to Markus…that is one hell of a feat.
As you can probably tell by now, we are starting to enjoy the Big Creek Tuesday rides more and more. This week, we ended up sessioning the freeride area over a dozen times. It is really great to see a group of cross country riders dialing in their downhilling skills.
It is truly amazing to watch some of these guys ride. They have the best bike handling skills in the industry. Not too long ago, I did a post on how important practicing your balance is on a bike. These guys have made it an art form.