Mountain Bike Ride Report:

What a wonderful evening for a ride!  It was a mid-Spring day at it’s finest, and just about ideal for playing in the woods.  In spite of the rain on Monday night, the trail conditions were excellent. 

We had a small group, and no real novices, so we went for it a rode the whole thing.  A lot of shouting and laughter were the hallmarks of this particular evening.  Seven adults, acting like great big kids, made for a great and fun time.

We are going to continue this.  Note Changes:

Dates:  Ride will still be on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.

Location:  Still at the BSC

New Starting Time:  We’ll try 6:30 PM for now.
Ride Will cancel for rain, or muddy trail conditions.  We'll make our decision on ride day, and post cancellations (if any) on the South Side Cycling Club Calendar.  Cancellations will post by 5:00 P.M. on ride days.

Hope to see more of you out there.  This is fun!

Playing in the woods

HAPPY JUBILATION!  GOOD SPRING TO YOU ALL!

Yesterday was the day.  Despite the cloud cover and the cooler temps, in fact because of them, we had us one good afternoon at the Baseball-Soccer Complex Trails.

We’re talking about our Novice Mountain Bike Ride.  I’d say we had three novices, a half-novice, and three riders with some level of skills.  That was a pretty good mix.  (For those of you who were there, you figure out who was who!)

  The trails were sweet.  The recent rain only left us with about three mud-holes.  One of those was strategically placed to make the good log crossing interesting.  And yes, we chickened out on the one really messy section.

We started off easy, riding the “outer loop” a couple of times.  This lets folks get their legs and find their balance.  Then, if folks are feeling good, and it seems called for, we’ll move to the inner loop, and a really fun series of gully crossing obstacles.  Yesterday was one of those good days.  Lots of shouting and laughing.  Lots of screams.  No one fell, and no one got hurt.  (Although the day wouldn’t be complete without at least one member coming up with some fresh scrapes.)

What is the allure?  Why would a group of grown men and women jump on bicycles and go ride in the woods?  Whole bunches of folks have pondered that question.  I can only submit my own answer here.  Because it’s fun!

One of our group summed it up well.  At the end of the trip, she said,  “It’s scary.  It’s challenging.  You’re right, it’s all about adrenaline.  I think I did better than before.  Wow did I have fun!”

This was the last these events on our Winter schedule.  We’ll be shifting to the Spring/Summer Schedule in April.  The next of the Novice MTB Rides will be on April 12, at 6:00 P.M.  From then on, we’ll be doing these on the 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday nights of the month.  We’ll still use the Baseball-Soccer Complex.  No ride if raining.  Wet trails may cancel too.  Helmets a must.  And bring a mountain bike.  Honest, you can not do this on a hybrid, comfort bike, or any kind of road bike.  (But it might be fun for us to watch you try.)

Mountain Biking 101: Preparations

The two most reliable ways to annoy your fellow riders are 1) show up late for a ride and expect folks to wait on you while you fumble around.   2)  Be that rider who is always shouting  “Wait!” because you dropped something, or something fell off of your bike.

A third widely recognized method of aggravating riding companions (and yourself) is to suffer from easily avoidable “mechanicals.”

How are we to avoid these pitfalls?  Actually, it’s not hard.  The key is preparation and post ride action.

Think of it like this, your ride starts the day before.  That’s when you begin your preparations.  Go over your bike.  Make sure that everything is on it, and it all works.  Check to be sure that everything is working, and it’s all secured.  Then prepare and assemble the rest of your gear, in one place, ready to go.  Here’s the day before checklists.

Bike:

• Clean enough
• Tires holding air
• Chain lubed
• Driveline working (shifting up and down correctly in all gears, front and rear)
• Saddle secure and at correct height
• Handle bars not loose
• Steering free and correct (not binding and no “clunks”)
• Brakes working, front and rear
• Accessories all firmly attached and working (Under seat pack, Lights, bells, bottle cages, etc.  If it’s connected to your bike, check it!)

Support Gear:

• Pump ready (near bike)
• Helmet hung with bike
• Water bottles (or back pack reservoir) clean and filled with fresh water.  (Okay, go ahead and put this stuff with the bike now!)
• Batteries charged (if you are going on a night ride)
• Tools (inventoried and in under seat pack)
• Spares (tubes, patches, and anything else you use) inventoried and stowed correctly
• FOOD (enough said?)
• Ride clothing, shorts, jersey, gloves, jacket, socks, glasses, etc. (go ahead and lay it all out now.)
• After ride clothing  (You really don’t want to keep wearing your riding clothes for longer than necessary, do you?)

One more thing.  Timing.  Arrive a bit early.  Give yourself some time to unload your bike, pump tires, check and stow your gear properly, and do it all well before the agreed upon ride time.

After the Ride:  We mentioned Post Ride Action.  This is it.  Consider this to be part of the ride.  Do these things as soon as you get home, and you’re already on the way to being ready for the next ride.

• Clean the bike.
• Inspect tires for foreign objects, thorns etc, cuts, or other damage.
• Lube the chain
• Check bearings, wheels, brakes, shifting.  If something needs attention, or repair, go ahead and make the arrangements now.
• Empty and rinse out bottles or back pack reservoir, and hang to dry now.
• Get that clothing into the wash
• Inventory and replenish any tools, spares, and supplies used
• Clean it, Inspect it, fix it, replace it, put it away, and do it now.

 One last note:  The last of our Winter Series of Novice Mountain Bike Rides is this coming Sunday, 2:00 PM, at the Peachtree City Baseball Soccer Complex.  These rides will become a regular weeknight event in April.

Today’s Term(s):

yard sale n. (from skiing) a horrendous crash that leaves all your various "wares" -- water bottles, pump, tool bag, etc. -- scattered as if on display for sale.

Mechanical  any problem with the bike, (flats, bad shifting, brake failures, something coming loose) that stops your ride.

Taco  damage to a wheel (usually from poor maintenance coupled with overly exuberant riding) that results in the wheel resembling the famed Mexican food shell.

Three-hour tour n. a ride that looks like a piece of cake at the outset but turns out to be a death march. Derived from the theme song to "Gilligan's Island."

This series, running every Tuesday, is intended to help those who are new to mountain bike riding.  By no means is it an exhaustive treatment, but it is our fond hope that it will help you, the beginner, to begin to enjoy riding your bike off road.

Future Topics:

Bike Types

What to carry (& why & how)

Standing and staying loose (expect the unexpected)

Trail Care & Maintenance

Hydration

Track Stand

Bunny Hop

Wheelie

“Cleaning” the mud

Your next mountain bike  or  Mountain Biking 201

Great Weekend! Reports and Notes:

It really was a great weekend.  The weather, as you all know, was a gift.  Sure it was a tease, and we will see more Winter, but it was certainly welcome.  More, the balmy weather provided an ideal condition set for all kinds of outdoor activity.

Our First Ever Novice Mountain Bike Ride:

To begin with, we had a great turn out.  There were somewhere between 25 and 30 folks out there.  I’d say at least half of those were brand spanking new to mountain biking as a sport.

It wasn’t possible for me to be everywhere, but judging from the laughter and the hoots of glee I heard, most were having a great time.  The trails at the Baseball Soccer Complex provide a good mix of conditions for beginners.  The outer loop is pretty gentle, and the inner one has a few really good gully-crossing and steep climb opportunities.  I was surprised at the number of folks who took to the inner loop.

I owe an apology to one rider (who will go nameless) for misdirecting us into the heavy stuff before strictly ready.  Honest, I didn’t mean to, and it will never happen again.

I spent the afternoon, escorting several groups through the loops, as did my co-workers Ty and Selvin.

Again, there were lots of smiles and a lot of laughter.

Special Thanks to Dan Christensen and the good offices of the Southside Cycling Club for providing some refreshments, a tent, and keys to the restrooms!

The big question for the day was,  “Will you do this again?”  The answer is a resounding YES!  Watch this space, the Tuesday Tome, and our shop emails for specifics.  But we do plan to do this monthly, through the remainder of the Winter.

We’re also looking at setting up a bit more frequent evening schedule.  That will have to wait until we have a bit more daylight.  Keep watching for details.

One Last Note:  I’ll be launching a series on Mountain Bike Basics in this blog.

Grins and laughs all around.  Have a great week, folks!