My first MTB ride

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snedden9485
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My first MTB ride

Postby snedden9485 » Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:33 am

Well i ventured out on the new steed (08 Giant Alias) this morning for a little ride offroad. I am a road racer and generally do around the 300 - 350km per week on the road and decided to get a MTB for some X training. I havent ridden offroad pushies for around 10 years, so it was a big lay off. I previously rode alot of motocross and enduro on motorbikes, so it was nice to get back into the scrub. The bike has some really soft hutchison scorpion tyres on it which i pumped up to around 35 - 38 PSI.

I got onto the trails and cruised down some fire trail and then into some slightly technical fire roads. Then came my first hill. Now i consider myself to be a pretty decent climber on the road, but this first little hill offroad was intense. It wasnt that steep, but it was a totally different feeling climbing. I seemed to have to drop to a really low gear and spin up the thing. Was really differnt going up hills and negotiating obstacles, which was interesting considering i was clipped in for the first time offroad. I ended up finding my feet a little and realised sitting down was generally the best bet for climing. I ended up doing a few down hill trails and nice little sections that were great fun. I found a little bit of single trail which was really nice and fun. Cant wait to get out and get onto some dedicated MTB locations with some mates. I think the MTBing will definately help the road biking as its a totally differnt type of fitness, just intense and sharp. Was nice to get dirty and muddy again too :mrgreen:
Chris
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Kalgrm
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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby Kalgrm » Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:40 am

Oh dear. Another addict has joined the fallen ... ;)

There will come a time when you have to make the choice between doing a road ride and a MTB ride - and you'll choose the dirt. That's when you know the addiction has fully taken you. At that point, your road bike will become the cross-training bike for your MTB riding. :twisted:

Don't fight it - it's fun.

Cheers,
Graeme
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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby trailgumby » Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:24 pm

One word: Ourimbah. 8)

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby trailgumby » Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:48 pm

OK, a few more then. :lol:

Glad you enjoyed it. Graeme's right, it is incredibly addictive. First few times on trails with clip-ins is always scary, especially if you aren't confident with your bike skills. But after awhile you adapt and find that they help hugely with things like climbing and keeping your feet on the pedals through the rough bits and while you're airborne over drops. Sounds like you've done really well. :D

Tips:
I'm probably teaching you to suck eggs with your MX experience, but in case it's useful...
* Bum back behind seat and low over the rear wheel during technical descents. Try lowering your seat a little for these parts of the trail - you can put it back up later.
* Fist the right bar to make you sure stay off the front brake when riding rough surfaces, especially descents. As your skills develop you'll come back to using the front brake, but leave off it at first.
* If you can't see a makeable line, or you balk a second time, there's no shame in walking a section you're not ready for. Better to walk than be flown out.
* Push (throw!) the bike out in front of you jsut as the front wheel leaves the lip of the drop. It will help keep the bike horizontal and help you land both wheels at the same time, avoiding dropping the front wheel and going OTB.
* Chin down and bum forward on the seat for tech climbs - stops the front wheel going skywards and dumping you on your backside. :lol:
* Take your phone (fully charged) and let someone know where you're going, and ride with a mate whenever you can. You can cover enormous stretches of territory on a bike and !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! can happen.

re: Ourimbah: it's about halfway between us, and is full of super fun flowy bermed singletrack. It's not overly technical, although some parts can bite if you don't offer due respect. The climbs will definitely give your heart rate monitor a workout. :lol: Did a race there November last year and it's the best fun I've had on two wheels despite being desperately underprepared fitness-wise.

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby USM TOM » Sat Apr 25, 2009 6:15 pm

trailgumby wrote:One word: Ourimbah. 8)
hell yeah
ourimbah is sweet as and its pretty tough going aswell especially on a 17kg freeride bike with 2.35kenda nevegals :)

the downhill track is a bit much for me though and the ride to get to the start is tough as hell

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby snedden9485 » Sat Apr 25, 2009 6:58 pm

trailgumby wrote:One word: Ourimbah. 8)
Sounds good mate. Wel hook up for a ride out there soon. A few guys from work ride there all the time. I will gee a few newy boys up and wel come down for a hit out. How far is it from the train station (AT) ourimbah? Is it near the freeway?
Chris
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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby trailgumby » Sat Apr 25, 2009 10:15 pm

snedden9485 wrote:
trailgumby wrote:One word: Ourimbah. 8)
Sounds good mate. Wel hook up for a ride out there soon. A few guys from work ride there all the time. I will gee a few newy boys up and wel come down for a hit out. How far is it from the train station (AT) ourimbah? Is it near the freeway?
Ourimbah is a couple of km west of the freeway. Directions are on the wannaride.com.au site - hunt down directions to the Fat Tyre Festival. Take a look at Krystle Wright's photos, too. Will give you a taste of the atmosphere at the place. 8)

I'd love to go for a ride. I've promised my son a couple of sessions up there. Unfortunately for me, it will be awhile before I'm fit to ride offroad - probably months. I'm expecting to hear in about a week or so that I'm up for an arthroscopy on my shoulder after a pretty nasty (and stupid) OTB five weeks ago.

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby Mulger bill » Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:14 am

Ah Ha. Another convert. :mrgreen:

One more tip to add to Gumbys list:

NEVER ride with a multitool or anything hard in a jersey pocket. Especially on those tech climbs.
Go on, ask me how I know...

Shaun
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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby familyguy » Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:02 am

Mulger bill wrote:NEVER ride with a multitool or anything hard in a jersey pocket. Especially on those tech climbs.
Go on, ask me how I know...

Shaun
Ever get the feeling someone or something is about to stab you in the back?

Jim

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby trailgumby » Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:12 pm

Mulger bill wrote:Go on, ask me how I know...
I'll bite... :lol:

How do you know?

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby thm » Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:42 pm

trailgumby wrote:One word: Ourimbah. 8)
+1 Best trails I have ridden in NSW thus far. Shame they aren't closer to Sydney. Then again if they were really close they could be overcrowded.

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby snedden9485 » Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:45 pm

Sounds like il have to head down and see what all the fuss is about :P
Chris
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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby Mitton » Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:49 pm

well, i rode manly dam for the first time yesterday, i can see what all the hype is about! its really awesome! we did 2 laps, everyone on the trail was nice and friendly, the course has a lot of variety and the best bit was i didnt have to walk through any of it...kinda. highly recommended!
XXL stumpy expert 08 - XL defy 1 09 - cycotec bmx.

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby USM TOM » Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:50 pm

^^^
for sure
the rollercoaster is the best bit by far :)

if your feeling game climb up the hill to TOWERS and have a crack (its a easy trail i promise )

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby Mulger bill » Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:41 pm

familyguy wrote:
Mulger bill wrote:NEVER ride with a multitool or anything hard in a jersey pocket. Especially on those tech climbs.
Go on, ask me how I know...

Shaun
Ever get the feeling someone or something is about to stab you in the back?

Jim
trailgumby wrote:
Mulger bill wrote:Go on, ask me how I know...
I'll bite... :lol:

How do you know?

I think you blokes have already worked it out. :lol:
I've only had one bruise bigger than that one. Makes walking/standing/sitting a trial too.

Shaun
...whatever the road rules, self-preservation is the absolute priority for a cyclist when mixing it with motorised traffic.
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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby rog on a bike » Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:01 am

Chris
A little closer to home is Awaba! There are some really nice rides in the area, from there to the Gap (southern end of Sugar Loaf Range) Enjoy?
Cheers Rog
EVERY HILL HAS A CREST. GETTING THERE BEFORE THE HEART ATTACK IS THE TRICK.

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby familyguy » Sat May 02, 2009 8:57 pm

trailgumby wrote:First few times on trails with clip-ins is always scary, especially if you aren't confident with your bike skills. But after awhile you adapt and find that they help hugely with things like climbing and keeping your feet on the pedals through the rough bits and while you're airborne over drops.
Having done the Dam twice now I can see where they'd help. Having used SPD for commuting and knowing I can get in and out pretty quickly, I might try them next time I go out rather than the platforms. The platforms took a bit of a beating on a few rocks too.
trailgumby wrote: Tips:
* Bum back behind seat and low over the rear wheel during technical descents. Try lowering your seat a little for these parts of the trail - you can put it back up later.
* Fist the right bar to make you sure stay off the front brake when riding rough surfaces, especially descents. As your skills develop you'll come back to using the front brake, but leave off it at first.
* If you can't see a makeable line, or you balk a second time, there's no shame in walking a section you're not ready for. Better to walk than be flown out.
* Push (throw!) the bike out in front of you jsut as the front wheel leaves the lip of the drop. It will help keep the bike horizontal and help you land both wheels at the same time, avoiding dropping the front wheel and going OTB.
* Chin down and bum forward on the seat for tech climbs - stops the front wheel going skywards and dumping you on your backside. :lol:
* Take your phone (fully charged) and let someone know where you're going, and ride with a mate whenever you can. You can cover enormous stretches of territory on a bike and !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! can happen.
Great tips...always helpful. I discovered an alternate meaning for OTB when I went my first decent hill. Seat high, not leaning forward (i.e typical roadie climbing stance) = Over The Back. Lucky I wasnt clipped in. I dropped the seat after that and put the head over the bows when the floor pitched skyward.

I found myself lifting the front, rather than relying on the speed and the throw forward to get the wheels landing in the correct order. Once the speed comes then I could see how there'd be less lifting and more throwing.

Jim

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby herzog » Sun May 03, 2009 1:12 pm

One of the mags has a special edition in the newsagents this month with a bonus DVD covering bike skills.

Appears to have been filmed at Glenrock.

Not bad for $10.

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby trailgumby » Sun May 03, 2009 1:15 pm

Set your SPD's loose-ish. There's a limit though - an inadvertent clip-out at speed can be worse than not being able to get out at all. Test them somewhere where the consequences of an unintended clipout won't be nasty - somewhere like the dirt road next to the pipeline, if you know where that is. My Jekyll came with M515s that were pretty awful - I'm glad I found that out before tried the faster techy bits around the Dam.

I don't move my seat around much now - I just leave it set in a position that's about 1cm lower than where I'd have it on a roadie. It's enough to clear my knicks when I need to get back and low, but high enough to be comfortable for longer rides and climbs without stressing my knees.

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby rog on a bike » Tue May 05, 2009 9:03 pm

herzog wrote:One of the mags has a special edition in the newsagents this month with a bonus DVD covering bike skills.

Appears to have been filmed at Glenrock.

Not bad for $10.
You've mentioned that word "GLENROCK"
GOD! I luv it when you lot talk dirty. :lol: :lol: :wink:
Cheers Rog
EVERY HILL HAS A CREST. GETTING THERE BEFORE THE HEART ATTACK IS THE TRICK.

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Re: My first MTB ride

Postby snedden9485 » Wed May 06, 2009 6:55 am

rog on a bike wrote:
herzog wrote:One of the mags has a special edition in the newsagents this month with a bonus DVD covering bike skills.

Appears to have been filmed at Glenrock.

Not bad for $10.
You've mentioned that word "GLENROCK"
GOD! I luv it when you lot talk dirty. :lol: :lol: :wink:
Cheers Rog
Im going out Glenrock today. SHould be good fun by the sounds.
Chris
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2011 Malvern Star Oppy TT9 Time Trial
2011 Giant Omnium Track
2012 Giant XTC Composite 29

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