Last time I went mountain biking I swore I would either never do it again, or I would go somewhere easy and pleasant. After all, isn't mountain biking supposed to be a relaxing sport where you can enjoy beautiful scenery?
Here's the way I think I should be eased into the mountain biking scene if I'm ever going to actually ENJOY it:
- Ride 1: Big, wide dirt road with mild climbing and descents.
- Ride 2: Wide gravel road with a little more descent.
- Ride 3: Singletrack with some gravel, but mostly just dirt and grass.
- Ride 4: Gravel singletrack with the occasional rock and root.
- Ride 5: Same as ride 4, only with some descending.
- Ride 6: Add in some cliffs and technical descents.
Today's ride could have been a beautiful ride. We went to Sundance and did the trail where they do the weekly race series. I wish I could have enjoyed the scenery. And I seriously need to get some clipless pedals when I ride. That was the biggest frustration: feet flying off the pedals if I was geared too easy and feet flying off every time I'd hit a bump. Then I would put my foot down and stop, and it would take me something like 16 tries to get going again because I wasn't clipped in. Plus, those pedals really dig into the back of a person's legs! I'm all cut up now.
There were a few times when I allowed myself to relax enough to enjoy it, but for the most part I just wanted to chuck the bike off the cliff. The climbing wasn't so bad (if there wasn't a cliff nearby), but the descending was terrifying! It doesn't help that my body is still in protect-yourself-from-more-harm mode. I'm still riding like a chicken on the road, so I don't know why I thought riding on the dirt would be any better.
Anyway, it's late and I'm rambling again, so here are some pictures of the ride:
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