My first ride in ~10 years

Greg · May 7, 2008

Well, this evening I finally got off my lazy off-(ski)season ass and tried out the mountain bike my wife bought me three years ago on something other than a neighborhood cruise. Had lots of fun and think I may have just rediscovered something to keep me busy in the summer. I rode for about an hour at White Memorial in Litchfield. Nothing technical - all doubletrack terrain, but enough ups and downs and turns to keep it interesting. Took me about 30 minutes to get used to anticipating shifting again and not be such a pansy. I'm still as slow as a dead snail, but it was fun getting back out there. Hope I can hook up with some AZers once I get some wind and basic skills built back up.

severine · May 7, 2008

Nice! I was looking forward to getting back out on my MTB, too, after a 2 year lapse (and not much riding before that). The hills in White Memorial are definitely a nice easy way to transition into the sport.

Paul · May 7, 2008

Awesome to hear that, Greg.

Just picked-up my new ride today. Heading down to Hamonassett on Saturday to try it out. Definitely would like to hook-up for a ride sometime.

MR. evil · May 7, 2008

Greg said:
Well, this evening I finally got off my lazy off-(ski)season ass and tried out the mountain bike my wife bought me three years ago on something other than a neighborhood cruise. Had lots of fun and think I may have just rediscovered something to keep me busy in the summer. I rode for about an hour at White Memorial in Litchfield. Nothing technical - all doubletrack terrain, but enough ups and downs and turns to keep it interesting. Took me about 30 minutes to get used to anticipating shifting again and not be such a pansy. I'm still as slow as a dead snail, but it was fun getting back out there. Hope I can hook up with some AZers once I get some wind and basic skills built back up.

Glad you got back on the bike............when are we riding

MR. evil · May 7, 2008

Paul said:
Awesome to hear that, Greg.

Just picked-up my new ride today. Heading down to Hamonassett on Saturday to try it out. Definitely would like to hook-up for a ride sometime.

what did you get?

GrilledSteezeSandwich · May 7, 2008

Steezy...I'm starting to think about buying a mountain bike..there are apparently tons of nice trails within 30-45 minutes from where I live. Why not??? I'm not messing with road biking..sharing the road with cars is too scary for me..

Paul · May 7, 2008

MR. evil said:
what did you get?

Nuthin' fancy. Trek 6 series. Good enough to handle as much as this old fart can take (yeah, I don't downhill, or rock gardens or technical stuff, My insurance sucks) But not overkill when I'm tooling along with the wife and seven year-old. Actually, the seven year-old is better on the single track than I am.

MR. evil · May 7, 2008

Greg said:
I'm still as slow as a dead snail, but it was fun getting back out there. Hope I can hook up with some AZers once I get some wind and basic skills built back up.

Nothing will get you back to your old form faster than riding with people better than you are.........(just like skiing)

GrilledSteezeSandwich · May 7, 2008

Paul said:
Nuthin' fancy. Trek 6 series. Good enough to handle as much as this old fart can take (yeah, I don't downhill, or rock gardens or technical stuff, My insurance sucks) But not overkill when I'm tooling along with the wife and seven year-old. Actually, the seven year-old is better on the single track than I am.

How much does a Trek 6 run..I think I'm buying a bike tomorrow and not a piece of shit Mongoose..lol

Greg · May 7, 2008

MR. evil said:
Nothing will get you back to your old form faster than riding with people better than you are.........(just like skiing)

Not really sure even my "old form" was all that impressive :razz: but yeah, I can see how riding with faster/better riders will help you push yourself.

MR. evil · May 7, 2008

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:
How much does a Trek 6 run..I think I'm buying a bike tomorrow and not a piece of shit Mongoose..lol

You want a great bike at a budget cost, check out www.Ibexbikes.com. This is where I got my bike from. They sell direct and cut out the middle man (the bike shop) and on average you will save 30% to 60% of a comparable bike found in a bike shop. Bike shops mark up bikes up to 50% what they pay for them. I paid a little over $1000 for my bike, and I couldn't touch anything close to it quality wise in a bike shop for less than $1800. The exact frame on my bike is also sold by a boutique brand (Azonic) for almost as much as my complete bike did. The only difference is lable on the frame.

Also check out http://forums.mtbr.com/forumdisplay.php?f=105 if you want to get some feed back from a bunch of happy Ibex owners. The owner of the company hangs out there as well.

edit: if you don't want to buy a bike online site unseen I would check out Jamis bikes. They will be more expensive than Ibex (by quite a bit), but Jamis is know for making great bikes at a fair price. Jamis bikes are ussually much cheaper than a similarly equiped bike by one of the bigger names.

MR. evil · May 7, 2008

Greg said:
Not really sure even my "old form" was all that impressive :razz: but yeah, I can see how riding with faster/better riders will help you push yourself.

You dont need to worry about me blowing you away on the trail. I tend to ride at a slower pace so i dont gas out. But I also like to ride more technical terrain. Even if I wanted to go real fast it would be hard. I removed the big ring up front and replaced it with a bash guard. I only have 18 speeds instead of 27.

cbcbd · May 8, 2008

That's awesome Greg. I think MTB brings out similar thrills as skiing and you can definitively get very technical with it and engage your left brain artistic perfectionist... or whatever that was

The only bummer is... biking muscles aren't skiing muscles. But hey, its good exercise and a lot of fun.

GrilledSteezeSandwich · May 8, 2008

MR. evil said:
You want a great bike at a budget cost, check out www.Ibexbikes.com. This is where I got my bike from. They sell direct and cut out the middle man (the bike shop) and on average you will save 30% to 60% of a comparable bike found in a bike shop. Bike shops mark up bikes up to 50% what they pay for them. I paid a little over $1000 for my bike, and I couldn't touch anything close to it quality wise in a bike shop for less than $1800. The exact frame on my bike is also sold by a boutique brand (Azonic) for almost as much as my complete bike did. The only difference is lable on the frame.

Also check out http://forums.mtbr.com/forumdisplay.php?f=105 if you want to get some feed back from a bunch of happy Ibex owners. The owner of the company hangs out there as well.

edit: if you don't want to buy a bike online site unseen I would check out Jamis bikes. They will be more expensive than Ibex (by quite a bit), but Jamis is know for making great bikes at a fair price. Jamis bikes are ussually much cheaper than a similarly equiped bike by one of the bigger names.

Thanks for the link..but I would want to try before I buy..even in the parking lot or something..

Paul · May 8, 2008

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:
How much does a Trek 6 run..I think I'm buying a bike tomorrow and not a piece of shit Mongoose..lol

You should find them in the $700 - $800 range, depending on the shop and components. I got mine from a shop which is owned by friends of mine, so in my case, the price was moot.

bvibert · May 8, 2008

Glad you got out Greg! I'm jealous. I was supposed to go out yesterday but I bailed, mostly because my allergies were killing me..

How long did you end up riding for?

Greg · May 8, 2008

bvibert said:
How long did you end up riding for?

Just an hour. I couldn't get over there until almost 7 pm.

bvibert · May 8, 2008

Greg said:
Just an hour. I couldn't get over there until almost 7 pm.

It's nice having a place that close so you can make evening rides like that, similar to Sundown for skiing.

I wouldn't have been able to bike much at all last year if not for White Memorial.

Greg · May 8, 2008

bvibert said:
It's nice having a place that close so you can make evening rides like that, similar to Sundown for skiing. I wouldn't have been able to bike much at all last year if not for White Memorial.

Indeed. I would actually love to find something that I could just get to directly from my house on the bike though. That would get me out a lot more often, I'm sure.

bvibert · May 8, 2008

Greg said:
Indeed. I would actually love to find something that I could just get to directly from my house on the bike though. That would get me out a lot more often, I'm sure.

Riding directly from the house would be ideal. I'm not sure exactly where your house is, but I bet it's possible to put together something with minimal travel on roads.

My first ride in ~10 years

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