The Surly Mountain Biking Thread

[KuЯdt 248]

Couple vids from Angel Fire trip last week  Weather was incredible.  

A bit of Diesel and Chutes and Ladders which is a super fun North Shore style trail:

 

 

 

And a run down the upper part of Angel's Plunge.  Fast and loose, like how I like my women:

 

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by KuЯdt

[sasquatch69 621]

@KuЯdt Fantastic videos - thanks.  Can't wait to ride this sometime.  Two questions:

- Do you think these are doable with a hardtail?  The first one looks like it would be; not sure about second (Angel's Plunge).

- Apologies if you've explained this before, but what gear do you use for these?  I'm assuming a GoPro with chest mount?

Edited September 1, 2021 by sasquatch69

[Your Mom 4956]

Great stuff!  I have no excuse for not having been out there.  

[KuЯdt 248]

2 hours ago, sasquatch69 said:

@KuЯdt Fantastic videos - thanks.  Can't wait to ride this sometime.  Two questions:

- Do you think these are doable with a hardtail?  The first one looks like it would be; not sure about second (Angel's Plunge).

- Apologies if you've explained this before, but what gear do you use for these?  I'm assuming a GoPro with chest mount?

A lot of the trails are certainly doable on a hardtail, but I'll say it just won't be as enjoyable.  You'd get beat up and fatigued quite a bit more, as angelfire is known to be kind of rough.  If you go, I would recommend renting a FS from the shop at the base - they have a pretty good selection.

With that said, my wife did one run down the greens on her hardtail.  I think she had another run in her but she crashed near the bottom so that was it for her.  She did finally understand why I've been telling her it is time for a full suspension though.

And yes, camera setup is just a GoPro with chest mount.

[midtown 3350]

This made me ill to watch especially knowing how a go pro flattens out steepness

[TwiceHorn 31984]

I still have doubts about my conditioning vis a vis the heat, especially.  But I went out to Squabble Creek this morning and rode it twice, including the climby bits at the beginning.  It is just a five mile loop, but has some pretty climby, rooty, twisty parts at the beginning that don't encourage you to go around again unless you feel pretty fresh or strong, especially as the day gets hotter. I think the road riding on the fixie/single speed actually is having some payoff.  I think I'm a tad stronger and forced myself to stay in higher gears earlier/longer so I was pretty fast on the flat parts.  It's kind of a fun trail, pretty twisty, but not as narrow as many, so you can sweep and lean those turns.

Edited September 5, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31984]

Welp, rode Moss this morning with the out-of-shape relative who has done little or nothing to rectify his out-of-shapeness.  In order to make it a little bit interesting for him without being challenging, we rode yellow bypass to green, which has two climbs and descents on it, to purple, which is nearly optically flat.  He "expired" at the beginning of red. 2.2 miles.  Geez louise.  It was pretty nice this morning, overcast, mid-80s, maybe a bit on the humid side.

Fairly hilarious thing though.  As I was lollygagging back to the trailhead, there was a young lady stopped on the side of the trail.  I did the obligatory "you ok," and she asked about the teeter-totter up ahead.  I must confess that I have never ridden that teeter-totter, but I have ridden some others that are longer and wider. To me they are kind of like the random A-frames and other similar wooden features, who cares, juice not worth squeeze.

Anyway, she asked how hard it was and I told her what to do, generally.  She then asked if I was going to ride it and could she watch.  Lmao.  I was shamed into riding it, which I did.  Now that I ride skinnies with some aplomb, the relative narrowness wasn't an issue, but I thought the shortness would be.  Thing really drops out from under you, so it's more like a jump than some of the longer ones.  Anyway, she bravely rode it and did fine.

[sasquatch69 621]

@TwiceHorn wait, so after the bypass, he went up and down the two little climbs along Walnut Hill once you go under the bridge, and then crapped out before the creek crossing to red? Yikes - glad you didn’t take him on the normal start from the trailhead.

Edited September 6, 2021 by sasquatch69

[TwiceHorn 31984]

59 minutes ago, sasquatch69 said:

@TwiceHorn wait, so after the bypass, he went up and down the two little climbs along Walnut Hill once you go under the bridge, and then crapped out before the creek crossing to red? Yikes - glad you didn’t take him on the normal start from the trailhead.

Yep.  We did do purple in between the two climbs. Walked the second climb.  I'm not saying those should have worn him out, I just thought it would be a little more interesting than yellow, orange and the second half of blue.

It's astonishing.  I started mountain biking in my late 40s and was routinely riding 3-4 miles at the very beginning.

[sasquatch69 621]

¡Snek! x3 at RCP tonight. I occasionally run into one, but never three in one ride (all on Loop 5 south of the really cool old train trestle). I only stopped to grab a photo of the last one - the other two I blew past by swerving around them in the grass.

 

Edited September 8, 2021 by sasquatch69

[TwiceHorn 31984]

I rode RCP yesterday at 830AM.  It was pretty mild and early so I expected to see some snek.  Saw none.  Turned off 5 at 5A because my riding partner said it had been pretty overgrown of late.

In the spring, that is the snekiest trail in the Metroplex.

Were they all copperheads?

Edited September 8, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[sasquatch69 621]

@TwiceHorn They all looked like that guy, so if that's a copperhead then yes.  

5 was overgrown in the section right along the creek (some erosion there, too) but the rest of it was fine other than the wildlife.

[TwiceHorn 31984]

3 minutes ago, sasquatch69 said:

@TwiceHorn They all looked like that guy, so if that's a copperhead then yes.  

5 was overgrown in the section right along the creek (some erosion there, too) but the rest of it was fine other than the wildlife.

I do believe it is.  In the spring you see lots of juveniles.  I have seen one ded kingsnek, also.  But by far and away mostly copperheads.

Speaking of critters, in July and August, I caught a bunch of chiggers at Arbor Hills, River Legacy, and one other trail from grass that was intruding onto the trail, I'm pretty sure.

I usually spray my legs with Off or similar, but since the grass was tall, these hopped off and got right on my waist and belly, maybe one or two on ankles down near shoes where I probably don't spray very well.  Really irritating.  I guess the relatively mild and damp summer has kept them going past June.

Edited September 8, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[Braff Zacklin 13675]

Copperheads are gorgeous. Surprised to see they are (apparently) thriving despite the somewhat urban setting.

[Pescado_Rojo 19556]

Yea, that's a textbook copperhead. Beautiful snake. I see a ton of rattlesnakes here in my part of CenTex, but a Copperhead sighting is pretty rare. Hell, I see more corals than copperheads. 

[TwiceHorn 31984]

8 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Copperheads are gorgeous. Surprised to see they are (apparently) thriving despite the somewhat urban setting.

They are among the most common snakes in the urban trails of DFW.

I am constantly struck by the little patches of urban wilderness around here that they've made trails in.  Harry Moss is right adjacent Walnut Hill and Greenville; Katie Jackson is near George Bush, apartments and single-family; Rowlett Creek goes under Centerville and Highway 66.  Yet, for pretty good stretches of trail, you near no traffic or people noises.  And they have the full complement of wildlife:  armadillos, bobcats, coyotes, and the various snek.

Also a kind of hilarious thing.  Lots of hispanic mountain bikers around here.  On Labor Day on RCP, they were out in force and many blaring norteno or tejano on bluetooth speakers.  So you hear Mexican music in the woods and once or twice we were overtaken by little groups of speedy chicanos whose presence was announced by accordion.

Edited September 8, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31984]

Oddball fact.  Riding a bike with no suspension and 700x28 tires on Dallas streets seems to require a chamois more than a ride of similar distance/time on trails on a full-squish MTB.

[TwiceHorn 31984]

Rode Katie Jackson today.  First solo ride on a familiar trail and without "encumbrances." So I figured it might reflect something from all my SS road riding, which has only been a couple-three weeks.  I was about an mph faster on my Labor Day RCP ride, but I mostly attribute that to having a partner.

Didn't go any further than usual (boredom sets in going in circles after an hour), and the climby bits don't really challenge my fitness, but, without deliberately trying to haul ass, I was about a mph faster than my usual ride there. 

I was conscious, as I have become due to SS/fixie riding, of not coasting unless I'm actually tired or need to get over something where pedaling is inadvisable.  And, while I did not pedal harder or faster deliberately or consciously, I did focus on form and didn't downshift as mindlessly as I probably used to.  And, I'm not sure I am explaining it right, but riding without gears changes something in yo haid.

[TwiceHorn 31984]

So, weekend riding partner suggested Sister Grove, so we hit it this morning.  I haven't ridden it since near the beginning of the pandemic but had enjoyed.

Got off to a good start, riding the descents fairly aggressively for a couple of 40+ dudes, making the climbs.  Then, I found a new way to fuck up.  This is a Collin County trail (Princeton) and has those deep ruts.  They've re-routed some of the field sections so the narrow, grassy ruts aren't an issue (the old ones are something to see, like two feet deep and maybe two feet across at the top).  But in some of the woods sections, they make rooty chutes.  Not really that bad, but a little intimidating looking.  This trail is a complete root-a-rama, the only breaks from roots are in the grassy field sections.

So, we were bombing down a descent pretty good and came upon a rooty chute that also had a flatter, elevated portion to the left.  Kind of at the last minute, apropos of nothing really,I decided to steer out of the chute and onto the adjacent flat above it.  I think I underestimated how fast I would get into the "deep" part of the chute and so my front wheel washed out going up the side of the chute.  Which put the bike on its side with significant forward momentum, like 15mph worth.  The crash itself didn't hurt much or hurt anything, but the forward momentum dragged me through about four feet of thorn bushes on the side of the trail.  That smarted a bit and I bled like a stuck pig from both forearms, my shoulder, both knees caught some, and my right ankle.  It was one of those deals where you catch the thorns and then they get ripped out as you slide down the trail.  Furk.

I did "rap" the outside of my left knee a good lick and on subsequent climbing it felt a little twingey.  But I think it was just the bruise as opposed to any type of joint injury or damage.  Nevertheless, I walked a bunch of climby parts just to avoid overstressing the knee and because basically every time I wreck it kind of psychologically ruins my ride:  I'm not tough, I have no flow, I'm not steezy, it turns me into kind of a chickenshit pud.  I was also  slower and brakey on descents that had any kind of rooty chute.  But, having a partner, I finished the ride and we rode the whole thing.

I knew I didn't like those deep ruts in the grass sections, but I didn't realize they could pose an issue like this, and I didn't realize you could wash out your front wheel going basically forward.  The dirt is very dry and crumbly, too, so that has a bit to do with it.

Edited September 11, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[AUinHsv 583]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

So, weekend riding partner suggested Sister Grove, so we hit it this morning.  I haven't ridden it since near the beginning of the pandemic but had enjoyed.

Got off to a good start, riding the descents fairly aggressively for a couple of 40+ dudes, making the climbs.  Then, I found a new way to fuck up.  This is a Collin County trail (Princeton) and has those deep ruts.  They've re-routed some of the field sections so the narrow, grassy ruts aren't an issue (the old ones are something to see, like two feet deep and maybe two feet across at the top).  But in some of the woods sections, they make rooty chutes.  Not really that bad, but a little intimidating looking.  This trail is a complete root-a-rama, the only breaks from roots are in the grassy field sections.

So, we were bombing down a descent pretty good and came upon a rooty chute that also had a flatter, elevated portion to the left.  Kind of at the last minute, apropos of nothing really,I decided to steer out of the chute and onto the adjacent flat above it.  I think I underestimated how fast I would get into the "deep" part of the chute and so my front wheel washed out going up the side of the chute.  Which put the bike on its side with significant forward momentum, like 15mph worth.  The crash itself didn't hurt much or hurt anything, but the forward momentum dragged me through about four feet of thorn bushes on the side of the trail.  That smarted a bit and I bled like a stuck pig from both forearms, my shoulder, both knees caught some, and my right ankle.  It was one of those deals where you catch the thorns and then they get ripped out as you slide down the trail.  Furk.

I did "rap" the outside of my left knee a good lick and on subsequent climbing it felt a little twingey.  But I think it was just the bruise as opposed to any type of joint injury or damage.  Nevertheless, I walked a bunch of climby parts just to avoid overstressing the knee and because basically every time I wreck it kind of psychologically ruins my ride:  I'm not tough, I have no flow, I'm not steezy, it turns me into kind of a chickenshit pud.  I was also  slower and brakey on descents that had any kind of rooty chute.  But, having a partner, I finished the ride and we rode the whole thing.

I knew I didn't like those deep ruts in the grass sections, but I didn't realize they could pose an issue like this, and I didn't realize you could wash out your front wheel going basically forward.  The dirt is very dry and crumbly, too, so that has a bit to do with it.

Good  luck when you take a shower.  I know the feeling of underestimating what might happen.

[TwiceHorn 31984]

1 hour ago, AUinHsv said:

Good  luck when you take a shower.  I know the feeling of underestimating what might happen.

Not too bad really.  I was grateful to get it cleaned up/out.  The Bactine smarted a little.

I guess it makes sense that this would happen.  In the narrow chutes in the grass, what seems to usually happen is first you get a pedal strike, and that sends you off line and up one side, where your wheel/tire loses traction and you slide back down in it and hit the other side, keeping you from sliding out.  And sometimes it goes back and forth from side to side until you jump out of the chute or get straightened out.

On these rooty ones, they're plenty wide and you have plenty of room to slide out.  I certainly was not expecting to go over like that, but as soon as it started happening, I knew I had fucked up and I was going down.  I don't even know what possessed me to want to get out of the chute, the roots weren't giving me a lot of trouble, I think I just thought maybe I'd avoid the bumps.

[TwiceHorn 31984]

My word.

I have heard people grousing about cobwebs on early-morning rides.  I've encountered a few here and there, no big deal.  I attributed the complaining mostly to people who are kind of creeped out by cobwebs.

However, at 11AM this morning, I rode Harry Moss, and the Orange loop, which is tight and twisty, was cobweb, after cobweb, after cobweb.  My glasses were clotted with them.  I could feel them trying to go up my nostrils as I breathed.  They were all over my mouth.   And when they're that thick, they're kind of hard to get rid of.  That was pretty nasty.

Also notable, I must have flushed about 50 dove hiding in the thick brush and bushes of the Orange Loop.  Smart birbs.

[jw4381 3241]

 

Just now accidentally found this thread. Very cool to see some surly compadres. 

I just got my first new mountain bike since 2004. After we started our business I lost all extra time to ride my bicycles.

I have been loving it and didn’t realize how much I missed it.

 

Edited September 14, 2021 by jw4381

[jw4381 3241]

[TwiceHorn 31984]

34 minutes ago, jw4381 said:

 

Just now accidentally found this thread. Very cool to see some surly compadres. 

I just got my first new mountain bike since 2004. After we started our business I lost all extra time to ride my bicycles.

I have been loving it and didn’t realize how much I missed it.

 

This reminds me that my shins and calves are always peppered with pedal peg marks in the spring and summer.  Some dots, some scrapes.

Wife says I look like a fourth grader just back from recess.

[jw4381 3241]

Yeah I have a habit of trying to get over little spots and just sticking and falling over. The spot on my left leg has sustained three impacts since I got this new bike. Just falling over at 0 miles an hour.

[Bigpoppapump 535]

Rode the Erwin Dorba trail in Mckinney this past weekend while visiting family.  It was pretty dope for a 10 mile loop and intertwined flow/jump section. Kicked my ass for sure.

[Bigpoppapump 535]

Over time when I visit I wanna hit the trails by Grapevine Lake(?) and in Frisco west of the tollway. Any other Dallas area rec's?

[destroya 396]

3 hours ago, jw4381 said:

Great video! What kind of bike are you riding?

[destroya 396]

3 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

This reminds me that my shins and calves are always peppered with pedal peg marks in the spring and summer.  Some dots, some scrapes.

Wife says I look like a fourth grader just back from recess.

I know you've spoken on this, but why don't you ride clipless?  It's a short learning curve, and the security and control of being locked in to your pedals are IMO essential.

[jw4381 3241]

22 minutes ago, destroya said:

Great video! What kind of bike are you riding?

It's a Polygon Siskiu D7.

[TwiceHorn 31984]

3 hours ago, Bigpoppapump said:

Over time when I visit I wanna hit the trails by Grapevine Lake(?) and in Frisco west of the tollway. Any other Dallas area rec's?

North Shore (north of Lake) is supposed to be the best trail in the metro.  I've never ridden it but probably will soon.  It apparently is not one to ride alone the first time.  It's long, too, but divided into two basic loops, East being more intermediate than West.  Horseshoe is south of the lake and it's fun.  Fairly comparable to Erwin in the up/down parts, but only about 5 miles and hardly any flat field sections.  Never ridden Knob Hills, it's on the west end of the Lake and doesn't get talked about much.

Frisco we've discussed.  Arbor Hills in Plano is a short lil asskicker.  I'm a fan of the SW Dallas trails, Oak Cliff Nature Preserve and Boulder Park.  Big Cedar is supposed to be good and Cedar HIll SP pretty decent, but has park admission fee.

Rowlett Creek in Garland up by Firewheel is pretty good.  The basic loops 1-6 are flat and flowy, the rest vary quite a bit from blue-green to black (13 and 14).  If you do it all, it's about 15 miles.

I assume you are familiar with dorba.org?

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31984]

1 hour ago, destroya said:

I know you've spoken on this, but why don't you ride clipless?  It's a short learning curve, and the security and control of being locked in to your pedals are IMO essential.

Dunno.  I'm sure you're right about the learning curve.  When I started out, I wasn't sure I'd stick with it, so I didn't spend much on equipment.  As I stuck with it, I went flats and Five Tens (technically my shoes are Adidas).

I don't think the trails around here for the most part demand much beyond being able to keep your feet on the pedals through a little chunk, and a stiff sole.  If I jumped or did long descents, or maybe hairier rock gardens, I might change my mind.

I'm content with flats and decent shoes, don't want to spend any more money.

And, a newb spiral fractured his femur on Harry Moss on a very mildly exposed bit of trail when he couldn't unclip.  So there's always those little stories.

I'm only kind of strident about it on the Peloton thread where it seems absurd to buy clipless pedals and shoes to ride indoors just to get a couple more Watts or whatever.

Edited September 15, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[Bigpoppapump 535]

North Shore (north of Lake) is supposed to be the best trail in the metro.  I've never ridden it but probably will soon.  It apparently is not one to ride alone the first time.  It's long, too, but divided into two basic loops, East being more intermediate than West.  Horseshoe is south of the lake and it's fun.  Fairly comparable to Erwin in the up/down parts, but only about 5 miles and hardly any flat field sections.  Never ridden Knob Hills, it's on the west end of the Lake and doesn't get talked about much.
Frisco we've discussed.  Arbor Hills in Plano is a short lil asskicker.  I'm a fan of the SW Dallas trails, Oak Cliff Nature Preserve and Boulder Park.  Big Cedar is supposed to be good and Cedar HIll SP pretty decent, but has park admission fee.
Rowlett Creek in Garland up by Firewheel is pretty good.  The basic loops 1-6 are flat and flowy, the rest vary quite a bit from blue-green to black (13 and 14).  If you do it all, it's about 15 miles.
I assume you are familiar with dorba.org?
 

I am now. Only really been riding in the Austin area.

[sasquatch69 621]

On 9/14/2021 at 9:20 PM, TwiceHorn said:

North Shore (north of Lake) is supposed to be the best trail in the metro.  I've never ridden it but probably will soon.  It apparently is not one to ride alone the first time.  It's long, too, but divided into two basic loops, East being more intermediate than West.  Horseshoe is south of the lake and it's fun.  Fairly comparable to Erwin in the up/down parts, but only about 5 miles and hardly any flat field sections.  Never ridden Knob Hills, it's on the west end of the Lake and doesn't get talked about much.

Frisco we've discussed.  Arbor Hills in Plano is a short lil asskicker.  I'm a fan of the SW Dallas trails, Oak Cliff Nature Preserve and Boulder Park.  Big Cedar is supposed to be good and Cedar HIll SP pretty decent, but has park admission fee.

Rowlett Creek in Garland up by Firewheel is pretty good.  The basic loops 1-6 are flat and flowy, the rest vary quite a bit from blue-green to black (13 and 14).  If you do it all, it's about 15 miles.

I assume you are familiar with dorba.org?

 

All good recommendations. 

@Bigpoppapump Glad you got to ride Erwin, as it really has everything you'd want in a trail ride, and a beautiful property.  We're doing a MTB campout there with our scout troop soon since it has good campsites, too.

I love Horseshoe - probably my favorite more compact trail in the area, with a little something for everyone.  Northshore gets all the attention, but I find it frustrating, partly because I struggle with it (and also because it's usually fairly crowded and has its share of Stravaholes flying through on the regular).  I rode Knob Hills once and was really disappointed given the hype.

Big Cedar is my favorite larger trail complex, with everything from green trails to super-difficult blacks and a jump line, and it benefits from Escarpment terrain so it feels more like the Hill Country (more elevation, rocky, lots of cedar/juniper).  The knock on Big Cedar is that it has 20+ miles of trails and they're not always well-marked.  It took me a half-dozen visits before I started to feel like I really knew my way around, and even still there are 3-4 trails I haven't been on yet.  Also, it's closed on Sundays until 1pm and all day Monday, since it's private property.  Boulder Park is great, too, with somewhat similar terrain - just more compact.

If you're in North Dallas/Plano area, Katie Jackson is a fun little neighborhood trail.  It has a couple flat and flowy loops, and then a more difficult loop (yellow) with some nice but manageable drops.  

Edited September 16, 2021 by sasquatch69

[TwiceHorn 31984]

Gah.  I rode Oak Cliff Nature Preserve today.  Wheels down around 11, which was a bit late, even though the temps have moderated.

I was kind of hoping to maybe session or just at least clean some of the things that I have before and it was pretty much a no-go all the way around.

Stuff has changed enough that you question your lines and fail.  One of the things I was considering taking a run at was this fun little climb, that Braff urged me to just take a run at.

Sonofabitch if it isn't worse.  It's like someone took a mining machine or jackhammer to the steps and now they're both completely vertical and taller than before.  So that was a no-go.

And, I just didn't ride anything technical worth a shit.

However, I did the climb toward the end of yellow loop fast and without seizing up, even though it was hotter than I would have liked.  So one little positive.

Also, OCNP has some kind of insane little (and not so little) features here and there.  At one point on yellow, you're going up and down and flowing and it's kind of fun and then you have to veer to your right to go up a short, steep little hill that oddly has no roots.  When you get to the top, you have a left option and a right option with a sapling dividing them at the top of the hill, both options starting with a short, steep descent.  A wild man might pop off of it, but for the sapling.  The sapling makes it kind of difficult to take the right option as you have to go pretty hard right to get around it, either at the base of the hill or as you crest it..  The right option is a pretty straightforward descent and climb.

But this is the left option.

The approach to it is steeper than it looks.  It's always been a bit problematic because of those roots, but it is now actually fully concave under that top root.  Crazy.  Sure, I guess you could pop off the first root and get over the second, but you're already pointed about 60 degrees uphill.   Maybe you could pop a manual going down the descent or before you start that little climb and drop your front wheel over that second root.  Fuhgeddaboutit.

Edited September 16, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[Braff Zacklin 13675]

On 9/14/2021 at 4:26 PM, TwiceHorn said:

This reminds me that my shins and calves are always peppered with pedal peg marks in the spring and summer.  Some dots, some scrapes.

Wife says I look like a fourth grader just back from recess.

 

On 9/14/2021 at 4:51 PM, jw4381 said:

Yeah I have a habit of trying to get over little spots and just sticking and falling over. The spot on my left leg has sustained three impacts since I got this new bike. Just falling over at 0 miles an hour.

The more you ride, the less it'll happen. My shins were once perpetually scraped or scabbed from pedal slips, but it's been years since the last mishap.

Now that I've said that, no doubt today ...

[Al_4_ISU 12612]

Snuck one last pre-harvest ride on a spectacular Fall morning in the Driftless Area. We’ll hit the field either this afternoon or tomorrow. Pics didn’t do it justice.

[TwiceHorn 31984]

2 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

 

The more you ride, the less it'll happen. My shins were once perpetually scraped or scabbed from pedal slips, but it's been years since the last mishap.

Now that I've said that, no doubt today ...

Hell, it's not slips.  Some goodly percentage of my "dabs" are accompanied by a pedal thump on the front or back of my leg.

One thing about it is, you have to "unclip" with good shoes and pedals, that is get your foot up off it, and that often leads to spinning cranks.  Most of my dabs are related to climbs and roots and rocks:  I'll either run out of gas or bash into something that halts momentum, so it's put a foot down in a gotdamn hurry or go tumbling back from whence I came.

Edited September 18, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[jw4381 3241]

My real possibility is falling dozens of feet on parts of that trail…It’s gorgeous, but there’s a high price for failure. 

[TwiceHorn 31984]

1 hour ago, jw4381 said:

My real possibility is falling dozens of feet on parts of that trail…It’s gorgeous, but there’s a high price for failure. 

Can you repost the vid?

[jw4381 3241]

[jw4381 3241]

Sorry my dude.

Try this again.

 

 

[TwiceHorn 31984]

Y'all are in NM, IIRC?  Nice.

[jw4381 3241]

Yessir. 

[Stinkpalm 697]

Needed to get out of the metroplex for a bit, so we took a camping trip over to Arkansas this past weekend. Got some rides in at mount nebo S.P. and then the Northwoods trail system at Hot Springs. Really fun trails with lots of elevation, tech, and flow. Likely headed to eureka springs next month with bike in-tow. Need to start making mtb trips over there a monthly thing.

[TwiceHorn 31984]

Welp. I think mashing on my single-speed has given me an incipient case of patellar tendinitis in my left knee.  Just the occasional twinge while mashing and less so on the MTB because gears.  And on rare occasion, it will "stiffen" up while sitting around in the evening, such that it is sore when I stand up.

I probably need to lay off the single speed for a while, maybe riding altogether.

I think I caused it while mashing excessively on the SS when I had just gotten it, especially starting up with my left foot/leg.  Takes a while to learn how not to do that.  And then I continue to aggravate it a little with mashing on both bikes, but I do more mashing and it's more unavoidable on the SS.

Any advice?

Edited September 26, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31984]

Interesting article about MTB fit.  https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-gear/bikes-and-biking/mountain-bike-frame-size-fit/

[Bigpoppapump 535]

23 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Welp. I think mashing on my single-speed has given me an incipient case of patellar tendinitis in my left knee.  Just the occasional twinge while mashing and less so on the MTB because gears.  And on rare occasion, it will "stiffen" up while sitting around in the evening, such that it is sore when I stand up.

I probably need to lay off the single speed for a while, maybe riding altogether.

I think I caused it while mashing excessively on the SS when I had just gotten it, especially starting up with my left foot/leg.  Takes a while to learn how not to do that.  And then I continue to aggravate it a little with mashing on both bikes, but I do more mashing and it's more unavoidable on the SS.

Any advice?

I think crank length is in the realm of things with knee tendons? I know I found some formula where you could measure your leg for the proper length of crank arms, or maybe it was posted here, that might help?

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

4 hours ago, Bigpoppapump said:

I think crank length is in the realm of things with knee tendons? I know I found some formula where you could measure your leg for the proper length of crank arms, or maybe it was posted here, that might help?

I will occasionally adjust the seat post mid ride to get a slightly different angle.  It helps a little bit with tired legs, might help with sore legs