Any Mtn Bikers on RME?

[MikeGyver]

We made it out to Klonzo a little before sundown. We kinda wandered around for 5 miles and 500ft of climbing and my legs we're about done since I have no stamina yet. I found it kinda hard to stay on those narrow trails because they were low speed with pretty tight corners and loose sand at the edges since the trails are brand new. This was the very first time I've been mtn biking (excluding dinking around when I was a kid). Roller coaster was a fun little section.

The next day, after my friend had taught me some more basic technique, we went out to Fruita, CO and rode some trails at 18 Road. Those were awesome. Did Kessel run a couple times first and then PBR twice. This is where I really felt like I got the hang of things. Both runs on PBR were barely over 6 minutes (and 15.5mph avg), which puts me faster than 1600 of the 2600 people who have recorded their runs on it using Strava. And this was my second time biking. This trail was so much fun... it's almost entirely downhill but I was still out of breath at the end from pushing it. These were awesome runs for someone who's pretty new and wants a smooth fast trail with very little climbing.

Here's a random video of the trail. I ran it faster than the guy in this video and had no trouble running off the trail.
[video=youtube;lCUvnFtCgOc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCUvnFtCgOc[/video]

 

[sixstringsteve]

Very cool. I agree, the trails out at south klonzo were extremely soft and squishy since they were so new. I'd never felt that before.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Weather depending, I'm planning on heading to St. George on the 21-22 to do some biking. Anyone's welcome to join. Camping Friday night and riding Saturday. I'm thinking Jem, possibly bearclaw poppy, and/or possibly riding Gooseberry.

 

[MikeGyver]

So where does one ride in the winter? what are some things you can do to build skills when you can't really ride trails?

 

[sixstringsteve]

There are a few options in winter, but none of them are exactly the same as riding in the other 3 seasons.

Mountain biking:
- head to Moab or St. George to ride during the winter
- some places like lambert park are rideable when there's not too much rain or snow. Almost every other trail is too wet to ride and will do too much damage.

To build skills:
- ride BMX for the winter. There's no better way to learn bike control than riding bmx. We have an awesome bmx scene and they're very open to newcomers. I'm excited to go again this year.

Conditioning:
- cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and riding your bike on a trainer or rollers in the house (I hate this). Snowshoeing isn't super high adventure, but it keeps me active in the winter, so when spring rolls around I'm in good shape.

Motivation:
go to pinkbike.com and watch the videos there. All the motivation you could want.

 

[193kyle]

Weather depending, I'm planning on heading to St. George on the 21-22 to do some biking. Anyone's welcome to join. Camping Friday night and riding Saturday. I'm thinking Jem, possibly bearclaw poppy, and/or possibly riding Gooseberry.

We are planning on heading down this weekend as well, likely saturday morning and staying through sunday. We are definitely riding Gooseberry and maybe one other.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I rode gooseberry yesterday. It was gorgeous. I plan on riding zen and bear claw poppy this coming weekend.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I got a Rocky Mountain Blizzard fat bike yesterday. This thing is a freakin BEAST. I'm taking it up AF Canyon tonight if anyone wants to join for a night snow ride.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Here she is. Took her out for a snow ride up lambert last night.

 

[glockman]

Jealous. How does it handle?

 

[sixstringsteve]

It handles like an XC bike to be honest. It's not as playful as I was hoping. Granted, it's more playful than most fat bikes, but I can't bunny-hop it up a curb. Riding on snow is an entirely different beast. I had more crashes last night than the past 2 years combined. I went down HARD a few times. It's pretty tough to charge the trail when it's all slippery. I rode rodeo and ruin. It has insane climbing traction, but you need to stay seated or it'll spin out. Brakes were awesome, and it was actually possible to stop in the snow quite well. The head angle (68.5*) is steeper than I'm used to with my current bikes. It's a lot steeper than I like. The steep head tube was nice for climbing, but on the descent I found the front wheel plowing sideways and losing traction. It seemed so steep that it was easier to slide out than to turn. I think a slacker head angle (65-66*) would be killer for me (though most people would hate it).

I'm pretty stoked that I can ride year round now. I had a blast. You're welcome to borrow it for a day or two if you'd like. In fact, you can take it this weekend if you want...

 

[MattL]

It handles like an XC bike to be honest. It's not as playful as I was hoping. Granted, it's more playful than most fat bikes, but I can't bunny-hop it up a curb. Riding on snow is an entirely different beast. I had more crashes last night than the past 2 years combined. I went down HARD a few times. It's pretty tough to charge the trail when it's all slippery. I rode rodeo and ruin. It has insane climbing traction, but you need to stay seated or it'll spin out. Brakes were awesome, and it was actually possible to stop in the snow quite well. The head angle (68.5*) is steeper than I'm used to with my current bikes. It's a lot steeper than I like. The steep head tube was nice for climbing, but on the descent I found the front wheel plowing sideways and losing traction. It seemed so steep that it was easier to slide out than to turn. I think a slacker head angle (65-66*) would be killer for me (though most people would hate it).



I'm pretty stoked that I can ride year round now. I had a blast. You're welcome to borrow it for a day or two if you'd like. In fact, you can take it this weekend if you want...

Sweet!! Thanks for the write up. It looks like a fantastic opportunity to have fun.

 

[Skylinerider]

My buddy has a Surly Moonlander, and it's a blast in the snow. Almost made me think about getting one as well.

 

[locknloadfzj80]

Did a little upgrading on my suspension. Didn't care for the X-Fusion that was on there so grabbed this Monarch RT3.

 

[clfrnacwby]

Spent Thanksgiving week in Henderson, NV with my wife's family. My father in law took me to Bootleg Canyon Mountain Bike Park in Boulder City. AWESOME trail system. There's got to be over 20 trails of different difficulties. Doesn't look like there is a dedicated site for it, but you could start here to find info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootleg_Canyon_Mountain_Bike_Park

I'd love to get a group together and spend a weekend riding all the different trails. Basically, there are paved roads that take to you to 3 different staging areas. From there, you can go downhill on any of the trails.

 

[sixstringsteve]

In!

 

[sixstringsteve]

a group of us are riding St. Gorge on Saturday if anyone wants to join. Beginner trails in the morning, then Zen in the aftenoon.

 

[Samersen]

Question on corner canyon and rush. Does anyone know the best system where to park and drop off if you were to shuttle rush? We want to ride it a few times and figured a quick shuttle would be best. But not sure how to get to the parking lot at the top or what is the best option.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Last time I went to ride corner canyon it was all chained off and closed, despite it being dry for a week. Does anyone know a place I can check online to see if CC is closed or not for any given day?

 

[Samersen]

oh really? Thats not cool. I don't know where to look to see if its open...
Steve when did you last go?