To off-road or not to off-road
Many of my fellow cyclists spend time riding off-road. This is something I haven't tried before, although I'm sure I would enjoy it. Here's a jumble of my thoughts. I hope spelling them out will help me sort out whether or not to venture down the off-road path.
I've ridden road bikes -- touring frames specifically -- for almost 30 years now. It's no small part of how I see myself.
Each road bike I've owned worked fine for commuting, touring, and group rides around town. In most groups, it may only be the back rack that might stand out. Otherwise, this single bike blends in with most riders I ride with. If I were to take up off-road riding however, I would get another bike. More on another bike later. It's probably worth a post by itself that as much riding I do (about 100 miles/week) that I would have at least a couple of bikes to spread the load across.
There are off-road trails reachable by bike, but many of the better trails you would drive to. I'm against getting in a car to ride a bike. This is one of my "good ride, better ride" comparisons.
At first glance, the off-road bike would be purely recreational, but I can see the off-road bike serving as a suitable urban knock-about as well. If sufficiently beat up, I'd feel more comfortable about leaving it outside of the grocery store for example.
Since I'm in my late 40s, keeping in shape has depended on staying injury-free. I've got a friend my age who recently messed up his knee off-road. I get bummed out missing 2-3 days of riding much less several weeks.
If I were to get an off-road bike, I'd probably find a used frame and build it up. I'd actually enjoy doing this and may build out a frame for the fun of it whether it becomes my off-road bike or not.
Acquiring a bike probably isn't an issue, but keeping it in the house may be. My wife doesn't understand that a man needs more than one bike.
I've mentioned my situation with a few cycling friends and they suggested I try out bikes they aren't using. This might be a way to ease myself into this. Another option is to try renting a bike at the trail when I happen to be near one already.
For those that have gone down this path, I'm interested to hear their experiences.
Labels: equipment
posted by Jett @ 6:26 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I love riding off road, because it lets me clear my head in a way road riding never can. You have to concentrate 100% on the trail in front of you-- when my mind wanders that's when I crash.
Plus if you are by yourself it can be really peaceful. No cars buzzing you!
I never get sick of trail riding. If I can do it I often am out til its dark because I am having so much fun.
I don't get the two-bikes-one-person problem. I have three bikes in a one-room apartment in Midtown! Of course I only have to accomodate a cat and an 80 pound dog, and myself.
Hey Emily, you've got a good point about clearing the head. Focusing on one thing does push out all other distractions. I would imagine road riding isn't as thorough.
Yes, it is hard for me to explain a problem that I don't fully understand myself, but if bikes were shoes, my wife would think that one pair of shoes could be used for running, work, and weddings.
Thanks for adding to the discussion.
Jett,
As you know I love mountain biking, and I heartily recommend it. Yes, I would say there's more of a chance of wrecking off-road, but since you mostly travel at slower speeds, and you're on a trail instead of asphault and have trees rather than cars to contend with, wrecking usually just means brushing yourself off and continuing your ride.
The best advice I have is, if you do decide to try this, find someone who can show you the ropes. I had a lot of trouble riding off-road until I got some pointers from someone who knew what they were doing, and more importantly followed them and watched how they maneuvered over or around various obstacles. You'll be surprised how much a suspension fork can absorb and the things it'll let you ride over.
Probably the two tips that have helped me the most off-road, that you might not necessarily think about so much when road riding:
1. Your bike tends to follow where you look. So look at the trail in front of you, not at the ravine you're afraid of falling into.
2. Don't look at the trail right in front of you, look further ahead. This allows you to anticipate turns and obstacles, and prevents you from overanalyzing small sticks and rocks right in front of you, which you can generally roll right over.
In terms of equipment, my options were pretty much a decent hardtail or a cheap full-suspension bike. I opted for the hardtail and I don't regret it. If money is no object, sure, get the full-suspension bike, but unless you're doing something hardcore or riding all day, you can usually do without the rear suspension.
There have been times I wished I had full suspension, mostly when riding on horse trails or in 10+ hour epic rides. But usually I'm just fine.
I do drive to mountain biking trails. In fact, that's a big part of the reason I took up road biking: I can leave from my front door. However I almost always find it's worth the drive. But now mountain biking has become more of an occasional treat, rather than my main training.
I agree with Emily, there's something pure about flying through the woods and the focus that requires. You can get a similar feeling from intense portions of road rides, but nothing really matches the feeling of flying down a hill, through switchbacks and right between some trees, jumping a log pile and some rocks, pedalling up out of the valley and seeing what's on the other side of the next hill.
Thanks apertome, this is the sort of discussion I was wanting to get going.
It sounds like the closest I've come to off-road riding is downhill skiing through the trees. There's the same thrill of maneuvering around and over obstacles and exploring unfamiliar territory at a pretty good clip.
I still have fond memories of squeezing between a pair of trees and getting my ski caught. Since my arms were pinned to my sides to squeeze through, I did a face plant into the side of a snow bank. My goggles were around my neck and there was a watermelon shaped hole in the snow where my head went in. If I get injured doing something like that, I'll have a great story to tell. My friend with the knee injury however, didn't have a wreck. He just wrenched his knee while working the downhill. Getting old isn't fun. I'm still in denial.
If I hit the trails, I'll want to have a story to post ;-).
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