Not So Wimpy Ride
My road bike is still in the shop, so I decided to go on a mountain bike ride today. Due to the abuse that I have been receiving from friends and family, I chose a route that would help me get in better mountain biking shape. It was not very technically challenging, however it had plenty of climbing. I rode up to the top of UCSC. From there, I rode the fire roads across the top of UCSC into Wilder Ranch. Finally, I returned on the same route for a ride of 14.5 miles and 1350 feet of elevation gain. I did much better today, however it was still a tough ride. Tougher than it should have been.
Here is my excuse for today: When you are riding a bike up dirt hills, it is crucial that you get as much weight over the back wheel as possible. You want to get as much traction as possible and the back wheel is the one that gets all of the power. You have to be careful though, since you do not want to get so much weight on the back wheel that the front wheel comes off of the ground. So you end up finding a balance point, where the maximum weight is on the back wheel without letting the front wheel come up. To complicate matters, this balance point changes as they slope of the hill changes. Anyway, it takes a few mountain bike rides to get a feel for finding this balance point. This is why climbing hills on my mountain bike has been so challenging the last two rides. That is my story and I am sticking to it (at least for today).
The last several days, it has been overcast and chilly in the mornings. So I put on a long sleeve jersey and my vest and started out on my ride. It quickly became apparent that this was a big mistake. It was a very warm day. The evening news just said that the temperature hit 93 in Santa Cruz today. The ride occurred between 10 and noon this morning, so it was not the peak of the day, however my bike computer said that it was in the 80's by the end of the ride. Anyway, I quickly took off my vest and zipped my jersey partway down. It was still warm, but not so warm that it ruined the ride.
As I mentioned earlier, it has been two or three years since I have done much mountain biking. It was very nice to go out in the park on a Tuesday morning in September. The weather was beautiful and the park was almost empty. I only saw a few other bikers and a few joggers. When I am road biking, there are ALWAYS cars and trucks going past. It was so nice to be out in the woods and for the most part, it felt like I had the park to myself. It was also fun to return to some of the fire roads and trails that I used to ride on.
My only complaint is that is that they have dropped gravel on some of the fire roads. Generally, they have covered the areas where it is particularly sandy or areas that get muddy in wet weather. I don't like riding on gravel. When you are riding uphill, you don't get as much traction. When you are riding downhill, your brakes are not as effective. However, I don't really blame the park service, since they are fire roads after all. They need to keep the roads in shape, so that they could get fire trucks in there, if a wildfire occurs.
All in all, it was fun ride. As I mentioned earlier, I did better than my last ride, however it was still tougher than it should have been.
Here is my excuse for today: When you are riding a bike up dirt hills, it is crucial that you get as much weight over the back wheel as possible. You want to get as much traction as possible and the back wheel is the one that gets all of the power. You have to be careful though, since you do not want to get so much weight on the back wheel that the front wheel comes off of the ground. So you end up finding a balance point, where the maximum weight is on the back wheel without letting the front wheel come up. To complicate matters, this balance point changes as they slope of the hill changes. Anyway, it takes a few mountain bike rides to get a feel for finding this balance point. This is why climbing hills on my mountain bike has been so challenging the last two rides. That is my story and I am sticking to it (at least for today).
The last several days, it has been overcast and chilly in the mornings. So I put on a long sleeve jersey and my vest and started out on my ride. It quickly became apparent that this was a big mistake. It was a very warm day. The evening news just said that the temperature hit 93 in Santa Cruz today. The ride occurred between 10 and noon this morning, so it was not the peak of the day, however my bike computer said that it was in the 80's by the end of the ride. Anyway, I quickly took off my vest and zipped my jersey partway down. It was still warm, but not so warm that it ruined the ride.
As I mentioned earlier, it has been two or three years since I have done much mountain biking. It was very nice to go out in the park on a Tuesday morning in September. The weather was beautiful and the park was almost empty. I only saw a few other bikers and a few joggers. When I am road biking, there are ALWAYS cars and trucks going past. It was so nice to be out in the woods and for the most part, it felt like I had the park to myself. It was also fun to return to some of the fire roads and trails that I used to ride on.
My only complaint is that is that they have dropped gravel on some of the fire roads. Generally, they have covered the areas where it is particularly sandy or areas that get muddy in wet weather. I don't like riding on gravel. When you are riding uphill, you don't get as much traction. When you are riding downhill, your brakes are not as effective. However, I don't really blame the park service, since they are fire roads after all. They need to keep the roads in shape, so that they could get fire trucks in there, if a wildfire occurs.
All in all, it was fun ride. As I mentioned earlier, I did better than my last ride, however it was still tougher than it should have been.
posted by Steve @ 7:39 PM
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