get better at mountain biking

Why don’t I do this all day every day.

Wait, you don’t need to tell me. My sore sitting bones, skinned elbow and dozens of bruises are reminding me.

My endurance is severely lacking.

Went mountain biking tonight. It was rough. We went exploring on a single track and went too far. We ended up on an unofficial trail that was way way too steep! It was so steep I had quite a lot of trouble even walking down it (with the bike of course) and fell twice while walking! Major bruises will be showing themselves by morning and the scrapes are already scabbed over.

My friend was having some trouble with her bike and after another fall back on the familiar trail she was ready to quit. So we only biked about 1/3 of the time we normally do. Bummer, but my shaky legs didn’t mind.

I biked in the bridge pedal today! 36 miles (+ 2 to get back to the car), 3.5 hours.

Very much an urban ride, not mountain biking, but still, I’m sure the practice can only be good for me:

• Lots of endurance exercise, bike specific.
• Practice with shifting and timing of shifting.
• Instead of dodging branches and roots and rocks I dodged other bikers and cones and and flying water bottles.

Not to mention, so much fun and amazing views normally only seen from inside a car.

I think I’m actually getting worse.

Must practice more often.

I went camping this weekend and we rode bikes both Saturday and Sunday, totaling 26 trail miles and 6 road miles. It was amazing. And it was a strong reminder that I’m not in as good of shape as I need to be. I was behind my friends on all counts (luckily, they are awesome people and didn’t mind waiting for me to catch up occasionally): technical ability, strength and cardio insurance. Some of that will be improved as I get to the gym more often. Some has to come from more mountain biking practice. Which is cool because mountain biking is amazingly fun!

We went to a different park last night. The terrain was so extremely different, if felt like a whole other sport.

Fun, but made me realize how much my cardio endurance isn’t up to par! Also desperately need to work on confidence.

Last summer my friend and I got in a routine of biking at a park one day per week, (weather permitting). I improved immensely, but still am a beginner.

I’d like to improve both my aerobic endurance so I can get up big hills without walking, and improve my technical ability so I’m not so afraid of rocks and roots.

The plan is to re-start our weekly rides, but alternate between a couple different parks for some more variety. And to make Mt. biking a regular weekend activity as well.