Blue Mountain Reservation
For a change of pace I went off-road mountain biking today in the Blue Mountain Reservation up in Peekskill. It was a good workout, but I have to admit that my mountain biking skills are a bit rusty. I guess it didn’t help that my MTB is held together with a little more than rust, doesn’t have clipless pedals and never even heard of suspension. The bike is practically from prehistoric times, compared to the mountain bikes of today.
I set off for the trails at 6am this morning under the cover of darkness. The plan was to meet Ben and Erik from the Asphalt Green Triathlon Club by 7am and to start riding soon after. Erik had a very nice Seven mountain bike, with front suspension and disk brakes, whereas Ben had a mountain bike that was literally separated at birth from mine. Unfortunately for Ben, the freewheel on his rear wheel gave out within 20 minutes of our ride. It was a problem I encountered with my MTB two years ago and since corrected. Ben had to walk his bike back to his car to go home, while Erik and I continued on.
If I learned one thing today, it is that I am not ready for Xterra racing. I don’t have the feel for the trails like I used to have. I suppose I should have insisted on going to a trail system that wasn’t so technical. The Blue Mountain trails were very rocky, icy and slippery from many leaves. Really, though, I am going to blame my less than perfect riding skills on the bike. My brakes barely worked and riding in pedal cages just sucked.
We spent about 2.5 hours rolling around the trails. It was excellent cross training, but I would have liked to put in a few more miles. Hopefully, I’ll do another MTB ride in a couple of weeks with an upgraded bike.
I set off for the trails at 6am this morning under the cover of darkness. The plan was to meet Ben and Erik from the Asphalt Green Triathlon Club by 7am and to start riding soon after. Erik had a very nice Seven mountain bike, with front suspension and disk brakes, whereas Ben had a mountain bike that was literally separated at birth from mine. Unfortunately for Ben, the freewheel on his rear wheel gave out within 20 minutes of our ride. It was a problem I encountered with my MTB two years ago and since corrected. Ben had to walk his bike back to his car to go home, while Erik and I continued on.
If I learned one thing today, it is that I am not ready for Xterra racing. I don’t have the feel for the trails like I used to have. I suppose I should have insisted on going to a trail system that wasn’t so technical. The Blue Mountain trails were very rocky, icy and slippery from many leaves. Really, though, I am going to blame my less than perfect riding skills on the bike. My brakes barely worked and riding in pedal cages just sucked.
We spent about 2.5 hours rolling around the trails. It was excellent cross training, but I would have liked to put in a few more miles. Hopefully, I’ll do another MTB ride in a couple of weeks with an upgraded bike.
posted by Rebel at 5:15 PM
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