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| This is Bob! |
In the last several years, I have done a lot more road biking. It has mostly been commuting but I have also added in a few longer rides and have really enjoyed myself. However, I am a woman of the woods at heart so I thought it was time to adventure out to the dirt. First I had to figure out what kind of bike I needed. Have you ever tried to buy a bike? There are hard tail, gravel bikes, bikes with no shocks and bikes with extra shocks. There are aluminum and carbon frames, there are different sizes and shapes and...man, there are so many different options and many of them are expensive!
What I ultimately wanted was something I could take bikepacking; this is like backpacking but on a bike. You load up the bike and ride off into the woods for a few days and camp along the way. If you know me at all, you know this is right up my alley! So I chose a hardtail bike and I put a price alert on it and when the alert got triggered, I bit the bullet and bought it. Then it arrived in a big box and I had to put it together myself. I know a little from having the road bike but most of this is new to me.
So, basically the point of all of this backstory is that I have been having fun. Like I said in this post, we so often get so used to doing things that we know how to do, but this has given me so many different learning experiences! Have they all been fun? No. I luckily put my pedals on the right sides, but did not crank them down so that they would stay on all the time. I already had to fix the shifter and I now am on a first name basis with the local bike shop.
BUT! Bob and I went out for our first ride this week. The trails are still a tad wet, but oh my gosh, it was SO FUN! I felt like a little kid again. I have to ride up a big hill to get from my house to the trailhead and then I had a few big hills on the trails and they were hard, but I did it! I had to go down rocky and rooted trails and I definitely tested out my brakes, but flying down the hill when you have a more smooth surface is such a thrill.
I feel like a highschool girl with her first crush! He is so cute! I am in love. K + B forever! Like a highschool girl though, I am sure the sheen will wear off and reality will hit me, but for right now I am on cloud nine!
Have you ever mountain biked? If so, I need tips! What is the hardest thing you have had to put together yourself (and how many screws did you have left over at the end)?
Hi Bob!
ReplyDeleteI have not ever gone mountain biking and, after my sister's most recent biking accident, I think I may leave it that way?!
Oh my gosh, what happened to your sister? Was this on a road bike or a mountain bike?
DeleteI haven't really ever mountain biked. I tried when I rented a bike at the Biltmore in Asheville. I wanted to bike around on the dirt trails/cover more ground since the estate is huge (as you might remember from when we visited it in Feb 2014!) so I rented a bike and I think it was a mountain bike. They have some mountain biking trails on the grounds. I tried one and I literally could not get up the path. I don't know if I was too weak or didn't have the right bike or what? My friend Courtney LOVES mountain biking. Her youngest who is 7 is getting into it, too, so they are doing a mountain biking trip for Spring Break - in Arkansas! Apparently there is a town there, I think maybe the HQ of Walmart, is known for it's mountain biking.
ReplyDeletePhil will have to tell you about his one and only experience mountain biking when we see you next week... it was not good as he was in a bike with clipped in pedals - which seems like THE WORST idea for a mountain bike.
My sister was mountain biking (she does a lot of road biking too; she's a triathlete) and went over a log covered with leaves and went flying. She broke her neck, collarbone, a number of vertebrae and several ribs. She is lucky to be alive.
ReplyDeleteWhen she visited me after Christmas she went running with a sling and neck brace. Let's just say she's a very stubborn gal. She qualified for Boston this spring, and did get the all-clear from doctors to do some gentle training. But this was only like 4 weeks after her accident. SIGH!!!
And she's back on her bike...in her neck brace!!!
Ha! I think your sister and I would get along!
DeleteI have a mountain bike - her name is Rosie - but I don't like trail riding much. I'm in good cardio shape but I'm not a great technical rider, so I prefer paths that are either gravel or paved. Last year I rode the Legacy Trail from Canmore to Banff and back, and that was something I had wanted to do for a very long time. It was wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI have run in that area; the trail system really is good! I don't know if you have been to Mammoth Lakes, CA, but it is a very similar infrastructure -- cute mountain town with easy access to trails and a great bike system!
DeleteNice to meet Bob. And congrats on the bike purchase. I am sure you'll get a lot of use out of Bob. :) I don't have a mountain bike, so I can't give much input.
ReplyDeleteHiiii, Bob!
ReplyDeleteI haven't done a ton of biking, just spinning haha. I would like to, but I just feel like I would spend a lot of money on a bike and then rarely get out on it since I struggle with laziness, haha.
I think the hardest thing I've had to put together was my previous desk, which was super large and had a ton of different parts to it. I had my stepdad and mom come over to help me!