It's not just exercise...it's also fun!
Mountain biking has become one of my favorite ways to get exercise and spend some time outdoors. When I was working the night shift, I didn’t really get to do a lot because I was working overtime and felt tired all the time. I was very lazy on my nights off and just wanted to stay home. Now that I am working a day shift job, I have been able to get back into some of my previous hobbies, like mountain biking. It is so much fun and it’s great being part of such an amazing community of riders.
My husband and I first started mountain biking a couple of years ago when we wanted to start exercising in a fun way. We started out on some cheaper bikes we found online and went out to a regional park near our house. One of my husband’s friends who used to ride mountain bikes started going with us too. At that time, I had never ridden a mountain bike and it had been over five years since I even rode a bicycle, so the first few rides were not pretty. I was so slow and had to take a break after nearly every climb, but eventually, I built up my endurance and started feeling more comfortable on the terrain. After about a year on the cheap bikes, we upgraded to full suspension bikes with a lot more bells and whistles, and it made a huge difference. We started doing harder and longer trails as we got more comfortable. But…I took a couple of pretty bad falls (and have some scars to prove it) so I ended up taking a beginner’s class which taught me a lot about the basics and proper technique. The next time I went riding, I had so much more confidence and felt more stable on my bike (and I haven’t had that bad of a crash since).
We have ridden many of the trails near my house and even took a few trips to northern Arizona and California with our bikes. We bring our bikes when we go camping and ride any trails around us that we can. Last year, we went to a bike park in California (which I will write all about in another post) which was fantastic because you don’t have to do the hard climbing yourself. Many bike parks are only available in the summer because they are ski resorts that convert to downhill bike parks in the off-season. Bike parks are fun because you can spend long hours at the park and conserve some energy because you don’t have to climb up everything you want to ride down.
I still consider myself a beginner rider because I still take things very slow and I am just starting to feel good about sharp turns, very small jumps, and taking some trails a little faster. I hope to one day soon participate in a race hosted at the trail system near my house. It is on my 2022 goal list, so I am looking towards the fall at the beginning of the next mountain biking racing season to accomplish that. My husband and I also plan on taking a trip to California at the end of the summer with our friends who ride and go to another downhill bike park. I might even take a technical climbing/descending class to learn proper techniques to become a better rider.
Mammoth Mountain, California (left), Hawes Trail System with our riding buddies (middle), Santa Cruz, California (right)
I have learned so much and pushed my body pretty close to its limits, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. I love getting outdoors and getting some exercise in without the monotony of going to the gym and lifting weights or running on the treadmill for an hour. I can see myself participating in this sport for many years to come, and really start putting my skills to the test in some competitive racing.
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