All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

I would go on a ride and see how it feels. Maybe start with an easy 5 mile trail and use that as your baseline. As you ride more you will feel the improvement in fitness, speed and confidence on the bike. Add mileage every few weeks or record your rides to see how much faster you get. Maybe take a few attempts at technical sections where you normally have to put your foot down.

When it comes to technical sections I give myself 3 tries, if I can’t get it then I keep going. I also record on strava to compare my rides. There is a TW group but tbh a lot of the guys on here/there kill it with the mileage so I don’t try to compete haha.

Push yourself, just not too far cause all it takes is one hard fall to destroy confidence, especially early on.

 

Spent the last 3 days in Bend. The trailheads, trail system, beer, and rider friendly vibe throughout the whole town is insane. Maybe not the "best" trails I've ever ridden, but certainly the most rider-friendly and expansive trail network I've ever seen.

I'm surprised they don't have beer on tap at the trailheads and trail junctions.

Day 1: rode the Horse Ridge loop.
Day 2: shuttled and rode Tiddlywinks, Kiwa, Larsen, Tyler's Traverse, part of Funner, COD, to Tetherow.
Day 2: climbed up Ben's & Pine drop, down Whoops, Phil's, KGD, Voodoo and Kent's.

I think Tyler's Traverse and KGD were my favorite.

 

Its not a bad price, its a recreational bike that will do fine for most things in FL. As long as there aren't any glaring mechanical issues it would be an okay bike to start out on. I'm local to you, and you would be surprised how good the area has it as far as trail riding is concerned. If you have any questions feel free to pm me.

 

I've heard good things about Santos

 

Not MTB, but gravel event in Lewisburg, PA. Super cold start to the day, but weather was perfect in the NE. For anyone in the NJ/NY area, Erie MTB fest is saturday at the Watershed trails in Port Jervis. Fun place to ride!

 

I’d pass on that one real quick. 300 bucks for an upside down bike that probably cost 400 new. Doesn’t sound like the seller has a good understanding of bikes, boasting that the pedals are “metal” and handlebars are “extended”
I dealt with University Bicycle Center in Miami a bunch while working at Can I dale, those guys seem pretty legit. Get yourself over to an LBS, ride a few bikes, figure out what you want and need, and what you don’t. Then shop. Even if you end up buying used, you’ll have a better idea of what to keep an eye out for.

 

Got to do about 14 miles yesterday. Checked out the little Zacks Fork trail in Lenoir, NC. 2.8 Miles and a very fun little course! Not very difficult but ran it really fast and is like a little roller coaster. Did two laps there then explored Sinkhole Trail in Pisgah. That one was brutal. Lots of extended climbing followed by a very rough, root covered descent. Very fun area with lots of car camping potential. It's off of a FS road.

 

Santos is a ton of fun and they are constantly adding to the trail with a new flow section coming soon. I make it out there a few times a year.

 

The new flow trail is open. Cam Zink/Sensus had something to do with it. Kind of crazy how much attention Santos gets - Ray Petro of Rays Indoor MTB had something to do with alot of the wooden features before he was injured.

 

My usual weekend rides are about 10-12 miles, and are usually about 5-6 miles up, and then back down, just because that's how the few trails I ride most often are.

I'm trying to get out more often and explore other trails, and get longer, more enduro style riding in, where there's more climb/descent variation. But because my two closest trails are basically about that length, and are just ride up, then bomb down (which is awesome, don't get me wrong) that's what I do most often.

 

I'd also agree with this guy, don't start out comparing yourself to others, though its awesome that you're setting realistic goals.

Get a couple apps to find trails suited to your level, MTBProject, and Trailforks are great for that, and use Strava to track your rides to see how you improve over time.

Welcome to one of the best hobbies ever.

 

Yea I saw in your first post, you literally said, "Not trying to compare myself to others..." so I figured you're just trying to figure out what's a "normal" ride, so to speak. I get where you're coming from!

 

@InfernoChalupa
My regularly rides range from 10-15 miles, once every other week. It’s not much, but thats the window of sanity that life allows me currently and its better than nothing.

I ride solo and while I primarily ride for the enjoyment I do view it as fitness as well. As others have mentioned, Strava is a good tool to record your previous mileage/times/elevation/etc. It is particularly handy if you find yourself riding the same set of trails. I enjoy off bike training as well. One of my goals for every ride is to improve my on bike skills, and to not allow my fitness level to be the limiting factor.

 

It’s honestly both for me. I don’t know anyone near me that rides on similar short window schedule. And I really do like riding alone.

Riding with folks from time to time is fun. But I like the solitude and freedom to ride how/what I want to ride it allows.

 

Anything can work. Hell even just running a stopwatch if you're on a familiar loop.

Truthfully I've probably logged maybe a half dozen rides on my Strava account. I've got a basic GPS watch that I wear everyday. Its just more intuitive for me to use that as my tracking tool.

 

I'm in the latter group. I like riding with people, but can never really find people who's schedule matches up with me. I have one friend that rides, and is about the same level as I am, but its difficulty for us to ride together often, because of schedules. My wife rides MTB a little bit, but she sticks to easy stuff. We road ride together, which I really enjoy. But probably 9/10 of my MTB rides are alone.

 

Maybe I'm just selfish but it's trickly riding with other people. I've noticed fitness levels can vary so much from rider to rider. On both sides of the spectrum; nobody likes getting dropped and nobody likes waiting after every climb.

 

I get what you mean although I myself am not the most fit guy but it can get frustrating at times waiting for that guy who needs a break every few minutes. I think for this reason alone I tend to ride alone more than with someone as it can bum the ride out unless I’m around guys similar to me which many do exist out there. Back when I was out east we had a strong group of guys who could not only climb pretty hard, but were fast gravity guys as well. Always something to be learned when I rode with that group. I need to find a gravity group out west especially since it’s getting nice now.

 

Yeah I enjoy riding by myself too. It’s nice to be able to ride how I want, maybe retry some lines. Whatever haha. I ride with someone for the first time in a while this weekend though and realized how it would help me push myself, fitness wise

 

Man! looks like a lot of fun. I went through there in August on my way back from Washington. Didn't get a chance to ride but met up with a buddy that lives there he was telling me all about the extensive trail systems. We might have to do another road trip back up there!