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

It's also Gnar Couch, so are we really surprised? Can't be trusted when one of the founding members is a Ridgeline owner!

 

The biggest hurdle as mentioned by @Gunshot-6A is the time management. A ride every other day could somewhat easily get you to the 2,000 mile mark - but take a week of rain, some sick time, vacation, summer chores, etc... all while still trying to stay motivated on the trainer.

Part of me is looking hard for a gravel bike to run some more of the tame trails and put on some road miles for the overall endurance, but I have to convince myself to spend money. To get more miles in means more pavement riding at higher speeds. I don't have the luxury to take 3 hours and hit 20 miles every time I get on the mountain bike....most of the time I aim for 10-12 miles and need to head home; start feeling guilty and want to be around to help out with the chores and kid.

 

Also a bit of a challenge in Utah and similar states is that our riding season is really late March through November due to snow and muck. We have some options that fair OK during winter months, but that def cuts down on the time to ride as well.

 

it's not as hard as you think. Do a few epics throughout the year and you'll hit your 2k mark easily. also, a good long gravel/road ride will pump up those numbers quick. I regularly do 30 miles whenever i do a gravel/road ride. sometimes i do a lot of vert sometimes i don't do any. depends on how I feel.

true. this. doing the enchilada a few times and other long days in PC really helps but still, lots of climbing everywhere in utah. I think I've said it before, it's rare for a mtb ride in UT to NOT be 1k feet vert.

 

totally agree. time management and motivation are goal killers.

i feel i'll have a good mix of riding. trainer on my old road bike. commuting and gravel miles on my commuter/gravel bike. sick trails on my patrol. and finally i'll have my xc hard tail to mix things up; i still wanna get a dropper, stem, and bars for it, but its ridable as is.

colorado springs really does have great year round riding though. 2 parks on the south west are a little snowy/muddy rn, but 2 other parks are super ridable.

im more apt to ride my trainer now since im slowly building up my pain cave/office in my new house. interior spaces really do feel different when you own and can change whatever you want. and throw in one of those month or two long workout plans on zwift and that should get me through the colder months

 

Top of Limelight to Rush and down is 1100ft up on a casual 6mi loop. in PC it almost takes effort to not hit at least 2K.

 

@mrtonyd if you need some bars for that hard tail I’ve got the stock ANVL alloy bars that came on my Spire. 30mm rise, 800 mm width. Yours if you can figure out how to get them from FoCo to the Springs. Not sure I’ve got anything to ship them in.

edit: might have an old Bontrager 50mm stem laying around too.

 

Same here in Massachusetts. We get lucky and hit some decent days in December, but not up for snow riding and do not plan on getting a fat bike. March/April is mud season and while I get the itch to go out for a ride, I am not a fan of spending an hour washing and cleaning the bike afterwards.

 

that would be awesome. i will let you know if i can make up that way. i may run to rmnp for a day and can stop in foco on the way back or something.

ill keep you posted

 

Ooooh lala, the cassette that lasts longer than bikes do. Well X01 and up that is.

https://m.pinkbike.com/buysell/3237056/

 

A nice pain cave definitely makes it easier to ride the trainer haha. I just upgraded to a kickr core and added a swivel mount for my monitor so I can feel more immersed in the ride haha. I’m a fan of Sufferfest for plans but I’m sure Zwift will be fine.

 

haha. yup! I usually start at the bottom of limelight so my rides tend to be like 8 miles+ and 1500+ easy. And that's my after work ride! hah!

 

I feel like for it to be a “pain cave” it should just be a shitty stationary bike purchased from a previously obese owner, with a split greasy seat, kfc grease soaked bars, in a dark room with Martha Stuart’s disapproving scowl painted on the far wall, with Korn playing so that you can contemplate why the fuck you didn’t just ride your damn real bike outside.

**says I while staring down the barrel of a new house, 2 month old baby, and upcoming knee surgery…

 

That’s a good bit of elevation. I kinda wish it was like that here. Kill me on the ups and I’ll enjoy the downs. Generally every mile is 100’ elevation gain.

 

Haha I wish, the weather has been terrible here. Trails will be unrideable for a couple weeks. Roads are just as bad with snow and salt everywhere…

 

I have a shorter season than you.

I usually get 4500 to 5000 or so miles a year. I count trainer miles too though.

Key is to have your shit together. I get everything ready to ride as far ahead as possible. If I'm riding the trainer I'll get a movie queued up, Trainerroad open, full bottles on the bike, kit hanging on the handlebars, snack ready to go the night before. I can be spinning the pedals within 5 minutes of waking up.

If I'm riding outside same sort of plan. I don't like wasting time getting things together or finding things just before a ride. I keep all my gear organized, clean, and ready to go. I have a weeks worth of clean gear so a smelly jersey is never an excuse. I use the Thule Duffel https://www.thule.com/en-ca/sport-t...ar-bags/thule-roundtrip-bike-duffel-_-3204352 and it's awesome. All my crap is ready to go. If I'm driving to ride I toss it in the truck, bike on the rack, and I'm gone in a minute.

I try to keep a routine. My wife and I are both reasonably busy, and our schedules are ever changing, but I try to ride at the same time each day. We also communicate our week with each other to avoid conflicts.

It's pretty easy to squeeze in rides if you're ready to go at any time. Even if you only have a half hour to ride. If everything is ready to go you can have a productive 30 minutes instead of watching a TV show or scrolling Instagram. A lot of my TW shitposting I do between intervals, or cooldowns, on the trainer.

So keys are; avoid time sucks, have a routine, be organized, and prepare early. Easier said then done, of course, but I've made it work after years of figuring it out.

 

That duffel is pretty slick ...

I have a rock shox tote grocery bag thing I keep most of my riding stuff in, but that duffel... That is something else. I gotta get something like that, especially with the individual separator things in there

 

I didn't even know it was a thing and I sell Thule products. Ha. My wife got it for me for Christmas last year through my shop. It's been fantastic. I keep some printed checklists in it so I can verify everything is there for whatever riding or event I'm doing. Most stuff just lives in there though.

 

I have that one too, it's pretty game changing if you have any level of OCD. It's super well thought out and tons of room. Room for my helmet, shoes, snacks, and pretty much anything else you might need. It's pretty packed with my winter gear right now but in the summer I can keep a couple road and mountain bike kits in it. The strap is even super well thought out, it has a pad that is held in place with velcro to keep the bag perfectly on your back.

 

Yeah I don't have a trainer, nor do I really want one, but I hear you on prep.

All my riding gear lives in my truck during the main riding season, and I live 7 minutes from a legit set of trails. Park City is under an hour.

Really my biggest thing is motivation after a grind at work (finance dept head) and that its still 90* at 5pm in the summer months here in the valley. It's all excuses, and I know it. I just need to get my ish together and keep pedaling.