I love to mountain bike but the problem is the getting out and back takes longer than the ride; there just aren't any trails really close by. That's not to mention getting paged 10 miles out on some singletrack really sucks but then again getting paged 8 miles into 12 pretty much sucks too. :-/
That's been mine problem, too (the former, not the latter). It takes too long to get anywhere decent to bike. I'd just use the streets around here, but it's nothing but brakes on the way down and pure hell on the way back up.
Not bad for cycling around here (put in a few miles this fall and lost 15lb) but the weather will be turning against it before too long. Years ago in Toronto I tried cycling through the winter, but was put off by the snow plows pushing snow into the cycle lanes forcing me out into traffic on a bad surface, and some bright spark deciding that in the middle of a snowstorm it would be smart to try to accelerate past me and do a sharp right turn in front of me rather than wait for me to clear the turning. He spun out; he didn't hit me but it did underline for me the fact that the hazards of road cycling in bad weather are not just whether I can control the bike. I tend to give in to winter now.
Wow, don't know how I missed this thread. Congrats, El. That's just so great that you did it. As someone who has had stretches of poorly used time mistreating my own body, I know how rejuvenating the comebacks can feel. That's awesome.
Well done GP, that's a worthwhile loss. Fortunately hills are not a problem for me when on my bike, but I would need to go a long way to mountain bike. Other road traffic is the problem - lorries and cars cutting in, for example. I should use my bike more, though.
Last year I had wanted to get a road bike but my wife put her foot down after a series of cycling accidents around town so it'll be running with the occasional mountain bike ride.
@jonah, it feels so good to make this goal, very energizing. I'm now committed to running my first marathon (pre-paid my hotel room 300 meters from the starting line) at the Vermont City Marathon (only 216 days left to train). :-D
It's 25 years since I ran a marathon. But I still remember how satisfying the late stages of training were. Being able to go out for a 15-16 mile run and still feel at the end that you could have run further was a great feeling, especially with the memory still relatively recent of having been half dead after five miles earlier in the regime. I feel a little jealous.
(My small scale substitute for that at the moment is a particular very steep stretch of road near here that I could barely cycle up at all two months ago and can now do in 5th gear.)
Comments
Late addition to your playlist...
"Run" by Spiritualized.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82UYsaFdGOo&noredirect=1
"Running Through Woodlands" by Message to Bears
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyTG57HaMuM
@jonah, it feels so good to make this goal, very energizing. I'm now committed to running my first marathon (pre-paid my hotel room 300 meters from the starting line) at the Vermont City Marathon (only 216 days left to train). :-D
(My small scale substitute for that at the moment is a particular very steep stretch of road near here that I could barely cycle up at all two months ago and can now do in 5th gear.)