Switching Teams

No Mom not that team - I'm still hetero! And no I'm not changing to Team Edward. Nope, not going to play Basketball for the Miami Heat. Yes, I'm still a Pirate! I'm switching from a weight weenie Roadie to a beer drinking Mountain Biker. There are many reasons for the switch and I'm not going to bash roadies. Since I announced that I was selling my road bike I've gotten some strange looks followed by lots questions. Hopefully this will explain.

The back story - As with most people, I rode a bike as a kid but stopped after I got my driver's license.  I got a mountain bike, an old Specialized Rockhopper, back in college and rode a few times but nothing serious. And it wasn't until some friends asked me to ride with them I picked it back up 6 or 7 years ago in my late 30's. I was teaching High School which left me lots of time during the summer to ride. However I didn't want to stop in the fall. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't continue riding once school was in session, dark came earlier and cold weather set in. A friend asked me if I wanted to ride on the road before work with him - I cautiously agreed to give it a try. We rode from 5:00 - 6:00am in the mornings. I know it sounds crazy but I had my reasons: #1. Riding in the morning didn't take away from family time the evening; #2. I got my exercise out of the way before the day got started; #3. I could ride the road in the dark. It actually worked out pretty well. So I switched over to only riding on the road.

1. Different Focus - I used to only worry about my average speed. Now I'm only concerned with heart rate and staying in my zones. So when it's cold out and adding a 20mph wind chill into the mix I instead ride the mountain bike. I'm working harder, going slower, staying warmer, and getting a great workout. Speed makes no difference. I have even thought of getting a fat bike to make it even harder on the road.

2. Racing - In Charlotte there are so many more opportunities to race in the dirt. In fact there are at least 25-30 races within an hour drive and only 3 road races. More opportunities to race means more of me pushing my limits, which means I get faster, which means moving closer to the podium.

3. Woods - While I do love seeing rural farm land, I prefer mountain scenery. My favorite place to visit after all is Asheville/ Hendersonville/ and Western North Carolina. Which is affectionately called the Moab of the east. Mountain biking areas include Pisgah, Dupont, Tsali, totaling more than 270 miles of trails. That's not including trails like Bent Creek, PantherTown, WCU, Warrior Creek, Sugar Mountain, Linville and many more. You could spend weeks out here and not ride the same trail twice. Here's a link to some of the trails in the area http://www.tarheeltrailblazers.com/TrailsTest.cfm

4. Safety - While mountain biking isn't exactly a safe sport there also aren't people out trying to harm you while out on the trail. Mountain biking is all up to me on how safe I am. If I don't feel comfortable with an obstacle I'll walk it. I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from road riding I'm just telling you why I stopped. While on the road I've been intimated, harassed, buzzed by SUV's, yelled at, and had an air horn blown directly at my ear- (yea, that SUCKED!) Mind you I still ride on the road, just not as much as I used to.

5. Friends - Lets face it, Friends make riding fun! I know a lot more mountain bikers than I do roadies in my new town, Charlotte, NC.  There's nothing like reliving a ride with friends over a good beer or cold chocolate milk.

6. CX Biking - OK I'm not exactly giving up all road riding, I still ride my mountain bike on the road. Plus I can still have a CX bike that can be switched over to road tires for short distances, I wouldn't want to try to do a century on it but for a 20-30 miler, it's fine. The CX bike will be good for recovery, tempo, endurance rides, and commuting to work during the spring and summer before I need to switch the bike over to a CX race bike.

7. Skills- Since riding road my technical skills and confidence has diminished greatly. No wonder, the only technical section of a road is one full of pot holes, train tracks and the occasional road kill. Before I started road biking I thought I could clear most obstacles on my local trail, which by the way was not a very technical trail. But now rooty climbs, rock gardens, log crossing, tight switchbacks, steep slippery climbs are all par for the course. Something I'm still working on!

8. Variety- There's also a huge variety in mountain biking from trail to trail in Charlotte. Annie feels just like I'm in the mountains, Sherman is fast and flowy, Lake Norman puts a smile on my face every time I ride it, Whitewater Center is a great workout. Before I had only 1 choice in trails to ride now I have 6 or 8 that are fairly close.

9. Money- Maintaining a road bike costs a lot! And its a lot of money sitting there for recreation when that money could be used to upgrade my race rigs. Since selling the Roubaix I've decided to upgrade my mountain bike with I9 Wheels (click here to check them out) and upgrade my CX bike to a Van Dessel Gin & Trombones.

10. IDK- Ok I really dont have a 10th reason but felt I couldn't stop at 9 so reason 10 will be ......... I know we could play madlibs -

I love mountain biking because of the ______________ (natural object) and the ______________ (natural object) are always so ______________ (adjective) in the _____________ (season) months. I love how the _____________ (bike part)  __________ (sound) and look like ____________ (body part) touching a ____________ (favorite food).

     

 

 

Peace out! Keep the rubber side down. Keep moving!