Mountain Biking is Challenging but Well Worth The Effort...!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 06:05PM Yo Max,
My girlfriend is trying to get me into mountain biking. I’m in okay shape but scared that I might seriously hurt myself, or worse – look like an idiot! Should I give it a try or stick to my safe little spinning class, yoga, and rubber coated dumbbells?
Trisha, Lafayette Hill
Yo Trisha,
No guts, no glory – I always say. Mountain biking is great fun but like most sports, (and make no mistake – it is it’s own ‘sport’) it takes time to develop technical skills, build the necessary conditioning, and you’re going to need the proper equipment to get started.
My experience is limited so rather than give you inaccurate or incomplete information I figured I better consult an expert.
Carolyn Popovic got her first real bike as a gift from her dad so that she could tool around Penn States vast campus unencumbered and not be late for class. It was a Cannondale, and today, 8 years later, Cannondale sponsors her as a professional mountain bike racer and she rides for team PAValleys.com. There are few professional road cyclists who make a good living on the back of a bike. The Lance Armstrong’s of the world are very rare and this won’t change any time soon. Sadly, mountain biking has it even tougher with most pro’s barely getting their equipment and expenses covered. ‘Don’t quit your day job!’ Carolyn teaches German at Ridley High. Her part time schedule gives her the freedom she needs for hours of training every day and to get to races on weekends. We spoke at length about what it’s like to be a woman in a male dominated sport, how a person might get started, equipment, and safety concerns.
“The biggest difference between mountain biking and road biking,” Carolyn explained, “is that you’re in the woods, on or off the trail, climbing mountains, crossing streams, and navigating several different kinds of obstacles. If you like being outdoors and especially if you have a passion for the wilderness, mountain biking is the sport for you.”
“But don’t you have to be physically strong and experienced to deal with the challenges you’ll face - even in local places like Valley Green or Belmont?” I asked.
“To excel in the sport or compete at a higher level, yes, but there are plenty of easier paths and trails available to the beginner and as your skills increase you can begin tackling tougher terrain.”
“What does it require in terms of athletic ability and aerobic conditioning?”
“For the beginner, basic bike handling skills and decent conditioning should be sufficient but as you improve and get comfortable you’ll need a high level of aerobic fitness, agility, core and upper-body strength, definitely a good sense of balance, and what I call, visual judgment, so that you can pick the right line to track your movement down the trail and over or around obstacles.”
As for equipment, Carolyn recommends that you borrow or rent a bike first to see if you like the sport enough to invest your money because it’s not cheap to properly equip yourself. With mountain bikes, you get what you pay for and if you buy a bike in the 500 dollar range it will likely break down and could even be unsafe to take on anything more than rolling hills. Cannondale offers two ‘SL Trail’ models, at $869 and $1059 respectively that she says are definitely trail worthy. Then you have shoes and pedals that allow you to clip in (not required but recommended), gloves (strongly recommended), and a helmet (a must). Beyond these items it’s really up to you – if you’re serious about the sport and or have a bigger budget, you can spend a great deal more on fancy and useful gear. She also recommends that you attend a mountain biking clinic and find a group to ride with as this will further help you to feel competent and comfortable on the trails.
“Ease into the sport,” she says. “It takes time to get past the natural fear you’ll have for riding in the woods over rough terrain. When you’re dealing with nature there are no straight lines.”
As for getting injured - over the past eight years of serious riding and climbing her way through the ranks of beginner, sport, expert, semi pro, and pro (now the ranking system has changed to mimic the men’s - categories 4 through 1 and then pro) Carolyn has never been badly hurt. “Just your typical bumps and bruises – a little trail rash is all, but make no mistake,” she said, grinning, “you will fall…often, if you really push your limits as a beginner. I say take it easy and let your skills catch up with your desire to go faster.”
I summer in the Adirondacks and as kids we learned to water ski. It took a few years to get good – first you learned to get up on two skis, then to drop one and slalom, then you could take on tricks or jumping, etc. Nowadays, I see kids getting dragged around on rafts while eating ice cream cones. Why has water skiing dropped off and raft pulling soared? Because Water skiing is hard. It takes time, patience, and practice to learn the skill. But once you’ve mastered the basics it can give you years of thrills and pleasure. And as for the raft dragging - it gets old pretty quick. Understand that learning to be good enough to really enjoy this sport will take some time. Like most things in life worth doing, however, I think the journey is a big part of the reward.
(Photo above wearing #120) Carolyn Popovic at a team relay of the Mid-Atlantic Super Series on April 3rd 2010
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