any mountain bikers here...

mtnfolk mike

mtnfolk mike

Gold Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2006
Messages
10,040
i have been an avid mtn. bike rider for the past 15-16 years or so.... we have endless amounts of trails here, including epic rides right out my front door... santa cruz is fairly well known for their mtn. biking... we have everything from hardcore downhill trails to really long cross country rides.. there is also a SANTA CRUZ bike company, which is putting out some of the best mtn. bikes on the market... i have one..:D
i rode a single speed mtn.bike for about 6 years, up until i had my first knee surgery 5 years ago... i then was forced to add gears to my bike...:( now i ride an 8 speed...:D it is a hard tail.. a SANTA CRUZ CHAMELEON.. i love this bike. it's like a BMX on steroids...:D

after this last knee surgery at the end of jan. i think that i'm ready to start riding again.. i got the okay from my doctor and my physical therapist... so i have been slowly tuning up my bike over these past few days, to get it all ready to go... it's been quite a few months since i have ridden...:( the weather has been sooo nice here lately... i can't wait to get back on some single track again...
i'll try and get some pics up of my bike after i put it all back together.. it's in pieces right now...

i'll ride just about anything these days, but i love loooooong epic rides... usually ranging from 15-30 miles... sometimes more.. i have even gone on a bunch of overnighters on my bike, packing extremely lightweight..
me being the overly prepared guy that i am, i tend to carry a lot of gear... just in case... i was going through my camelbak H.A.W.G. yesterday and thought i would snap a pic of all of the gear i carry while i ride.. there are a few items missing... including a small headlamp...

WHAT DO YOU ALL CARRY WHILE RIDING..

IMG_1869.jpg
 
I ride a singlespeed mountain bike often during the summer. I am originally from SOCAL and have been into mountain bikes since I was about 10. There is not near as many trails here as out there, but I know a few. I ride a specialized. Well its a specialized frame anyways. Everything else has been customized by me. I ride w/a camelback Viper w/ about the same contents youve got pictured. I do like the fox gloves. I currently have oakley ones, and they are pretty sweet too.
 
Oh yeah, been riding since the early 90's. Ride a Specialized Epic right now, I'm too old for the hardtails anymore, although I have one I ride from time to time. Single speed outlaw, huh? No wonder you had to have knee surgery! :D J/k, been there done that, made a complete recovery. I live in Asheville now, mtn biking capital of the east coast! Check out this video of one of the local trails:

http://www.sirbikesalot.com/showfiles.php?sid=8&ci=42&pk=25&tr=28&ft=2

You gotta watch it at least 1/2 way to get to some of the juicy stuff. Nice, no?

greenslick.jpg


I carry about what you have pictured there on the more remote trips, tend to go a little lighter on the rides close to home. I do add a small AA light, have a fear of being 5 miles out, 30 minutes till dark, and having some failure that forces a walk out.

Good luck with the knee, riding is great for those of us who have had knee surgery.
 
I don't have time to list everything I carry, so I'll edit this post later. I've been mountain biking for a few years. I don't have time to go very often unfortunately. I ride a Specialized Hard Rock. Pretty decent entry level hardtail.

mtnfolkmike - Got any pics of your bike?
 
Ever got any strange looks w/ a Busse strapped to your lycra, and a tomahawk mounted to your top tube?:D JK. I carry a leatherman surge and my Manix on rides. I would carry a fixed blade just cant find a spandex sheath thats aerodynamic enough:p
 
mapper66 said:
Oh yeah, been riding since the early 90's. Ride a Specialized Epic right now, I'm too old for the hardtails anymore, although I have one I ride from time to time. Single speed outlaw, huh? No wonder you had to have knee surgery! :D J/k, been there done that, made a complete recovery. I live in Asheville now, mtn biking capital of the east coast! Check out this video of one of the local trails:

http://www.sirbikesalot.com/showfiles.php?sid=8&ci=42&pk=25&tr=28&ft=2

You gotta watch it at least 1/2 way to get to some of the juicy stuff. Nice, no?

I carry about what you have pictured there on the more remote trips, tend to go a little lighter on the rides close to home. I do add a small AA light, have a fear of being 5 miles out, 30 minutes till dark, and having some failure that forces a walk out.

Good luck with the knee, riding is great for those of us who have had knee surgery.
Click to expand...

awesome video man...:thumbup: those look like some great trails..

right you are about the knee.. riding is great for it... though i really want a single speed again, but the doctor says no..:( at least not for anotther year or 2...

here's a few video's from youtube of some of our trails... most of these are all within riding distance from my house... and the others aren't too far away...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOWHSlvWMaM&feature=related

there are some amzing trails on and around the UCSC campus..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o043uNjM-gQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejskVN0nWxI&feature=related
 
I do a lot of what I'd call city riding. I'm in a suburb of detroit so theres not a lot of trails near by. There are some hidden places I've found to ride. My current mountain bike is an Aluminum Trek hard tail. 3200 I think. My usual ride is about 10 miles.

As for single speeds, I'd love to have one. I rode BMX as a kid and had a few high end bikes. I missed the BMX thing so much I picked up a Diamondback Reactor a couple years ago and basically replaced everything on it. Its an aluminum frame with 24" wheels. Very light and easy to throw around. Frame is probably 12 years old but the bike is like new now. Almost big enough for my 6' 2", 190 lbs. :p

My latest project is an old school road bike I picked up last year. A steel frame Takara 10-speed. It was a Japanese offering in the early 80's. One of my BMX bikes was aTakara so I couldn't pas on owning another one.

I'll try to post some pics of my bikes and gear when I gt a chance.
 
I ride a Santa Cruz Blur - love it! I even teach a beginning mountain biking class at the local university.

I'm not as crazy as I was when younger - it just takes too long to heal, and then longer to get back in shape. I'm still recovering from cancer and injuries over the last three years.

My mtb knife is a Benchmade 610, carried horizontally on my Camelbak waist strap. I too would rather carry a fixed blade, but the combination of not finding a sheath I trust in a good fall, and anti-"weapons" rules in the local parks pushes me towards a more stealth folder.

I carry a bare minimum of emergency stuff on short local rides, more on extended rides, more yet on winter rides. I always have fire tools, emergency blanket, and first aid kit, along with power bars, etc.
 
Rupestris said:
I do a lot of what I'd call city riding. I'm in a suburb of detroit so theres not a lot of trails near by. There are some hidden places I've found to ride. My current mountain bike is an Aluminum Trek hard tail. 3200 I think. My usual ride is about 10 miles.

As for single speeds, I'd love to have one. I rode BMX as a kid and had a few high end bikes. I missed the BMX thing so much I picked up a Diamondback Reactor a couple years ago and basically replaced everything on it. Its an aluminum frame with 24" wheels. Very light and easy to throw around. Frame is probably 12 years old but the bike is like new now. Almost big enough for my 6' 2", 190 lbs. :p

My latest project is an old school road bike I picked up last year. A steel frame Takara 10-speed. It was a Japanese offering in the early 80's. One of my BMX bikes was aTakara so I couldn't pas on owning another one.

I'll try to post some pics of my bikes and gear when I gt a chance.
Click to expand...

very cool.... i like the sounds of this old school road bike...:thumbup: i have never been into road bikes, until i had my first knee surgery.. i have wanted one ever since...

there are a lot of folks around here that ride single speed and fixed gear road bikes.... i wouldn't mind building a single speed road bike myself...:o

GRAMPA-- right on.. the santa cruz blur is an awesome bike... i would love to have one of those one of these days... i'm jealous...
 
In the home of Dirt Rag here. Lots of good stuff withing city limits, even better 45 minutes outside city. I pack WAY lighter than that for similar duration rides. I take a tool kit for most trailside repairs, extra tube, food, 70-100oz water, knife, sometimes a phone, band aids, pump/patches of course and occasionally a light jacket that keeps the rain off. Ride on.

edit: My ride is a 2005 Trek 8500SL with Manitou Black 100mm fork, XTR/XT package, Bontrager Mustangs with XT hubs. I still ride a XT 8 speed cassette.
 
This thread is making me itch for a long summer ride.... I rode 20 miles a day, when I was off last summer, sometimes more. I work two 24hr shifts, so that leaves me plenty of time for riding, and hiking. Cant wait til it warms up a bit.........
 
I ride a Trek top fuel 98. Very good bike and hasn't let me down yet. I carry a little less gear than you. For one here in so cal you there are no streams or lakes so I carry 100 oz plus a bottle for the 40+ mile rides. My gear selection really depends on which trail I'm riding. If it is one of the more remote, less traveled trails, I'll bring gear for the night, but just the basics of shelter, fire, food. My knife choice is the Native, clips to my thigh pocket of my shorts.

3 weeks ago I just completed my third Vision Quest put on by the Warrior's Society. 56 miles and 11,000 feet of climbing. And yes there are crazy fit guys and girls doing that on a single speed.

http://www.warriorssociety.org/events/writeup_powwow2008.html
 
I've been riding over 20 years. Now just in Utah and Colorado. Still riding a hard tail but it's starting to really hurt (especially downhilling the local ski resorts). I carry much less then you - just standard multi-bike tool(allens, spoke wrench and chain tool/pump/spare/patches). Some water and powerbars, matches and a jacket. I have gone pretty far back on old logging trails that are known to be dense cat territory and I have packed... I was more worred about falling hard and having an UD than anything else...
 
bikerider said:
I ride a Trek top fuel 98. Very good bike and hasn't let me down yet. I carry a little less gear than you. For one here in so cal you there are no streams or lakes so I carry 100 oz plus a bottle for the 40+ mile rides. My gear selection really depends on which trail I'm riding. If it is one of the more remote, less traveled trails, I'll bring gear for the night, but just the basics of shelter, fire, food. My knife choice is the Native, clips to my thigh pocket of my shorts.

3 weeks ago I just completed my third Vision Quest put on by the Warrior's Society. 56 miles and 11,000 feet of climbing. And yes there are crazy fit guys and girls doing that on a single speed.

http://www.warriorssociety.org/events/writeup_powwow2008.html
Click to expand...

bikerider-- very cool man...:thumbup: that looks like an awesome race... the warriors society looks pretty hardcore...:eek:
 
It is pretty hard core, lots of fireroad climbs and great single track descents.
Luckily it is my back yard and I can ride this all the time. Half of the area is closed now though due to the fires last fall...
 
I've always wanted to get into mtn. biking, but I don't know anyone who does. I've been wanting to check out some of the Santa Cruz mountain trails. Unfortunately, I am unacceptably out of shape, from sitting at a desk for the last three years.
I used to race BMX bikes when I was a youngster, and always wanted to do some trails on a mtn. bike.

Do you have any suggestions for trails for an out of shape biker and his wife in the S.C. Mtns.?!?

I would love to try and get into it more once I graduate and move down to the south bay in June.
 
stingray4540 said:
I've always wanted to get into mtn. biking, but I don't know anyone who does. I've been wanting to check out some of the Santa Cruz mountain trails. Unfortunately, I am unacceptably out of shape, from sitting at a desk for the last three years.
I used to race BMX bikes when I was a youngster, and always wanted to do some trails on a mtn. bike.

Do you have any suggestions for trails for an out of shape biker and his wife in the S.C. Mtns.?!?

I would love to try and get into it more once I graduate and move down to the south bay in June.
Click to expand...

there are a lot of trails around here.. for levels of riders.... :) wilder ranch and niszene marks, are 2 state parks with awesome trails...

i have some really good single track right acroos the street from my house..:D a spot called bear mtn.. i usually do a loop of it a few times.. i think it's a great trail and is fairly easy.. it also offers a little bit of everything in terms of steep climbing, downhill, a few log drops and it's all singletrack..:D my wife hates mtn. biking... which is really funny beacause she's pretty hardcore...:o

i would be more than happy to take you down some trails... or even just get together and go for a hike and do some BBQ... we also have a really cool archery range and disc golf range, both about 10 min. away... i have lots of bows and knives of course...:D drop me a line.. allscared@yahoo.com

mike
 
Thanks for the trail tips! I'll definitely have to try niscene marks, as I have hiked it a few times already.
email sent.
 
I'm in to any thing on 2 wheels. I have an older Trek 21 speed hard tail that the model is buried under flat black paint. I think I have been into mountain bikes sense before they were called mountain bikes. After Doing the Roserita to Ensinada 50 miler a few years ago I bought a 27 speed road bike. Kind of funny how doing 40 mph on a bicycle feels faster than doing 120 mph on my Harley.
Looking forward to getting back in the saddle again after 2 years and 9 surgery's on the leg. Riding time is right around the corner.
 
I haven't ridden off road for about a year, year and a half but when I did it was XC stuff on a Santa Cruz Heckler with a lightish build.

Lately it's been more bike paths on my cheap and simple Kona Dew as it's hard to find the time to dedicate a whole day to MTB

As to what I carry, very similar to everyone else. FAK, repair kit, snacks and water. Varies depending on where I'd be riding etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top