Mountain biking and snowboarding

Earlier this year, I decided that my car needed a “death panel” of its own. When faced with the decision of whether to repair it again or get rid of it, the decision was easy: get rid of it.

Buy a car, get a bike

I ended up buying a new car, and with it, received a voucher for a mountain bike (or actually, anything) from a local cycle shop. Since I already have a street bike–and find that it provides a fairly jarring ride in the “paved” walking/ biking trails in my city, I opted for something different, the mountain bike. Oh yes, there’s also a well-acclaimed single-track system within a short distance of my house, which made the decision easier.

But what kind of bike? I was willing to throw in about $100 of my own money to upgrade the bike.  In theory, a “full suspension” model sounds great, but I didn’t want to pay $1,000 for a bike. Plus, as I have since found out, those types require more maintenance and more energy to ride. As it is, the wide tires (probably 3 times as wide as those on the street bike) already offer more rolling resistance, making it more demanding. No need to make cruising more difficult than it needs to be, especially since I don’t anticipate bombing down downhill trails.

So I ended up buying a 2009 model, never used ,that had an original MSRP of $900, but which had been discounted to $600. It has a front suspension and disc brakes. From what I can tell, it’s a bike for lower-level intermediates, which is certainly above my skill level at the moment.

With the voucher in hand (and having to pay sales tax on the whole price), I was out the door for about $140. Except that I then spent $25 for a pair of gloves and $25 for a lock, plus I’ll probably spend another $25 (or more) sometime soon for a new saddle (seat).

Similarities to snowboarding

I’ve taken the bike out for a few rides, both on pavement and in the woods, and I’m still getting used to how the gears work, figuring out how to ride over small obstacles, and seeing if I can live with the seat.

Before and after making the purchase, I’ve also been reading various websites about mountain biking, getting a feel for the types of mountain bikes, styles of mountain biking, techniques of biking, and for lack of a better word, culture of biking.

When I asked fans of the Grays on Trays site on Facebook an open-ended question about their summer recreational activities, the activity mentioned by people, by far, was biking of various forms. (I think it was 70/30 mountain biking versus road riding.)

There are certainly some similarities between snowboarding and mountain biking. Gravity is an important component of both. Wipeouts are possible.  Any given trail can combine cruising (easy) and technical (hard) elements, depending on its grade, the smoothness of the surface, whether or not it has sharp turns, and so forth. Oh yes, both activities can easily eat through your spending money.  In both sports, you can be a gearhead if you wish, though a mountain bike has many more parts than a snowboard. In the bike shop, I saw several models that cost $2,000 or more. The most expensive snowboard that you’ll see in most retail shops, by contrast, costs about $1,000, though you can certain spend more if you go to some split boards or alpine boards.

That’s about the extent of my knowledge of mountain biking to date. I’ll write more as I learn more.