It's 3:45 A.M. And...

I decided I should take the time to give a brief insight as to what the purpose of this blog actually is as I realize that I may not have made it clear in my first post. This is a chronicle of the journey of a beginner mountain biker. Arizona strikes me as a state that could very well be a mecca for mountain bikers such as that of Utah or Colorado, and yet from the outside I don't know that it is. I have picked and studied various future routes and equipment and intend to document it all here. Hopefully some other n00b will find the info enlightening.

I also realized that I forgot to put up a map of the route I rode. Although I can't say anything on making it a definite practice, I will try. It was on the Hawes Pass trail out in east Mesa, AZ.

Borrowed from here
Although it says on the site that it is designed to be challenging, I don't think that it really is all that bad. Sure I had issues, but it was my very first time on a brand new bike. A couple more rides and even the technical parts could probably be conquered by a lesser rider.

Lastly, I would like to point out that I don't think of my buddy as a bad guy. He did warn me that there were some more difficult spots and I chose to ride anyway. I accept full responsibility for that, and if I really didn't like it, I wouldn't already be planning my next ride ;)

So it begins...

I'm a roadie by nature. Not an accomplished one by any means, but certainly practiced. That doesn't mean that when the trail called I turned up my nose, donned my lycra, and braved city roads. No. Instead I threw on a pair of baggies and mounted a borrowed 1985 Diamondback Apex that had been converted to single speed and went for it.

About one second after this picture was snapped, I proceeded to roll backwards and land on my back. No real injuries aside from pride and a nasty butt bruise. My buddy who had escorted me out to the trail neglected to mention the difficulty of the terrain before hand, and this section really caught me by surprise. I hold no ill will, however, as this was also his first trail (albeit with gears and suspension). In time I'm sure this section will be a piece of cake and I will wonder how I found it so difficult in the first place.

If anyone is familiar with the Hawes Pass trails in the east Mesa area in Arizona, hopefully my spills seem more warranted now. I had a real issue with the bike as well, in the form of a, we'll say tempramental, tensioner. If you look closely at the pic above, you can see the little bit of PVC pipe that was ziptied to the chain stays to hold the chain in place. It wasn't the most effective method, but a necessary trail-side repair. That will definitely be fixed before my next trip.

All in all, I suppose it wasn't a terrible ride. I fell twice, got some scrapes and bruises, but nothing serious. Certainly nothing serious enough to keep me away. I learned some things about my riding style that will allow me to improve little by little. My next post will probably contain more pictures and hopefully fewer injuries.

When I returned home, I needed a bit of a morale boost so I jumped onto the MTBR forums. I was concerned about the lack of confidence I had started to portray within the last mile or so of the ride. My cornering skills, or lack thereof, were causing the most trouble. I watched a few videos and took some advice and learned I need to lean the bike, not my body, into the turn. After some contemplation, I discovered that some of my road riding habits were translating poorly onto the trail. While climbing I was leaning too far forward and loosing traction with the rear wheel. Now, I understand that had I had gears, I probably wouldn't have to stand, but single speed does have limitations. I am sure once I get to the point where I can maintain my momentum I will not need to stand while climbing nearly as much. Only time will tell.