Are there any casual or competitive mountain bikers here on Prime?
My life has gotten so busy with work & other commitments that my mountain bike has turned into a dust collector over the past few years. My last ride was a night ride w/lights after work in November 2009, I'm ashamed to say. I walked past it today in the garage and saw it in a new light, like it was calling out to rescue it from so much hibernation. I "discovered" mountain biking in 1994 out of college when new work friends in their mid-20's with newly disposable income re-introduced me to two wheels after not riding a bike since around age 18. One lap at Potowatami Trail north of Ann Arbor on a 35+ lb $180 used Trek I picked up from a UofM grad student and I was completely hooked. Later came around 6 spring/summer/falls in a row of weekly bragging-rights races after work with co-workers, a group trip to Moab Utah, 2 winters of training using the Joe Friel training bible, and some 12-hour and 24-hour team relay races in Michigan and West Virginia in sport class. Three of my top 20 most memorable life's moments came on a mountain bike - #1 was bonking during a night lap during my first race at the 24 hours of Canaan race since I hadn't trained for it and had no concept of nutrition & hydration. I couldn't even push my bike 2 feet w/o getting dizzy & slumping over my seat completely out of breath -- I had never felt so helpless and out-of-body like, when another racer stopped and gave me some cytomax and an orange. It felt like adrenaline was pumped into my heart like in Pulp Fiction and I was suddenly Iron Man and able to finish the race - my lap was the longest of the two teams we had assembled: 4+ hours, while the fastest were way under 2 hours. #2 was holding onto the smoldering self-disgust of that 4 hour lap for the next 7 months and training during winter 1998 using the Joe Friel bible starting on Jan 1st, resulting in the 3rd fastest lap time of the 8 of us, which included a few life-long racers/trainers. Still feels so satisfying thinking about it! #3 was seeing my good friend endo and almost fall off the trail down a 200 foot cliff on the Poison Spider trail in Moab. Ironically, a friend sent me a link to this video a few days ago and portions of it completely reminded me of the downhill & singletrack/trees of the 3 Canaan races we did from 1997-1999.
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/igp9sJkuAnU" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>
And here's some decent footage of Canaan, a race experience I'll never forget:
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ISj89K-FHUw" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>
Although my aerobic capacity is probably less than 10% of what it was 15 years ago, I'm suddenly pretty excited to rescue that old hobby, a new feeling I hadn't felt in 5 years.
Any other mtb'ers here on Prime? Casual riders, weekend warriors, frequent racers? Let's hear some past or present stories, see some pictures and videos.
My life has gotten so busy with work & other commitments that my mountain bike has turned into a dust collector over the past few years. My last ride was a night ride w/lights after work in November 2009, I'm ashamed to say. I walked past it today in the garage and saw it in a new light, like it was calling out to rescue it from so much hibernation. I "discovered" mountain biking in 1994 out of college when new work friends in their mid-20's with newly disposable income re-introduced me to two wheels after not riding a bike since around age 18. One lap at Potowatami Trail north of Ann Arbor on a 35+ lb $180 used Trek I picked up from a UofM grad student and I was completely hooked. Later came around 6 spring/summer/falls in a row of weekly bragging-rights races after work with co-workers, a group trip to Moab Utah, 2 winters of training using the Joe Friel training bible, and some 12-hour and 24-hour team relay races in Michigan and West Virginia in sport class. Three of my top 20 most memorable life's moments came on a mountain bike - #1 was bonking during a night lap during my first race at the 24 hours of Canaan race since I hadn't trained for it and had no concept of nutrition & hydration. I couldn't even push my bike 2 feet w/o getting dizzy & slumping over my seat completely out of breath -- I had never felt so helpless and out-of-body like, when another racer stopped and gave me some cytomax and an orange. It felt like adrenaline was pumped into my heart like in Pulp Fiction and I was suddenly Iron Man and able to finish the race - my lap was the longest of the two teams we had assembled: 4+ hours, while the fastest were way under 2 hours. #2 was holding onto the smoldering self-disgust of that 4 hour lap for the next 7 months and training during winter 1998 using the Joe Friel bible starting on Jan 1st, resulting in the 3rd fastest lap time of the 8 of us, which included a few life-long racers/trainers. Still feels so satisfying thinking about it! #3 was seeing my good friend endo and almost fall off the trail down a 200 foot cliff on the Poison Spider trail in Moab. Ironically, a friend sent me a link to this video a few days ago and portions of it completely reminded me of the downhill & singletrack/trees of the 3 Canaan races we did from 1997-1999.
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/igp9sJkuAnU" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>
And here's some decent footage of Canaan, a race experience I'll never forget:
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ISj89K-FHUw" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>
Although my aerobic capacity is probably less than 10% of what it was 15 years ago, I'm suddenly pretty excited to rescue that old hobby, a new feeling I hadn't felt in 5 years.
Any other mtb'ers here on Prime? Casual riders, weekend warriors, frequent racers? Let's hear some past or present stories, see some pictures and videos.
The ages of 26 to 28 is the time to do exactly what you're doing. Best time of life (I think) with the most free time, disposable income, and freedom at the same time. 
