Any casual or racer mountain bikers on Prime?

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29 December 2010
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Pittsburgh, PA
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.
 
Yesir, got one right here. Always been an avid mountain biker since I was 13 (never really touched road bikes though).
Raced dual slalom and downhill as a junior and worked in a bike shop for several years before college. During college I was mostly into riding dirt jumps, street and skate parks. After college I got back into trail riding and racing downhill.
I'm currently a somewhat competitive Cat 1 ("expert" by the old classifications) downhill racer.

I've also gathered all the parts for my new trail/enduro race bike (Canfield Brothers Balance) and am just waiting for the frame to arrive next month.

Here's my current downhill race bike...2014 Canfield Brothers Jedi

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Couple of pictures of me riding...

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M-P,
That's a fantastic looking bike. Certain bikes and cars are two things I find extreme beauty in and can stare at for hours and yours fits the bill. Sounds like you have a great thing going - enjoy it while it lasts. :) 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. :)

My current rig is a bit less dramatic than yours but it's a fine workhorse still. 2000 Gary Fisher Sugar 3 that I picked up for less than 1/2 price at Supergo on an impulse buy during a vacation, before that shop closed. Removed all the mid-level bontrager/WTB kit and transplanted over all my XTR/mix hardware from the bike I had prior to that, a ~1998 Lightspeed Obed, which remains as my favorite bike of all time. I sometimes still wish I hadn't sold the frame. But then again, I wore bikes out every 2-3 years so I probably was smart to sell it when I did. And the fact that I still use the 2000 Sugar is testament to how little I've ridden since 2005.... But in 1998 I splurged on the $1200 Litespeed frame back around the time I fell into a brand-new full-XTR set and 1st-gen SID fork for $650 total from someone who wanted to upgrade further beyond that. He stripped them from whatever full bike he had just ordered. I sold the SID after 3 months since it was so finicky & flexy. I think the thing weighed 2.5 lbs - this was in the time when everyone was weight/lightness crazy. I can only guess everyone's gotten smarter now and care a little more about durability. I don't have very good pictures, as most of my photos of races & bikes are actual photos from 15+ years ago and not digital, but for fun:

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And I messed around with a cross bike for a few years, figuring it would be more durable in Pittsburgh's roads than a regular road bike. Sold it to help buy the NSX, actually!

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Do you stick mostly to DH or do any XC?
 
I was pretty heavily into XC about 15 years ago. I have an FSR cosmic series that's hanging in the garage wanting to come down. This may be the year to get back into it.
 
This thread brings back a lot of good memories of when I used to mountain bike back in the early 90's. I had a Bridgestone MB-1 that took a beating. I used to go to Vermont ad ride the trails at Killington. Did a lot of switchback in the hills. I thought skiers were crazy to ski there, but doing a run down the fire road was terrifying. I wish we had disc brakes back then. I'll have to find an old picture of me standing on top of the mountain covered in mud and bleeding. :D
 
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