Active Exploration

Mountain biking is a spiritual experience. I find peace in the quiet of the woods, humility in the effort that is required, and beauty in the motion between the rider, the bike, and the ground. After every ride, no matter how demanding or bruising it was, I feel refreshed. I have sweated out any negativity and cleared my mind of chaotic thoughts. There is no time for mental chatter when a moment's inattention in a rock garden means breaking a bone. Riding purifies me. Today I had to attend an event for work. I brought my bike in order to ride afterwards at a nearby park. The event went longer than expected, and then traffic on the drive delayed me further. I was annoyed and tense all the way there; muttering to myself. Then I arrived, unpacked, and rode 15 miles. On the way home there was traffic too, but I didn't care. I was at peace.

Lots of people love cycling. Lots of people love bikes. That much riders can agree on; but then divisions start to form. Some people love mountain biking but don't "get" road cycling. Some people like to ride on the weekends but wouldn't think of commuting on a bike. I don't feel like I fit into any one category of cyclist. I ride on trails with my 2007 Stumpjumper FSR Expert. I ride on the road with my 2003 Allez Elite. I have commuted in the past on a beater bike. I sometimes race in criteriums , cross-country , and in off-road duathlons . I tour by bike; I climb mountains on the road and on the trail . For me, cycling isn't sliced up into smaller and smaller pieces. It's all one whole; one experience that can be approached in slightly different ways. Cycling is a state of mind, but it requires something physical. A bike is a material object - a thing - but it assumes meaning to people because of what it allows them to do. We can speed over the gro...

I raced in the King of the Hill Duathlon today. If you live in the New York/Philadelphia area, it is a challenging race that is worth checking out. The race takes place at Round Valley recreation area , one of the best parks for mountain biking in the area. There are big climbs, fast descents, singletrack, doubletrack, rocks, and roots. They also have an X-Terra triathlon that takes place at the same time. Some of those triathlon dudes are pretty fast. The race started out with great sunny, cool weather, but clouds moved in and it started to rain lightly after I finished. The course was a little wet from the rain last night, but it has hardly any mud because the trail is rocky and drains well. The race started on the beach with a 1.7 mile run up some small hills, on roads and gravel. The pace of the group was quick with a couple of guys taking off right from the start. After the transition I hit it pretty hard on the bike leg; my plan was to stay consistent and not burn out on the lo...

Being the late adopter that I am, I just recently bought a mountain bike with hydraulic disc brakes. My previous mountain bike had linear-pull brakes, which perform great and are easy to adjust. No self-respecting new bike has this antiquated technology though, so now I have a Stumpjumper FSR with Avid Juicy brakes. From the day I bought it, the rear brake would rub more than it should - if I spun the wheel it would slow down and stop quickly. I fiddled around with it a little by following the information in the manual. I realigned the caliper, adjusted the pad engagement, and so on. It still rubbed. So then over the weekend I messed around with it more, took the brake pads out and pulled the lever. The pistons went out to the point that I could barely get the pads back in, and I had no luck pushing on the pistons directly. I was convinced that I would have to bleed them since it seemed like air had gotten in the system. Then I read somewhere on the internet about using a screwdriver t...

Back in the day when I was just getting into mountain biking, Tinker Juarez was one of those guys that was always in the mountain bike magazine articles and ads. He stuck out to me because of his unusual name and crazy hair. He's still got both of those and he is still winning races . Image by Ken Conley How can a guy in his late 40s still be winning competitive mountain bike races? Ned Overend, the mountain bike racing legend in his 50s, is the same way. He does pretty well in hill climbs, winning at the Teva Mountain Games last year and usually doing well in the Mount Washington hill climb. However, you don't see any road racers that age still racing, much less winning races. Why is that? Maybe road races are much more competitive and demanding, or maybe a mountain bike racer will years of experience and skill development has an extra edge over younger riders. Whatever it is, these guys give us something to aspire to.