SpeedyManiac
Member
- Aug 8, 2000
- 2,378
- 0
As many of you guys may or may not know, I'm a university student. I go to school about 1000km away from home and don't have a truck so my bike get left behind for the winter (working on the truck situation now). As such, I get about a 4 month riding/racing season. Well, I got home Saturday night after a fun :coocoo: 12 hour drive. Sunday was spent unpacking all my stuff and I had a little spare time Sunday afternoon so I got my air filter oiled and started my bike. Bike started 3rd kick, ran fine but I had no rear brake and the front was pretty mushy. Monday I picked up some brake fluid and hose then last night I bled the brakes and took my bike for a short ride on some trails close to home, but nothing too technical.
Well, today I was supposed to go riding with a buddy at a sandy area close to town but he ditched. I decided to go anyways to get some seat time in. Over the winter I got my suspension revalved by Pro Works Racing (www.proworksracing.com) and was looking forward to getting it dialed in. I set the sag at around 108mm (Gassers work best with more sag) and went riding. First thing I noticed is I have lost a lot of upper body strength. You don't really notice how good of exercise riding is until you don't do it for 8 months. It didn't help that 80% of the riding at this place is sand whoops. Anyways, I did a couple loops on a short trail near the staging area. The loop is about 3-4km long of 3rd gear windy, loamy singletrack. After a couple loops I stopped to adjust my suspension. The suspension is definitely set up for racing. The faster I go, the better it works. I started by softening the fork compression 3 clicks, rear compression 1 click and backing off the shock rebound 3 clicks because it was kicking up on whoops a little bit. I then pounded out a few laps on the loop then took off on some more trails. My clutch and throttle control slowly came back to me and soon I was railing corners then blasting straight aways. My shoulders are really lacking strength so the whoops took their toll on me, but otherwise I felt pretty good. For the last month in Edmonton I tried to get out every day for an hour on my mountain bike and it definitely helped my leg strength. Now I just need to get my upper body strength back to where it was last summer and I should be good to go. Overall it was a good ride, but I still prefer riding with someone than riding solo. I find I get bored after awhile and won't push myself incase I crash or break my bike. So far my bike is running perfect. I'll stick a new rear tire on it next week before my race and continue dialing in the suspension. The forks are still a little harsh on rocks and roots, but if I soften it a few more clicks and ride faster I should be good. At race speed the suspension is magic. Getting suspension work done is the best mod money can buy for a bike. :nod:
Well, today I was supposed to go riding with a buddy at a sandy area close to town but he ditched. I decided to go anyways to get some seat time in. Over the winter I got my suspension revalved by Pro Works Racing (www.proworksracing.com) and was looking forward to getting it dialed in. I set the sag at around 108mm (Gassers work best with more sag) and went riding. First thing I noticed is I have lost a lot of upper body strength. You don't really notice how good of exercise riding is until you don't do it for 8 months. It didn't help that 80% of the riding at this place is sand whoops. Anyways, I did a couple loops on a short trail near the staging area. The loop is about 3-4km long of 3rd gear windy, loamy singletrack. After a couple loops I stopped to adjust my suspension. The suspension is definitely set up for racing. The faster I go, the better it works. I started by softening the fork compression 3 clicks, rear compression 1 click and backing off the shock rebound 3 clicks because it was kicking up on whoops a little bit. I then pounded out a few laps on the loop then took off on some more trails. My clutch and throttle control slowly came back to me and soon I was railing corners then blasting straight aways. My shoulders are really lacking strength so the whoops took their toll on me, but otherwise I felt pretty good. For the last month in Edmonton I tried to get out every day for an hour on my mountain bike and it definitely helped my leg strength. Now I just need to get my upper body strength back to where it was last summer and I should be good to go. Overall it was a good ride, but I still prefer riding with someone than riding solo. I find I get bored after awhile and won't push myself incase I crash or break my bike. So far my bike is running perfect. I'll stick a new rear tire on it next week before my race and continue dialing in the suspension. The forks are still a little harsh on rocks and roots, but if I soften it a few more clicks and ride faster I should be good. At race speed the suspension is magic. Getting suspension work done is the best mod money can buy for a bike. :nod:
