2021 Mountain Biking

[Primoz]

That’s what I’m afraid of, I don’t like getting passed

Reason to push harder

I especially don’t like being passed by runners!

Hmm... when it gets that bad.... reason to stop "to observe beautiful nature". Breathing really deep "It's not that I can't go faster, but just look how beautiful this root is"

 

[4ster]

Reason to push harder


Hmm... when it gets that bad.... reason to stop "to observe beautiful nature". Breathing really deep "It's not that I can't go faster, but just look how beautiful this root is"

We ended up taking a little different route & didn’t run into any racers till the second leg & then it was only a few. We did stop to look at the rocks, the mountains, the changing colors of the foliage & a big bull moose. Not many roots though & no runners

 

[AmyPJ]

We ended up taking a little different route & didn’t run into any racers till the second leg & then it was only a few. We did stop to look at the rocks, the mountains, the changing colors of the foliage & a big bull moose. Not many roots though & no runners
View attachment 143029

And you survived riding clockwise! I love the challenge of riding those rock gardens up.

That moose was so majestic. The hikers said there were 3--I wonder if he was wooing two cows at the same time? He was a big dude. I think I need to head up there with my big lens and camp out like that photographer did and try to catch some of the moose in pics. They do hang out near the pond regularly.

 

[AmyPJ]

Just got official word that Trek is making some changes to the Top Fuel for 2022. Changes that have cemented my decision to go with one for next year. Now, how long will I have to wait to get one?

 

[Smear]

Mountain biking at the west coast of Norway a couple of weekends ago. Very different from my normal stomping ground around the capital that are all mellow forest hills. At home I would mostly ride stuff that I can ride up or somehow link up with a fire road or a flatter climb and then often down something steeper. But here that was not possible most of the time. If you want ride down a mountain, you have to push or carry the bike up first. At times chunky, so pushing wouldn't work either as the bike would hang up on rocks, so lots of lifting involved. Some took their bike on top of the back, but my messed up shoulders can't handle that. The first day we had around 800 m vertical of bike pushing, in addition to a good bit of road climbing. Second day only 500m of pushing, 400m of road and 400m in "car shuttle" effect. Kind of expanded my views of what mountain biking can be.

I'm not good at steeps so at times I had to carry the bike down as well... ;-) But as a total package it was very nice experience.

Some nice furry locals. Below in the right corner is the little village Fjørå that has given name to the norwegian brand Norrøna's line of trail bike clothing.

 

[nay]

^^^that last pic is money, love it.

 

[ZionPow]

I climbed up to the top of Needles Gondola at Snowbasin today. Colors are looking good!

 

[Daniel]

Very different from my normal stomping ground around the capital that are all mellow forest hills.

Nordmarka? During a stay in Oslo (Nordberg) with my friends Oyvind and Berit, Oyvind took us on a multi-hour ride north of the capital through rolling forest on a sunny mid - August day. Along the way, on occasion, there were cabins where one could purchase all kinds of healthy foods and refreshment. Besides mountain biking, there were lots of people hiking, trail running, and berry collecting. My takeaway from that day was that I believe I saw the greatest number of very fit ordinary people engaged in outdoor recreation during any random outing I've ever participated in. At the entrance and exit to the forest wilderness area, there were facilities where numerous people were practicing everything from explosive starts pushing a bobsled to weight lifting to inline skating and much more. Virtually 100% of the men and women I saw during those several hours were lean and muscular. I then understood how a country with such a minuscule population could outperform the USA, Russia, Germany, etc. during the Winter Olympics.

 

[Tom K.]

Just got official word that Trek is making some changes to the Top Fuel for 2022. Changes that have cemented my decision to go with one for next year. Now, how long will I have to wait to get one?

Badly kept secret, for sure. All kinds of good info and the usual negative internet garbage here: https://www.mtbr.com/threads/2022-top-fuel-official-post.1191437/

TLDR: The new Top Fuel darn near becomes a Fuel EX. No longer any kind of race bike, it will be a ripping short-travel trail bike. Basically, the outgoing TF was a longer travel xc race bike. The new one will be a shorter travel trail bike.

I think it will be perfect for you! Maybe even have that @utskier dude that hangs around bike shops install a 130 mm air cartridge in the fork. ETA?

This new Top Fuel makes me wonder about the other bikes in Trek's lineup. I suspect the 2023 Fuel EX will gain some travel, since it will now be really close to the new TF. I also wonder if there is a new bike coming to slot in between the new longer-legged TF and the 60 mm Supercaliber.

Speaking of the Supercaliber, I am blown away by my new one, after two substantial rides. Hardtail with privileges! Unsurprisingly, I had to wait a bit longer than usual for this one to show up, but it was really kind of cool. I had the usual second guessing after ordering. The, while waiting, an Olympic Gold and a couple of World Championship medals were won on the bike. Second guessing be gone!

Repeater pic, cuz why not?

 

[Doug Briggs]

It was a pleasant day out with my part-time neighbor, Mike. He wanted to ride something new to him so we started off on the usual but took a left to head south to Pinball Alley, Baker's Tank Trail and Aspen Alley.

An old mining site.

Aspen Alley lived up to its reputation. Both in foliage and in number of hikers. Actually it exceeded the number of hikers I've ever seen on it. And on a Friday, no less.

Looking south from AA. And we ask ourselves: 'why do we live here?'

Mike looking south.

Looking north. Breck is just out of view behind a ridge.

 

[AmyPJ]

Badly kept secret, for sure. All kinds of good info and the usual negative internet garbage here: https://www.mtbr.com/threads/2022-top-fuel-official-post.1191437/

TLDR: The new Top Fuel darn near becomes a Fuel EX. No longer any kind of race bike, it will be a ripping short-travel trail bike. Basically, the outgoing TF was a longer travel xc race bike. The new one will be a shorter travel trail bike.

I think it will be perfect for you! Maybe even have that @utskier dude that hangs around bike shops install a 130 mm air cartridge in the fork. ETA?

This new Top Fuel makes me wonder about the other bikes in Trek's lineup. I suspect the 2023 Fuel EX will gain some travel, since it will now be really close to the new TF. I also wonder if there is a new bike coming to slot in between the new longer-legged TF and the 60 mm Supercaliber.

Speaking of the Supercaliber, I am blown away by my new one, after two substantial rides. Hardtail with privileges! Unsurprisingly, I had to wait a bit longer than usual for this one to show up, but it was really kind of cool. I had the usual second guessing after ordering. The, while waiting, an Olympic Gold and a couple of World Championship medals were won on the bike. Second guessing be gone!

Repeater pic, cuz why not?

View attachment 143076

Curious about the suspension setup and weight. It does sound like the Fuel from two or three years ago.

 

[4ster]

I climbed up to the top of Needles Gondola at Snowbasin today. Colors are looking good!

When there’s a perfectly good gondola to take you there?, just kidding .
l think I’ve ridden up there more times than I’ve taken the lift but it’s been a few years since I’ve gone all the way.
What route do you take? I have always gone up through strawberry and the diamond switchbacks, it is a pretty grueling & relentless climb. We used to go from Wheeler on my friends birthday in July and continue all the way past Porky to the saddle below Mount Ogden. Probably the longest, hardest climb I’ve ever done.

Yesterday in North Fork Park…

 

[Primoz]

On Thursday I got last shot of this damn covid vaccine and my legs are still like chewing gum. After first shot I had no issues, but my legs were feeling super heavy for some 14 days after it. I could climb forever and at pretty high pace, but when I needed to do something short and fast, my legs felt like I would be doing interval trainings every single day for a few weeks. But now, I can't even climb normally, but hopefully it's not going to last 14 days, as I will get insane this way. Damn everyone are mentioning pain in hand as side effects, but noone is telling about no power in legs. That little pain in hand is nothing compared to suffering like this, when you can't go for proper bike ride So it was yet another super flat and slow ride through forests around here. Third in 3 days... Almost 3h, 55km and 700m of ascend with 60% of time in Z1 and rest in Z2. The only good thing is, that we have some nice trails even if they are flat, but damn I'm missing climbing up

Autumn is definitely here, as trails are slowly getting covered by leaves, and with average temperature of +14c during ride it means it's not really super warm either

That was today's loop but tomorrow, I will try to make it slightly more hilly if it will go.

 

[martyg]

This is the trail system out of our door. I adore this time of year - 70 to 80 degrees. Zero wind. Perfect blue skies.

 

[ZionPow]

What route do you take?

I started at Green Pond and went up Needles then to the top. I wanted to see the new Avalauncher tower constructed above the new Middle Bowl lift top terminal. I rode down the Porky trail and back to Green Pond. This photo shows the new Middle Bowl lift bottom terminal and lift line location. The lift line goes up the bottom section of Bullwinkle.

 

[4ster]

I started at Green Pond and went up Needles then to the top. I wanted to see the new Avalauncher tower constructed above the new Middle Bowl lift top terminal. I rode down the Porky trail and back to Green Pond. This photo shows the new Middle Bowl lift bottom terminal and lift line location. The lift line goes up the bottom section of Bullwinkle.
View attachment 143132
View attachment 143133

Strong work ZP! Not an easy 16.5 miles

Colors popping brighter every day…

 

[Tony]

Puck up the @nimas River Trail back to town. I live at the top of Horse Gulch and that is a go-to ride.

Since @Tony S strava link wanted a login and @martyg had a few typos, I had to back up a little to figure out they were talking about Animas River near Durango, CO.

I did my first lift-served riding at Northstar (CA) in about 25 years on Thursday. Good thing it was free thanks to employee voucher from @Tim Hodgson. I paid for it with a back that was getting sore on my first lap, a crash from being not having enough speed when I thought I was past a rock, then front tire got stuck throwing me into some gravel on second lap. I stuck to blue runs until what turned out to be my last run where I pinch flatted my front tube and had to change it.

Knee looked better after cleaning it and all the damage seems superficial/skin.

Spoiler: I'll try to warn people that you may not want to see or be able to unsee the first picture. It looked better after I cleaned it with soap and water and paper towels in restroom

My favorite part of a run, seven banked turns in a row that had sprinklers along edge to keep it in good shape was reachable from both Vista and Zephyr chairs. But once past that you were stuck on a road that had some rough asphalt and was not something you wanted to repeat. But other options included double diamond "Sticks and Stones" which did not sound like something for me to try. Picture is two of the Playground turns.

Coaster was longer run I found from Zephyr chair with over 1000 vertical feet that was mostly fun. After my crash, I wasn't sure about entrance.

Coaster included a couple of bridges like this and a couple of reinforced banked turns.

I like this picture because not only does the sign show some of the culture of the place, it also includes the wedding venue of @Philpug and @Tricia that was part of my first Gathering. The powder every day after a bad start to winter that season in CA was also memorable.

 

[Tony S]

Since @Tony S strava link wanted a login

Oops. I'll try to fix.

 

[Tony]

Oops. I'll try to fix.

Not a big deal, but one way around it that I've seen others use is to screen copy your Strava and add picture to your post.

And I should know better than to comment on typos in others' posts as I saw a couple in mine that I asked moderator to correct (and it looks like it was already done).

 

[Smear]

Nordmarka? During a stay in Oslo (Nordberg) with my friends Oyvind and Berit, Oyvind took us on a multi-hour ride north of the capital through rolling forest on a sunny mid - August day. Along the way, on occasion, there were cabins where one could purchase all kinds of healthy foods and refreshment. Besides mountain biking, there were lots of people hiking, trail running, and berry collecting. My takeaway from that day was that I believe I saw the greatest number of very fit ordinary people engaged in outdoor recreation during any random outing I've ever participated in. At the entrance and exit to the forest wilderness area, there were facilities where numerous people were practicing everything from explosive starts pushing a bobsled to weight lifting to inline skating and much more. Virtually 100% of the men and women I saw during those several hours were lean and muscular. I then understood how a country with such a minuscule population could outperform the USA, Russia, Germany, etc. during the Winter Olympics.

Yes, we live 50m from Nordmarka on the Holmenkollen side. Your impressions of Norwegians might be a bit skewed. Where your ride started and ended is close to the national Olympic training center and the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. Those hanging around there are not average Norwegians... But I guess as a whole Norwegians are an pretty active and fit population.