Mountain biking at Mill Stream...

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

I met Nancy Desmond from the Cleveland Metroparks at the mountain biking trail in the Mill Stream Reservation for my maiden mountain biking voyage.  I really hadn’t given too much thought to how this ride would go; assuming I’d do fine since I’d spent a lifetime on a bicycle.  How hard could it be?  I was to find out in the first five minutes.

Nancy went over some basic stuff before we started.  "Roadies (that’s what mountain bikers call road cyclists) aren’t very good at listening to instructions…especially from a girl…and that means they will most likely crash,” she began.

I don’t like falling down much and I told her so.  “I’m pretty comfortable in my cycling masculinity, so tell me everything…even if you are just a girl,” I said.

She mentioned watching first.  “Roadies tend to look at the ground 10 feet in front of them.  That’s no good on a mountain bike.  You have to be constantly looking ahead and planning your route through the obstacles,” she said. 

We talked about the difference in gears and the fact that I wasn’t attached to the pedals as I would be normally on a road bike and that being out of the saddle for control of the bike was pretty normal.  As we entered the woods and I began the slow traverse of the trail, I realized quickly how different things were.  After five minutes of easy riding, I could feel the tension in my hands and shoulders; I’d been squeezing the stuffing out of the handlebars.  The trail dipped, curved and climbed every few feet.  We passed through trees on either side of the course with only inches between them and the handlebars.  I commented on this.  “That’s done on purpose to keep riders from going too fast,” she said.  She stopped often to explain the trail construction; the way it was built on a sloping pitch so that rainfall would wash over it and not create puddles and grooves, which tends to ruin the riding experience and damage the ecosystem.

“There’s a whole science to creating these trails and if it’s done correctly, it can be very low maintenance,” she said.

I was surprised to learn that they close it if there is a lot of rain, too.  In my mind, I saw mountain bike maniacs covered in mud and piled into trees.  “Muddy courses are dangerous and bad for the trail and the bikes,” she said. 

She sped ahead of me on the downhills; I remained very cautious and noticed that I was losing control of the bike in certain situations when the front tire would come up off the ground.  I couldn’t figure out what the problem was since I thought I was riding correctly, but finally figured out that my weight was too far back on inclines causing the front to rise.

We rode the first loop in about 45 minutes with me following the entire way and trying to learn by watching her ride.  When we started the second, she suggested I take the lead.  I did and immediately noticed the difference.  No longer was I watching her bike, but instead the woods for fifty yards in front of me and quickly increased my speed…and comfort level.  We were climbing for a portion of the trail and I was able to let my conditioning and the slower speeds come into play.  I felt that I was easily maneuvering through the trees, over the plank bridges through low, flat spots where water would accumulate, and around and over every obstacle.  Nancy offered words of encouragement from behind.

“I may have been wrong.  You’re not riding like you should be wearing a skirt anymore,” she said.

We returned to the parking lot after 90 minutes of riding and were greeted by three friends of hers.  She introduced me as a newbie roadie and they asked her how I’d done.

“I’d wanted to tell him he was the best first-timer I’d ever seen, but knew he’d get cocky and probably go over the bars on the next turn if I had,” she said.  It was nice praise from a professional mountain biker, though, and I savored it.

I truly enjoyed the experience the more I thought about it and it was a good workout.  I remembered growing up in Connecticut and riding my balloon-tire bike on the trails we’d created in the woods next to our house.  I suppose the experience of that riding and over 100,000 miles on a road bike may have had something to do with how I’d performed, but there were certainly more than one time that I was sure I was crashing.  I think I’d enjoy a return trip even more because I’d really take my time and savor the scenery I was passing through.  As in kayaking, I enjoy moving slow and experiencing the natural wonders.  On this trip, I’d spent most of my senses on trying to stay upright and out of the trees.  Unfortunately, I don’t own a mountain bike and the closest place for me to ride if I did was a 45-minute drive from home.  The success of this trail will likely drive the creation of more on other property managed by the Metropark system, so maybe someday I’ll have a trail in the North Chagrin Reservation.  Until then, I’ll likely remain a roadie.

Bike duration:  90 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  100-120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1000.