realskiers

Oh, yeah...this was about dry land training, wasn't it? Got sidetracked there for a moment, envisioning Jim proudly modeling his hosiery. 

Lynn, you're right -- Terryl and I just got back into mountain biking after being away from it for over a decade.  We used to ride about 3 times a week, and got pretty darn good at it.  There are some challenging singletrack trails through the conservation areas around here, and there were few we couldn't tackle.  But it's pretty humbling to get back on the bike after that long an absence, expecting to pick up where we left off.  Reality bites!

We are fortunate that we have literally hundreds of kilometers of trails right out our back door -- forest trails, old rail beds (like Jim spoke of) -- you name it.  And THE mecca for mountain bikers in Ontario is a conservation area about five minutes drive north of us.  Actually we don't even have to drive to get there -- just ride out our street, down into the valley, and we're onto another trail that takes us right into it.  Nice.  This was one of the main reasons for moving here -- access to the outdoors, and quick access in the other direction to the big city.

Terryl just got a hot new bike a couple of weeks ago.  Basically a detuned X-country racing hardtail.  A sweet ride, but it is a real chuckle watching her get the hang of the clipless pedals -- come to a slow stop, struggle to get the feet free, and then sloooowly tip over into the grass.  Just waiting for her to do that next to a big mud hole....I'll have a camera ready.

Anyway, mountain biking is a great cardio workout and sure gives the quads and calf muscles a tune up.  Hill climbing, especially.  Upper body gets a mild workout too, as you do have to move around a lot doing hills, esp. downhill, jumping logs, roots, etc..  And, contrary to Terryl's modest assertion that she quietly follows me up the hills, it's actually the other way round now.  With her new bike, it's me who's puffing to keep up.  Just see a little spec disappearing over the crest.  Sound familiar? I am presently shopping for a new bike for myself to even the odds.