My Newest Challenge
It has been a while since I bought a new bicycle. I have a road bike. About 6 years ago, I bought a hybrid bike that I keep in the truck. I have been trying to rationalize buying a Mountain Bike for awhile. It looks like fun in the pictures. An arthritic toe joint provided me the last bit of rationalization that I needed. I bought one.
Bicycling is an old hobby of mine. Mountain Biking is a new concept to me. Getting expert advice made sense. A visit to my local bike and running store made sense. Over the years, I have purchased 8 bikes, and who knows how many pairs of running shoes from them. When our kids wanted bikes, or we needed shoes this was the place to go. They know their stock. They know
biking. They know how to get what is best for me.
The Tour Divide (2300 mile mountain race through the Rockies) is not in my future. Some rides on easier mountain bike trails are. It will see the most miles on gravel rail trails. The bike had to be capable of mid level mountain bike trails, but be comfortable enough to ride 30 miles on a trail. My hybrid bike has a rack and a bag that fits on it. I carry a few emergency tools and a lock in the bag. It locks into a rack that fits on the hybrid. The rack costs about $50. So does the bag. They were able to fit the bike with the same rack as my hybrid and I can use the bag on either bike. It is convenient and it saved me a few bucks.
The next step was to take it to our local Mountain Bike Trail. Kewaunee County has several. There are even more around the state of Wisconsin. It started out easily enough. Soon the trail became more than I could handle. I had to walk it up several of the short steep hills. Mountain biking is great exercise. It is challenging
and a ton of fun. You have to be in pretty good shape to do most trails without having to break down and walk.
Fortunately, the bike is easy to ride on our local rail trail. I have been riding on that. My wife and I have enjoyed that trail together. I will keep using it on the rail trail and trying to complete the Mountain Bike Trail without walking the bike. At times, I can exchange the bikes and put the Mountain Bike in my Cascadia Evolution rack. Biking has always been fun to me. The new bike has opened up a new venue. Training to ride the trail is a challenge. It is a 1.7 mile long loop. Challenge is a great motivator. Marathons are a great challenge, and I have met that challenge. Now, if I could just ride my bike that 1.7 miles without needing to walk it.