Monday, August 6, 2018

Too rainy to ride?

I think it's rained almost every day for the last month or so. The trails around here do terrible in the rain so they've been closed for what feels like forever. And it's not just the trails in the immediate area -- all the surrounding area trails are closed too. I've mostly resorted to trainer rides to keep my legs spinning somehow, but I'm getting fed up and bored with them. So here are some ideas to get you (and me) outside when the trails are too wet to ride:


Skills days
There's so much to gain by practicing your bike handling skills. My husband and I go out for "skills days" when we just want to do something easier and closer to home. And the great thing is, you don't need much in the way of supplies or features. Something I really need to work on more are my track stands, and I can do that right in my driveway. Also you could work on lifting your front wheel or back wheel. Try riding around in the smallest space possible (like a parking spot) to work on your cornering. Bunny hopping is a great skill that you can practice anywhere.

Build some features for your yard
If you have some space in your front or back yard (and it's not a giant puddle like ours), then what better use of it than for building some fun features. We had some extra 2x4s laying around, so my husband screwed them together and made some fun things to try to ride over. If you have logs in your back yard, why not try riding over them? You could pile some up to make it harder. Making skinny lines is pretty easy -- you can start out with them just on the ground and then raise them up by putting more wood under them. You could build some little kicker jumps. And then once you have all these fun features, you can use them whenever you'd like.

Urban rides
One of the local bike shops near us started an urban ride every week where we ride around downtown, looking for fun things to ride on. Skills gained riding around a concrete jungle translate perfectly for riding on the trail. And it's pretty fun to try to ride all these new features. These rides have really helped get my confidence up for some scarier sections on the trail. Stairs are good for riding down, and even up. Little ledges are good for working on your drops (going down) and hops or punches (going up). There are lots of skinnies to work on your balance. And if you really want to get fancy, look into trials riding and trials bikes (even though I don't consider them real bikes!). Today I worked on getting up to a little ledge that went around a fountain (and by little I mean six inches high, a little over a foot wide, and maybe 30 feet long). But regardless of size, it feels good to clean new lines. And you can explore your town or city and get to know it a little better.




Cyclocross/gravel rides
Maybe you're one of the lucky ones and even if your local single track is soaked, you have access to some other fire roads or access trails to ride. They might dry quicker and even though they may not be technical, at least you can get some peddling in. I recently bought a cyclocross bike (because it had pineapples on the fork!), and it's fun to take on trails that wouldn't necessarily be fun on a mountain bike, but are still nice to ride on. Or maybe there are some scenic nature trails in your area that you haven't checked out yet because they're not single track. Use the rain as an excuse to explore new areas and trails that you might otherwise not ride on.

Trainer rides
They're obviously not my favorite way to get on a bike. But I'm one of those people who needs to get her cardio in every day, so when the outside is a no-go, then on the trainer I sit. I have my triathlon bike on my trainer because that's what I'm used to using on there, but there's no reason you can't put your mountain bike on there. Just make sure to use a spare tire so you don't wear out your trail tire. I put on a show (I've been watching Chuck lately), and just spin for an hour. Or if I'm feeling more ambitious, I'll mix in some intervals, usually 5 minutes hard then 3 minutes easy. Trainer rides are also a good way to build up your endurance because you have to constantly peddle or else you loose all motivation when your trainer stops. And magnetic trainers are pretty cheap online, so they're useful to have around as a backup/alternative when mother nature is being mean.

Bike maintenance 
We all need to do more of it (especially me, but that's what my husband's for, right?). So when the rain is pouring down and your bike is getting lonely, what better way to spend some quality time with your two-wheel friend than giving it a good clean and tuneup! Switch those tires to tubeless, fix that annoying creek, tune up your shifting. Then if/when the trails ever dry out, your bike will be ready to fly.


Okay now lets all do a little dance for the rain gods for it to stop raining for a little. Is a week too much to ask for?

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