Tired brain and tired new muscles

At first, mountain biking tired me out in ways I never expected -- my brain would turn to mush and my legs would turn to jelly even though my quads felt fine. How was this possible considering I was good at mentally pushing myself during long workouts and my legs were strong from all my road riding and running? Well... funny enough, mountain biking requires way more concentration that I was used to during a workout and it uses lots of different muscles than road riding or running. Surprise!

Here's a small sampling of what used to run through my head on a ride:
Okay there's a rock on the left side of the trail and a root in the middle, but the right side looks pretty clear. I'll steer over there. Oh wait now there's a root right in front of me and then a sharp turn into some more roots. Ah a little climb! Darn I'm in the wrong gear, slow climb. Phew made it up, just keep pedaling. Now I'm gaining speed and there's more roots. Quick quick over to the left, avoided that little root, but now there's another one. Maintain speed! Don't grab your brakes! Oops I got scared and confused and tired... I stopped.

Accurate picture of my brain when I was first learning to mountain bike. Image from brainlesstales.com.

You can probably see how this could wear our your brain pretty quickly! There's so much to process on the trail, so if your brain isn't accustomed to it, then it can get overwhelmed and shut down. When you first start mountain biking, it kind of feels like your in a racing video game where you're going so fast and there's so much around and it's all coming at you so fast, so you have to constantly make quick decisions. It's a fun feeling, but gets exhausting. I knew my brain was tired when I'd start to make stupid mistakes and pick silly lines and couldn't get over things on the trail that I could when I'm fresh. 

But the good thing is, your brain adapts to riding on trails and you no longer need to think about every little root and rock and turn. This comes with lots and lots and lots of practice and riding. Once you feel comfortable and confident about the little obstacles, they no longer are obstacles, and you can ride over them without even thinking about it. It's really nice when you finally can look around at things off the trail and let your brain wander instead of focusing all your mental energy on what's right in front of you. It takes a while, but it's so worth it!


Okay on to those pesky new muscles...
During my first rides, I would get so tired I could barely pedal, but the normal big muscles in my legs would feel fine and I wouldn't even feel tired cardiovascularly. I couldn't figure out what was going on until I realized that I must be working new muscles. With road riding and road running, it's very repetitive motions where you use the same muscles over and over, so those get really strong, but there are lots more muscles that aren't used. Now enter mountain biking where one second you're pedaling easily and the next you're standing up to go over some roots then have to put all your strength into a quick climb, then stand on the way down to maintain control and speed. So many different movements! So much more balance needed! So many new muscles to get sore!

One of the cool things about mountain biking is that it's truly a full body workout. You're using your arms to lift the bike over roots and rocks. You're using your core all the time to stabilize every little movement. And obviously you're using you're legs, but it's also your whole lower body, butt to toes.

Also mountain biking is pretty much a non-stop interval workout. I've never been a sprinter. I just don't think I have fast twitch muscles. To other people, my "sprint" is almost unperceivable. But mountain biking is full of all these mini sprints in the form of climbs and getting back up to speed if you loose it all after a turn or over roots. This just added to the overall soreness of my beat up legs.

As with your brain adapting, your legs do too. They get stronger in ways you never imagined. I remember riding along one day not too long ago and I realized that I was finally gaining endurance for mountain biking. It feels so amazing! When one lap of the trail used to knock me out for the day, now three is pretty standard.

So when you go out on your first few rides and you're getting frustrated that you're so tired, it's probably from your brain and all your newfound muscles. And it's completely normal. But keep at it because they're not permanent feelings. All it takes is a little (just kidding, a lot) of practice!

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