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Lola Conquers the Mountain

Quiver Queen

Quiver Queen

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yesterday was Lola's first foray into big mountain biking--she, husband Phil, Eric from Epic, and myself, tackled the technical on Killington. Lola did great, had a wonderful attitude, and pushed her comfort zone a few zip codes. Her bike, a hand-me-down from her 12-year-old son, proved to be a hindrance so Phil put her on a full-suspension rental then proceeded to buy it for her at the end of the day. The more to enjoy the ride with him, he figured, and with greater safety. :thumbsup:

Getting started down the steep slippery gravel road--
th_IMG_1679-3.jpg


Checking out the technical--
IMG_1683-3.jpg


Phil shows her how it's done--
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Starting out fine--
IMG_1687-3.jpg


Oops!--
IMG_1689-3.jpg


The last run down the mountain Lola made it with no stops and no crashes! Confidence is up!! More fun is to be had!! :clap:
 
No crashes is good! Go Lola!!!!!!

Thanks for posting the pix. Looks like a good time.
 
I love it!
And I'm totally impressed!
Rock gardens are something I've never experienced, but would love to give them a try.


Sooooo cool Lola got a new bike!:yahoo:
 
Thanks QuiverQueen and everyone else! I really had a great time, and I learned a whole lot, including how to stand up more on my pedals through the rocky parts. This summer has been my first season on a mountain bike and I have been enjoying it despite the bumps and bruises. But I must say, I slept alot on the six-hour ride home in the car!

And for anyone who hasn't met QuiverQueen in person, she is a whole lot of fun! And don't let her fool you. She was also adjusting to some new equipment with her new clipless pedals and shoes.

We definetly have to do this again sometime. :yahoo:
 
Lola said:
Thanks QuiverQueen and everyone else! I really had a great time, and I learned a whole lot, including how to stand up more on my pedals through the rocky parts. This summer has been my first season on a mountain bike and I have been enjoying it despite the bumps and bruises. But I must say, I slept alot on the six-hour ride home in the car!

And for anyone who hasn't met QuiverQueen in person, she is a whole lot of fun! And don't let her fool you. She was also adjusting to some new equipment with her new clipless pedals and shoes.

We definetly have to do this again sometime. :yahoo:
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Congrats on the new bike! Sounds like you all had a great time!

We just went to Big Sky for a weekend of mountain biking and it was a hoot! We should start a whole new thread on not which resorts you've skied, but which ski resorts you've mountain biked at! My list is getting pretty long! Nice to see you're all doing the same out East

And keep it up with the standing. I just did a clinic this summer and all the women were like "yeah, yeah, yeah... stand up over the rough stuff." And our coach said NO - stand for EVERYTHING except smooth climbs. Seriously - if you can get yourself in the habit now, you'll progress so much faster, corner better, everything - you can't use any body english if you're sitting on your butt. So never sit down unless you're on a slow grind of a climb. That's my 2 cents on instruction for today. ;)

So what's your new bike?? Fill us in! :D Can't wait to hear about your future rides on the new bike!
 
This is a trail we didn't ride yesterday, but I did it a few weeks ago & wisely crawled over this boulder--not easy to do handing onto a bush with one hand & the bike with the other.
dgertson
 
The ground only had a minimal slope. Yeah, it was even scarey taking the picture--I kep thinking someone was going to come flying off it right into the center of my chest!
 
YEAH LOLA ! You really inspire me. I am just going to have to get out there & try that.
 
altagirl said:
And keep it up with the standing. I just did a clinic this summer and all the women were like "yeah, yeah, yeah... stand up over the rough stuff." And our coach said NO - stand for EVERYTHING except smooth climbs. Seriously - if you can get yourself in the habit now, you'll progress so much faster, corner better, everything - you can't use any body english if you're sitting on your butt. So never sit down unless you're on a slow grind of a climb. That's my 2 cents on instruction for today. ;)
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That's probably a little extreme. Perhaps a bit exaggerated but good advice for the average women riders who in general sit too much?

With full suspension bikes, it's actually more efficient to climb sitting down, EVEN when it's rough. Better traction sitting down and it won't spin out as easily. Granted, the slick rock of Utah is one such exception that it's got super traction!

I do agree standing up makes it possible to "throw the bike around". And getting a sense of doing THAT is indeed the cornerstone of off-road riding.
 
abc said:
That's probably a little extreme. Perhaps a bit exaggerated but good advice for the average women riders who in general sit too much?

With full suspension bikes, it's actually more efficient to climb sitting down, EVEN when it's rough. Better traction sitting down and it won't spin out as easily. Granted, the slick rock of Utah is one such exception that it's got super traction!

I do agree standing up makes it possible to "throw the bike around". And getting a sense of doing THAT is indeed the cornerstone of off-road riding.
Click to expand...

I totally agree that sitting and pedaling up rough terrain is preferable on a full suspension bike for traction reasons. But only on a sustained climb (i.e. once you've lost your momentum), and if the terrain isn't too rough - if you're going up big ledges for example, you need to push the bike up and over and have to stand for that bit.

I know when she first said it, I thought it was overkill too. Plus I thought I stood up a lot until I did this clinic. But my cornering, for example, improved leaps and bounds when I got off my butt all the time, not just when I thought I should - it's impossible to corner correctly while seated and I used to do that a lot for some reason. (And I used to get dropped in corners all the time. This summer was the end of that. Suddenly I'm the one my guy friends are asking for cornering advice. :D)

Also -I used to see flat areas and sit and pedal. If you stand, you can pump the terrain and throw in a few standing pedal strokes as needed - it's MUCH faster, not to mention more fun than sitting and pedaling through that terrain.

Anyway, I got a lot faster and smoother this summer, and that was probably the biggest key to it. No more sitting! (unless you're on a climb.)
 
As requested:

My new bike is a 2004 Kona Kikapu (sounds like some sort of fish dish you would order in Hawaii :smile: ). It has a 14 inch frame, Deore components (whatever that means), Shimano mechanical disk brakes, real nice Kenda kinetic tires (which are nicer than hubby's), a Fox Vanilla coil-over rear shock, and 505 clipless pedals.

[Of course, I have no idea what all that means. I just typed what my hubby told me to type - but hopefully, you get the idea.]

Translate that to Lola-speak: My new bike is purple and silver, is a much smoother ride than my old bike, and has vastly better brakes.

Here's a photo:
2K4_Kikapu_650.jpg


Cheers!
 
Lola said:
Translate that to Lola-speak: My new bike is purple and silver, is a much smoother ride than my old bike, and has vastly better brakes.


Cheers!
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It is so exciting to get a new bike. Almost like being a kid again!
Its nice to get a bike that fits you, which will make all the difference in your advancement.
Pretty soon you'll be running over Phil!
bike.gif
 
Very nice!! Better brakes just makes you feel so much more confident, huh???

And don't worry, all the component groups and everything will start to sound familiar to you as you need to replace parts over time and have to go shop for a new derailleur or something and decide which one to get. But it looks like you have a nice solid bike there that should work great for you! Have fun!!
 
Congrats!!

A nice full suspension will help to make you a much more confident rider......you'll love it!!!
 
Phil took me for another mountain bike ride today on my Kikapu. We had a real nice ride in Valley Forge park int the woods. We swa two deer, plus we ran into about 1/2 dozen people on horseback. We had a real nice ride on such a beatiful fall day! And with the leaves that have fallen, I couln't see all of the rocks and roots on the trail - a good thing too!, because I just rolled over them! Plus no falls, but I do have two bruises. :smile:
 
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