Although there is still plenty of great late-summer and early-fall road riding to be had, the pending shorter days and cooler weather means it’s time to start trail riding.
This time of year can be tricky for many riders. Some are starting to get burned out after a couple of months of road riding, especially those of us who start racing and riding in late winter and early spring. For others – who are often more level-headed and wait for more pleasurable weather before getting on the bike – fitness levels are just starting to peak, but with less day light, fewer organized rides, and the kids going back to school time to ride dwindles.
However, whether it’s time for a change of pace, or you just have a desire to capitalize on a few months of fitness but less time and day light for long road rides, mountain biking is the answer.
Trail riding offers several things that the road cannot while often fitting more easily into the fall conditions. First, it’s a change of scenery and riding style. If you’re a road racer or triathlete, or someone who logs a lot of road miles for touring and conditioning, training on the road is great but after a couple of months it gets easy to get caught up in average speeds, heart rates, wattage meters, and the repetition of the pavement.
On the trail, none of these things matter. You stop thinking about pushing yourself because the trail gives you no choice as you must work hard through the technical nature of the twists, turns, logs, roots, hills, rocks, creeks, and mud. Additionally, there are no long sections of road to coast or other riders to draft, and mountain bikers rarely ride with computers so there is no distraction with numbers, just the trail in front of you and the woods around you.
This type of riding results in coming off from an exhausting workout where you never had to think about how hard you were working because your mind was too preoccupied with managing the trail.
This type of riding also builds abilities the road cannot. Being on the trail forces riders to learn to handle the bike better. Depending on the difficulty of where you ride, you are forced to navigate difficult features, which requires a far greater ability to maneuver the bike while maintaining momentum and cultivating explosive core and leg strength.
These skills are difficult to build on the road, but when descending, turning, sprinting, and riding in a tight group they become very important, which will increase road confidence and ability.
Mountain biking also fits into the fall schedules as with the dwindling day light, being visible for cars is not an issue. Riders can stay out until dusk and not worry about getting traffic, and putting lights on your bike and riding after dark on the trail can be an awesome experience once you get comfortable.
Starting in September the Livingston Cycling Club (www.livingstoncyclingclub.com) will be holding organized weekend mountain bike rides for riders of all abilities at various locations, including the Finger Lakes Trail in Letchworth State Park, Harriet Holister Spencer Park in Canadice, Dryer Road MTB Park in Victor, and Ontario County Park in Bristol.
In conjunction Cyclepath bike shop (www.cyclepathbike.com) has demo bikes for riders to test and can answer any questions you have about getting started.
Don’t let your summer fitness fade with the summer weather, and don’t think you have missed your opportunity to get on a bike if you let the summer slip away without riding at all. Fall riding has a lot to offer in many ways and mountain biking is one of the best.