To Wash or To Wipe Your Mountain Bike

Well, to start with; rain pours down frequently this past few weeks and my mind can't resist whether to bike or not. Guess what,i pedal all the way through muddy terrain in the metro. As i headed back home, I can hear my crank and chain screaming "gave me some nice wash down later on". Two different schools of thought came about 1 says "Wash my bike with a hose" and the other says "Hell no! I use is bottled bike wash and wipe it down!”

I kinda flip flop back and forth on this one for rainy reason, you see, I have no hose in my place or near it, so that leads me to use the Bike Wash about 60% of the time. However, I’d much prefer to use a citrus degreaser and a water hose to clean of my bikes.

So I’m curious to know, what other riders do; hose or spray bottle?

Featuring: Lovely Couple Rider

Imagine how nice to see these lovely couple on the same activity, spending some time together with there bikes. Honestly speaking, its very rare nowadays that couple spend some time on there favorite pastime.

Richard and Sophia

South of somewhere

As we close out year 2010 for mountain biking. i thought we'd look back some of the trail riding that never been expected that would feature on our experience. Here are some images i think are worth going back or reading back for the first time in case you missed them.

Hey Rich! did you just missed something? or do i need to remind you to wear your   instinct sometimes hehehe.. peace brother.

Over the last few months way back on 2010, this group got a chance to ride approximately 50 km's away from Pulupandan with some bike buddies and it was epic to say the least. They rode single track track above muddy ground and descended trails and countless ascended trails.

Before anything else happen, lets just pose for a while. Smile smile and smile.

Trail riding is fun as long as the group shared the same common interest that will leads to your excitement and joy of fulfilling some tracks that you'd never been encountered before. You need to put some guts for you to overcome those trails.

Do you really know where you heading at?

That right guys, just keep it pushing!

What  matters most for this kind of ride is that, you always have some jokes to share just to ease so those tentions between you and your bike. Try to slow it down and enjoy the scenery that nature had to offer you. It doesn't really matter how fast you ride but rather how you enjoy the ride. The following images taken on some adhering moments.

Bonding moments during the ride.

Somewhere in, what......? are you nuts?

Now this is what i called gaining some composure.

It was quite a good trail ride indeed. The next time you do the same thing on trail, always remember to set aside some worries and just hit the trail. Till next time guys, well done! Keep it up!

Nothing but Pictures

Here's some complilation of images during the ride. Hope you like it. Enjoy!

 

That's it for now. Will keep you posted. Till next time.

Road Training for Mountain Bikers

Mountain bikers who participate in cross country or endurance events need to build a strong fitness base that can only come from lots of time in the saddle. Some mountain bikers believe that training should be very tightly aligned to the activity in which you’ll be participating. These riders spend very little time on a road bike and minimal time doing other types of cross-training. There is a lot of validity in that approach, however, a committed endurance rider can benefit in several way from road bike training.

Road riding is a controlled environment and can allow for more accurate tracking of training data. It’s much easier to measure distance, time, heart-rate, etc. when you’re not having to constantly adjust your riding to trail conditions. If you want to get even more scientific about your training, you can outfit your road bike with a power-meter and download all the data to a computer when you get home. Intervals and other workouts can be performed on trails, but it will be more controlled and easier to measure on the road.

Road riding can build strength when pedaling bigger gears. Take a look at road bike gearing as compared to a mountain bike and it’s obvious that road gearing is much higher. There is no mountain event in the world where you would need a 53-11 combination. Pushing big gears on the road can yield big results in terms of power when you get back on the trails. Riders who feel uncomfortable with standard road gearing may find a compact double with 50/34 gearing to be more familiar. Compact gearing can allow training in larger gear ratios than most mountain bikes, but still provides the option for high-cadence training.

The other benefit to road riding is recovery and safety. No matter how fit you are, long days on rough trails can take a toll on your body. Road bike training is generally lower impact and can provide critical recovering time when preparing for a big event. Although there’s no guarantee that road cycling is completely safe, your chances of crashing and injuring yourself can be much less on the road. Some hard-core mountain bikers might scoff at this idea, but no one wants to give up months of hard training to recover from a broken collar bone.

Each rider will have his or her own way to prepare for an endurance event. Structured correctly, a regular road cycling regimen can enhance training and offer a nice change of pace for cross country mountain bikers. 

Guimaras Experience

After several attempts and preparations, the plan has been push through. It was one fine sunday bike experience to a beautiful island of Guimaras. Sadly to say that, some of our bike buddies did not able to join us due to schedule conflicts.

Bike Rack? will just gonna settle for now

The good thing is, we depart from Pulupandan early on time scheduled which supposed to be on 8:00 AM. Prepare 70 php for boat fare and 30 php for your bicycle handling fee. The ride on the ferry boat? hmmmm..... well...  it's ok, after all we don't have much choices but to ride on that ferry boat. After touchdown on the shore of Paos, roughly speaking 20 - 25 km's away from the capital of Guimaras if you gonna take on San Lorenzo Route. Coastal line will be approximately on 30 - 35 km's.

1st rest stop - just wondering what you looking at guys?

On the way to capital, you will gonna encouter a pavement road which shown above and rough or rocky road (sounds like my favorite ice cream). This pavement road leads you to San Lorenzo route that will take you an hour on average of 25 km/h.

The Capitol

Always wear your smile though your knees are aching hahahaha.... well done guys. Another milestone for the chosen few.

At the porch of Capitol

It's nice to see all of you in this pictures. I'm just wondering, what are they thinking right now? for those biking buddies of ours that we left behind. Well, they're just pathetic hahaha... just kidding.

Museo de Guimaras - we're not able to make it

Sadly speaking, the said museum was close because its sunday. Oh come on! it's sunday guys and a holiday give those boys a break for f*ck sake!

Wheelie moment - Sandy Borge 

This is what i'm talking about, it's just you and your bike and nothing else. Next time, try to make it on one hand and a little longer on the wheelie moment. You're just being lucky coz my finger is faster than your mind hahahaha...

Heading back home

Honestly speaking, the ride we did was just a quick one. Although its been planned before but we did not anticipate that there has been a revision on the time departure. Earlier on that day we've been informed that the boat will leave on 2 PM instead of there 3 PM slot. To our dismay, we headed back to this place where we first touchdown and you know what? the boat leaves beyond our expectations.

Here comes the Rig

Marky - 2009 Merida TFS 700

Sandy - 2010 Merida TFS 700

Bogs - Giant ATX Pro

Val - Specialized Hard Rock

Siegfried - KHS Alite 2000

There has been a speculations that the next ride is already sort out but the date is not yet confirmed. only one thing for sure, my naked eye will always gaze at your way. Untill we ride again.

Cheers...!

2010 Mountain Bike Trends

I have a feeling this article is going to be a lot more interesting, when you read it five years from now. When I sat down to make a list of mountain bike trends from the past year none of it seemed revolutionary: carbon frames & components, endurance racing and wide bars are all pretty mainstream at this point. But if you had asked someone about any of these topics just 5 years ago you might have gotten a blank stare. Only time will tell if you’ll get the same reaction 5 years from now…

Carbon Components

Mountain bike frames made from carbon fiber were unthinkable several years ago and even now some riders scoff at the notion but the fact is carbon fiber is a material that’s here to stay. These days carbon is also showing up in mountain bike components like handlebars, crank arms, seatposts, and even water bottle cages. Thanks to advances in manufacturing and design, carbon mountain bikes are not only getting lighter, they’re also getting stronger and more affordable.

Endurance Racing

Ultra endurance mountain bike races like the Negros National Mountain Championshop have gained national attention in recent years. Stage races and multi-day epics like the Terry Larazabal Bike Festival will only get bigger as individuals seek new ways to challenge themselves and their gear.

Wide Handlebars

This one took us by surprise and as a trend it seems a little faddish (though we could be wrong). This year virtually everyone - from pro-riders to newbies - was gushing about how great wide bars are for mountain biking. You can get more leverage and control out of wider bars but if you ride narrow, tree-lined singletrack there will be a trade-off. It does seem a little odd that no one thought of riding wider bars before.

We’re stoked to see how these trends play out in 2011 and to see what new mountain bike trends pop up in the coming year!