Rod Overstreet
Platinum Level Site Supporter
Jeff, So how is your recovery coming along after the open heart mod, and what does your diet now consists of?
Mt Bike Training
- Thread starter Rod Overstreet
- Start date
Dude you must be a machine to pedal a single speed off-road!
I wouldn't recommend anybody buying a single speed mountain bike, unless they are already a fairly fit cyclist. I've ridden a few, owned a few track bikes and it's a recipe for over use injuries, especially if your older and not in the best of shape. But nothing beats going fast on a single speed if your legs are up to it.
Rod Overstreet
Platinum Level Site Supporter
Good advise but you don't have to worry about me going with a single speed unless it uses a gear ratio like the small ring up front and the big one on the rear
!hudson_hollow
New member
No single speeds for me!! I had a tough time deciding on my last bike if I should spend an extra $100 to get the 30 speed. I chose the cheaper 27 speed and it does the job for me. Here's a really well put together video of some great downhill and freestyle mtn bike riding;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbJLZxXErM0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbJLZxXErM0
I am doing well - I had no heart damage - it is coming along well - but I need to be patient and work towards my goals slowly. I have kind of hit a weight loss plateau - but I am sure I am putting on muscle - just need to be patient and "keep going"...
One of my main issues has been pulling muscles & getting "knots" in my back as I try to work my upper body back into shape - some muscles got totally atrophied in my upper body and I think things just get tweaked when they "crank you open". And I wasn't in great shape prior to my surgery - I didn't realize how my health had deteriorated due to my cardiovascular problems.
My diet has totally changed - I used to be the first guy in line at the hamburger grill and was clearly a "meat and potatoes guy". I now eat a mediterranean diet - fish, chicken, vegetables, fiber, etc. I often pick the vegetarian option in the cafeteria at work. I no longer eat any fast food, fried food, red meat, no dairy products except for non-fat milk in the a.m. on my cereal.
My weight is down and my blood pressure and cholesterol are now well under control and low. It's funny, I don't really miss the "old diet" because I feel so much better now...
Jeff
Rod Overstreet
Platinum Level Site Supporter
Good to hear that you're recovering and making progress! I gotta change my diet as well. Going to hard to give up my pork rinds 
Rod Overstreet
Platinum Level Site Supporter
Oh man... she's going to get you for that Robbie!
hudson_hollow
New member
Well if you saw this video last night you were one of the lucky ones. Now they are offering it for sale. I was gonna get one of my geek friends to download it for me but I waited one day too late. Here's their new teaser site;
http://lifecyclesfilm.com/
Rod Overstreet
Platinum Level Site Supporter
WOW, cool video! Now...replace the bicycle in the film with a Gas Gas and you would have an award winner!
rockrider1
New member
My Wife and I just picked up a pair of new left over 2010's at very good price(Trek fuel ex 8 and a Cannondale Rize 120 3). We just need the snow to melt so we can start are riding/training............
cross-training irony...
i've been riding mountain bikes since the mid-80s. they are what took the place of dirt bikes when i first moved to the states from new zealand, and then they became a source of income in one way or another, and have remained so since then. i've mellowed out a lot in the last decade, and gone from pretty fit race shape to regular rider with about 10 more pounds on my middle than i want. but i can still rip out a 30 or 40 mile dirt mtb ride without feeling too bad.
the weird thing for me is that there is some crossover benefit in terms of riding dirt bikes, but all the mountain bike miles don't do a damn thing for me when i get back on the moto after some time off. i went out friday for five hours on my brand new leftover 2010 300, and it kicked my ass seven ways into next week. the mid-deep isometric squat that is part and parcel of dirt biking hurts my legs in ways that pedaling will never help, and no amount of singletrack on a bicycle will cure the forearm pump at the beginning of the ride and the tired shoulders at the end.
only cure for me is to ride more dirt bikes! could be worse fates.
i've been riding mountain bikes since the mid-80s. they are what took the place of dirt bikes when i first moved to the states from new zealand, and then they became a source of income in one way or another, and have remained so since then. i've mellowed out a lot in the last decade, and gone from pretty fit race shape to regular rider with about 10 more pounds on my middle than i want. but i can still rip out a 30 or 40 mile dirt mtb ride without feeling too bad.
the weird thing for me is that there is some crossover benefit in terms of riding dirt bikes, but all the mountain bike miles don't do a damn thing for me when i get back on the moto after some time off. i went out friday for five hours on my brand new leftover 2010 300, and it kicked my ass seven ways into next week. the mid-deep isometric squat that is part and parcel of dirt biking hurts my legs in ways that pedaling will never help, and no amount of singletrack on a bicycle will cure the forearm pump at the beginning of the ride and the tired shoulders at the end.
only cure for me is to ride more dirt bikes! could be worse fates.
roostafish
Gold Level Site Supporter
That's funny, I get a big benefit from riding the mt. bike when I ride my moto, but the reverse is not true.
Fitness in any manner helps, but there's nothing like doing the discipline you're training to do for getting into shape for that particular event.
i might have been speaking from a warped perspective when i wrote that, since my thighs felt like i'd been doing kettlebell lifts in hell from the moto ride on friday. also, most of the people i ride moto with are also primarily mountain bike riders, and are almost all as fit or fitter than me, so it's hard to judge how we compare to non-riders.
i do recall when i was doing hare scrambles a few years ago how large numbers of racers seem to come unglued toward the end of a couple hour race, whereas my cycling buddies and i seemed to be able to maintain our pace...
roostafish
Gold Level Site Supporter
A
Exactly.
Exactly.
Hey guys, this is my first post here and thanks for all the great info.
I am just getting started in the moto world and DH MTB has been my life for the last 15 years. Maybe downhill mtb riding is better cross training for the arm pump and squat position. I was hoping the DH stuff would cross over but I am just getting used to my new to me 2009 GasGas EC 300.
Here is some of the stuff I do on a DH bike that I am hoping will help me on the moto.
I think I have a long way to go before I am sending it like on my mtb.
roostafish
Gold Level Site Supporter
WOW! Great photos man!! I love the one of you looking down at the folks as you gap that road!
By the way, I read through this entire thread. I have since purchased a single speed 29er and barely ever ride my full suspension bike. Strange how we ebb and flow through the things we like and do...
By the way, I read through this entire thread. I have since purchased a single speed 29er and barely ever ride my full suspension bike. Strange how we ebb and flow through the things we like and do...
funmachines
New member
For quick rides I have two choices - mtn bike or ride the trials bike in the backyard. Real dirt buike riding is an hour away min. Mtn biking does so much more for fitness but moto riding helps my mtn biking more than the other way around.
It's all good.
It's all good.
