Lockdown riding positives

[R120]

Thought I would start this thread as despite thinking it would be a pita at the beginning as I couldn't hit up my usual haunts and most of the local stuff is pure xc/bridleways etc, I have now put together a local 1 hour ride that mostly involves laps of two fairly mellow trials that us locals have spent a bit of time improving, with nothin gnarly on them. Dont get me wrong, I have and had no intention of doing anything stupid on a bike, but just pounding around the north downs way has its limits.

I must have done hundreds of laps over the last months, and have found that rather than getting bored, I now know every inch of the them so well that what used to be a trail to do once in a while the way home, is now one of my favourite trails anywhere, and I can now rail them faster than ever and every turn, berm and jump is second nature, to the extent that I no longer have to think at all when riding them, almost a sense of mindful ness or some such trickery comes over me.

I have always been a fan of learning trails by riding them over and over, but never got to a point where its so natural. Reminds me of when I worked in a skatepark as a kid, and I knew every ramp so well that it didnt matter which direction I went or where one jump took me, my mind just automatically knew what to do next. Thats how I feel on the trail, doesn't matter how I land, what line I take, I just know the fun way to hit the next bit without thinking.

I thought I would be biting my arm off to get over to the proper trails, but actually I just find myself having so much fun, that its been a real bonus, especially because it s just blasting out from my front door for an hour or so.

Anyone else seen some flip sides to lockdown riding, aside from the fact that I guess a lot of us are riding more, but less tech stuff?

 

[MrBrownstone]

Silver linings galore during these times of COVID. Not working means riding and trailwork 7 days a week. All accessed from the house. No driving. Nice 4.5 mile paved ride mostly uphill to access 10’s of thousands of acres of deserted techy climby trail bliss. Haven’t come across another rider in the last 7 weeks. Not one. Sure I ride most every day even when I’m working, but not the volume of time I can get in the woods now. Gonna be a great summer!!!?

 

[MrBrownstone]

^^^^^^^^^^Road riding outside trumps getting COVID. POSITIVE!!!!

 

[Supratad]

Im stuck with road riding as my local trail centre is 40 miles away
and all the local coast paths i use are closed
ive had to buy road tyres for my bike
No positives here sorry

Same here. I can put together two rides about 10miles in length with a bit of off road on them which is mostly field crossings, and one 16 miler. Ironically, I live between two areas of great off-roading in North Yorks, UK, but each one is about a 30-50 min drive to get there so no go at present.

Getting out every other day is a positive though, even if the terrain is less than spectacular.

 

[StuE]

I'm lucky to live in a part of Leeds were I access to a fairly large network of bridleways, I can even get up to Stainburn with a bit of roadwork but it's probably best avoided at the moment, worst thing is how busy it can be on some of the easier to access trails, it's good to see so many people on bikes, but some like the young lad with his front brake caliper hanging by its hose from his handlebars seem to have a disregard for their own safety. I have been riding the unassisted bike 5 days a week, the ebike on 1 day and then a rest day and am fitter than I have been for a long time ,do miss the social interaction of riding with mates though and some days can feel very dispiriting

 

[R120]

Another positive for me has been getting out riding with the kids more - with the roads way less busy locally its ben great o do some decent rides with them, and see their bike skills come on leaps and bounds

 

[p3eps]

I’ve only been riding from the house too. I started just going to the same trails over and over again. After several weeks, I got a bit fed up of the same route over and over... so had a look on Trailforks and found some new ones.
I have to cycle about 5 miles to get to them, but there’s actually some pretty cool trails in there that I’d never have found if I wasn’t forced to leave from my house!

My new Garmin 830 has helped me find a whole new network of trails with the Trailforks integration on some of the places I ride regularly too, so that’s a bonus.

Don’t get me wrong - I can’t wait to be able to chuck the bike on the back of the car and head further from home... but it’s made me realise that I’m lucky to have what I do within a few miles from my house.

 

[MrBrownstone]

Been literally adding miles of new singletrack to local hill and dale with the extra free time. Another positive!

 

[Jeffw]

Like many, restricted riding but have about 10 miles literally on my doorstep which is cool, i can add a bit more on but fair amount of road involved, which seems to defeat the object (Levo Expert)

Just been watching the news and the item about emergency bike lanes being created "to allow us to ride to work safely". I'd love to (only 10 miles), lots of country lanes involved and drivers who cut the cyclists up frequently. It's something i've wanted to do for a while, just need that bit of confidence in traffic

Will be interesting to see what additional incentives the Gov offer

 

[khorn]

Being in lockdown with my wife for almost 2 months and having a local forest just outside the door is fantastic. So much quality time together and no race but just enjoying the time outside. Wife is getting fitter doing at least 4 rides a week ??

Karsten

 

[steve_sordy]

I too have found more trails to ride locally. They all need some roadwork to get there, but that's what's great about the emtb, it's easier to get where I'm going! No faffing about with the towbar rack and a drive to the trail centre. Just ride straight out of the gate!

So far though, they all have long, like about half a mile (800m) sections of deep ruts (clay soil). They are dry right now, but I have ridden them in the wet once and NEVER again! I estimated one rut at 4'deep, ie more than 1.2 metres. My mate didn't believe me until he saw it for himself. (We kept our socially required distance). We ride it in both directions.

Even the descents are deeply rutted, only about a foot deep this time (30cm).

I hope the dry weather lasts!

 

[Gary]

Anyone else seen some flip sides to lockdown riding

Since I've been back on my feet I've had to take it easy anyway but as soon as I felt fine to roll around on a bike again I started riding with my daughter, this has become both of our daily/evening excercise. Just chillin really in the local woods... I've always enjoyed just chilling out on bikes though. throw in the odd cutty or manny or wheelie and I'm happy as a anything. Chillin with your 10yr old is pretty awesome. But something you sometimes just don't have the time to do as often as you'd like.

 

[WildGuy]

Lockdown was very strict here, there's still even a night-time curfew as of today. So ended up messing around just on the road outside. Normally haven't the patience to methodically practice anything but a positive of this is I'm now pretty good at trackstands, even one-handed, and can at long last wheelie (badly). Kinda sounds bad to say, and obviously bad for business, but here is nicer without tourists (I mean, is there any place left where the local residents want visitors for anything other than their dollar?) and all this has presented a unique opportunity to kind of "step back in time" to a past without tourists. Rarely see another soul out riding the hills anyway, but my main summer sport is freediving and there's some good spots that are kinda spoiled by tourist cruises, party boats etc., so now the lockdown due to end on thursday I'll hopefully be able to go to them so could definitely be some upside for me there too and with a little bit of pressure taken off the marine life.

 

[Steve h]

Loving the time I’m having with my youngest, were out every day doing 10-20miles on a mix of bridleways, lanes, canal paths and some very interesting bits!! Only problem is he’s on a non e bike so I let him lead. Also living in the Cotswolds there’s a lot of hills for him but he’s coping well even on the 17miles we did the other day and we’d climbed 780metres. He did mention something about a tow rope! Not wanting to go back to work at the mo.