fitness ride of choice

[dirtworshipper]

So I assume everyone rides trails on their mountain bike for fun (because it's awesome). But what do you guys ride when you're short on time and need a workout? Mountainbike on singletrack climbs? Gravel roads? Road bike? Spin class?

[rockyrider]

If it's been very wet, an out and back on the paved park recreation road is one option, or one of the 1000'+ elevation rides on pavement. Otherwise there's a wide variety of local dirt that works well for fun fitness rides.

[myron]

I like to start off with a six pack of diet pepsi and a pack of camels. from there I work my way up to a large coffee and mid ride boulevard brews.... but you already knew that.

[cMc]

14 mile loop on the rigid single. Hour long, ~2k' of climbing. Right out my back door w/ ocean views. :cool:

[Spalls]

21 miles and 2,300 feet of climbing, combination of paved trail, gravel power line and pipeline trails, some wide groomed trails, and a bit of pavement. Right out my door when I do it alone. When I ride it with buddies we start and end at the Red Hook brewery just down the hill from my house.

[RepublicanSS]

clermont is 30 minutes from my home. it's hilly and the roads are generally nice and sparcily traveled by cars. many of the ironman hawaii champions train there in the winter because of the hills, roads and weather.

practically every saturday morning five us ride together or join one of the many group rides for a ride of 50 to 80 miles.

it's great for fitness, two of the five of us just took 4th place in their respective classes at bloodrock in alabama, 4th in expert xc and 4th in sport class.

i enjoy singletrack, we rode off road last evening, but riding on the road is a blast, especially if you have a nice road bike that fits you well.

[S. cerevisiae]

So, there are more things to consider here. Am I so limited in time that I cannot drive the 20 minnutes to the good local trails for a proper "workout"? Then it's local roads to fight the internal combustion freaks. Usually that's not such an issue as I can commute three days a week if it's merely a fitness thing.

I tend to shy away from calling trail riding workouts. Probably more of a psych. thing than any other reason.

O' course, lite beers and mixed nuts...training table of champeens, bruddah.

[pariah002]

When I am pressed for time it is all about intervals and/or hills. I try to do 1 hour, 15 minutes warm-up then I do 5-10x 1minute intervals with 1 minute recovery in between. I then ride back for 10-15 minutes for a cool down.
I will either do it flat or preferebly on hills. Smoking workout in a short time.

[phlatlander]

I tend to shy away from calling trail riding workouts. Probably more of a psych. thing than any other reason

Same here. Not psychological, though, just that I get my fitness on the road so when I hit the trail it's all play. ;) Never feels like a 'workout' then. Plus, road is convenient enough for me to get 150 or so miles in per week before the kids even wake up.

[davkatreb]

My fixie, right out the back door. I get more workout from 45 minutes on that thing than I would from an afternoon with gears.

[longhaultruker2]

i really love dirt,and if it's just a ride (some how commuting seemed more,rewarding than "just a ride":p),i tolerate pavement:rolleyes:...but the thing is,as much as i prefer dirt over pavement,i gotta drive 40-45 minutes to some decent trailage,where-as the road is right at the end of my hollow,which is right at the end of my driveway.

as for gravel/dirt roads,i remeber growing up here,and riding both bmx&mtn bikes,and dirt bikes (of the 2 stroke variety) all over these here mtns,mostly exploring "strip mines" and gas well roads,but they're all behind locked gates now:(...i guess the generation that rode em after us must not've learned the tread lightly/leave no trace gig:(

[one piece crank]

Life is too short to not have fun, right?

Not that I don't enjoy a good lungbuster, but coming from a Trials background I always look/find something 'fun' to ride, even if I'm hitting the pavement. 'Fun' only being limited by the bike I'm on. 20-30 minutes of jumping up/on/off of 'whatever' gives a really good full-body workout!

Which leads me to the bikes I ride, none of which are built for (light) weight. You'd laugh if you knew what tires I ride around for 4-hours exploration loops. Let's just say that with my typical parts pick I'm always on a training ride!

Tom P.

[longhaultruker2]

Life is too short to not have fun, right?

...You'd laugh if you knew what tires I ride around for 4-hours exploration loops.

Tom P.

to the 1st,i agree 100% (even tho life can't be that short...it's the longest thing either of us will ever do-in this system;):rolleyes::p),and to the 2nd,i doubt i'd laugh,opc,i get sheer joy just seeing someone on a bike,most times i don't notice the bikes details (hmm....an epiphany of sorts-maybe that's why i've never seen another SS on my trails:eek:...seriously).

[plume_mtb]

It's clearly a matter of geography for me. When I lived in upstate NY I mountain biked exclusively because the road riding was lame (treacherous drivers) and the mountain biking was a mere two mile spin from my front door.

Upon moving to Asheville I continued to mountain bike exclusively, yet that involved driving at least 20 minutes to the trails. I did that for one year until I finally got a cx bike, then finally a real road bike, then a really really nice road bike. I can get to the Blue Ridge Parkway in 20 minutes from my house and there are countless amazing back roads to explore right out my front door.

I still have a very small amount of single track that is less than a mile away, but it is almost insignificant compared to what we have a short car ride away. So, yeah I ride on the road almost exclusively now and I love it. It keeps me fit and makes me crave single track when I actually have the chance to make a day out of it...