Keep on pushing !
 

I took up trail riding about 7 years ago after spending forever as a road rider only. I raced competitively for 15 years and just never though about anything but the road. I've lived next to a huge snowmobile region with 100's of miles of trails for over 35 years but still never thought about venturing out on them with a bike.
Then I went and visited the bike shop on there used bike sale looking for a set of wheels, and for some reason this old steel triple triangle 26" mountain bike caught my eye. It was only $75.00 dollars and I thought why not buy it and see what riding in the woods is all about. Fast forward to present day and the old steel mtb is with my youngest son and I riding a Trek Stache 5 29 plus hardtail, and have a fat bike for winter riding. I find myself riding the trail bike every 2 out of 3 rides, and my 3 road bike are starting to collect dust.
The trails I ride out of my house on are great with a good mix of trial types to fit whatever your looking for. But I was looking for something that would be even tougher and was told to visit the local mtb hot spot. Well I have now visited this mtb region 3 times and I've found it to be a ton of fun. I did my first Black Diamond trail last week and even thro I was well over my head as far as skill level goes I had a blast. Even on the lesser rated trails it can be a challenge at times for me, but I'm finding myself looking forward to the new challenges.
I'm really enjoying pushing my limits and can't wait to visit this region more often in the future. I can't believe how much fun trail riding has been, and I see a full suspension bike in the near future so I can take on the rock garden trails a little better.

Awesome! Whatever keeps you in the saddle is a good thing. I've considered giving MTB'ing a try but it's just to much of a drive to get there and back from where I live.

It definitely sound like a full suspension is in your future!

It's such a different world, and I really am moving away from the road. I'm quite lucky that I have hundreds of miles of trails about 300 yards away from my front door. If I want anything tougher then I can drive 10 minutes from work and ride some harder trails.

I'll get with the bike shop and take a couple full suspension bikes out for some test rides.

They say never underestimate an old man on a mountain bike.😁

I'm with you on this. While I still cling to my road bike, I put fat tires back onto one of my commuter MTBs and love riding it. The problem is there is only one set of trails here in Brooklyn, if you don't count the beat up roads (and they aren't that bad really.) I'm going to take it out for a long ride on the Old Croton Aqueduct trail in the near future.

I'll be up in Western Mass for Thanksgiving. Do you know of any trails in the Berkshires, Great Barrington area?

I believe there is a good loop around Mt. Wilcox called (Beartown Loop) in the Great Barrington area.

Keep on pushin' is right, but I'm doing the opposite, going back to pavement. I put thinner road/trail tires on my old trek 930 and I'm using that for the paved trail (50 miles) that I'm riding lately. I started with 14 miles, 7 out and back. The next week it was 16 and last week was 18. We're starting close to the middle and alternate directions so it doesn't get too old. I tried the trails first but didn't get that much of a kick out of it. I had the 930 for years but never really used it until this latest return to biking. Even 35 years ago when I was in a club, I didn't ride ten miles or more at one time every week like I am now. Over the years I got rid of my road bike and another MTB, just keeping the 930. I recently bought a hybrid but made a mistake when I decided to get one with an 8-spd Shimano geared hub. It works great but I should have got a regular derailleur drive hybrid. So now I'm stuck with that and still need more of a road bike but with the semi-upright position. I may have the answer in an older Schwinn Mesa Runner that we were using on an exerciser rig. I'm cleaning it up and testing it now to see if it will be more suitable for that paved trail than the Trek 930. I'll have to overhaul it and replace the tires/tubes before putting it into use, but its the old-style assembly that I have all the tools for; crank puller, spanners, freewheel tool, etc. This bike was one I bought for my wife but she never really took to biking so it really has no miles on it, but the grease has dried up and the tires dry-rotted. I sprayed Pledge on it and wiped it down and the thing looks new - crazy for a 1985 bike.
But you do have to 'keep on pushing' because things are not as easy as they were 40 years ago. On off-bike days I walk about 3 - 4 miles and that seems to aggravate the soreness from the bike, but its getting better too.
I am still gigging on sax and all this leg work is really helping me there too. After standing up for a 4-hour gig I have much less tiredness and soreness.

Thanks for the inspiration. My mtn bike is the one with the dust on it; have not ridden it in 2 years; an old hard tail steel Kona which is a blast to ride; handles very much like a BMX bike. Now I am seriously thinking about going for a trail ride in the next few days:thumb:

Go out and have fun !

Thanks again for the inspiration, I did follow through on it! IIRC it is the first hardcore mountain biking I've done in 7 years. Margin for error on the decent was uncomfortably slim, will go with something little more mellow next time out but since I came through in one piece, it was a blast! A couple of photos below, still a little fall color left to enjoy.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ea38f42bab.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cbc00a1438.jpg

Great to see you got out, and sounds like you had fun. It looks like a great place to get lost for a few hours, keep the wheels rolling.

I tried trail riding one year, but gave it up again when I decided my mountain bike was breaking way too often. A nice, easy ride in the woods once in a while would be nice, but then I'd need another bike - or another set of wheels for my hybrid.