YamiRider1316

So what did 2011 bring to you in the realm of mountain biking?

For me, this was my first year on a real mountain bike. And it would be an understatement to say that i am thoroughly addicted. Took some tumbles along the way but I am a way better rider than when i started and am still improving. I think it also helped me figure out what the heck to do with my life. In the midst of my first custom build i have found that i enjoy wrenching on bikes almost as much as riding them. So along with that I am now in the process of turning my garage into a fool scale bike shop. Will be heading to Oregon sometime next year to take some classes on bicycles mechanics, running a shop, and to get certified as an "official mechanic". Eventually would like to have a mobile operation where i can just tour and work on bikes in the parking lot. All in all it was a good year and i am thankful for it. I don't think i would of done anything different.

20grit

I rode my first race. Flatted 2 miles in and carried the bike on the rest of the course all the way til the finish. I had to say I finished in my first race....

YamiRider1316

Thats pretty awesome. Way to persevere. Bet its gonna make your next race seem like a breeze lol.

kenhill3

Rode B.C. for the first time ever. Alice Lake/Whistler/Williams Lake. Superb.

samburger

Finished my first bike build, & learned that I really don't know jack about bike mechanics. That said, I'm also very interested in taking some bicycle mechanics classes. Never before have I been so continually interested in something that I have literally no natural ability for (ask anyone [ed] who spent hours explaining the most basic mechanical concepts to me over the internet so I could figure what the hell I was doing, & how to do it the right way)

Either way I discovered a new passion that builds on an existing (but still fairly new) passion, which is awesome.

Dannihilator

2011 was a bit of a nightmare mtb wise.

dminor 

^^ You are not alone.

samburger

I will say that as far as actually getting out & MTBing, this was hopefully the worst year of the rest of my life. I blame that on only driving a motorcycle, which should be changing in two days.

ShimmerFade

Well. I ended up getting a new MTB this spring. I starting riding, and at first my legs were black and blue the first month or so. I played soccer for 14 years while growing up, so this was nothing new, but the girlfriend sure liked to make fun of me. Going up the mountain nearly killed me, and making it to the top was something I only did every third ride or so.

I found a balance to my mental work, which for me was pretty great. It also made me realize how imbalanced I was in this respect. Well I put off my pretty huge mid exam one semester for numerous reasons. This freed up a lot of time which allowed me to bike and learn much about myself and my bike. I figured out I really love to ride bikes be it MTB or my commutourer.

I have now learned to do nearly every mechanical repair except bearings, wheel building, and anything involving fabrication.

I have reached ~2,600km mountain bike only this year, which I did not expect to happen at all. I learned to MTB pretty good I think, but this has only shown me the true difficulty of what the pros can do. I keep working on my skills and endurance. From huffing up the hill, and people looking at me in a somewhat concerned way.. I am now rarely passed by, and I can get up that damned mountain without a single break. I would say we have developed a rocky understanding.

Without a doubt I have been greatly changed by MTB for the better. I am stronger than I was, more than just physically. I have a goal to do a trans-alp with my girlfriend, and then relax/ride a bit at the Gardasee. Pretty crazy ****

20grit

The bad part is, my roommate won the race. I'll never hear the end of it.
The real lesson is to change out sealant in tubeless set ups and make sure pressures are high enough. My tire rolled and broke the seal going through a turn, or at least that's my theory.

This was my first year back on a mountain bike since age 15 or so. That is a bit of an accomplishment too, I guess.

vik 

I moved to an island without a real winter and realized that with some decent lights I can trail ride all year long. In fact we are liking the night riding better than our normal summer rides - at least for now. I'm sure in a few more months we'll be ready to enjoy some sunshine on our rides again.

I miss the snow biking during the winter, but I'd rather have 12months/year of dirt access.

lubes17319

1st 6 months were spent recovering from broken collarbone/ribs (tonight'll be my 1-yr anniversary of the breakage ride), but got back to it by hitting 'The Ribbon' on my 1st outing.
Not on it as much as in previous years, but still had good times: a few fun shuttles, some lift access & several high-country adventures thrown in.

noodle

Excellent year- racking up close to 3,000 miles on two 29er's. Bought too much stuff probably but much of it used off eBay. To the used part naysayers: for under $100 investment during the year I got an XTR 960 cassette (that saw very few miles, all of them on paved trails before I got it) and a few months later, 40-32-20 Blackspire superpro rings (all teeth still in tact) and they've been great. I hope people keep buying the new/finicky 2x10 stuff and selling their 3x9 treasures for cheap

ussprinceton

I bought 2 new to me mountain bikes (1 hardtail and 1 fs) in 2011

ed 

2011...


Meh...could'a been worse.

Papa Wheelie

2011 had me looking at my bikes weight. I took about 6 lbs off my bike, to the tune of about $500.

So, with my Titus down around 26 lbs, I needed a new challenge, so I bought a SingleSpeed.

Since purchasing that, my Titus has done nothing but collect dust. :0


I have a crew that I ride at least twice a week with, sometimes up to 5 times a week.

I look to 2012 to get more revolutions than I got in 2011.

dminor 

That's sweet - - not many can afford to hire a crew just to go riding with.

Papa Wheelie

Pimping is not easy.

Nobody ever said it was.

yak

competed in my first endurance race (Vt50), won my first XC race, improved my technical skills, made a few road trips to ride some new places

Daspydyr 

Survived and am almost back to where I was when I got hurt. Met and had a beer with dminor in Spokane. Finding new trails and their builders in the S end of Vegas Valley. Getting to know more of the locals.

stevemtbr

Participated in the local 24 hour race. Only cracked the rear rim this year. Due to no snow and frozen tarils December riding has been good so far. Only one silly crash.

Jeepnut22 

PCL, MCL, and Meniscus damage...

But still almost hit the overall podium in a local race series. Also bought an Epic.

On the roadie side, did my first metric century. Averaged a paltry 17.2 mph... Next year I gotta crush that...