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Getting out of my comfort zone...discovered a new passion.

2K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  I like bicycles. 
#1 ·
A friend of mine took me to a bike park for the first time. As a primarily XC and road rider, it was definitely a new experience! I had a blast and discovered a new addiction!

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For anyone out there who thinks downhill is too extreme or too dangerous, I suggest you try it before you dismiss it. I feel like the experience made me a better rider and I can't wait to go again soon!

I wrote up a full ride report with many more pictures here:
Suffering, Sweating, and Smiling: Confessions of an Ultra-Endurance Cyclist: Adrenaline Fix: My Introduction to Downhill Mountain Biking
 
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#4 ·
The big difference was in the suspension set up. basically my friend fooled around with it and had the rebound set super low on the shock and fork, as well as way too light of a spring for me. The result was a bike that did not want to leave the ground and didn't handle rough terrain as well as it should. I didn't realize how badly it was tuned until later when I rode a properly set up bike.
 
#5 ·
I was peer pressured into trying it a few years ago and am way psyched that my friends were so relentless with me. Downhill park riding is amazing!
I had been a ski bum in Colorado for many years but "retired" so I could have a career and my own home. Luckily my career choice was a teacher, and with summers off I am able to go hang out where I used to ski bum for the summer, and many of my old ski bum buddies are still doing it and have kept up with all of the changes.
My first summer back there they started hounding me to get a downhill bike and I would basically role my eyes and say "whatever". I can't afford it, and I am too old at 40 to start that. They ended up hooking me up with an older Specialized Big Hit for $500, so I bought it just to shut them up. I went out with them, but walked a lot of stuff and couldn't even imagine doing some of the stuff they were doing. Slowly but surely my confidence grew and I was doing that stuff too. Now I barely ride my xc bike in the summer because I don't have a bike park where I live the rest of the year. I used to come back from summer extremely fit, but not any more. Oh well.
 
#6 ·
Welcome to the kingdom. I was originally an XC rider myself. Fortunately, I ride a Cannondale Prophet and disc/reconnecting a single bolt can change it from XC to FR with more slack and integrity. Drops and bigger jumps is definitely a bigger fear to conquer from XC, but nothing compares to that adrenaline!
 
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