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Riding Goals for 2013

11K views 85 replies 34 participants last post by  miatagal96 
G
#1 ·
This was fun to do last year, so let's give it another go for this year :thumbsup:

My riding goals for 2013 are:
- Improving cornering (particularly not lose speed)
- Laying off the brakes on steep and technical downhills
- Ride more technical trails

Today was my last ride of 2012. What I noticed improved:
- Riding trails that fall to the left still aren't fast but aren't as scary
- Much faster downhill, but not as fast as I'd like
- Was able to ride a fast steep long downhill that was a mental block

What helped me was riding with a more positive riding group, riding with youngins because they are much more fun :), and getting some mental help on why I was getting mental blocks. The other things that helped me with my mental blocks was having falls that didn't leave anything other than some scrapes,and in today's case, some sand in uncomfortable places like in the knee pads.

What about you? What were your successes this year and goals for next? :D
 
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#8 ·
What about you? What were your successes this year and goals for next? :D
My goal is same as last time: I want to eat more :) Which means riding more. I changed jobs this year, and didn't get to ride as much as I needed to. (Not wanted, needed.) That needs to change.

gabrielle
 
#27 ·
My goals for 2013

Keep pedaling and never stop ever again, have fun, smile, not die at Old Pueblo my first ever 24 hour race (did I mention I am doing this solo, still not sure what I was thinking), buy a real light before the race, buy a new bike since mine is a vintage piece of history that I killed the pull shock on last week and Fox doesn't make parts to fix it with anymore, inspire more people to ride and ride better, find women to ride with, find people in my area to ride with, keep meeting more random people while out riding, somehow convince my husband that riding more than 6 miles really is fun, try out single speed, catch up on all the changes in the cycling industry since I left racing and riding in 2004, find a job doing something cycling related that inspires me and doesn't make my brain feel like it is melting (not riding related I know), keep learning how to fix things on my bike, and last but not least remember I can always learn to ride better.

Last year I learned in the 9 months I have been riding again.

How to night ride with an old halogen lamp and a flashlight headlamp.
How to replace derailleur cables and a handlebar.
Riding in newly built trails in AZ means you really should invest in slime tubes ( I still don't have tubeless)
Don't walk your bike in the dark over large rocks without looking down first (how I broke my handlebar).
A passion for riding a bike can not be forced.
I still love rocks and single track.
Riding my bike still makes me smile!
 
#2 ·
Goals:
Ride a wheelie for an extended period of time
Track stand for an extended period of time
Ride bigger drops/jumps
Get over fear of elevated skinnies
Improve fitness for longer rides
Travel to new places to ride
Ride more, regardless of weather
Introduce more people to mountain biking
 
#3 ·
Hard to believe another year has gone by! Good post, Stripes!

I know I had a lot of goals last year, including a few mentioned by Stripes in this thread.

Successes for the year:

Downhill switchbacks - I have been working on them a lot this past year and FINALLY am getting more comfortable with them, in both directions. The real magic seemed to coincide with the purchase of my new bike - a Trance X 29er. Maybe it's the stability of the larger wheels, the geometry, riding in flats, or increased standover - or a combination of all of the above. But I have been consistently executing some that have been plaguing me the last couple of years. :thumbsup:

Larger log piles/logovers - After taking a women's clinic this summer, I began tackling more of these. I've learned momentum is my friend and to "pedal, pedal, pedal!" Again, changing back to flats has increased my confidence immeasurably. It also made me rely more on weight transfer and forced me to use better technique.

Cornering - getting there. Hmm, maybe about 60-70% "there" now?

Bridges/skinnies - Have finally started conquering my fear of these guys - to a point. We have some skinnies that go up and over logs I will go over, and there are some bridges ~ 1' wide I now ride instead of walk. Look ahead, look ahead, look ahead!

Wish List for 2013:

Jumping and being more comfortable with the idea of my tires leaving terra firma. :eek:

Steeper/tighter downhill switchbacks.

Wheelies and wheelie drops. Seriously - if I could just learn how to pop that front wheel up (on command), that would be super! :D

Steep uphill climbs. Yeah, there are a few that I would love to be able to do this coming season.

Take my first downhill clinic.

But, most of all: Continuing to enjoy this sport I have come to love above anything else and sharing that passion with others :)
 
#5 ·
for whatever reason, in the past 2 months i've made major speed and cornering improvements. a lot of it had to do with getting a new bike that fit me well and made me feel much more confident than before. i'm plowing over log piles and rollers, and stone walls much better than i did before. Of course, i also happen to be FALLING a lot more these days because of my sudden boost in confidence ;)
 
#6 ·
depends how i fall. i've been doing stupid slow tumbles where i put my foot down, and the ground is uneven, so i just topple over. Those dont do anything but leave a bruise. Last fall was OTB but somehow i landed pretty well because it was slow (my bottom bracket smacked onto the top of a tall log ramp and i had no choice but to just let myself go down) that only left me with bruises too. I have had a big OTB that dumped me hard on the side of my head, and that left me banged up the next day!
 
#10 ·
Set a goal...hmmm

Signed up for the Prescott 2013 Whiskey Offroad in April. My goal is to finish the 15 mile "fun run" respectably. Preferably on the bike! This means I have to get off this chair and get moving.

I would like to improve all of my skills as I am very new to this and learn more each time I go out.

Lastly to be healthy, happy and not break anything when I wreck.:D
 
#11 ·
Goals for Down Hill:.
In general: Ride faster and steeper
Specifically: work on wheelie drops, getting more height on my tabletops

Goals for Trail riding
In general : climb better (I got a new bike which is lighter and that will help)
Specifically: practice on the pump track in the backyard
 
#24 ·
From the 2012 goals thread

I am working at speed and cornering, as well as control when landing bigger jumps and drops. Getting better at dh technical has made me a stronger xc rider. Hill climbing is geting easier in platforms.

The local dh parks are opening soon so I am excited to test my skills again.
My goals are consistent from year to year. Just working on small improvements
 
#12 ·
This year will be doing my very first mountain bike ride outside of the US- in New Zealand! Also hiking, kayaking and lots of driving and sightseeing.

Not really a mountain biking goal per se, but this trip has been on my to-do list for almost a decade. Very excited!
 
#13 ·
This year will be doing my very first mountain bike ride outside of the US- in New Zealand! Also hiking, kayaking and lots of driving and sightseeing.

Not really a mountain biking goal per se, but this trip has been on my to-do list for almost a decade. Very excited!
I went there two years ago (biked 13 out of the 14 days I was there) and it was AMAZING.

Get the Kennet Bros guidebook, it's well worth it.

And make sure you post here when you get back, and tell us all about it!
 
#15 ·
something that "helps" is to get a faster rider behind you, and it really lights a fire under your ass! for me it does anyway. If i'm last in line, i tend to take a more chill pace naturally, but if somebody ends up behind me, i get all crazy and nervous that i'm holding them up (also embarrassed if i ride bad with an audience!) and it helps me right along.
 
#16 ·
I managed to stay pretty much in one piece in 2012 (took a few days off after a knee tweak on a crash from Justice, a German shepherd) , and hope to do the same in 2013. In a month my office is moving and I will be losing my dream trail-commute, so I will be hard pressed to get in as much trail time. So my goal is to up the recreational trail miles since my bikecommute will be more dull.
 
#17 ·
After barely riding for the past few years I am finally back. I did get in a few mtb trips last year but my lack of fitness put a damper on the fun factor. Right now I have two trips planned. Big Bend in February is locked down and sometime in the summer I want to get to Park City again. My goal is to be fit enough by summer to have more fun and less suffering.

To help with that goal I am looking really hard at new bikes. I soooo had the hots for that Niner B!tch posted last year but could not find an XS anywhere. Now I am looking at 650b's and trying to be patient for some to arrive here. The Scott Genius and Jamis are what I am hoping to be able to touch soon.

2013 Goal = new bike + better fitness
 
#18 ·
I feel like the 2012 goals thread was really helpful. Can anyone find it and bump it? I looked, but it's buried.

Man, I have so many weak spots. OK, here are some areas I think I can improve:

1. Skinnies. I want to be able to ride a certain elevated skinny at Bradbury Park in ME by the end of the season. I plan to ask hubs to help me build a back yard skinny for practice.

2. I want to ride 750 miles in 2013. This may not sound like much to you, but it's a grand goal for me. I will revise later in the year if it becomes clear this is too easy.

3. I want to take a riding clinic, somehow, somewhere. I may pull off arranging for a riding clinic right here in River City for me and my riding pals.
 
#20 ·
... It's the people who take their riding way too seriously who were stressing me out... Been re-evaluating some riding buddies, gotten more picky about who I ride with because my ride time has gotten to be more valuable.
You know it. The whole "dirt roadie attitude" thing sucks.

I'm also a little picky about who I take on backcountry recon. The best survival skill of all is caution IMO... I like to ride with folks who are risk-aware and risk-averse. Like recognizing that coolio black cloud rolling in from the west might mean trouble and high-tailing it for the barn BEFORE it hits if possible.
 
#22 ·
I have a huge opportunity this season to focus solely on training and racing. My goal is to make the most of it, but to do so, I'm going to be out of town a lot, and racing a lot of women who can handily kick my butt at the present time.

I can relate to a lot of you on the skinny stuff- I've got an unhealthy fear of it that I need to address. I can ride all sorts of techy-rocky-steep stuff, but put a skinny bridge in front of me, and I'm all white knuckles.
 
#23 ·
+1 on the skinny stuff. It doesn't seem to matter how high off the ground (er, or not) it is, either. I try to tell myself that the TRAIL is often more narrow, and I manage to stay on that! One of my biggest accomplishments this past year was finally going over ALL the bridges on one trail, and going over an A-frame. I pretty much whoop with delight every time I do it. My friends joke that I scream like crazy when I've finally done something, but when it's bad, I'm silent. :D
 
#29 ·
2012 Goals: Learn how to mountain bike. Started the year very slowly and tentatively at China Camp, a fun, beginner singletrack loop north of San Francisco. Got off and walked over rocky bits and near cliffs. Had great difficulty with switchbacks, rocks, etc. Have since learned how to wheelie (but not hold it), feel confident in switchbacks, can drift around corners, completed the Downieville XC race (slowly), won a few beginner Super D style races towards the end of the year.

I find that racing really lights a fire under my ass to improve. The pressure and the adrenaline makes me conquer fears. We know the techniques...we've heard them over and over again. We just need the confidence to do what we know. For me, the fear of a girl behind me passing me makes me go, "well ****, I guess I'd better do this." And it usually all works out. :)

2013: improve core strength, leg strength, flexibility, and not lose too much base fitness. Ride as much dirt as I can until the end of my first trimester (and maybe for a little while longer).
 
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