Nobody in this group has the balls to admit it, but most mountain bike buyers use their bikes 95% of the time on pavement! you’re sadly mistaken. I don’t know about that. Most top level racers do most of their training on the road (albeit on road bikes). It’s pretty tough to do structured training rides (such as interval) on the trails. Besides, riding technical singletrack is so demanding mentally that it’s kind of hard to just put your head down and hammer (like you can on the road). You might think you’re working hard, but you’re really not. For what it’s worth, I’m a Sport-level racer and ride about 150 miles a week, but only about 30 (if I’m lucky) off-road. I don’t delibertaly go out and ride on the road.

During the summer I work at a day camp that’s about 8 miles from my house that I usualy ride my bike to work unless it’s ridicously hot or raining or something, at 16 miles a day, 5 days a week thats ummm, numbers, uhh 30, umm carry the three 5×1+3=8 umm, numbers, oh yeha 80 road miles, plus the side trip to the local Richdale about 5 miles from the trail head for a post off-road ride slurpie every weekend another 10. That make about 90 road miles and only aobut 30 offroad every weekend. Wow, any how, ever since I started riding to work my racing got alot better, and I could feel myself riding easyer on the trails (like I had more power)

Mabey the road isn’t all bad eh? I don’t know about that. Most top level racers do most of their training on the road (albeit on road bikes). It’s pretty tough to do structured training rides (such as interval) on the trails. Besides, riding technical singletrack is so demanding mentally that it’s kind of hard to just put your head down and hammer (like you can on the road). You might think you’re working hard, but you’re really not. For what it’s worth, I’m a Sport-level racer and ride about 150 miles a week, but only about 30 (if I’m lucky) off-road.>>> That may be true, but I guess I’m lucky. I live in the city and there are two good dirt paths, nearly 20 miles long less than 3 blocks from my apartment. But I’m just riding a MTB for fun, and don’t enjoy the torture of a million mile ‘training’ run on the roads. It seems boring. Guess I’m not cut up to be a racer:)

Here’s one for you. I found this one by accident while looking at a few used bike ads on eBay. This guy has a wholesale site with about a dozen bikes listed (new) on it. Most are youth models but there are about 4 models that are full-sized mountain bikes at darned attractive prices. They call it a wholesale site so that would explain the prices being pretty darned low.

They sell a lot of other stuff too that isn’t bike related. You will need to choose “bikes” and do a catagory search on the site to pull all the bikes up.It’s the hugest and there are literally thousands of home appliances, personal electronics, computers, sporting goods, jewelry, watches, cloths and even novelty items. Everything is sold to you BELOW WHOLESALE.This place is the perfect source for the consumer as well as the eBay or Yahoo! auctioneer.

Check it out. Name brand merchandise for pennies. ere’s one for you. I found this one by accident while looking at a few used bike ads on eBay. This guy has a wholesale site with about a dozen bikes listed (new) on it. Most are youth models but there are about 4 models that are full-sized mountain bikes at darned attractive prices. They call it a wholesale site so that would explain the prices being pretty darned low. They sell a lot of other stuff too that isn’t bike related. You will need to choose “bikes” and do a catagory search on the site to pull all the bikes up.

MHO, there is no “vs.”, in dealing with bicycles. Mountain bikes are best suited for off road use (including spring mud, snow, etc.). Yes, you can put road tires on them and they are passable, but there are better options. Hybrids…(yes I ride one), are the “Cruiser” of today. I’ve found them much more comfortable on gravel than a road bike, and much faster and more comfortable (for longer rides) than a mountain bike when you’re riding on pavement. They also make a great commuter bike, depending on terrain and distance. Road Bikes…

Not really suited to off road use, and not particularly comfortable on gravel. Still, can’t beat them for pavement. Your best bet? Try riding one of each (MTB, Hybrid, and Road), on pavement, gravel, and light off road (if the dealer will let you). Bikes are a big investment these days. Test drive! See what works for you. Remember if you go with the MTB, you may find yourself desiring smooth tires for road use, that means extra $ for wheels and tires, and the hassle of switching back and forth. Bob — Robert Ball, Paramedic.

My opinions only… Hennepin Co. Medical Center Ambulance, Minneapolis, MN Contributing Ed., Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) Support Live Organ Transplants…”May we have your Liver then?” For the type of riding you want to do, a hybrid would be best. Just don’t attempt to do any serious off-roading with that type of bike. I enjoy going offroad, riding in the snow, and mud, so I decided to go with a mountain bike. I do ride my mountain bike on the road, but for longer distances, I found that a road bike was more comfortable. I use a 1977 vintage Ross Gran Eurosport for this type of riding. I replaced the drop-bar handlebars with a set of upright ones, which closely simulates the postion on my mountain bike. It allows me to ride longer and faster on the road, plus maintain aacomfortable upright riding position. I guess I created a quasi-hybrid with this setup, but I still have slick tires on the wheels.

Horses can rip the hell out of a trail. I’ve seen trails that were nice singletrack (maybe 3 feet wide) reduced to a 6 inch wide thing that is only a series of foot deep holes. The rest of the trail has been eroded down the hill. When whatever-thousand-pound horses are taken on muddy trails they cause ridiculous amounts of damage. Granted, anyone can cause damage to a trail when it’s muddy, but I personally wouldn’t even like riding through 6-inch deep goo. Not only is it a bad idea, it isn’t any fun. Why people would ride through the same stuff on horses I don’t know.

Obviously the rider wasn’t getting dirty in the stuff, so maybe they didn’t care or were oblivious to the damage they were causing. I just know they made a great trail unrideable. It just goes to show that everyone can be stupid and obnoxious. There are careless equestrians just like there are careless cyclists. And there are careful ones of both types, too. This attitude is pretty narrow minded. Lots of people riding horses on trails have rented them from paddocks at the park. These paddocks are run by perfectly nice working class folks whose main attribute is that they love horses more than money. Another common practice is to sponsor a horse owned by someone else.

This is a little cheaper than owning one, but only if the sponsor does a lot of the dirty work of caring for the horse. Certainly lots of trail riders are well off financially, but many are not. Of course, Richard, >you< may be encountering rich and powerful horse-back riders on your bike ridesFortunately, most people are not obnoxious. Maybe we should be careful about trying to have other users restricted. The problem can be eliminated by restricting EITHER party. We need to accept other users and have enough courtesy to allow everyone to have fun. You should be just as upset about a dangerous bike rider as a dangerous horse. It sounds kind of hippie, but me and my peace sign agree wholeheartedly.

My Panamint style Rattler (Braised Rattle Snake with Green Chile Sauce) was created one night while listening to the Coyotes howling on a blistering cold, dark, and moonless desert autumn night. The sky was alive with more stars than the eye can possibly behold. It was early in the evening, comet Hale-Bopp was filling a quarter of the sky (the desert sky is awesome!). The fire was warm, the wine cool, and the company (my MTB’ing family–the whole “famn damily”) simply splendid!

After a long, hard, dusty day of mountain biking; the crispy cool desert winter nights call for robust (yet low fat and easy to make) dinner dishes like this one: Rattle Snake steaks simmered with bell and mild chili peppers in an herb-onion base. We enjoy them in warm flour tortillas. But you can also serve them over either steamed rice or hot buttered noodles. Top off each serving with my cilantro-yogurt mix, tomatoes, lime wedges, and finely chopped green onions (or scallions). Although the robust flavors overpower most white wines, a good well chilled Chardonnay (Obester, 94) will hold it’s self well.

Since we usually drink reds, we split 8 bottles (well, there were 6 of us…that’s why the cooking part always takes us so long…) of excellent Pinot Noir from Rick Motion vineyards (Russian River appellation). For dessert, let me recommend the baked brandied apples flambé. 1 large onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed 1 8-10 inch twig of fresh rosemary (or 1 heaping teaspoon dry) 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (I prefer yellow, but any kind will do) 2 tablespoons of olive oil 1 cup chicken broth (low fat and salt if available) 1 8-12 inch twig of oregano (or 1 heaping teaspoon dry) 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon (or a bit more) Balsamic vinegar 2.5 – 3 pounds of skinned fresh rattlesnake (about 40in. “in the round”) , cross-sliced into 1in. thick pieces. 2 large green (or red or yellow) bell peppers, seeded and chopped 1/2 cup coarsely chopped Cilantro sprigs. 1 or 2 mild green chilies (or 1 – 7oz. can if fresh is not available)

In a 5 or 6 quart camp pot, combine onion, garlic, rosemary, mustard seeds, and olive oil. On high heat; sauté, stirring constantly until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the broth, oregano, and cumin. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and onion begins to brown (7 – 12 min. or so). When it begins to brown, add a couple of tablespoons of water and stir to loosen the browned bits (this is called deglazing). Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and onion begins to brown again. Repeat the deglazing step, until the onion is richly browned. Then, deglaze one last time with the Balsamic vinegar and another tablespoon of water.