Tell me about your first ride...

[martin]

So I was out at Fountainhead the other day and I kept thinking about my first ride and how I came into this sport - Just curious how you all did the same.

Here's my story...

I actually had two first rides:

The first in Baltimore/Cockeysville. It's circa 1989 (dating myself a bit...). I had a nice spiffy sports car. I had it for about two weeks when the young stupid guy inside me decided to show it off. Long story short I totaled the dam thing and was in desperate need of transportation to work. Since cars were way more expensive I opted for a bike instead. I lived along the perimeter of Lock Raven Reservoir off Dulaney Valley road and had to get to Timonium every morning. Just a few miles down a few strategic roads.

After spending an exorbitant $425.00 on a Mountain Bike ( A Trek Antelope if I recall correctly) I started my mornings riding on the road to work. Little by little I discovered shortcuts along the way - single track trails that ultimately extended my commute rather than shorten it. I loved it. Every morning and afternoon I would ride about 12 miles to work - most of it in the woods...

Fast forward four years and I'm in Arlington. I have just finished basic training and I'm stationed in Fort Myer. I had to sell my Trek before I shipped off with the Army so was in need of a new bike. I went to Spokes etc. on Quaker Lane and told Darryl (Sales guy who worked there back then) my story. He recommended a Specialized Stump Jumper - I bought it. He offered to take me on a ride to the next level trail. I met him at the store early the next Saturday - 7:00 am or so.

We piled in his van ( along with two other shop customers) and he drove us up to the Frederick Watershed. Next thing I know I'm hauling ass down one of the most difficult trails I've ever been in my life - nothing compared to the smooth surfaces I had bee used to in my commute. I thought I was going to die, crash and endo at every turn - loved every second of it... Was completely and utterly hooked after that. Shortly after I met Charlie, Valerie and Andy and joined MORE. SInce I've ridden every corner of the DC Metro area (there's still a few I need to get to Scott...)

16 years later and I'm still at it and try to head out on the trails whenever time permits (which is far less now a days than it used to be) and enjoying every single turn of the cranks as much as i did the first time I ventured into the woods of the Reservoir, or the time when Darryl said, "just follow me" and shot down the rockiest gnarliest hill I'd ever seen in my life...

[drtnsnw]

That shop is SO not the same without Daryl... How did he fit those dreads under a helmet????

[bikerRob]

9/05/05 >> ...I had been riding road about 2 to 3 years and was finally getting my middle age butt into shape. The year was somewhere around 1994 I think. I had been reading all the bike mags and was completely taken by all the pictures of mountain biking. I decided that it was time for me to try this great new sport. The thing I still laugh about is that...I had no idea what mountain biking was really about. I remember thinking to myself that mountain biking was riding a MTB on trails through wooded areas that were completely groomed and devoid of obstacles... :D .. :rolleyes: ...Boy, was I green. I hadn't a clue.. :D I still remember the day I walked into the Performance store on Nickleson La. and walked out with my new M-404...completely rigid bike with the new shimano STX groupo..including the new Rapid-fire shifters. I couldn't wait to try it out so on my way home I decided to stop by Lake Needlewood park just to give it a spin. There were some dirt trails around the lake that I rode and then I decided to take it for a quick spin down the paved trail that heads toward Rockville, I was having a great ride. The bike was equiped with toe clips so I was using them to be able to spin a little better. I had yet to even experience clipless pedals...Anyway, I'm heading down the trail when I came to a spot where there was construction going on, so the trail was being re-routed through the woods. When I saw that I just said to myself, "All right! single track". So off I go. The trail came to a spot that lead to a series of Woop-de-dos. I looked and at the bottom of the hill was a small make-shift bridge built to get over a small ravine. Wow! I said, "Lets go". So I go flying down the hill and across the bridge...only what I didn't know was that the planks were layed Long ways...perpendicular with the trail...with a nice little space between the boards!!! :eek: :D (you know where this is going...) so anyway my front wheel hits one of those gaps and just slides right in.. :D Wham!!! This was one heck of an endo, not the worse I ever had but only because I landed on boards that had some flex....still...it hurt like hell. I must have layed there about 5 minutes or so composing myself then I limped my way back to the car. I had my bike no more than 30 minutes and got my first introduction into What real mountain biking was all about. My back hurt for the next week or so but it was raining a lot anyway. When the rain stopped I took my first ride at Patapsco Avalon area off of Landing road. I remember the trail being very, very wet but Hey, what did I know. :p So I go down the trail a short distance..I'm feeling great..I come up on a small log and decide to do my first Bunny Hop at speed. I jump the bike and clear the log (Yes!) when I land the wheels hit a patch of slick mud and I go into a slide about 10 ft. long that just rakes my legs still held in place by toe clips. Once again.. :D ...I pick myself up and make my way back to the car...trying to figure out what I did wrong! :rolleyes: ;)

[CRAIG2]

yep, similar memories - only my first rides were over at Patapsco (I was in community college at Howard Community College in Columbia), and my only bike was some POS Roadmaster 12 speed - the bottom bracket exploded on my second ride and sent ball bearings everywhere. This is about when I decided that hiking wasn't my thing. That was a heavy bike, too. I took it into the shop near college (Princeton Sports or something I think?) and found out that to replace the BB would be almost as much as replacing the bike. haaaaaaaaa!

So, I saved up a litte money, and ended up with a new, red Trek 830 not too long thereafter. What a difference. And so it began... And then at some point seven or eight years ago, I started to flounder in road biking. Think that was spawned by my profession as a bike messenger, and lack of means to get to a trailhead other than the C&O Canal. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know places like Wakefield existed for my first six or seven years in the DC area. I can't even remember how I found MORE, or who talked me into joining.

My biggest disappointment had to have been when my Fat Chance was stolen. It was black, and fast, with straight forks. It was steel. It looked mean. I loved it.

Craig

[martin]

My biggest disappointment had to have been when my Fat Chance was stolen. It was black, and fast, with straight forks. It was steel. It looked mean. I loved it.


That had to suck! My firs "real" bike was a FAT Chance Yo Eddy with a big 1" - Also bought it from Darryl at Spokes... I still have it - right now it's getting hacked and retorfitted with horizontal drop outs to become a dedicated single speed...

Keep the stories coming... Also, tell us how you found MORE...

[liltommy]

I copied this straight outta my blog.

I started MTBing in July of 04. Unlike most people I don't have anyone to blame it on. No friends or family do it. It started out as a form of exercise I could do outside that wouldn't add more damage to my already screwed up knee. A word of advise, if your over 200 lbs. DO NOT JOG OR RUN. I never thought those nightly runs would come back to haunt me.

I started out using a 13 year old 15 speed Schwinn hybrid that my wife bought me from ...(insert big name box store here) 13 years ago when we were young and childless. I used it at the time sparingly but never got hooked.

13 years later after the knee craps out, I dust it off and start taking it on short RRs in the evening not even thinking about MTBing. One evening I'm passing by a gated dirt road that's used to access powerlines. Ignoring the NO TRESPASSING signs (I make an excellent role model for children by the way) I throw the bike over the gate and venture in. The loose gravel road, the foot trails that ran off, the solitude, and not having to worry about cars running me over had me hooked.

It would have went no further than the power line roads but I decided that I should get a new bike where all 15 gears work. Did I mention that because of rust I only had 9 gears? Upon basic internet research I learned that 26" bikes came in different sizes (huh?) It made sense that I shouldn't be riding the same bike that someone who's 5-8 is riding on. But to get one of these sized bikes I would need to venture into a "real" bike shop and spend "a lot" of money. Two or maybe even three hundred dollars. (What are they crazy, I could get 3 bikes at Walmart for that).

So after a little more internet research I walk into the Bike Doctor (my LBS) with a planned budget of $300 before taxes. Right off I feel outta place. The place is full of skinny , healthy looking people. Some of them are even wearing those funny looking tight shorts (what a bunch of dweebs). Upon inspection of what was available for $300, I decide to hell with the budget, I like the way the $425.00 one looks (It was black and silver and had "manly" written all over it) and the name, Trek, sounded cooler than Giant.

So 3 days later I pick up the new bike and head to a local state forest (Cedarville) where you can ride your bike on the trails. The guys in the shop told me about this ("You mean they let you ride bikes around the forest?"). There I am in jean shorts, tank top, no helmet, no gloves, no water bottle, just me and the bike (did I mention it had 27 gears, I AM A MAN! UGH). I take off onto the path . The temperature drops 10 degrees (in July that's a good thing), there's no one around, and I'm ripping down this dirt path. LIFE DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER. (We'll it would have been nice to have some water.)

[martin]

Went ahead and added a poll to the thread...

Great story liltommy!

Keep'em coming...

[mtbmore]

I got a bike from a frequent travel program from Holiday Inn. A Raleigh MT Pointe low end heavy fully rigid mountain bike about 12 years ago. After about 2 years of riding the C&O and Mt Vernob trails, my neighbor got me into to riding in the woods behind our development and then 10 years ago or so I found out about MORE and went on my first MORE ride at Cedarville and the rest they say, "is history" . It has totally changed my life forever mostly to the good.

Scud

[saxman]

My first ride was a leftover '95 Mongoose Switchback, 18 speeds with the over-the bar thumb shifters. I bought it on impulse. At the time my sister was going through a messy divorce. After an emotional phone call from her, I found myself making plans on how I was going kill the soon-to-be ex. I realized "Man, you got to stop thinking like this...why don't you go out for a drive". That took me to the Schwinn in Wheaton, where I plunked down the plastic and brought the Mongoose home.

My first "real" ride was with a friend of mine at Seneca Creek State Park. By the end of the ride, I felt like I had gotten my butt completely kicked...yet I was so exhilerated that I wanted to do it again...and again...and again.

It wasn't long that I realized that the Mongoose was completely the wrong bike for serious trail riding. So, I began throwing new components onto the bike...a flat handlebar with bar-ends, fatter knobbies, Mavic rims, and the piece-de-resistance...a Rock Shox Quadra 21 fork. With all the mods it became a decent, if somewhat heavy, XC hardtail. It was especially forgiving on the newbie like myself.

My rides that first year were either at Seneca Creek State Park, Lake Needwood, my "local loop" near the Parklawn Group Picnic area in Rock Creek Park, or the hiker biker trail, and a few "epic" (or so they seemed) rides on Sugarloaf Mountain.

After three seasons, the Mongoose was clapped out. I cleaned it up and sold it to a co-worker to give to her son for $50.