By 303 Ambassador Erin Trail
I’m a relatively new mountain bike rider – I learned last season and discovered that while it’s REALLY hard, it’s also REALLY fun. I’m always looking for ways to improve, so when I saw the COMBA Beginner Mountain Bike event on Facebook, I JUMPED on the opportunity. As an added bonus, BikeSource was there with FREE demo bikes and a post-ride offering of Upslope beers and burgers. Did I mention that this was free and a COMBA membership isn’t required to participate?
This event is PERFECT for beginners (and even beginner-intermediates). And with the free demo bikes, it’s a FANTASTIC opportunity for those of you who are curious about mountain biking to try it without actually owning a bike.
The Details:
Must be at least 18 years old to participate; maximum of 24 riders per day (registration is required)
What should you bring?
• Your bike (or pedals – if you have them – if you demo a bike)
• Helmet (BikeSource did have a few loaner helmets for those who didn’t own any)
• Water
• Energy bars/gel
• Extra tube
• Pump
• Tire levers
• Gloves
• Basic bike tools
• Bike appropriate for off-road use in working order
The ride this month was at Bear Creek Lake. My husband and I both decided to participate in this event, since we have some mountain bike races coming up and it’s been a while since we’ve ridden. We met up with the group at the Conoco Station across from Bear Creek, about 45 minutes before the event. This gave us plenty of time to sign a waiver, introduce ourselves, and get a demo bike. I rode a Specialized Rhyme FSF Comp 6 Fattie (translation: full suspension aluminum mountain bike with 650+ wheels. The “+” means that the tires are 3” wide – so between a traditional mountain bike tire and a fat bike tire.) My husband tried a Specialized Stumpjumper FASR Comp Carbon 6Fattie. These were interesting to demo for 2 reasons. The bikes were a 1x (or 1 by) set up – meaning we only had one ring up front. And we’d never ridden a fattie bike. So being able to try something different (for free!) was really very cool. They also had a nice selection of more traditional hard tail and full suspension mountain bikes for those who wanted to try a more normal bike.
We had a really impressive and varied group for the ride. We had a ride leader – Joanna Helm, who is the COMBA Beginner Ride Coordinator, 2 ride “helpers”, and about 20 riders. The really cool thing about this event – and I’m still smiling about this – was the variety of people who showed up. It was mostly women (YAY) and a few guys; ages varied from women in their 20s to some more “experienced” women. And we had several people who had NEVER ridden a mountain bike before. Seeing the variety and knowing that there is a safe and supportive place for people to learn to love mountain biking makes my heart happy. Seriously, this is a special thing to experience.
The ride was definitely beginner friendly. There were a few challenging places; and at those places plenty of time and space were given to each rider to attempt a climb or a descent with the rest of the group cheering them on. Before each tricky spot, we were given some instruction on how to handle it. And each rider was encouraged to ride to their comfort zone and ability without judgment. We rode for about 10 miles (a little over an hour riding time, probably about 1:30 total time). We were very lucky with the weather – the rain held off until we were done riding. And at the end of the ride, we had a tasty little post-ride bbq, with burgers, hot dogs, home baked cookies, and beer. The rain (and hail) hit and we gathered under the pop-up tent, happy to share some dry space, still smiling from our bike riding adventures.
COMBA has monthly beginner MTB rides, and BikeSource has committed to providing demo bikes for each event.
• June 12 – Hidden Mesa: 10:00am – register HERE
• July 9 – Buffalo Creek – Colorado Trail: 9:00am
• August 7 – Flying J in Evergreen: 9:00am
• September 10 – Hidden Mesa: 4:00pm – evening BBQ
Also, COMBA offers monthly women’s rides, open to riders of all abilities:
• May 17 – North Table Mountain
• June 21 – Elk Meadow/Bergen Peak
• July 19 – Alderfer/Three Sisters
• August 16 – Golden Bike Park
• September 20 – North Table Mountain
A COMBA Membership is not required to participate in these events (and honestly, they didn’t even give us a sales pitch). Membership is very affordable ($35/individual, $50/family) and those membership fees go towards hosting the monthly beginner rides, the monthly women’s rides, trail building activities, and advocacy.
0 Comments