Newbie's first post: Question on ruts.

[twinsrule]

I recently went on my first few bike rides on the Maah Daah Hey Trail at medora, ND. I really liked it, except there were quite a few deep ruts. First of all, I'm not trying to complain here as i'm sure that there are much worse ruts in other places, and i understand that they should be expected on trails. My only complaint is that when i am in some of the deeper ones, my pedal hits and sends me flying or veering off course. Sometimes this even knocks off my chain (which should stop as soon as i take off a link (its too loose) Anyways, some of the obvious advice i've received already is: Keep your eyes where you want the bike to go. It works sometimes, but i still can't go perfectly straight yet. Another obvious one is get off to the side. That works too, but if i'm on a narrow trail with rocks around me, or on exposure, theres really no where else to go. I also try to just coast by some of these with out pedaling with my pedals up, but i can't do that uphill. Any suggestions on this problem would help a ton.

 

[Froze]

Stop riding on crappy trails! Other then that smart ashe advice, how wide are your tires? Wider tires have less of a tendency to follow ruts. Otherwise you need to do what you were told, watch where your going and stay out of ruts; you hit a rut the wrong way and your going to at the very least destroy a wheel, probably a fork, perhaps a frame and maybe get hurt on top of it all.

 

[GT Fanatic]

I recently went on my first few bike rides on the Maah Daah Hey Trail at medora, ND. I really liked it, except there were quite a few deep ruts. First of all, I'm not trying to complain here as i'm sure that there are much worse ruts in other places, and i understand that they should be expected on trails. My only complaint is that when i am in some of the deeper ones, my pedal hits and sends me flying or veering off course. Sometimes this even knocks off my chain (which should stop as soon as i take off a link (its too loose) Anyways, some of the obvious advice i've received already is: Keep your eyes where you want the bike to go. It works sometimes, but i still can't go perfectly straight yet. Another obvious one is get off to the side. That works too, but if i'm on a narrow trail with rocks around me, or on exposure, theres really no where else to go. I also try to just coast by some of these with out pedaling with my pedals up, but i can't do that uphill. Any suggestions on this problem would help a ton.

Rule #1- NEVER look where you DON'T want to go, because that is where you WILL end up.

Rule #2- Your pedal will ALWAYS hit something. You have to "time" your pedal strokes. There will always be a rock, log, or some other foreign object that you're going to get stuck on from time to time.

Rule #3- Yes, you will be stopped at least once by a rock that is no more than an inch or two high. Yes, it is demoralizing.

Look, nobody ever said mountain biking was easy. It's not. In fact, it's very challenging, not only from a physical aspect, but also from a mental one. If you are not mentally prepared to tackle a trail, you WILL fail.

Yesterday, I was all excited to get out on a trail, and 5 minutes into it, the trail just sucked. It was a trail I had previously ridden (once) and I expected it to be one way, and it was another. It was in a state park, so I'm not sure what happened, but the trail was all tamped-down stone, sort of like the same thing you find at construction sites. It was clear that a truck back there dumped it and smoothed it out, probably to prevent erosion. Instead, it was loose, there was no dirt, etc. The trip just took a downward spiral from there due to my anger and frustration.

I couldn't do anything right. I couldn't climb, I couldn't descent, NOTHING. Altogether, it was just a bad day, and I should've just turned around immediately and called it a day. It happens. You will have days like that where you get out on a trail and you just can't seem to do anything.

What types of trails are you riding where there are ruts? It sounds like a trail someone made in their backyard, then waited until it rained, then took their pickup truck back there and spun wheels to create the "path." It just doesn't sound like you rode a good trail at all...

 

[twinsrule]

I rode on the Maah Daah Hey Trail in the Badlands near Medora, ND. Other than the ruts, i thought the scenery was amazing. There was a lot of prairie riding, and some on switchbacks of buttes. I didn't even get a real good taste of the actual Maah Daah Hey, as i was mostly riding the Buffalo Gap trail which loops around a national park (no bikes allowed) I have to admit though, once i got onto the actual Maah Daah Hey, it seemed like a much better trail. On my way home, i picked up a paper that said mules were going out to fill in some of those "ruts", so maybe i just didn't get there soon enough!

 

[Froze]

Mules were going to go and fill in the ruts? With what? Mule dong?

 

[twinsrule]

Mules were going to go and fill in the ruts? With what? Mule dong?

Apparently carrying whatever they were going to fill the ruts with. Probably gravel.