Mountain Bike

[MTLongdraw]

My wife just bought me a mountain bike for father's day. She isn't the best at keeping secrets so I got it a week early. She really outdid herself because the last bike I had was about 8th grade and it was a Wal Mart special. Does anybody else mountain bike? More importantly does anybody else use a bike to hunt or scout elk? My first ride was about 15 miles . My buddy who took me and goes all the time said it was the steepest ride he has ever done. I guess you don't know if its hard if you have never done it before Anyways think I found a new hobby and a great workout. Plan on using it a lot of old closed logging roads to do some scouting, or at least get in closer to areas.

[Moose Man]

Glad you like it! It's a great way to get around. I've mountainbiked way more than I've hunted and still do, just this evening I used the bike as I was setting up trail cameras. Hiked it in (too steep to pedal) and hid it, then walked around and set up a couple cameras. pretty nice to roll back down. Packed out a mulie on it last year, same thing, hiked it out, rolled down.

Anyway, as said, great way to cover terrain and scout, not a bad workout either. Just make sure to pack a tube and pump with you!

Have fun and if you ever need any Mtb advise, feel free to reach out!

[>>>---WW---->]

You need to talk to Greg Eastman over on Sagecreek Forums. He used to hunt with a bike. I don't know if he still does it, but, I'll bet he would have some great ideas for you.

[MTLongdraw]

Can't remember who it was, but didn't somebody have some trailers they were selling for bikes on here last summer?

[Z Barebow]

Can't remember who it was, but didn't somebody have some trailers they were selling for bikes on here last summer?

I have a mtn bike and here is a trailer I have been looking at. It is the best I can find. I have done plenty of research into this subject.

One of the recommendations I have taken to heart is don't buy a trailer with 2 wheels. You will want to keep the load low to the ground. (One of the reasons I have leaned away from bike panniers) I could bungie my bow/pack on the trailer and not have too many worries about wrecking my gear.

I likely won't buy the trailer before this season as I likely can't use it it where I am going. But I have a spot in WYO that has bike and this trailer written all over it!

http://www.bobgear.com/bike-trailers/ibex

[Harmy]

I have been mountain biking since the early 1980's. I think I am on my 7th or 8th bike and currently own 2 (one full suspension and one hard tail 29er). I used to race in the mid 90's but realized it hurt too much and I could never finish better than mid pack. After suffering for a couple of years I decided it was much more fun to just go riding. As for hunting, I have used my bike to run around on dirt roads but this does not really help much for my areas as the roads are all open to vehicles. But it is nice to be able to log miles in a quiet manner early in the morning. If my area had more closed roads I would deffinitely increase my use of the bike though.

[one_elk]

My biking experience pretty much matches “Harmy’s” been mountain biking a long time, been through a number of bikes it’s a great deal fun but I haven’t used my bike to much for hunting some but not a lot, you can sure cover a lot of area quickly though…have fun with your new bike….

[cnelk]

I had the mtn bike urge to go scouting once.
Key word ONCE.

Years ago, me and a buddy went up and spent the weekend scouting. We were in an area that had several miles of closed logging roads
and we thought, Hey! Lets ride in there!
We jumped on the bikes and off we went. It wasnt too bad. Some uphill some downhill.
Then we came a long downhill part of the trail.
We started cooking right along, thinking HEY! This is cool! Making good time!

Then came a small gully in the trail where runoff rain had created a pretty good trench.
I happened to get in that trench.
It was a ride.
Then the trench went to the left.
So did the bike
I kept going straight.

OK not so cool.
We got back on the bikes and did some more scouting about 4-5 miles in.
The trail was mostly downhill on the way in, so that means UPHILL on the way out.

Doable...
Until the rains came.
It really rained, those soaking rains that come in late afternoons during the summer

The road then got muddy. Really muddy
So muddy, we couldnt ride out.
We pushed those damn bikes out to the truck and never took them again.

My motto is... 'The best walking is done on foot'

[lang]

Love doing it, its quiet quick and usually easier than on foot. Might want to check out hawkeye trailers. I think the born and raised outdoor guys use them. I'm too cheap and use a kids bike trailer which work fine for me. My biggest problem has been when someone with a motor flies by on roads closed to motors, really discouraging.

[pointysticks]

it is 90% of my workout. i have a 1999 full suspension mountain bike i am desperately trying to get replaced. new bikes are big money for me. i ride 6 days a week. (road bike on rest days, or really bad weather) so my frequency has my wife thinking about saying "yes" to the $4k bike i am eyeballing.

when we were younger we would ride Unit 34 in new mexico. cloudcroft. i found that elk were not as spooky towards us on mountain bikes as we were when walking. maybe our "upright" profiles meant DANGER, while our pedaling position meant less danger?

mountain biking may be my #1 hobby. sacrilege on this bbs..heheh.

[lang]

Pointysticks, just glad someone else is riding a 90's bike. I was just looking to upgrade and we had an engine go out, so that old bike better keep rolling for a while.

[pointysticks]

thanks..good luck with the engine!!

my bike is decent. i believe all the taking on/off of my cranks have left the square hole enlarged. my cranks squeek and creak like crazy! i just recently had all the suspension bushing replaced.

funny story: i was riding up that big hill. slowly grinding up. i came up on a group of much younger riders. high school maybe. they hopped on and rode up with me. they kept calling me "old man" ("we cant let this old man beat us up the hill")..they kept calling my bike "old school". ("check it out! his old school bike doesnt even have disc brakes") i beat half the group of young punks up the hill. near the top..i had just about enough. jokingly i said.."enough of the "old" comments. i bet i'm the only one up here that didnt have to have MOMMY buy me my bike". they stared at me, and started laughing..they high fived me and proceeded to blast me into the weeds on the downhill portion. i remember being insane like that..vaguely. now i just envision slow healing broken bones.

i miss being young. they were fearless ripping down that hill.

[lang]

That's awesome. My downhill and jumps have slowed too considerably since I started working in Radiology. Most of the bike stuff isn't too bad, but motorcycle wrecks can change the rest of your life in the blink of an eye.

[pointysticks]

but motorcycle wrecks can change the rest of your life in the blink of an eye.

yup..living this^^

broke tib/fib. compound.

doc took a look at me and said, "damn son! if you were a horse, i'd have to shoot you".

and we laughed..i still ache where he inserted (and later removed) the rod. i hate it!

[pointysticks]

well, yesterday's ride got me 9 stitches in my calf muscle. missed that big vein by a very little margin.

made a bet with my wife. i said i wouldnt need stitches, she said yes. if i win, we ate a gourmet burger for dinner..with a beer. she wins..sushi.

the sushi was great..hahah.


i was riding a steep uphill. i startled a pair of young spike bucks. this area is off limits to hunting so they were not scared of my harmless self. they trotted next to me..about 20 yards to my right. they skidded to a stop and so did i. they started eating, so i mock-stalked them to about 12 yards. i was feeling great about my great hunting skills, stalking essentially tame deer...hahah..

so i got on my bike, tried to start off in a tough gear..i then did the ultimate MTN bike sin..i stared at the area, i didnt want to go..the ravine to my left. over the handlebars like peter pan. caught my leg in the bike. i felt the slice.

i am so glad deer cannot laugh. i climbed out of the ravine, and the deer were right there!! just staring at me. 10 yards.

oh well, sore but perfectly fine. i was going to ride this morning again, but i cannot shower..and my leg is stiff anyways. dumb move.

dont hurt yourselves closer to elk season..hehe.