[thedrizzle87 offline]

hello everyone on the southeast! My name is Andrew but i go by Andy from the Springfield Va Area and this is my first forum related to mtb. I started last spring of 2011 with a couple of friends, it all started when i wanted to lose some weight from my 305 and dropped down to 220 from jogging and it just wasn't that exciting anymore to me i wanted some type of thrill while working out and having fun so my friends got me into mtb'ing. I started off with a so so bike from dicks sporting just to get a feel for the whole thing. Couple of months later i decided to upgrade once i confirmed this is for me. I was going to performance bike in Franconia to get some general info and one day on the Wakefield trail i was recommended to check out TheBikeLane. I purchased my first 29'er Gary Fisher Trek Wahoo. I'm very happy with my purchase and have continued to ride Wakefield and did fountain head once which i should of held off on sense i still consider myself pretty new still. Rite now i'm planning to ride the Laurel hill trail just to check it out. The sport is very fun but riding alone gets a little dull, groups is way much more fun i'm sure so hopefully meet some new friends and ride out.

trails ive been on so far:
-Wakefield (couple of times)
-Accotank (like 3 times just started)
-Fountainhead ( only once)

[mtbgreg1 offline]

Hey man, welcome aboard! It's a fantastic sport, and having people to ride with makes it that much better.

To find riding buddies, I'd suggest checking out your local bike shop and see if they have a weekly group ride (most do). Also, check out this blog post for more Ideas: http://www.singletracks.com/blog/beginn ... bike-with/

Again, welcome to Singletracks, we're glad to have you!

[fleetwood offline]

Welcome to Singletracks. It's good to have a crew to ride with. I have three guys that I ride with on a regular basis and a couple more that join from time to time. Even with all that it's hard to align schedules some times. Once you do ride with others regularly, a solo ride now and again can be fun. Keep at it, and have fun!

[jmitch offline]

I agree with Fleetwood. While it's nice to ride with others(especially when you have a flat with a tubeless tire and one of the others in your group is smart enough to carry a tube and co2), I really enjoy riding alone. It allows me to ride any trail I feel like plus I kinda like listening to my IPOD instead of "blabbing" with my friends!

[CraigCreekRider offline]

Welcome aboard. I like riding solo, but also like to ride with small groups too. Riding with others, especially faster riders will help you ride faster. You may want to try MORE for some local hookups.
http://more-mtb.org/

[jtorlando25 offline]

Hey drizzle, I work in Springfield and ride Laurel Hill several times a week after work. I ride Wakefield, Fountainhead, and Accotink occasionally. I mostly ride solo during the winter but usually have a few buddies riding with me during the warmer months. If you want to meet up some time, feel free to shoot me a pm.

I highly recommend Rosaryville State Park and Schaeffer Farm (closed until Spring) both up in Maryland, about 45 minutes from Springfield. They are both very fun places to ride and neither are too extreme.

[thedrizzle87 offline]

Sorry for responding all late just lots of school work i'm on. I really appreciate all the good feed back that i'm getting.jtorlando25 i will deff shoot you a pm and we'll set up a meet up time. Sad news i was riding the wakefield trail the other day and it felt like my rear tire went flat or something maybe because i hit that bump kinda hard but weird thing is there still air so i'm assuming its fine but when i'm riding and i look back to the rear tire and it looks like its riding flat and when i get off the tire feels firm. i think im also in need of a bottom bracket adjustment and it feels like my headset is making like a creeking noise. on that note any help would be great but im assuming that when i raised my bars maybe i didnt put enough force down when i locked it in place. shoot me a pm for any ideas.

[mtbgreg1 offline]

If it looks like you're riding flat, put a pump with a tire pressure gauge on it and check. Don't trust your hand...

If your headset is loose, tighten it: http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-hel ... ice#adjust