MTB, showing holes in my fitness!

Kitz

So I'm new to MTB, got my first bike last Monday, been on 3 rides so far. Fair to say it is showing holes in my fitness. As a allbeit novice roadie/triathlete I consider myself pretty fit, and wasn't too fazed by the thought of a couple of hours in the saddle, different bike, different terrain but should still be fine.

As it happens it's going to take a while to adjust/develop the kind of fitness required for MTB. On long flats and gradual inclines I'm fine. On explosive climbs and technical sections I blow really fast! I'm not your classic stick thin roadie by any means, and I'm fairly muscularly strong too. Spent a bit of time pushing it up steep hills so far! Will be glad when I don't have too!

It really is a different kind of fitness requirement. I've seen debates on "what gets you fitter" and honestly I think it's impossible to compare. One is a long steady output requirement, and the other is much more interval intensity based. Also recovery is an absolute requirement. I found at first on the road bike that if I stop for a while it's harder to get going. MTB is pretty much a constant cycle of high intensity followed by relative rest.

Fair to say I don't have enough to base it on just yet, and have only ridden a limited number of routes in one area, but it's a great learning curve so far!

Kitz

If anyone's got any advice on getting through this transition, or had the same experience themselves it would be great to hear your thoughts/advice.

kickaxe

I definitely had some pretty low fitness last November (not overweight or anything, but after not riding for about two months) due to injury, so getting back on the bike was tedious and I couldn't get up the easiest climbs. After about two weeks of two rides a week, I suddenly noticed an increase in fitness and everything worked. I didn't really have a training plan, I just kept going up the club my if I had started (each ride was about 30km with a total climb of around 500m).

So keep going, let us know how you are doing in a few weeks, and go outside on a regular basis.

Kitz

Kickaxe wrote:

I definitely had some pretty low fitness last November (not overweight or anything, but after not riding for about two months) due to injury, so getting back on the bike was tedious and I couldn't get up the easiest climbs. After about two weeks of two rides a week, I suddenly noticed an increase in fitness and everything worked. I didn't really have a training plan, I just kept going up the club my if I had started (each ride was about 30km with a total climb of around 500m).

So keep going, let us know how you are doing in a few weeks, and go outside on a regular basis.

Cheers, will do!

Definitely won't be following a specific plan, but I will be out a lot! I'm lucky to be self employed, working right under the long mynd, so 2/3 times a week for a couple of hours during the day is easy. One of the things that's putting me off tri is the regimented training plans that are required. I plan to ride as much as I can, and love every minute! I'm sure improvements will come, but they are secondary to having a great time out on the bike in some fantastic locations! Not dodging cars on the road trying to keep in a heart rate zone!

oxoman

Just keep riding, but remember to rest and eat / hydrate correctly. Last year I let my fitness drop a bit as I was only doing mtb riding and not so much on my road bike. Boy have I struggled to get the motivation and fitness back to pre 2015 levels even though I started running 5 & 10k events. I am slowly getting there and biggest help bas been using HIT technique on bike plus strava motivation against mates times. Good luck and
remember to rest properly.

kajjal

The long mynd is tough to start mountain biking on and will quickly improve your fitness and bike handling skills, minton batch is a great downhill. Road biking is controlled power and endurance but mountain biking is more like circuit training needing sudden bursts of power and strength to keep the bike under control.

Main thing is just enjoy every minute.

Kitz

Kajjal wrote:

The long mynd is tough to start mountain biking on and will quickly improve your fitness and bike handling skills, minton batch is a great downhill. Road biking is controlled power and endurance but mountain biking is more like circuit training needing sudden bursts of power and strength to keep the bike under control.

Main thing is just enjoy every minute.

Yeah the mynd seems a challenge! Great trails though. Not done Minton Batche yet. Gonna get the moderates down first then go for Minton and carding mill. I love the run down into little Stretton, trail 9. Done that a couple of times already.

kajjal

Kitz wrote:

Kajjal wrote:

The long mynd is tough to start mountain biking on and will quickly improve your fitness and bike handling skills, minton batch is a great downhill. Road biking is controlled power and endurance but mountain biking is more like circuit training needing sudden bursts of power and strength to keep the bike under control.

Main thing is just enjoy every minute.

Yeah the mynd seems a challenge! Great trails though. Not done Minton Batche yet. Gonna get the moderates down first then go for Minton and carding mill. I love the run down into little Stretton, trail 9. Done that a couple of times already.

I normally go to the top twice and chose Minton Batch plus another descent. After Minton batch the climb up through the forestry by the glider club gets you back on top easily enough.

Kitz

Kajjal wrote:

Kitz wrote:

Kajjal wrote:

The long mynd is tough to start mountain biking on and will quickly improve your fitness and bike handling skills, minton batch is a great downhill. Road biking is controlled power and endurance but mountain biking is more like circuit training needing sudden bursts of power and strength to keep the bike under control.

Main thing is just enjoy every minute.

Yeah the mynd seems a challenge! Great trails though. Not done Minton Batche yet. Gonna get the moderates down first then go for Minton and carding mill. I love the run down into little Stretton, trail 9. Done that a couple of times already.

I normally go to the top twice and chose Minton Batch plus another descent. After Minton batch the climb up through the forestry by the glider club gets you back on top easily enough.

Yeah I've been told about the way up through the forestry area. Haven't been to check it out yet. Got some ride time planned for next week so I'll check it out for sure!

chrisdouglas

If you're mad keen on getting your fitness up to it and what not (other than just hitting the trails as often and hard as possible) do some googling theres loads of places you can pick up training tips and strategies for improvement, but it gets easier the more you do it to me. But always be looking to challenge yourself too, most of my rides are red routes, some steep and tech sections but then when I hit Llandegla's black for the first time I was blowing after an hour of the black trails because they were a different degree to the stuff I'd done.

Kitz

chrisdouglas wrote:

If you're mad keen on getting your fitness up to it and what not (other than just hitting the trails as often and hard as possible) do some googling theres loads of places you can pick up training tips and strategies for improvement, but it gets easier the more you do it to me. But always be looking to challenge yourself too, most of my rides are red routes, some steep and tech sections but then when I hit Llandegla's black for the first time I was blowing after an hour of the black trails because they were a different degree to the stuff I'd done.

Thanks for the advice. Yeah my training is generally pretty good. Have done triathlon previously, making the switch to MTB. It's strange looking up at a climb and knowing that the same length/gradient would be a breeze on a roadie, but a bit of technical thrown in and I'm stopping to rest half way up!

Loads of bike time will do it.