How to Prep Your Body For A Mountain Bike Camping Trip Getaway?Being a husband, father, employee and business owner sometimes it’s tough to get in a ride or even a workout. It never fails, a few months out from or trips we hunker down and try to prepare so we can get the most out of the often-complex trails in the mountains.
So how do we prep ourselves for the Mountain bike and camping trip? The key is to get some actual rides in that mimic some tough inclines that you will experience in the mountains. Another aspect is to focus on improving some of the technical skills as well as core and cardio workout to help with the longer rides.
A good mix of rides and workouts will help ensure you are prepared for your next extended getaway. If you are getting away for three to four days, you are going to want to ensure your body can hold up to as much riding as possible in order to truly get every ounce of enjoyment out of the trip.
Find a trail that mimics the Mountains as much as possible
The guys and I live around Raleigh, North Carolina. There are a number of trails around our area that we can ride but when we are preparing for our trip to the mountains, well, not much mimics the elevation and terrain.
So how do we get prepared? One of the best ways we found is by combining a couple of trail systems that are pretty close to each other. These are Lake Crabtree and William B. Umstead State Park. Lake Crabtree is the section for honing your skills and working on your hand eye coordination in the turns and switchbacks. Umstead is the section for your cardio and working on attacking (or surviving the climbs).
Lake Crabtree
Lake Crabtree has a little bit of everything for a mountain bike. While it might not be the most difficult terrain it does have a lot of stuff to do. This park has beginner, intermediate and advanced trails. There is a pump track, skills and jump section as well to help work on preparing for the track.
These trails allow the rider to focus on skills or techniques they need to improve while also helping the rider to build confidence in their abilities. For example, to some people a rock garden can be pretty intimidating. Especially for the first time. Lake Crabtree has two of these sections within their trails. One is fairly steep with somewhat big gaps between the rocks whereas the other one is more tightly setup and curves several directions.
By being able to practice picking a line and where your body placement should be while attacking a rock garden at a park like Lake Crabtree, the better prepared you will be.
William B. Umstead Park
While Lake Crabtree has the true single-track sections, Umstead offers up something just as if not more valuable, elevation. Most of the east coast is fairly flat with limited options when it comes to trying to work on the endurance needed for some of the steeper sections of trails in the mountains. Umstead offers riders 13 miles worth of trails with sections that are pretty flat and other sections that make you wish you had an e-bike.
The trails consist of mostly crushed gravel with a couple of short paved sections and depending on which routes you take and how much rain we have recently had a water crossing. It is however a multi-use trail which means you will be sharing the trail with, hikers, runners, walkers, horses and dogs. This means you have to be mindful of everything going on around you in order to have a safe ride.
The stepper part of the trails allows you to work on your cardio as well as shifting points which will be crucial during the various elevations changes in the mountains. When you attack the steeper downhill sections of the trails you can work speed and aero by adjusting your body position on the bike. One thing to pay attention to on these sections of the trails is how your bike is reacting to the loose gravel, speed and body positioning. You don’t want to push it too hard here and take a spill that could lead to the canceling of your trip.
Crabstead
I am not sure which one actually coined this, but it sounds really cool. In our efforts of preparing we combine the two trails above for an approximate 2-hour ride that consists of the elevation of Umstead but also the outer most loop of Lake Crabtree. Combined this gives us 1440 ft of elevation change but still gives the rider the opportunity to focus on skills in the same ride.
The main problem is which section do you ride first. Unfortunately, I have only done it one way and will have to try it again going in the opposite order another day. While in the mountains, more often than not you are going to have to climb up the first portion of the trail (unless you can shuttle) to get to the fun downhill section of the ride and you may end up doing this several times. The problem is that it could leave the rider exhausted and then there wouldn’t be the energy to attack the obstacles or truly attack the single track.
Attacking these trail combos in the order of Umstead first and then Lake Crabtree gives you a more realistic feel to what you might find in the mountains. The only problem is we don’t know how much longer Lake Crabtree will be around as it is owned by the Airport and it appears that they have other plans in mind.
San Lee
San Lee recreation park in Sanford, North Carolina is another good trail to use as prep for the mountains as there are some pretty steep inclines as well as a wide variety of features you can attack, if you’re ready. This park has two distinct sections; San Lee Single Track and San Lee Gravity Park. There are approximately 10 miles of trails between the two sections.
The trails have some cool names that try to do their best to prepare you for what’s ahead. For example, the technical section called Bouldergeist has a ton of rock to work through as you try to navigate. The Guantlet is another section of the trail that consists of rock garden for you to navigate.
So, when it comes down to preparing for a ride in the mountains, the key is try to find something locally that will allow you to work on your skills and challenge yourself. If there is a way to combine some lengthy greenway with a single track with various technical sections then great. Better yet, if you can find something close to home that gives you both one trail, then try to make several loops so you can see how you handle the inclines after the body starts to fade.
Get the most out of your next trip to the gym
If you have been on trails before you know that a lot of the work comes from your legs. There are several non-machine leg exercises that are listed below but this section is going to focus on exercises that you might only be able to tackle at the gym. For example, good machine exercises include Leg Press, Elliptical or Exercise Bike.
When throwing your bike around the trails you are also using a lot of core for stabilizing you and your bike. Try and get a few minutes in on the elliptical, exercise bike, treadmill or stair stepper and then get to work on your abs. This can be tackled by trying the following exercises; planks, crunches, figure-4 bridge or dead bugs. They are pretty easy exercises and can be just about anywhere in your home
Can’t make it to the gym, try these workouts at home
If you can’t make it to a gym for a good machine work out there are several exercises that you can do at home. For a good leg workout, I recommend working on lunges, burpees, leg lifts, squats and single leg deadlifts. For a good core workout look no farther than the core exercises listed just above. The key here is just to build stability in your legs and core to help you attack the trail on your next ride.
Kettle Bells like these are a great addition to these exercises to help take you over the top. Just a little added weight to workouts done at home can take it over the edge and allow you to get more out of your workout at home.
Related Questions
Best nutrition for long bike rides. There are a lot of things to think about in regard to nutrition for your longer rides. One of the things that comes into play is what your body can handle. There are a variety of power bars, gels, chews and fresh fruit options for you. It is essential that you try these out while working out or just around your house in order to see what effect they have on your body. For more information on food for various ride lengths check out my other post Good lunch options for campers out on a mountain bike trail.
What are some stretching techniques pre and post ride? It’s always a good idea to stretch before and after a ride. This helps your body throughout the ride and also helps your keep your body from locking up after a hard ride. An easy one is the leg swing which is as simple as it sounds, and you can follow that up with the heel-toe walk. You can do a lunge, high knees, calf stretch into a tree or vehicle, and glute stretch.
Post ride stretches are made even more effective if you have a stretching aid to help relieve the aches after a tough ride. Another good option for post ride relief is a travel stick. I thought this was a gimmicky tool but after trying the one my father in-law had at his place I needed to grab one of these myself. It makes a world of difference post bike ride.
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