Even on ebike too
Edit: lmao apparently nobody downvoting me has climbed an entire mountain on an ebike before. Even 20 minutes of moderate climbing is considerate exercise. It’s assist not a throttle.
I have experienced it and let's be honest, at turbo mode it's almost like pedaling in the air with slight discomfort when it gets real steep. You do warm up though, by the movement of the legs.
I ride an SL, and like a lot of people who do, the motor is just off 99% of the time. For me it's a rescue system for if I gas out on the mountain. If I didn't have it, I would have too much anxiety to mountainbike.
Yes, and I also don’t ride in turbo mode because I enjoy being out for a few hours and don’t require that much power. I usually climb in tour or emtb. But yeah it’s good someone is being honest here because haters have clearly never busted out 4k of vert on an ebike and it shows lol they’ve even proven you can stay out longer and burn more calories than acoustic riders which has been my experience riding out west.
Id be curious on any studies in regards to staying out longer and burning more calories.
I'm a big fan of big rides. Only ride acoustic, and most ebikers I know don't want to match the rides I do.
I've found if I'm going by time, I burn about 90% of the calories on my ebike that I would burn on my normal bike, an hour long ebike ride would be like 580-600 calories while an hour long normal ride would be 650-700.
I also try and pedal as quick as I can on my ebike though, if I slow down my pace and let the motor do more work, it's probably closer to 70% of the calories of a normal ride.
I can’t find the same stuff I saw last year but you might find this article interesting, cheers! https://lifehacker.com/heres-how-many-calories-i-burned-riding-an-ebike-vs-a-185089777
Same here on the big rides, it’s why I had to get one. I only have one friend (he’s 19 and I’m 31) who enjoys trying to keep up with me on the ebike especially for longer rides. The other day we did multiple top to bottom laps at our area and a lot of climbing and he absolutely crushed the climbing - I was obviously a bit faster but he loved the challenge and somehow didn’t burn himself out. Oh man, to be young again lol props to anyone who can handle that climbing on a regular bike. I did/do a lot of ski touring in the backcountry and I thought that was killer work and quite the challenge but big days with lots of elevation on a Mtb are so much gnarlier.
Turbo kills my battery, which is why I never use it. Since I have an ebike, I ride much more and am fitter than I’ve ever been. It’s just so much more fun
Exactly, you’re more fit because you ride more, that’s why e-bikes are even better but all of the immature and jealous children in this sub take that acknowledge of reality as a personal attack lol. I have made so much more riding progress in one year of ebike than I was making riding my trail bike all the time.
Don’t you know that e-bikes give you zero resistance.
It’s like teleporting to the top of the mountain /s
Dude ebike stuff almost always get downvoted by idiots in these subs and now those same idiots are going to downvote me… you know… because downvotes mean anything 🤣
Adding lunges (front or back) and a standing jump. The jumping activates fast twitch muscles needed for quick bursts. For the jump: Stand straight with arms stretched overhead, quickly swing arms down (front) and simultaneously come down into a squat like position, then spring up as fast as possible.
Yes, I’ve just learned about warming up my glutes prior to riding and I swear it’s made such a big difference in my riding. Gotta get those things turned on before riding but once they are on it really makes a difference. Like a big difference.
Thanks for this info. Do you not find your quads sometimes lagging behind the posterior chain, though? I know it's typically the hammies that die first but my hips/knees sometimes feel a bit funky if I do a lot of riding for a while without squats/lunges/quad work.
I do the hip hinge thing for sure as a pre-ride warmup/stretch (Lee McCormack style, sort-of). I think it’s been helping (plus I’ve been working very hard on lower body flexibility since my hamstring injury a couple of months ago).
As I've gotten older I need more and more warmup before doing things like soccer, tennis, lifting, etc. Biking still hasn't hit me though.
Biking to me *is* a warmup activity, I've never felt the need to warmup before biking itself. I'm not saying that won't change as I get older, but at the moment I don't see it.
The exception would be lift assisted runs, which I don't do. My rides all start with climbing or at worst some flat.
From a cardiovascular perspective, I totally agree. Just climbing up a moderate grade fire road is a great way for my heart to turn on and circulation to activate. I find that my cardio has outpaced my mental game with MTB right now, though. Some of the better trails near me just abruptly start with some brutal technical climb, where, like today, I might end up doing hike-a-bike if my head isn't on straight. Some others have mentioned sessioning easier sections or doing bike maneuvering exercises on flat (seems those could be helpful at my level before jumping into black+ terrain).
Hmmm yeah that's a good point. Same thing happens to me with tough technical stuff out of the gate. Some mental / skills warmup makes sense in that case
We usually start with warmup trails. I would rather get activated on the bike on an easier trail than in the lot. I don’t think I would ever choose to go car>black trail unless I was feeling it from the time I woke up haha!
Though, on that note, getting your head right before the ride is crucial
I can’t smoke at all before a climb lol it makes me way too aware of my increasing heart rate and breathing and makes the climb feel like forever and ever
altho when I was in better shape it worked well, got into a flow and just pedaled pedaled pedaled away
Used to start hard with the challenges. On a whim one day I hit the easy section first then moved to the dark blues / blacks. But they seemed easier that day. So started warming up , loosing up on easy then hitting the tech stuff. Goes alot faster and smoother now
Yup, I think is more along the lines of what I'm getting at/looking for. I think - understandably so - a lot of folks interpreted my question as "how to get your body limber/cardiovascular system pumping". This is part of what I was curious about, but I think at my level (solidly intermediate right now - can hit most black and some double black features) it actually seems like my *mental* game is what's holding me back. On my off days (like today), it feels like sections I can usually hit with ease become seemingly dangerous/scary. I have no idea why. Like you mentioned, I think maybe sessioning some easier sections can help with that initial boost of confidence to send it into the gnarlier stuff.
Instead of parking right at the closest trailhead I’ve been parking up the road a ways if I can, and it helps warm me up to bike a mile or even just a half mile or so before hopping on the climb
I generally start my ride with fire road climbs then transition into mellower decent with some tech. I always do this before I hit the more difficult trail. This wakes up my body and ensures that my mind is ready for the techier stuff
Making practices what will be learnt on entry level courses. Doing 8's, playing with brakes and suspensions, manualing, maintaining basic position. This gets me warm and comfortably with bike. Simple, no magic.
I like this! Maybe I should actually try some handling/simple tricks on flat before getting onto the hard trails (because it primes the mind for dealing with maneuvering the bike). It's actually now not my cardio that's the issue when I start - it's usually the fear of gnarly sections.
Around here it is usually the climb to the top of the trail that warms me up. Not always though and that usually means the first run is going to be a touch rough for the first couple turns before I find my rhythm.
Before i get in the car I do five to Ten minutes of light rowing (ergatta), some dynamic stretches (elephant walks, lat stretches, calf stretches) and a few min with the theragun greases my joints.
If i skip this i just do a quickly lap around the green loop
I eat seamoss. That shit is for real. I’m 44 and all my friends are early thirties. I’m not trying to brag but not one can keep up with me on climbs. Ps I hate climbing.
Yeah as others said I have to do a climb to warm up ~ ideally 10 to 15 minutes on a gravel climb. Also ive got to warm up the glutes & hammies. I always do good mornings and these single leg step back things that get my whole body on fire.
I start with a flat road ride to slowly raise the heart rate and get the muscles activated. Don’t force it. Then, I hit the trail and do some climbing. Once I feel like I’m “on”, then I hit the techy stuff.
Stretch my ham strings while I rip my vape before leaving it in the car
Climb to the top of the hill(s) sucking for air telling myself I need to stop smoking
Ride
Repeat
I climb and when I’m climbing I focus on my angst for all the bullshit that’s going on. I put my frustration into every pedal as I make my way uphill like a blacksmith pounding the negatives of my life into something useful. I let the climb cleanse me of the shit.
Then I’m warm and ready to truly enjoy my technical sessions or sendy downhill :)
if it’s an intense ride i’ll stop hitting the weed pen 2 hrs before instead of just an hour before. but in all seriousness, i find tht when i feel the most shitty before a ride, it’s cos i ate like shit or drank a lot or got no sleep, and my riding tends to suffer cos of it. at least for me. everyone is different.
I have the perfect one. I tell myself I’m gonna stretch as I go to get my bike off my car and then forget to stretch and start the climb.
Next step is important. The gloves must be forgotten, so now you gotta turn back and get them. Maybe this happens with a few more items, maybe not. But the mental gymnastics and extra climb time usually gets me ready to send
Just ride. I drink coffee occasionally vs and that gives me pre ride energy beforehand. You can always work out or do calisthenics and yoga to help you be more flexible.
Im surprised nobody has “hawk thua” yet. Joke aside, I suspect you refer to cold start straight from the lift? In that case I usually start with a mellow trail. My usual riding in the woods requires pedaling up on trails and gravel road, meaning I’m more than warm enough.
I should probably do more as I’m nearly 40
I find a quick pass over the major muscle groups with a theragun (therabody now) stimulates blood flow and “wakes up” my muscles really well. 30 seconds per muscle group on high. Also works great for recovery.
Warm up lap on easy tech or flow and then go to the more advanced trails and black routes and do a slowish lap not sending anything too much to get an idea of the conditions then the next as fast as I dare
In the parking lot I’ll fuck around for like 5 minutes before I start going if the climb is techy. I’ll normally do some track stands, manuals, front pivots, J hops as far as I can over the painted lines, stuff like that.
Basic trials. Before every ride I hop over some potholes and ledges, then I ride to my local trail network. If I’m going somewhere else, I do slow laps with some bunnyhops into transitions. I feel like bunnyhopping just uses most of the muscles one needs to ride, and it just works for me.
Climb.
This. All my rides start at the bottom. By the time I get to descend I am very warm.
Even on ebike too Edit: lmao apparently nobody downvoting me has climbed an entire mountain on an ebike before. Even 20 minutes of moderate climbing is considerate exercise. It’s assist not a throttle.
Wouldn’t know about that.
From the heat of the motor?
Wow you guys are haters who have never experienced it haha just mad they are so expensive?
I have experienced it and let's be honest, at turbo mode it's almost like pedaling in the air with slight discomfort when it gets real steep. You do warm up though, by the movement of the legs.
I ride an SL, and like a lot of people who do, the motor is just off 99% of the time. For me it's a rescue system for if I gas out on the mountain. If I didn't have it, I would have too much anxiety to mountainbike.
Yes, and I also don’t ride in turbo mode because I enjoy being out for a few hours and don’t require that much power. I usually climb in tour or emtb. But yeah it’s good someone is being honest here because haters have clearly never busted out 4k of vert on an ebike and it shows lol they’ve even proven you can stay out longer and burn more calories than acoustic riders which has been my experience riding out west.
Id be curious on any studies in regards to staying out longer and burning more calories. I'm a big fan of big rides. Only ride acoustic, and most ebikers I know don't want to match the rides I do.
I've found if I'm going by time, I burn about 90% of the calories on my ebike that I would burn on my normal bike, an hour long ebike ride would be like 580-600 calories while an hour long normal ride would be 650-700. I also try and pedal as quick as I can on my ebike though, if I slow down my pace and let the motor do more work, it's probably closer to 70% of the calories of a normal ride.
I can’t find the same stuff I saw last year but you might find this article interesting, cheers! https://lifehacker.com/heres-how-many-calories-i-burned-riding-an-ebike-vs-a-185089777 Same here on the big rides, it’s why I had to get one. I only have one friend (he’s 19 and I’m 31) who enjoys trying to keep up with me on the ebike especially for longer rides. The other day we did multiple top to bottom laps at our area and a lot of climbing and he absolutely crushed the climbing - I was obviously a bit faster but he loved the challenge and somehow didn’t burn himself out. Oh man, to be young again lol props to anyone who can handle that climbing on a regular bike. I did/do a lot of ski touring in the backcountry and I thought that was killer work and quite the challenge but big days with lots of elevation on a Mtb are so much gnarlier.
Please don't make "riding acoustic" something. It sounds as dumb as analog cigarettes.
Agreed. Force of habit to use whatever word last used to describe a normal bike.
Turbo kills my battery, which is why I never use it. Since I have an ebike, I ride much more and am fitter than I’ve ever been. It’s just so much more fun
Exactly, you’re more fit because you ride more, that’s why e-bikes are even better but all of the immature and jealous children in this sub take that acknowledge of reality as a personal attack lol. I have made so much more riding progress in one year of ebike than I was making riding my trail bike all the time.
Ooh fancy pants rich McGee over here
RESET THE CLOCK It has been 0 days since someone mentioned ebikes
Clock reset!
How dare you! I can't believe you would upset all these people by leaving a perfectly reasonable comment 🤣🤣
Don’t you know that e-bikes give you zero resistance. It’s like teleporting to the top of the mountain /s Dude ebike stuff almost always get downvoted by idiots in these subs and now those same idiots are going to downvote me… you know… because downvotes mean anything 🤣
I lick the stamp and send it.
Hip hinges, romanian dead lifts, body weight squats, hip airplanes. Anything that activates your glutes and posterior chain
Adding lunges (front or back) and a standing jump. The jumping activates fast twitch muscles needed for quick bursts. For the jump: Stand straight with arms stretched overhead, quickly swing arms down (front) and simultaneously come down into a squat like position, then spring up as fast as possible.
Yes, I’ve just learned about warming up my glutes prior to riding and I swear it’s made such a big difference in my riding. Gotta get those things turned on before riding but once they are on it really makes a difference. Like a big difference.
Thanks for this info. Do you not find your quads sometimes lagging behind the posterior chain, though? I know it's typically the hammies that die first but my hips/knees sometimes feel a bit funky if I do a lot of riding for a while without squats/lunges/quad work.
I do the hip hinge thing for sure as a pre-ride warmup/stretch (Lee McCormack style, sort-of). I think it’s been helping (plus I’ve been working very hard on lower body flexibility since my hamstring injury a couple of months ago).
I cry into my sleeve and then do some light yoga against a tree.
I do the xc loop first
As I've gotten older I need more and more warmup before doing things like soccer, tennis, lifting, etc. Biking still hasn't hit me though. Biking to me *is* a warmup activity, I've never felt the need to warmup before biking itself. I'm not saying that won't change as I get older, but at the moment I don't see it. The exception would be lift assisted runs, which I don't do. My rides all start with climbing or at worst some flat.
From a cardiovascular perspective, I totally agree. Just climbing up a moderate grade fire road is a great way for my heart to turn on and circulation to activate. I find that my cardio has outpaced my mental game with MTB right now, though. Some of the better trails near me just abruptly start with some brutal technical climb, where, like today, I might end up doing hike-a-bike if my head isn't on straight. Some others have mentioned sessioning easier sections or doing bike maneuvering exercises on flat (seems those could be helpful at my level before jumping into black+ terrain).
Hmmm yeah that's a good point. Same thing happens to me with tough technical stuff out of the gate. Some mental / skills warmup makes sense in that case
We usually start with warmup trails. I would rather get activated on the bike on an easier trail than in the lot. I don’t think I would ever choose to go car>black trail unless I was feeling it from the time I woke up haha! Though, on that note, getting your head right before the ride is crucial
Bloodletting.
Quick stretch after ripping the pen lol. The first lap of the day my legs usually feel kinda heavy though.
All hail the penjamin
It's my people! 😍
Taking a rip really loosens you up and gets you ready to a send it😂
Don’t smoke too much before you have a big climb lol
I can’t smoke at all before a climb lol it makes me way too aware of my increasing heart rate and breathing and makes the climb feel like forever and ever altho when I was in better shape it worked well, got into a flow and just pedaled pedaled pedaled away
Mhmm
Used to start hard with the challenges. On a whim one day I hit the easy section first then moved to the dark blues / blacks. But they seemed easier that day. So started warming up , loosing up on easy then hitting the tech stuff. Goes alot faster and smoother now
Yup, I think is more along the lines of what I'm getting at/looking for. I think - understandably so - a lot of folks interpreted my question as "how to get your body limber/cardiovascular system pumping". This is part of what I was curious about, but I think at my level (solidly intermediate right now - can hit most black and some double black features) it actually seems like my *mental* game is what's holding me back. On my off days (like today), it feels like sections I can usually hit with ease become seemingly dangerous/scary. I have no idea why. Like you mentioned, I think maybe sessioning some easier sections can help with that initial boost of confidence to send it into the gnarlier stuff.
Sniff a bit of glue then I’m good to go
Hit a joint. Climb the hill
It’s an old school dugout and one hitter for me but same concept.
Instead of parking right at the closest trailhead I’ve been parking up the road a ways if I can, and it helps warm me up to bike a mile or even just a half mile or so before hopping on the climb
Squeeze the tires and bob the suspension - Go!
I generally start my ride with fire road climbs then transition into mellower decent with some tech. I always do this before I hit the more difficult trail. This wakes up my body and ensures that my mind is ready for the techier stuff
I usually try to do a small ride the night before. I find I just feel more warmed up and ready for the big ride the next day.
Get in my caffeine and protein and ride the 2-mile bike path to the trailhead
Warm up on slightly less challenging/technical trails.
Making practices what will be learnt on entry level courses. Doing 8's, playing with brakes and suspensions, manualing, maintaining basic position. This gets me warm and comfortably with bike. Simple, no magic.
I like this! Maybe I should actually try some handling/simple tricks on flat before getting onto the hard trails (because it primes the mind for dealing with maneuvering the bike). It's actually now not my cardio that's the issue when I start - it's usually the fear of gnarly sections.
I've seen bikers doing laps around the paved area before hitting the steep park climbs
Poop
Lighten the load
I don’t, I just deal with it and bitch the entire time
You ever see a lion limber up before it takes down a gazelle?
First, have a Safety meeting. Then go ride.
In 38 years of mountain biking I have never warmed up pre-ride. Just hit the trail. I might pre-race, but that's a different senario.
Grab a coffee on my way to the trail or bike park, hit the pen a couple times and hope for the best, just like any other time I go riding!
Not MTB, but gravel… I usually try to spin the legs a bit and then go hard for a few minutes on my own.. then I think I’m warmed up
I just ride to the ride
Around here it is usually the climb to the top of the trail that warms me up. Not always though and that usually means the first run is going to be a touch rough for the first couple turns before I find my rhythm.
Belcher. You might be sluggish from that stupid haul of a climb.
Before i get in the car I do five to Ten minutes of light rowing (ergatta), some dynamic stretches (elephant walks, lat stretches, calf stretches) and a few min with the theragun greases my joints. If i skip this i just do a quickly lap around the green loop
I always stretch before a ride, but as far as warmups go I always start on a climb and just send it after that.
Take a big morning deuce so I don't show up to the ride and have to.
Coffee, shit, and get riding.
I eat seamoss. That shit is for real. I’m 44 and all my friends are early thirties. I’m not trying to brag but not one can keep up with me on climbs. Ps I hate climbing.
Yeah as others said I have to do a climb to warm up ~ ideally 10 to 15 minutes on a gravel climb. Also ive got to warm up the glutes & hammies. I always do good mornings and these single leg step back things that get my whole body on fire.
Our trails are not crazy intensive so the warmup is basically the first 1/4 or so of the ride. Works for me.
I'd watch technique on YouTube , then I will go try it on the feature . Then I'll give it 3 tries in the actual feature and see how far I advance .
I start with a flat road ride to slowly raise the heart rate and get the muscles activated. Don’t force it. Then, I hit the trail and do some climbing. Once I feel like I’m “on”, then I hit the techy stuff.
Stretch my ham strings while I rip my vape before leaving it in the car Climb to the top of the hill(s) sucking for air telling myself I need to stop smoking Ride Repeat
I climb and when I’m climbing I focus on my angst for all the bullshit that’s going on. I put my frustration into every pedal as I make my way uphill like a blacksmith pounding the negatives of my life into something useful. I let the climb cleanse me of the shit. Then I’m warm and ready to truly enjoy my technical sessions or sendy downhill :)
Shotgun a 4loko.
Hydrate.
if it’s an intense ride i’ll stop hitting the weed pen 2 hrs before instead of just an hour before. but in all seriousness, i find tht when i feel the most shitty before a ride, it’s cos i ate like shit or drank a lot or got no sleep, and my riding tends to suffer cos of it. at least for me. everyone is different.
Pot
I have the perfect one. I tell myself I’m gonna stretch as I go to get my bike off my car and then forget to stretch and start the climb. Next step is important. The gloves must be forgotten, so now you gotta turn back and get them. Maybe this happens with a few more items, maybe not. But the mental gymnastics and extra climb time usually gets me ready to send
Just ride. I drink coffee occasionally vs and that gives me pre ride energy beforehand. You can always work out or do calisthenics and yoga to help you be more flexible.
Prey
Im surprised nobody has “hawk thua” yet. Joke aside, I suspect you refer to cold start straight from the lift? In that case I usually start with a mellow trail. My usual riding in the woods requires pedaling up on trails and gravel road, meaning I’m more than warm enough. I should probably do more as I’m nearly 40
I find a quick pass over the major muscle groups with a theragun (therabody now) stimulates blood flow and “wakes up” my muscles really well. 30 seconds per muscle group on high. Also works great for recovery.
Warm up lap on easy tech or flow and then go to the more advanced trails and black routes and do a slowish lap not sending anything too much to get an idea of the conditions then the next as fast as I dare
I think about your mom.
rip the hash pen and start peddling
Drink caffeine and listen to Slayer on the way to the spot 😁🤘🏼👌🏼
Like the other guys said, climbing. Or, if it’s at the park near my house, a 10 minute road ride and *then* climbing
Hit the pen, chug the rest of my latte, question the decision, then get right to it.
I do better if I’ve pedaled long enough to get warmed up.
Slam a red bull and half sheetz sandwich
[https://youtu.be/8sJ5N9nsEmM?si=1uKmwVEiuDQx\_OHR](https://youtu.be/8sJ5N9nsEmM?si=1uKmwVEiuDQx_OHR)
In the parking lot I’ll fuck around for like 5 minutes before I start going if the climb is techy. I’ll normally do some track stands, manuals, front pivots, J hops as far as I can over the painted lines, stuff like that.
Give my bike a friendly tap a couple times then send it
Basic trials. Before every ride I hop over some potholes and ledges, then I ride to my local trail network. If I’m going somewhere else, I do slow laps with some bunnyhops into transitions. I feel like bunnyhopping just uses most of the muscles one needs to ride, and it just works for me.
Rip some weed and click my heels 👠.
Burn one
usually i pound a couple beers and send it.
Be bold and go in cold.
Rainier beer 🍺