Bitten by the bug again at the worst time

Hiya,
I used to nosey on here and Singletraction a few years ago when I was getting into mountainbiking.
For various reasons I sold my Commencal HT in 2008 or 9 and have moved to a collection of commuter/audax, a fixed gear langster and a singlespeed On-one pompetamine and given up serious trail riding.
It’s a shame because I used to love helping out on dig days and sessioning Stainburn and going out to Dalby Forest.

Anyway, I’ve got a massive urge to get serious about mountain biking again but the timing couldn’t be worse – my wife is 39 weeks pregnant!
And the most ironic thing is the reason why I’ve caught the bug just now is because a new friend is massively into mountain biking and we met at the antenatal classes!
We went to the trail centre and I borrowed his Vitus Sommet and all of a sudden I am trawling Singletrack and bikeradar!

I know I’ll have little spare time but I reckon it should be possible to go for a ride every few weeks, esp if it involves spending time with another new dad while the new mums catch up. And this guy already has kids and it hasn’t stopped him as far as I can tell!

I know I’m asking a biased audience but am I wasting my money getting a (serious) bike now that I hope to take to trail centres and the outdoors beyond?
I was thinking about £1000-1500 for a really good HT or a used FS.
I always liked the technical stuff, you had to at Stainburn, even though I have to admit being unable to manual or wheelie very well. And I’ve never been that quick or confident on bigger terrain or larger drops and jumps.

My £500 HT did my fine back then but I used to approach drops with caution and roll jumps… but just a couple of hours on a big vitus Sommet gave me confidence on the trails the other week even after a few years.

So while I could throw less money away with my limited free time and get a good HT, I am tempted to look at an FS which will let me make to most of my free time and just enjoy it rather than have to “skill up” as it were.

Any tips from other dads?
Any bikes I should not overlook?
26/27.5/29?
suspension travel? dropper post, yes please. 1 chainring, why not.

It’s all new to me (again).
I had a low end suntour xcr 120mm fork and 26″ wheels and liked the twisty technical trails but also being out for a good loop in the countryside. Now I’m thinking I’d like bigger countryside and more fun at the trail centre (if I can learn to ride the features better/faster).

Cheers

I know I’ll have little spare time but I reckon it should be possible to go for a ride every few weeks, esp if it involves spending time with another new dad while the new mums catch up. And this guy already has kids and it hasn’t stopped him as far as I can tell!

d’ya reckon? Think you might be in for a shock, children are time thieves 🙂

possible to go for a ride every few weeks

See if you can hire a bike when you need one?

I have 2 now, never had to stop riding altogether but a couple of hours on a local loop is a lot easier to fit in than a day away at a trail centre.

You can fit it in, just zero faffing is now essential – no pre ride tweaking, this happens if I have a spare hour in the evening.

Enjoy it while you can, I found opportunities for riding pretty good with one sleepy baby (assuming you get one that sleeps, that’s not guaranteed). When you have two there’s almost always one awake and when you have three…..fortunately I have an understanding wife, not all my friends are so lucky!

Get a hardtail, ideally single speed and rigid forks. Less faff / breakage = more ride on the limited time budget. Might be a bit painful if you’re riding with someone, but it’s enough to keep you sane. ish.

You’ll have more time than you expect, I bet.

Secondhand bike a good bet if you’re not 100% sure though, to minimise potential loss

Having kids is always a good excuse for giving up on everything. I even read a comment on here from one father who said he had no time to read! (Seriously, no time to poo? 😀 )

When my first child was born, I made a point of carrying on riding for several reasons. Sanity – I need a break from families and kids and a few hours a week isn’t hard to arrange. Also, I wanted my kids to grow up thinking that being active is normal. Doesn’t matter which activity, biking, surfing, kayaking, walking, whatever. I want them growing up thinking it’s not the norm to slob in front of the TV all of the time.

Newborn children obviously have very irregular working hours, but that will often work to your advantage. Up at 3am feeding it? Get on the bike and ride until dawn, if you can. You’re going to feel knackered forever anyway.

Get the bike – it’ll give you something to think and read about during the midnight feeding hours, at the very least. 😉

Meh – I did a bike race on the due date of one and a week after another was born. They only steal time if you give up on life.

^^^ what I was trying to say, put far more succinctly!

Sounds like a great idea but a lot depends on your Mrs and what ‘type’ of kid you have (sleeper, easy, demanding etc). You need to do something for yourself though, maybe give up something else to make time to ride.

This thread might be useful:
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/new-dad-mtb-tips

IdleJon – Member
When my first child was born, I made a point of carrying on riding for several reasons. Sanity – I need a break from families and kids and a few hours a week isn’t hard to arrange. Also, I wanted my kids to grow up thinking that being active is normal. Doesn’t matter which activity, biking, surfing, kayaking, walking, whatever. I want them growing up thinking it’s not the norm to slob in front of the TV all of the time.

Ironic username…

I would ecco the simple bike suggestion, a HT will be fine but value reliability over anything else. Something you can just grab ride and if needs be leave dirty if it comes to it.
Riding wise, when my wee one was born I still managed to commute by bike three days a week and sometimes a ride or run at the weekend. BUT after about 4 months of almost no sleep, (walking around the park at 3 in the morning is no fun in December) I just ended up ill all the time, some quite nasty illnesses through pure exhaustion. Now he’s two things are…no better! Still not sleeping but I have adjusted to it a bit and now focused more on short events/rides rather than marathon events which used to be my speciality.
Think just keep getting out now and then, having a good time and am escape from baby as a goal and you will be fine.
Hopefully you won’t have such a sleep resistant rat boy as my son…I do love him really!

They only steal time if you give up on life.

You really don’t think you have less time than you had when you didn’t have children?

I didn’t give up on life I just put the really important things first.

Ironic username…

Precisely where it came from. I was working full time, doing the normal family stuff, trying to ride/run as much as I could and wondering why I was always rushing around like a blue-arsed fly. And I picked up a copy of Jerome K Jerome’s Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. This place was hacked iirc and I needed a new username….

Thankfully I’m a little less busy these days, despite having 3 kids and doing far more riding than back then. Not sure whether I’m really idle or just organised. 😆

In a way you don’t have less time for the important things, you just learn to be more efficient with what you have.

My Wife knew that biking was my sanity preserver and was very accommodating. I just made absolutely sure that the arrangement was reciprocal.

With kids, most things are still doable with planning and some give and take with an understanding OH. We found it was just the spontenaiety [sp??] that took a hit.

Im a new dad aswell 7 months in now so somewhat a veteran

My other half exorcises me as much as possible as it just works better that way in the house – riding time has gone up but traveling time has gone down as i don’t drive to ride anymore found some good local rides which are great for my fitness and in turn have improved my Gnarr days out as well .

Get what you can afford and the 2nd hand market for 26″ bikes is so poor you can pick up some amazing bargains Including “Shameless Plug” my Medium Turner 5 spot on here ! – Dont think its what you are looking for mind

good luck and happy trails !

Another tip – you’ll probably have a few weeks where you need to be “on call” close to or in the house. You might get allowed out for a little spin here and there if she isn’t too tired. Be ready to take advantage of these opportunities, but also bear in mind you may have plenty of time staring at the internet “on call” to choose a bike in the first couple of weeks…

I bought something cheap and second hand when no.2 was born and I was on paternity leave.

My little one is nearly two, and I get out for half a day 3 weeks out of 4 on average and have done for quite a while. Yes, I have an awesome wife and she gets to do/go where she wants. I don’t go to the pub etc and my gym is at home so my half day is my half day!

You really don’t think you have less time than you had when you didn’t have children?

There’s exactly the same amount of hours in the day. It just depends what you choose to fill them with I filled mine with taking kids out in bike trailers and not watching TV.

Thanks people.
I really appreciate all your views on this. And I hope my lovely wife and I can team up to allow each other time to do more than just change nappies.

Just with my colleagues there is a range of views from “they will take all of your time and more” to “fit them into your life and try to still be a person, not just a parent”.

I guess we’d all aspire to have time to do the things we love even if they get shunted down the list when we become parents.

Some people are just better at getting up in a morning, being efficient and making the most of spare time.
I have to admit I’m terrible for procrastinating and I’m not a morning person so wish me luck making the most of spare hours and siezing the day when I’m knackered and looking after a little one. Probably having a baby will force me to change to a more go go go type person.
I can but strive to be like you IdleJon!

Reading what you’ve said, I figure the best chance I have of taking up mountain biking again is if I get a bike I can pick up quickly and ride for an hour locally. So probably a nice hardtail as getting enjoyment (and the most) from a full suss would need a half or full day.
Problem is, there are only muddy paths and bridleways from my door in west Manchester. My Pompetamine would be perfectly able to get me off road but I might change the tyres and throw some gears on it.
There is Clayton Vale I guess which is only 20 mins drive away if I wanted some more adrenalin and an excuse to get a new bike.

Road bike rides are most likely I guess due to the ease of getting going at a moments notice from the door. I commute by dawes audax so I already have that but it’s no fun really and I really want to get muddy again!!

For the least tame local tracks to my house, local trail centres and eventually more countryside riding, would you say a grand’s worth of HT with 27.5, a decent fork, a 1×10 or 11 drivechain and a dropper post is about right? Or overkill, or a silly investment given I have 3 bikes that will no doubt offer me more riding than a new dad will be able to manage?
I’m thinking Parkwood, Commencal Meta HT AM and the like?

In the meantime I will cross my fingers for an easy baby, use the “downtime” to search bikes, and research what gears I can put on my singlespeed. Maybe look to getting a trailer or cargo bike so bub can come out to play too in a years’ time. My other half is a keen cyclist too which helps all of this.

but the timing couldn’t be worse – my wife is 39 weeks pregnant!

Excellent timing. You could tell your wife that you too have some exciting news because soon you will both have new hobbies*.

*don’t actually do this.

I can but strive to be like you IdleJon!

😆

I’m sitting in a room which was re-plastered this time last year. Still not decorated. (Hey, different priorities! 😉 )

Wouldn’t bother mate.

Have had 3 local 1 hour rides in the 8 weeks OJT has been with us. Have a look for the dad mtb thread I started about 2 months ago.

Basically the sceptics are right. After first sixth months apparently it gets better.

This’ll do you nicely (sorry for the plug!)

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/mondraker-foxy-2013-large-reverb-renthal-slx-brakes-ect-immaculate

It doesn’t take two people to look after kids. Partner looks after kids for a few hours, you go out cycling. You look after kids for a few hours partner does whatever they want.

It’s not like you being with them for ever spare minute is required or actually going to make any difference to them.

It doesn’t take two people to look after kids. Partner looks after kids for a few hours, you go out cycling. You look after kids for a few hours partner does whatever they want.

It’s not like you being with them for ever spare minute is required or actually going to make any difference to them.

this + a million

plus newborn babies sleep A LOT, their always asleep, what you going to do then? sit twiddling your thumbs waiting for them to wake up

This is just a thought, from someone who occasionally gets these sorts of itches. Could it be that you’re a bit scared of a massive change around the corner and the possibility of not having a life that you’re throwing your attention in a different direction to displace the anxiety?

I was desperate to get a trials (motor)bike in the months before we got married. I’ve had a lot of fun on it, but a lot more occasionally than my urge at the time suggested. Looking back, I’m sure I was trying to do something that wasn’t “settling down”.

Pompetamine with knobblies and gears or a smaller chainring sounds perfect for blasts from the house. Also has the advantage of not being a(nother) precious new thing that will take more babying and cleaning. sling it in the shed muddy…

Meh – I did a bike race on the due date of one and a week after another was born. They only steal time if you give up on life spend any time with them.

OP, for less than £1,000 you can get a second hand but very new (and highly developed) last of the 26″ trail bikes. Oh, and congratulations!

plus newborn babies sleep A LOT,

Congratulations on getting a sleeper. Points off for sensetivity though. You missed ‘some’ from the start of that post.

It might not take 2 directly but sometimes the other partner needs support. Especially if the baby doesn’t sleep at night.

Afterthought: It’s not the worst time at all. That’ll be when the second arrives and you’re looking after the first.

Congrats on your impending little one! Ours is 6 weeks old now – been getting out for a couple of hours per week on the bike.

Potentially I could go out more, but I’d much rather spend time with him. He is only a baby once, whereas I have the rest of my life to go cycling. I think some people place far too much importance on their hobby…

Congratulations on getting a sleeper. Points off for sensetivity though. You missed ‘some’ from the start of that post.

Most babies sleep a lot. They also wake up a lot. The average newborn sleeps for 16 hours a day, apparently, and that’s my own experience with my kids. Of course one of them used to wake every fours hours or so and feed for over an hour, then take an age to be burped. That meant just over two hours between wake-ups for myself or my wife. She’s 12 now and still doesn’t sleep much – takes after me. We described her as demanding at the time but really she was just a normal baby and we were inexperienced and over-anxious parents.

I think some people place far too much importance on their hobby…

That’s unfair. Nobody is saying that they spend all of their time avoiding their kids. (That comes later. 😉 ) The main message seems to be that it’s not difficult to get a balance, which you seem to have achieved.

Congratulations on getting a sleeper. Points off for sensetivity though. You missed ‘some’ from the start of that post.

I’ve had 4, and were 4/4 for sleeping a lot, especially in the first few months

think some people place far too much importance on their hobby…

i think some people don’t place enough importance on their hobby(ies) and just let life swallow them up

Ours is 6 weeks old now – been getting out for a couple of hours per week on the bike.

Potentially I could go out more, but I’d much rather spend time with him.

thats cute, they do naff all though really for ages, then it gets fun of course, and a lot more rewarding