I wouldnt say I get bored of mountain biking, but doing the same routes can get a bit stale.
Which is why I sometimes ride with new people, try new places to ride, I recently spent the day at Hamsterley on my mates DH bike with some brilliant riders, – need to now get a Operator and go again
Then I enjoy some road riding with the local clubs and mates, a bit of cross always is fun and now and again go session some jumps at the local dirt jump track.

I’m an “old school” mountain bike rider from the canti brakes and Biopace chainring days. …..my riding was for years all about studying maps, planning routes, reading guide books and having an explore.

(OP, bear with me) ^ Same here, got a bit fed up of claggy, lo-tech local riding on a very capable bike about 6 years ago, did the whole roadie thing for a while, did some CX … bingo.

CX – bad brakes, rigid bikes, limited gears, lo-tech became challenging, I explored a wider area, mud was fun.. the whole thing was daft, and fun again.. see the link?

Now I ride a rigid ss 29er with alt bars (an overgrown CX bike in some ways) and love local riding more than ever. I don’t need to clean it after a ride. There’s no faff. It’s loads of fun, gets me back to ‘why I ride’ not ‘what I ride’. I’m a better rider these days too. I also detest driving for hours to ride – now there’s little need.

Try a simple CX bike, get muddy and lost with friends, go to a pub and fall off drunk on the way home in the dark with crap lights, if any. You just need to find fun in teh basics of MTBing, the rest is just sales BS and fashion. Ride for your own reasons. Stop, look around and feel alive just by being out alone on a nice morning. Wherever you live, there’s something worth exploring within a few miles.

In some ways, it really was better before we had hi-tech bikes.*

*unless you’re a downhiller

Stop, look around and feel alive just by being out alone on a nice morning

THIS is why I love road riding. I actually get all that stuff about “back to basics” and sort of did that for a year or 2. I had a fully rigid mountain bike that made the easy trails hard (and fun) again. I then stripped it down and used the parts to build a “hardcore hard tail”. Maybe that was my mistake.

OK in that case.. there’s no problem right? ) As long as you’re riding something and enjoying it, it’s all just bikes.

Not bored at all. Loving it.

Don’t overthink it – do some other stuff in between bikes – that helps.

The seriousness and pomposity in the magazines makes it exhausting trying to keep up….if you believe what the magazines bang on about then you NEED a 140mm full-susser for Swinley….and if you’re going to venture close to a Welsh trail centre then you ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE 160mm of travel at each end….plus dropper seat post….Alpinestars baggies….20 litre rucksack/hydration pack etc etc…..takes the fun out of it a bit dont you think?….its probably the main reason i still ride a hardtail, in my own little way i like to think of it as metaphorically giving ‘the finger’ to the industry and the turds in the magazines who would have their readers swap bikes every year and swallow the BS churned out by the industry.

I got back into mountain biking because its relaxing….shorts, T-shirt (maybe a jacket) and the bike….simple fun that reminds me of being a kid again….the perfect antidote to modern life….unfortunately some parts of the industry do their best to kill this fun and introduce the rat race of consumerism into what should be a fairly cheap hobby when you think about it….instead the conditioning via the web, the magazines etc is that a bike isnt worth having unless it costs upwards of 2k….that shorts for £5 from Sports Direct are somehow inferior to shorts from Endura for £50….and that everybody should live to ride the downhills like Gee Atherton….i can fully understand why the OP feels bored with the sport and i’ve only been back a short while.

Part of the reason i havent ridden my motorbike so much this year is that i got bored of ‘kitting up’ to go for a ride….once i’d taken the cover of the bike, put leathers on, gloves, boots, helmet etc 20mins might have passed and the desire to ride had vanished in the chore that was the preparation….when i see local riders out in their full storm-trooper gear i fear the same thing would happen to me with mountain biking if i went down that route….so i dont bother.

Take it back to basics, buy a simple bike and ride it everywhere….just change the tyres for whether you’re road riding or off-road riding and dont believe the pish printed in the magazines.

Enjoy!

Basically ^^^ What deviant says.

stilltortoise – Member
Thanks for the suggestions, but something I should add. I’m an “old school” mountain bike rider from the canti brakes and Biopace chainring days. Much as I (used to) love trail centres, my riding was for years all about studying maps, planning routes, reading guide books and having an explore. I’ve spent a lot of time hunched over the local OS map looking for inspiration and have come up with a number of local routes that take in bridleways, sneaky paths through woods, towpaths, back lanes etc. They just don’t do much for me any more.

Maybe I should rebuild my fully rigid

No don’t do that, just ring up the smiley dude at UK Bike Skills spend a day of your life there then buy yourself a new bike like mine and dig some things to jump over.. I’m so enthusiastic I’m trying to get my local council to put one of those pump track things in, you’re only still a kid your entire life after all..
Why would you want to go on the road an hyperventilate on all that carbon monoxide? Wasn’t that why we bought ATB’s in the first place, roadies are just as stupid now as they were back then, all that car dodging and budgie smuggling whilst destroying brain cells, no wonder they have to group together it’s lemming mentality, they’re all chucking themselves over Carbon Monoxide cliff, we’re out enjoying the view..

I wish i had the chance to ride enough to get bored of it, currently down to once every ten(ish) days.

I love it when i am out there but due to being ultra skint i have to work a lot of evenings and weekends which means no riding.

I cant commute on a bike either otherwise i would do that.

I stopped buying mags a while ago as all they are ‘new stuff’ buy buy buy and basically a lazy informercial.

I’d prefer more of a mix of health magazine, industry stories, photography linked to riding and kit for these alongwith tips/how to learn/shoot etc.

You can’t stay 100% on anything 100% of the time. Plus focusing and worrying about your fitness levels just takes away the fun element.

In an attempt to restore balance…
Last year I rode my roadbike a fair bit. This year it’s been out twice.

For me, there’s nothing on the darkside that gets me like those feelings of trepidation as you roll up to a tricky obstacle, followed by the exhileration of getting it right (or of getting it wrong and getting away with it!) 😀

Why would you want to go on the road an hyperventilate on all that carbon monoxide?

I’m lucky enough that I barely see a car on a typical road ride. I have no end of quiet lanes near where I live and can ride for miles and see fewer cars than are parked on my drive.

As for pump tracks and jumps, I must confess I did enjoy playing on the pump track at the Singletrack Weekender. The first time I got round without a pedal stroke was VERY satisfying…then I did 3 laps without a pedal stroke. The downhill was ace too. Maybe I was just ready for a different type of riding and need to leave the XC stuff for a while.

I’m a bit fed up of medium mileage rides because I do the same routes and my main riding mate is less than reliable so I’ve got myself a DH rig and am meeting a new bunch to spice it up a bit, so far so good!

I have been favoring my road bike because a number of my friends have got into road bikes so we have been going out as a group, got fedup of mountain bike with another local mtb forum so left my mtb well alone, working down near CYB on Saturday so planing on taking my mountain bike to see how it feels after a summer off. It is a faff and having a new car with no roof bars has also put me off putting the bike in the back so a combination of excuses not ro go mountain biking.

im getting shut of mine for a smaller cheaper bike just because i dont ride anywhere near as much as i should or could, i still enjoy it when im out just not quite as much as i used to.

Just had a shoulder Op and can’t off road again until end of March next year, apparently. Can’t think of a better incentive to get out mountain biking again if I survive the withdrawal symptoms. Motivation required? – J F D I – and be pleased, even grateful that you can, and stop winging.

love both, mtb historically but got road bike last year and so easy to go out front door for 60 mile ride and be back indoors quicker then driving an hour each way for 20 mile ride so sometimes a no brainer if time is short. road cycling maximises hours in day for mileage but mtb more out and out fun

you dont like mountain biking anymore – dont do it – dont whine about it.
I love it and riding more than ever

Hell no! It’s the best thing in the world

stilltortoise – Member
You could be on to something there lunge. I live in spitting distance of the Peak District but there isn’t any real quality mountain biking from my doorstep.

you poor bastard, sitting in my North London flat my heart bleeds for you. 😡

Oi flatboy plenty of cheeky urban stuffs though innit? 😉

New type pootle coming up soon. You can come, as long as you behave.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/right-then-by-popular-demand-winter-festival-london-pootle-and-drinks

Biking at the wkend is a huge antidote to the cr@p that life is throwing at me! I am itching to ride a bit further afield – the local riding spots are a great – but I want moooore. Must be patient.

haha, that’s very true. definitely up for that, think there’ve been a few i haven’t made. count me in!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zDQsiG8Pfk

Danny Hart : Every ride has a story.