been riding for almost 20 years, but the last year i just cant be bothered any more, for example i brought a new shock a few months ago, must have used bike once since.. had a big fall a year or so ago and its really put me off, anyone got any ideas of how to get going again??? x

Try a different type of cycling, cx, road?

touring will cure you. slow, steady, new places, cafe’s, beer. 8)

touring will cure you. slow, steady, new places, cafe’s, beer.

Sage advice. Tbh I’ve fallen out of love with MTBing, more down to not being arsed to drive to ride anymore. I’m sure I’ll get it back.

I just love riding around the city or canal towpaths. As long as I’m riding A bike.

touring will cure you

Cured me 😆

I hardly missed a week for 20 years, then spent 2 weeks touring last August. I’ve been dragged out three times since then. I’m finding it hard to convince myself I ever want to see a bike again. I’ve even started running!

Take some time off then. Leave the bike in the shed for a bit and don’t pressure yourself into riding if you don’t want to. Take the winter off and do something different. Then when summer comes, when the air is warm and the singletrack is dry and fast you may find you want to get out again.

mountain biking is an extreme sport, we all hurt ourselves from time to time but the buzz of sailing down a trail out weighs it for me. its our leisure time, do what makes you smile, we’re not here long enough to mess around eh

I have been doing a lot trail maintenance and creating new lines and trail features in my local woods.
some of the trails everyone rides, but there are a few cheeky obstacles I have created that I dont think anyone else rides, its like my own playground.
but the building and meeting new mates who are also digging has been an inspiration.
Plus my dry stone berm building skills have improved massively

running!

Burn him!

Also confirming other bikes can be fun! Having a blast thrashing the roadrat round town/canals 😀

Oh I often take winter off. Just commuting and very tame “field edge” rides see me through. That said, since my last proper ride, I’ve changed the drivetrain on one bike and bought another…

Its more about getting out into woods etc for me. Suburbia makes me stir-crazy.

Wait for those dusty summers rides again. Like Salad days 😀

If your confidence has been knocked because of the fall go book yourself on the best skills person in the area for a one to one session. Tell them your fears and about your crash beforehand and im sure you’ll come back with some new will to ride.

Where abouts are you?

You need a fat bike

Comletely lost will to ride a bike.

I think you need a P.. then i’m sure you’ll feel better.

Big Pete – Member

You need a fat bike

+1! 😀

MTFU?

Knitting?

Just as tinribz has suggested, try another form of cycling.

I felt exactly the same as you a few years back, so sold my mountain bikes, bought a nice road bike and have never been back on a mountain bike since (can’t say the same for this forum however!).
I found I had exactly the same enthusiasm for cycling as when I started mountain biking. It brought back the passion for me.

Worked for me, and a few others I now regularly ride with, people I probably would never have met had I just sold up and never touched a bike again.

It’s a hobby, not some life-or-death activity. Try something different, whether it be another type of cycling or knitting. You’re no worse a person just cos you stop doing something you no longer enjoy, which is frankly not that important in the grand scheme of things. It seems a lot of people who start these threads would be helped most by just getting over the guilt they seem to associate with not riding a bike.

Threads like this crop up regularly and you’re far from alone in experiencing this. As someone said above, don’t worry about it . Try something different; don’t worry about where you find your fun. You may or may not learn to love mountain biking again but so what?

I had a crash that took a lot of the fun out of mountain biking; it came back.

Take up snooker, it always rains outside anyway, it’s not for you dear.

Do you ride with other people?
That’s what drags me out on the ‘can’t be arsed’ days – the social aspect and the fact there’s always a ride going at the same time on a sunday/thursday – it just becomes routine.

I had a big crash just after losing my job. It robbed me of a bit of confidence for a while. Having a stressful job doesn’t help either as you can feel its a big thing/too much pressure/cant be arsed anymore.

Why not promise yourself a ride only when its good weather, on your own and take your time. I hate riding in wind and rain. I just wont do it. We work all week to what? Go and endure a day off work? No.

We should enjoy riding. As a 12yr old you wouldn’t have looked at the weather and said ‘oo lets ride in the pouring rain’. So why do it now?

Thats how you relove riding again. I’ve had big falls since – rotor cuff, knee (that magically healed itself), etc. I just jump back up and on. Its because that burning desire is there. It rained at the weekend so I sat in the sauna and ate butties. Burning with the desire to ride more when its not raining 😀

Don’t panic, it’s not a big deal, it’s only riding a bike. I’ve fallen out of love with mountain biking, the faff of getting the bike ready, riding slowly on the road to the trails or having to get the car out along with the endless stream of muddy kit mean I just have no interest at the moment. The MTB came out once over Christmas and it was horrible, it’s won’t move again until the summer I suspect.

I now pretty much exclusively ride my road bike, long rides, sportives, commuting, pretty much anything really. And you know what? I love it, I’m sure the love for MTB will return at some point but for the moment I’ll stick to the road thanks.

My sympathy – I managed 24 years before I grew tired of the scene. Finding a stolen-abandoned carbon road bike which the Police gave back to me was the best thing that happened; I discovered that road cycling has moved on a lot since my early days of steel farm gate frames, uncomfortable handlebars, huge gears and downtube shifters. It’s carbon frames, compact well-padded bars, STI shifting, easy compact gearing and comfortable saddles that have brought so many new cyclists into road riding.

I have also come round to thinking that road cycling might suit the older cyclist more than mountain biking; there’s a greater subtlety in road riding, a need for teamwork and tactics, you cover great distances with ease, you go faster, you stay clean and can ride whenever you like straight from your house and you get a hell of a lot fitter than you do mountain biking.

Give it a go; it might just re-light your fire. If you live in the NW and are around 6′ tall I don’t mind lending you a decent carbon bike and going out for a ride with you.

Don’t stress about it – riding is supposed to be fun (unless you earn your living from it).

If you’re not feeling the motivation to ride, then don’t. Park the bike for a bit and do something else, be that CX, road riding, running, climbing etc.

I personally find that my interest and amount of riding ebbs and flows (often in conjunction with the weather!). There are times when I’m not that fussed and other times where I can’t wait to ride and want to ride all of the time. January / February are my worst months – its often wet, cold, muddy, short days etc. I often find myself running more in the early part of the year.

If you weren’t social riding before, maybe try that. Bunch of friendly guys/girls, find some trails, have a laugh. Do different things to what you used to or explore. Maybe even try night riding if you haven’t already.

If it’s hassle getting to trails, make a local ride. Even if it’s bridleways and such.

globalti – Member
and you get a hell of a lot fitter than you do mountain biking.

Different fitness, not fitter. I know plenty of very fit road guys who struggle with MTB, and vice versa.

Download Strava and start hunting the KOMs, haha! There is nothing more motivational than the”Uh! Oh! You’ve lost your KOM!” notification… 😆

Like others have said, just don’t worry about it.
I have only ridden twice in the last 2 months, when I did I didn’t enjoy about 80% (lots of pedally fireroad) of the ride but the other 20% was great fun (some great stuff at Coedy). Saying that, the bikes gears were misbehaving badly so that won’t have helped.
Getting back on track though, I am not interested at all in getting the bike out for evening rides at Delamere which is what I have done 2 evenings a week for 4 or so years, riding through the winters no problem but this year, pretty much as soon as the dark evenings set in I just can’t be bothered with it all again.

For me it is the mud and slop. I will get out again during the drier months but at the moment don’t really care how long I give up the regular riding for.

Would rather go for a walk to be honest!

This:

If you’re not feeling the motivation to ride, then don’t. Park the bike for a bit and do something else, be that CX, road riding, running, climbing etc.

I am not too taken with it at the moment so am running a bit and walking the dog a lot more! From past experience I won’t sell any bikes for at least 6 months as I have sold them too early previously and regretted it!

This is exactly my problem. Around three years ago I got dumped on the Tarmac after both wheels went out from under me at walking pace, most of my weight landed on my left knee, hit my face on the ground as well, thankfully I was wearing a lid.
My knee is now painfull pretty much all of the time, the impact left a scar right in the centre of my kneecap, and my fear is exactly the same happening again.
I’ve lost faith in the bike staying upright, and I’m really afraid of causing greater damage that limits my mobility.
I’ve considered pads, but without being able to try before I buy, I’ve no idea what would be comfortable after three or four hours of pedalling across country.
I rode one of the bikes to work all last summer, but that’s about a mile each way, I just couldn’t bring myself to ride further.
My fear is rational, the bike going down was inexplicable, I was upright, moving slowly on a shared path, it could happen again, and that scares me.

Go to Decathlon and spend £300 on a Triban, which is a good entry-level road bike. Ride it on dry tarmac, somewhere quiet, and watch your love of cycling re-awake itself.

Ditto .. Has a really bad accident last year on the mtb and bought a stunning new spesh enduro a few months ago ( as the other bike was trashed in the crash) and was hoping it would get my mojo back and only been used a handful of times. 😥

Got a few enduro comps coming up shortly as not even got the motivation to train for it !!

Don’t panic, it’s not a big deal, it’s only riding a bike

Exactly. In my early 40s, after 30 years of ‘serious’ riding, I was halfway through the 1st race of the season, hanging on the back with gritted teeth in the sleet, when I suddenly thought ‘Hang on, this is shit, I hate it’.
I packed the race, stopped training, sold all but one of my bikes and only rode occasionally as a means of transport. It was great! Spending evenings and weekends with my wife and kids, slobbing around without guilt, eating and drinking what I wanted and discovering a whole new world that didn’t consist of flogging myself to death on a bike.
After a few years my sons managed to get me out on a mountain bike and I realised that the enthusiasm was still there and remembered what I’d forgotten – riding bikes is fun!
So don’t worry, take as much time off as you want. Bikes will always be there waiting for you, the important thing is to enjoy them.

happens to me on a yearly basis.. around middle of november till late march, feels like a chore than going out and riding for fun… it’s this time of year and mood I don’t want anyone tagging along with me as I can be in any trail centre and pedal about a mile and pack it up when it doesn’t feel right in my head …tough really 🙁 cant wait summertime

I don’t bother cycling in winter anymore. I like running about as much as I like cycling so I just do that over winter instead. I know that I’ll be back on the bike once the weather warms up a bit. I admire the guys who are out in the freezing rain, dark and cold every weekend as I just can’t be bothered with the endless cleaning and mud and maintenance, really don’t enjoy it at all.

Wolfie, are you me?

I hated Saturdays ride. (Hamsterley) I dislike tree roots to start with but I was just pissed off by the end of the ride. My lack of fitness & obesity didn’t help either! I’m 58 as well & know that if I have any kind of major spill (due to dodgy eyes & slower reactions) I’m gonna take longer to heal.

Just had my first off road ride following injury (6 months again) been in the gym, spinning classes, progressed to road riding and today off road 9 miles…………wet slippery and roots , couple of silly slow offs …on the ups????…..and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Fresh Air
trying to remember how to ride off road…..
rain
do not brake do not brake….
silly grin….

so for me it has gone from cannot be bothered to ride after another lay off to yeah……..

honestly it is great

As a lot of people have mentioned, a road bike will open up a new love of cycling. I did this last winter when I got fed up with the cleaning, not the actual riding. This winter I also bought a Fatbike so now my nice full sus Carbon MTB stays at home and I either take the Fatbike out in the mud and have a laugh or take the road bike out and do some miles.

The FatBike is great for me as you know you’re going to be slower overal so you just enjoy it more. The tyres give loads of confidence on the slippy roots, rocks, downhill sections but also provides a great winter training aid as it is no doubt harder to ride uphill.

I’m happy to go out on my own on either bike but it does make it so much more enjoyable to go out with others so I ride with my lbs club and there is normally someone to share the ride with.

+1 for trying road biking. Been MTBing for years but got bored, now an avid road biker and lost a stone in a month as I’m out almost every day!