I have been riding mtbs since before V brakes were a ‘thing’ but I’m getting bored with the whole mtb scene. I don’t live anywhere with hills or challenging terrain (East Anglia) and I haven’t touched a MTB in months….and months.

I still ride a lot (usually 8 hours plus a week) but most of my off road riding is on my gravel bike (Bokeh) in 700c or 650b modes or my road bike when I want to get decent miles in (80+ miles) or just go fast.

I can’t see that the odd road trip will do much more than spice things up for a short time and they are pretty much out of the question anyway as I have a business to run and it is very demanding.

A new bike won’t work as my last MTB is only about 18 months old.

So there it is….I still love my riding but the mtb just doesn’t seem to cut the mustard any more. Any ideas how to re-ignite the flame?

build dirt jumps & a pump track in the garden.

Move.

Move

Ideally yes…..Italy maybe, France, Germany even but they aren’t going to want to play with us any more. :o/ Aged parents to look after too so not yet.

Join a road club. You need the peer pressure to get you motivated again and you’ll love the banter.

Riding isn’t the problem. It is the mtb that sits there in the shed watching me with a baleful eye as I wheel out the gravel or road bike. As I can comfortably do all the MTB stuff round here with the Bokeh, the mtb is just redundant.

Joining a club would help. However, if you’re enjoying riding your bike, what’s the problem? Doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, whether it’s road, gravel, xc or DH.

At some point you might want to start MTB again and really get back into it, you may not, it doesn’t really matter.

Join a road club

Yep, you’ll be back on the mtb in no time 😆

Holiday somewhere with hills? even the peaks would give you some new experiences.

I got bored of it and stopped riding – I don’t miss it and prefer to take the dog a good long walk nowadays.

#notmotivational!

However, if you’re enjoying riding your bike, what’s the problem? Doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, whether it’s road, gravel, xc or DH.

At some point you might want to start MTB again and really get back into it, you may not, it doesn’t really matter.

Wise words…..maybe you are right!

I still ride a lot

[quote] Any ideas how to re-ignite the flame?[/quote]

don’t be concerned?. I ride MTB/ Road/ Gravel and most recently BMX, you can’t ride them all, a lot.

It comes in waves, one year i’ll be all about miles on the road bike, the next it’s all about off road thrills. it’ll come back for sure.

I have a couple of friends that treat MTB, or the ‘big bike’ like a set of skis, you can’t use it locally but you can take it away and have a lot of fun…

Oh, 2 & 1/2 years ago this was me…

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/it-feels-like-ive-given-up

I even renounced my P.

My interest was piqued when I was re-reading Jenn’s (#fuckcancer) Tour Divide article again and that spark was the catalyst. Thanks Jenn.

Now, I’ve bought two (2) new hardtails in the last year and I’m a signed up, fully fledged Bivi-A-Monther. I’ve even taken a job in another area to be nearer the North where I want to ride my bike… Moving within the next couple of weeks.

Things change, 2.5 years ago my (aged) parents were in a slow decline and getting increasingly frail/needing assistance so I get where you’re at. Saddly, for me, that situation has ‘resolved’ itself… 😥 (#fuckcancer)

Hang in there, things change. Some ways its for the better, some ways its for the worse… Sometimes its both.

I’m like you to be honest, moved from Swinley Forest/ Surrey Hills area of the UK, married a Norfolk girl and live near Wells next the Sea now.

Forgot about MTB for a while apart from the odd trip round Thetford, but have found there is actually a half decent MTB scene here, although very XC race focused. What I have really started enjoying was fat biking and bike packing, good workout riding along Wells/Holkham/ Burnham Ovary beaches on fat bike and being coastal it has ever changing scenery and tide.

Going to be organising a East Anglia fat bike weekend for end of July, campsite and barrel of beer included to if you fancy it (spare bikes going)

Also enjoy strapping bivvy gear on my Fargo and linking up bridleways and paths round here and “sleeping in a bush” as my wife calls it.

I think if you enjoy riding, you adapt really

Try reading a couple of articles from the magazine. They always do a fantastic job of enthusing me when I’m getting a little jaded from riding my local trails too much. Otherwise, as above, do what you like doing, be that road, gravel, mtb or another pastime entirely.

move on a do something else?

Well, if you’re riding – and enjoying riding – then be thankful for that. As thomthumb says, these things can come in waves of interest and things may change. I think the fact you feel a bit guilty about not riding your mtb shows you still care for it.

Sure, you can ride local trails on the gravel bike, but you can ride your mtb purely for the feeling of being on an mtb, no matter the trails. I always end up back on the HT because i like the way mtbs ride above all other bikes. Also, come to terms with where you live and make the best of it. I’ve been through phases of feeling like I live in the wrong place and setting the bike up for riding somewhere I don’t live. I then bought XC tyres, put the saddle up a bit and got peddaling and enjoy what I have form the door.

Fatbike beach riding?

Tbh I’d be hard pressed to ride an actual MTB if I lived in flatland. Tools for jobs. You’re still riding off-road, so why worry?

Depends…I’ve no idea what the mtb scene is, I’ve no interest in it. I love riding my mtb though…

Move

Moving is obviously a big decision* but I honestly don’t think I’d bother mountain biking if I lived down South. Actually I know I wouldn’t as I lived down there for most of the first half of my life and never really saw the point in “mud plugging”. No big deal though, there are plenty of other ways to enjoy yourself, so just do whatever works wherever you are.

*congratulations on the new job, by the way, metalheart. Hope it’s somewhere fun.

If you’re not missing the riding- ie you’re just bothered about not riding the mtb, but you’re happy with the other riding- then why worry? You don’t have to be a mountain biker

In a similar position and like metalheart my issues were resolved but due to dementia and COPD, mum for 10yrs and dad the following 3yrs…
Thought that was it for a while until MrsT picked up a viral infection and has been ill for some time.
Looking forward to a trip to Switchbacks in Sept but motivating myself to lose weight and get fit is a struggle

I honestly don’t think I’d bother mountain biking if I lived down South

You can’t of traveled much as to suggest that the south is the same is like suggesting the north is all like the flatlands in Lincolnshire

I well remember coming down to Newark to do a temporary job and seeing loads of Kleins and Konas knocking around. I remember wondering why on earth there were so many nice bikes knocking about in a place with no mountains (I’d come from Aberdeen).

So yeah, move.

So there it is….I still love my riding but the mtb just doesn’t seem to cut the mustard any more. Any ideas how to re-ignite the flame?

Race cyclo-cross.

Your mtb skills are transferable, there used to be a pretty good scene in EA and it’s a good mix of road and off road which equates to having to train hard on the road and mountain bike.

Genuinely I’d move on, my Dad was mad into skiing but he got to go once a year, maybe every other year, but he’d watch ski Sunday and check the snow reports every day through winter. We’ve got a dry slope near us, he’d go now and again but it wasn’t the same.

Not ridden my MTB in 6 months. Meh. It’s there for when I want to.

If you’re happy riding locally off-road on a crosser then just come to terms with it! I’d ride your hardtail but there’s not a lot in it really is there.

Keep the hardtail for the odd road trip, bring it down Cornwall and I’ll show you my local trails. They’re finally running dry, which is nice.

Speaking of CXers at Thetford, have you ever ridden down the “Beast” (I still can’t say that with a straight face) on it and caught up with someone on a alps-ready susser? Would be amusing to see their face.

Also no interest in MTB anymore after 20+ years. I like the idea of it, but it’s always the CX bike that gets pulled out the garage. Maybe as my son gets older and is able to go on rides then things will change again.

I’ve just had four years without touching a mountain bike, thats after 10 yrs of riding one a few times a week, doing all the trail centres and events, even the odd xc series.
I even bought a new bike and didnt ride it for year. It been full time road (and zwift) for years.

Then just out of the blue I thought lets give that new bike a spin, took it to a trail( in East Anglia) and boom I’m loving it again.

Its supposed to be fun you dont have to do anything.

Dont worry about it, you’re still riding bikes.

If you want sign up for a 24 hour mtb race, you can enjoy the benefit of all your long distance fitness and you definitely won’t want to touch your mtb for months afterwards

You can’t of traveled much as to suggest that the south is the same is like suggesting the north is all like the flatlands in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire’s not “the north” though, is it? Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Where are you in East Anglia?

I grew up there (near Ipswich) and if I still lived there i think a monthly Thetford trip would be the limit of my mountain biking but i would have a gravel type bike and be doing big mixed surface rides.

If you enjoy that sort of thing then i wouldn’t worry about the MTB.

I rode Thetford for the first time last night. I decided that my ideal Thetford bike would be a short travel 29″ HT but really if that was the best riding within an hour I wouldn’t own a mtb.

I can imagine if would be fun on my cx though.

(And The Beast? A mini- beast perhaps? Like a cute caterpillar? 😀 )

Get a fatbike would be my suggestion. They’re good for putting smiles into your miles.

Join the eastern bike monkeys Facebook page, we organise a few rides local, and a few trips away. Maybe meeting new people will peak your interest again

My doorstep rides are pretty naff for MTB – mostly consisting road sections connecting farm tracks. I need to get out to more interesting areas at least once a month or I get fed up with it. A few things I do to keep it interesting for me:

* learn skills like bunny hopping (with flat pedals) – no upper body strength? start bodyweight exercise and watch the improvement over a year or so.

* learn manuals/wheelies (I like to avoid an audience for this and consequently still can’t do them)

* look in your local town for obstacles to ride up and down – steps are great for this, will help with your technical skills to some degree. find obstacles to bunnyhop.

* look in your local town for things to ride off (drop-offs), start smaller and work your way up to larger, will increase confidence on the trail (until you find you can only do drops on smooth surfaces).

* do you fear ruts in bridleways catching you out? Break that fear by zig-zagging incessantly along their entire length. good for cardio too.

* watch sam pilgrim videos on youtube for inspiration.

he’s got bored and left here…..

id just sell the mob if its that thats bothering you and enjoy the other bikes. get a fatty instead!

How do you motivate yourself to bike when living in less than ideal circumstances?