Here’s a lovely video from Transition Bikes, about six men over 40 riding mountain bikes. It won the 2015 WMBC Shoot The Trails contest:
https://vimeo.com/141695556
No video showing? Try this link.
If you’re over 40 and worried that you’ll never learn to shred like these guys, take heart: some relatively recent research implied that neuroplasticity does not, in fact, decline in direct correlation with age, meaning that old humans can probably be taught new tricks. I will learn to jump! I’m going to back away from the big neurowords now though, because they’ll set Barney off again.
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David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly.
Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.
More posts from David
The issue with age isn’t the learning, it’s the recovery time from injuries…
The comments about Wives letting us go and play in the woods is spot on. It certainly stops me from being grumpy-er.
Recovery is my biggest issue, 18 months off the MTB due to injury and complications.
40 something!! bloody yoof