Issue 146: In Praise of Petrichor

ColumnSingletrack Magazine

by 4

Mountain biking smells aren’t just of damp shoes and disappointment. There’s joy to be found in the company of a good trail nose. Words by Chipps, photography by Mark Do you remember your first off-road ride? Of course you do. Those tend to be burned in to our memories: the excitement of trying something new, the shock at how well your tyres and bike absorbed the bumps, the sheer terror of the speed and of losing traction on loose ground and, hopefully, the buzz of getting away with it. Of course, your first memory might be of a dull, wet...
THERE'S MORE TO THIS STORY

BUT IT'S A MEMBER-ONLY STORY.
JOIN US TO UNLOCK IT AND MORE FOR LESS THAN 6p/DAY

If you have an account, please log in. If not, you can get access to some of our features by registering here for free.

View Membership Options
Make a Donation

A message from all of us at Singletrack magazine

We need your help

For over 20 years Singletrack has been a source of information, news and entertainment for millions of mountain bike enthusiasts and as an important focal point for an amazing community of like minded riders from around the world. But it has also been a provider of jobs and income for dozens of families of our team as well as a source of revenue for hundreds of freelance contributors.

We want to keep going through this uncertain period and create great content to inform and entertain you, but we will need your help to do it. More than anything else we want to have a reciprocal relationship with you and the best way to make that happen is through our memberships. We’d love you to join us as a paid member of the Singletrack community – we promise you a return on your investment through the content we have and will create for you.

Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 22 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running cycling magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

More posts from Chipps

Search the forum using the power of Google

Overview Chat Bike Members News
Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Issue 146: In Praise of Petrichor
  • Gunz
    Full Member

    It has a name! The smell I have drawn deep into my lungs since my first youthful rides and which has kept me company through the intervening Winters, thank you.

    Posted 3 months ago
    lister
    Full Member

    Early 90s MTBing smells for me were GT85, cold(!) pine forests, strangely long cigarettes, petrol and damp/mouldy/sweaty track mitts.

    Posted 3 months ago
    jam-bo
    Full Member

    It has a name!

    the chemical responsible is called Geosmin.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosmin

    Posted 3 months ago
    tomhoward
    Full Member

    Yep. GT85 is what mountain biking smells of.

    Posted 3 months ago
Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

Search the forum using the power of Google

Overview Chat Bike Members News