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Mountain biking is fine when you've got something worthwhile in mind like riding over a mountain but I can see how you would get bored going round and round trail centres like a hamster in a wheel. Mountain bikes need to be used like touring skis or mountain tents or sea kayaks - to get out into the wilds and enjoy the isolation and self-sufficiency. That way the bike becomes a tool for a greater adventure not the end in itself.
Well said globalti. Something that often seems to be forgotten.
I'm 31 and in February it's more of a case of making myself go out to get fitter and more time on the bike than actually wanting to but as has been said before I never regret going.
I could just make up a load of bullshit excuses like my mates do and play on the xbox smoking myself into a bag of Haribo.
Roll on the clocks changing back. Makes all the difference.
It's right that adventures and riding somewhere new make a difference but I struggle to do more than 2/3 hours in this weather without injuries making it painful.
Ton's words are powerful. At least you've got the choice.
Going on a bit aren't I 
Do you always ride on your own? For a while I had no riding buddies and I could only get motivated on A1 days.
Now ride regularly with a largeish group and am much more motivated both to ride with them and on my own.
Also change, what you ride, how you ride etc and shake things up a bit. If you normally ride natural go for a trail centre or vice versa. I also find changing bike setups can help. My light bike has been singlespeeded and my Fs bike rebuilt so i can have a bit more variety.
If you're bored, do something else. Theres loads of other fun things to do in life.
I certainly would not risk injuring myself AGAIN if I found it boring, that would be really stupid!
54 and no way.
43 is median age for this group. I started MTB riding late, and force myself if I can't find get anyone else to ride. Commuting keeps my miles up, as does road rides and sportives.
There is nothing wrong with taking a break from a hobby. But I also view cycling as transport. And a nice pootle into town on a Dutch roadster can be just as fun, to be honest.
41 this year and cleared my first double this week... no way over the hill
36, it's done for me after 22 years :-(. But there are better (other) ways to enjoy mountains 🙂
A couple of years ago I was struggling to motovate myself to get on the bike but then I built one of these...
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...and I've never looked back. In fact, I was so delighted that I built another one. Now I look forward to getting out every weekend, and even on the coldest and darkest of winter nights as well.
Gary
www.pugsley-on-patrol.org.uk
As others say, if you are really not feeling it, then don't force it. Move on.
However, if there is still a spark, and you just need motivated, then have other reasons other than 'going out for a ride'. For me, a big reason I got into MTBing again after 15 years was fitness. I'm 41 now and I think the fittest I have ever been (not a god at all, just have a base level I am pleased with). I noticed that unless I ride at least twice a week, it slips, so I make up a realistic schedule for myself over, say, 3 months, and try to stick with it. Even if some of it is just a 1 hour blast on the roads with the MTB in the evening, it helps a lot.
Also, having a goal is good. Maybe a cycling holiday with friends? A long weekend bikepacking? A race? A family ride?
I have now found myself doing other things, I took up swimming last year and am doing that 3 times a week. It's been great over the winter, when it is nasty outside, diving into a nice warm pool and doing some lengths feels good.
What Lardlover said
I'm 40 in a couple of months and have been mtbing religiously for years. The nicolai is gathering dust and gets the odd blast, but just cant be bothered with all the faff - have been road riding a lot more with a group and i'm super keen. Also, signed up for an enduro so will not hang up the 959's just yet 😀
change is a good thing
i get a bit bored now and again. I go for a snowboard on the dryslope slope. Then i relize I love biking so much.... As much as I love snowbaording it makes me to want to ride again..too..just a change I guess..
Maybe get a bmx and go for a blast on that ..or something..
They can be enjoyed from the front door, you don't need to get changed etc, or get dirty and may find it fun and it improves strength..
I'm 40. A change is as good as a rest I guess? Assuming you can, why not get a road or a cross bike and mix it? Best of both worlds and keep the MTB. Spring is on its way so fire yourself up.
Easygroove has got it. Motivate yourself.
For me, mtb is seasonal. I don't touch the bike from November to April because slogging round at 3mph on a clagged-up machine weighing a ton is simply not fun IMO. When the trails dry, I'm out there as much as possible. I find a visit to a new trail centre can refresh my mtb mojo. But I'll never find the sensation of sweeping round a corner at full speed on two wheels (road or mtb) to be boring.
As i type this i am trying to motivate myself to go out on a muddy ride,had 4weeks slobing and drinking in india ,i am now a twin for the gracious lord buddah ,and need to get my lazy arse in gear,before i have ques of tibetans waiting to rub my belly for luck.i am 41 and also know of people a lot older than myself who can quite easily cycle rings around me for fun. 🙄
It happened to me. I took 3 months off the MTB and just rode road for a while.
The urge to MTB came back easily after the break.
ton - Member
if i had the choice of the lottery jackpot tonight, or the chance of my health and ability to ride again, i would deffo choose the latter...
Wise words. That realisation comes to many people far too late in life, after the damage has been done.
Work, career, business, wealth, they are less important than health.
46years young and been mountain biking since 1988 and cannot get enough of it, have had a few wobbles over the years but a few weeks off and I really start to miss it, it has been such a positive thing in my life that I can't think of ever giving it up( despite breaking arms 5 times, shattering my right leg in numerous places and a broken clavicle), just can't get enough 😀
Have met so many good friends through biking (and one or two absolute bell ends) but mostly fellow bikers are a cool bunch and can't think of any other 'sport' (surfed for 25 odd years - miserable bunch, locals only, etc.) that makes you grin from ear to ear whilst covered in mud, still get a buzz from rides days after. OP, Take a few weeks off and hopefully the buz will come back?
43. Mojo comes and goes. A good bit of twisty singletrack usually restores it. That and I have to do MM every year until either TIm Flooks or me drops dead.
52, might be over the hill but that doesn't stop me riding. I find doing MM every year gives me something to train for, helps me get out in the winter weather. Now my daughter's taken up road riding so I get out with her as well - first road bike I've had since mine was nicked at Uni, and as many others have said it is different enough to be really refreshing. Wouldn't want to ride road all the time though, and I do break a lot of the [url= http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/ ]rules[/url].
50,enjoy my riding as much as ever.Had a 3 month lay-off a couple of years ago,but have probably improved slightly since my return..
I enjoy Winter riding ,as much as Summer riding...slip-sliding in the mud,barely in control,sharpens you up for the Summer.
Also treated myself to a Cross bike for me 50th. Great fun.
It's hard to offer advice or motivation as I've never suffered the lack of drive to ride or sheer excitement to just get on a bike. I really do love it and can't put myself in your shoes - but each to their own of course. I really hope you get it back, but I suppose don't force it.
On the other hand, the age thing has worried me hugely - mid-forties now and certainly did consider myself over the hill and have been worried about having to make myself stop soon (any fitness has gone and injuries pile up, my work colleagues think I'm waaay too old to be messing around giggling like a kid in mud on a bike), but the thread resurrected recently on the subject humbled me on that one. I now hope to just quietly keep going and hope no-one notices....!!
35 here, and mountain biking since 1990.
I can understand how motivation comes & goes... but I could never get tired of being in the woods.
Meh.
It's only riding a bike, it gets dull at times, and the worst thing to listen to or read are people saying how they never get bored or how they can't imagine life without it.
Give it up if you're bored, come back in a while if you want to.
I never get bored and I can't imagine life without it. 8)
I live riding my MTB's but I do get bored of riding Thetford all the time. It's too expensive to drive to other places all the time (and takes too much time - baby in the house), the local bridleways/footpaths are boring so I only ride my MTB's nce a week if that. I use my road bike more often.
I have yearning to explore wilderness on a MTB and I would love to do that in North America where you can get to very remote locations. Infact Off road coast to coast of the northern part of the U.S or Canada is a dream.
Can't imagine not riding at all. sometimes I have ridden more than I do now and sometimes less but ridden off-road in one form or another for almost 40 years.
So for me bored of mountainbiking = bored of life
45, but a week today 46.
i too get pretty bored with the mtb, but for me its a symptom of riding the same stuff all the time and a lot of the same stuff in thge last few years with all the rain has been made unrideable by the lovely horsey types.
but i have to ride a bike to keep weight off, so i mix it up with lots of roadie riding or taking out the cross bike. quite a bit i have to force myself out, but i always feel better for it.
oh, and watch the booze. as i get more into my 40s i find its a total motivation killer the day after.
There's nothing wrong with losing your motivation for the bike, especially over winter. I find at times like jacking it all in, especially when expensive repairs demand money (fork service, broken mechs, £30 for 1 tyre).
I'm currently diverting my attention to other sports and part of me regrets not having had a more balanced approach to my sports previously. I was surprised to think that I hadn't been rock climbing for nearly 10 years (something I used to really enjoy) due to mountain biking.
I've recently got involved with a fell running club and discovered a whole new world in the areas I used to ride all the time, the same can be said of road riding as well. Its amazing whats on your own doorstep when you look at things from a different perspective.
40 here.
Its easy to get bored of mtbing this time of year..
Wet, muddy slow trails .... Certainly not much motivation.
I got myself a road bike a year or so ago.
Fitness has improved enormously and have managed to get out 2 to 3 times a week all winter so far.
45 here. Hill and mountains are my main draw whether walking climbing mountaineering or biking - biking is where its at at the moment (not climbed in a couiple of years but itch is coming back)as it has taken me to all sorts of hills where I would not have walked or climbed etc and even the trail centres here (s.wales)are is some quite nice hilly territory. Just get out on the hill one way or another.
just turned 45 here.
I have times when I lack motivation but I have a mate who I ride with every Sunday that gets me out of bed and out of the door. Once I'm riding I really enjoy it and if he can't ride and the weather is crap I have been known to miss a week.
Entering an event is a good motivator for me as well - particularly if it's something I know I need to train for.
Building a new bike also works - especially if you do the build yourself.
Failing that just do something else for a while - you'll come back to it.
I dunno, after braking my arm and haveing a two month layoff I'm not really that keen on getting out on the bikes again for some reason. I miss the social aspect fo rides, but might take up something else instead of solo rides, quite fancy getting back into Sailing.
Anyone want to swap a Pitch Pro for a boat?
I have a mate who I ride with every Sunday that gets me out of bed
Glad I dont have 'that' kind of relationship with my riding buddy 😉
not sure its my age or motivation, but i just dont get the urge any more to get out and ride, 2 years back I was out at the drop of a hat, out of intrest what is your age, and is 43 over hill,
It's not mandatory to eat/sleep/breath mountain biking. or anything.
And you can't force it.
There's loads more to life. If you've really had enough of riding, find something else to enjoy.
You might rediscover cycling one day. Or you might not.
For what it's worth, I'm 38.
Still love MTBing but don't get much time for it any more due to family commitments.
I don't get as enthused about riding as I used to, but that's probably because I tend to lose interest in things a bit if I can't give it as much time/attention as I'd like.
I am 50, only really got into MTB in the past year, before that it was moto X or Enduro.
I normally ride on my own as I like the freedom that gives me, at the moment I am training myself for a coast to coast off road ride which I hope to do later in the year.
I am 39, for motivation this year I am building a new bike, signed up for the 100km HONC in April and the PDS in June with about 20 others who are all prob much fitter than me ........ motivation is now at a high !!!
is 43 over hill
47 here & still trying to do proper wheelies, riding through all the puddles, getting drunk & riding around in the snow - prob look a bit of a prat but hey at my age do you think I give a F 🙂
I had a 2 week lay off in winter as I just wasn't feeling it, but i find on the whole if i can't get on my bike at least every other day i become a grumpy bastard
I lost all enthusiasm for all cycling last year and am suffering because of it. I [i]will[/i] get back out on the bikes this year!
The weather was a killer for me last year. I don't mind getting rained upon whilst out but trying to get myself motivated to walk out of the door to the garage in the pissing rain to then head out...nah, couldn't do it and last year it just pissed down all sumer long here.
Bought myself a hybrid for commuting purposes this year so we'll see how it goes... <doesn't hold breath> 😀
I sympathise with the OP, I put the bike away a few weeks ago and have decided not to ride again until spring....an annoying slog around Queen Elizabeth Country Park made my mind up, the mud and leaves at the bottom made pedalling very hard going and eventually my wheels looked like they were sporting balloon tyres, all grip lost and all enjoyment gone too....away from the bottom things dried out but the snow and ice was still present and grip was still largely non existent....was glad to get back to the car, also had an uplift day at Cwmcarn cancelled due to icy conditions around the same time....got no interest in going out in this crap weather again....
40, loving road biking at the moment (hence haven't been round here for a while).
Road biking is low faff and easier at this time of year (for me). Fits with my routine and has given me momentum when I just couldn't be bothered getting geared up and muddy and cleaning etc etc.
MTB will be back I know when the weather improves!!!
We`ve all been there! good cure is take a couple of new friends out, it will all be slower , you will find yourself sat at the top of climbs looking left and right and thinking how nice is this and how lucky am I, you will enjoy showing them all the things you have been shown , you will like to make sure u stay ahead of them as they get fitter, going out twice a week head down arse up just mashing the pedals lets u forget the reasons that you actually mountain bike,give it a try ,works for this 44 year old!!!!!
I go through phases of liking the bike and then losing interest. As others have said, there are no rules that you have to be 100% motivated to go out on the mountain bike all the time.
There are other hobbies, like being a full time poster on this forum. You don't even need to have ridden a bike before, even if you want to Hit Big™.