Always take a pasty or pack of mowbray pork pies/general snackage to enjoy at the top o' the trail, usually at the highest point, i'll have a sit down, soak up the rays if applicable, admire the views, take a couple of photos, get a bit philosophical if on a solo ride, discuss pressing matters if on a group ride, consume more snackage! 😆
Very rare I see others partake in this mid ride obligatory recharge though.
Anyone else, or is it head down on the trail, "Shall we go into Glossop for a cuppa?" 😯
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Medley bars are my current trail snack of choice. There's a spot on the edge of Dartmoor where I always stop on a night ride and take in the stars on a clear night.
Nope
On longer rides we do this.
Top of the blade we snacked on kendal mint cake and a breakfast bar.
Isn't the whole point of mountain biking to enjoy the feeling of being in the outdoors? If you don't stop at some point and take in the view and just chill then you might as well just sit at home and watch TV really...
Chipps wrote an editorial about this years ago - where people were so determined to take photos of the great views, they were forgetting to simply sit and look at those great views and appreciate them in real life
I can't imagine passing a triangulation point without stopping to admire the view and usually have a little bite to eat too. If I don't pass any triangulation points I can usually think of a different excuse.
Isn't the whole point of mountain biking to enjoy the feeling of being in the outdoors? If you don't stop at some point and take in the view and just chill then you might as well just sit at home and watch TV really...
Not for me, no. Part of the point maybe, but certainly not the whole point.
Generally we spark one up at the top of the hill/trail, then we get philosophical! Love to look at the moon n stars.
Me and Mrs fruitbat look on our bike rides as a picnic with cycling between courses 🙂
Sometimes.
Every time, even on my own in the pouring rain!
I hate stopping at the top - why put in the effort, warm up on a climb and then sit on your arse and get cold for the descent?
Isn't the whole point of mountain biking to enjoy the feeling of being in the outdoors?
Not for me; while I like the outdoors, scenery & wildlife a lot I ride bikes for the buzz.
I never eat at the top as picking stuff out of my teeth on the way down can be very distracting 
Yep. Even on a night ride it's great to just stop and sit and listen.
Of course - years ago it was about sparking one up and philosophising / enjoying the view
As I got older it became more about catching my breath and replenishing energy
Now I'm fitter it's back to the views but without the doobage
Outdoors is great. If you get cold put something on
Love sitting in the dark on a night ride with a flask of something warm. Maybe a little fire.
Just something cleansing about being in total darkness/silence
I usually stop and take a piss off the highest point, which is definitely for philosophical reasons.
I hope you check wind direction first
For me its less a philosophical stop and more a "dear god, my lungs!"
Yes. On solo or small group rides. In bigger groups you spend so much time waiting / faffing it's not worth it.
Years ago, I would take a single cigarette with me. Now, happily, it's usually a sandwich. Pref. strong cheddar.
I used to smoke when I got to the top, my reward ciggie!
I gave up a good few years ago now though. I sometimes take a photo and I've bit a thing about my bike next to trig points but that's about it.
No
Nope. For me it's about the buzz, so it's typically quick piss, something to eat as quick as poss, then hit the descent while still nice and warm.
The club I ride with does but I prefer to just keep riding. I normally try and eat on the move as stopping just means I get cold or have to take more clothes.
You can be philosophical and soak up the views while still pedalling.
No I dont like stopping it ruins the flow. I used to ride with someone a few years ago who preferred to stop at appropriate times and they were probably as pissed off as me because I never wanted to stop. I'll take it easy and maybe admire the view while freewheeling for a moment, but actually stop? Noooooooo I like to press on
What kind of philosophising do folk do on these breaks? If a big mountain day I'll stop for a few mins and bask in how great I feel and how wonderful it is to be alive, but can't say I ever adopt 'The Thinker' pose (Blue Steel for intellectuals?).
Hate stopping for anything. Not because I'm super fit or anything but for me it's about riding my bike and that's it really. I mainly do it because it's more fun than the gym. Most big hills and fields all look the same to me to be honest.
I do try to stop and take in the views - even on the top of my local hill, which I have ridden up several hundred times. The views are one of the great joys of mountain biking.
But the snacks are often taken somewhere else - last Sunday's ride included 'brunch' at the QECP cafe, beer and ice-cream at a pub at the bottom of the days biggest descent, and then a cream-tea and cake at Compton tea-rooms on the way back to Kingley Vale. Strava says I used up 2,900 calories on the ride, and I'm hoping I just about broke even for the day.
Yeah I love stopping at a top to admire the view for a bit, maybe take a few photos and have something to eat or drink. When you get views like this it's worth it.
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I stop to suck in some oxygen.
I've often wondered why it is there is an oxygen shortage on the up side of a hill, yet there's plenty on the way down.
I'm sure there's a scientific reason...
Isn't the whole point of mountain biking to enjoy the feeling of being in the outdoors? If you don't stop at some point and take in the view and just chill then you might as well just sit at home and watch TV really...
Amen, brother. For me, the 'buzz' and the advantages of exercise are simply serendipitous by-products of riding my bike around in the countryside. In themselves I'm not really intersested, which goes a long way to explain my dislike for trail-centres and gyms...
You can't really compare a gym to a mountain bike ride where you don't stop to 'philosophise' or whatever! You can enjoy nature without having to stop.
I hate stopping on rides, no issues with riding slowly if folk aren't that fit, but I do want to keep going.
I think you're missing my point. For me, going to a gym is [b]just[/b] about getting exercise, which in itself doesn't really interest me. Similarly, going to a trail centre is [b]just[/b] about the 'buzz', ditto.
Being out and about in the countryside is something that does interest me, and riding my bike allows me to do this brilliantly. The exercise and 'buzz' are by-products that I enjoy, but they're not the reason I do it.
Similarly, going to a trail centre is [b]just [/b]about the 'buzz', ditto.
Is it? Last time I checked most trail centres were out in the countryside, and some even have pretty views...
[i]Is it?[/i]
For me, yeah. But I'm happy to admit that I have a strange aversion to trail centres that is difficult to define and/or explain. I just know I don't like 'em.
all my favourite rides have a little rest spot with a view point that's an excuse to stop for a while and refresh the spirit for me its the best part of being out and about
Armed with the latest news about gravity waves I'm going to have to ride up a hill so that I can ponder the possibility of an infinite universe, I hope I'm not up there for long.
The other night I stopped for a bit to take in the darkness and had a wee at the side of the road, looked up to find a pheasant sitting in a tree. Cool, never seen that before, it was like Danny the Champion of the world. It wasn't in the least disturbed by my helmet light and just sat there oogling me having a wee with it's little beady black eyes.
Does no one else take a hip flask?
Banana or sis bar up at the slab up Gisburn at the same point every time,habit!
It depends my rides are either 2 hours flat out XC stuff or 3-4 hours trail stuff. On the latter, my mind is drawn to the leek and pork slices in Peaslake. I love sitting on top of Holmbury Hill looking S. Spent a lot of time up there last summer when my dad died and still go up there to have a chat with him now. That and a spot on Thursley Common are my spots for a bit of "me time". Otherwise a hidden corner on Loughrigg away from folk and bikes!!!!
tea and banana somewhere interesting / or with a view if possible. Not on night rides though.
First time I've ever seen a pic of my home town on STW!
Yeah, of course I am taking a philosophical snack break. Not just puffing and panting with sweat pissing off of me trying to get my breath back.
as the late great roy castle sang....If you wanna be the best, then dedications what you need.
No time for stopping and eating pies!! best thing to do to improve fitness and ability is to cane it to the top and then keep on going!
Not always, but there is a spot on the edge of the forest at Hamsterley where I sit for some reason:-)
Good thread btw
I'll sometimes stop and take in the view, but if you stop for too long then the flies get you if it's hot. Or as said you get cold.
Nice photo from a Friday morning ride a few weeks back.
I don't like stopping bur taking a pee & having a snack are sometimes neccessary & it might as well be done somewhere with a view. Banana or malt loaf.
always...
not much eating but enjoying the view..contemplating and calm down a bit to focus on the descend ..which is preferentially steep,rocky,technical stuff..
and if it is my birthday ..then even with candlelight.. 🙂
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@accu thats an epic pic! taking it to the next level with the candle,
@tarquin thats also a vista I could easily spend some time appreciating!
Always - it's a major part of why I go for a ride in the first place...
Rarely admittedly, but sometimes I'll stop eating and go for a bike ride.
YES...this thread was made for me!
I LOVE stopping, chilling, chatting, snacking, admiring the views, take a few snaps, re-fuelling, exchanging war stories regarding the last techy section, and of course to acclimatise to the lower oxygen levels that are associated with the uphill trails (yeah wtf is with that!?).
For me, riding is massively social, I ride with my best friends. I love capturing the moment for prosperity, and I'm also into photography so I get to do two things I love at once. I find the 'quit taking photos and enjoy the moment' point of view extremely patronising, for the following comic can sum up more eloquently than I:
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I also have this theory that food tastes at its best when you are on a bike ride, so I'll bust out the big guns when at the top of the mountain (Ferrero Rocher, After Eights, Lindt bears, Belgian chocolate shells, etc), at first it was to see people's reactions to being offered an After Eight at the peak of mam tor (or equivalent), but now it's just an excuse to have nice chocolates.
I think the only times I loathe stopping is if the weather is particularly inclement or if we're training for something and the stoppages are too frequent.
_tom_ those panos are beautiful, particularly the whistler one. Nice work.
Yep. Not doing so gives me that feeling akin to being served dessert before I've finished my main course.
+1 for "sparking one up" then a pee, then a philosophise. then blast like i meant it 😉
Most of the time i stop briefly at the top to take in the views, tend not to eat there unless its summer, get too cold.
One of my abiding memories is having a lie down in a hollow, halfway up the climb to walna scar, waiting for the rest of the group, munching jelly babies, sun beating down, staring at a clear blue sky, already weary and psyched by some great riding, awesome descent to come and some of my wife's pineapple upside down cake waiting at the bottom, i was thinking, there is no finer way to spend a bank holiday weekend. Brilliant!
I often stop for a beer. Or a whisky. Or some chocolate 🙂
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/103863430/ ]IMG_0465[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/simondbarnes/ ]simondbarnes[/url], on Flickr
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/2763050751/ ]Handy bike attachment[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/simondbarnes/ ]simondbarnes[/url], on Flickr
I like to stop and appreciate where I am, what I'm doing and just pause for a moment. It came from hillwalking and having a little empathy for the slower members of the group and generally appreciating where we were and the effort it took to get there.
Going out with Munroe-Baggers (not all are the same) made it more important to me. Their focus was on ticking off something on a list, so they were always fixated on the next one and would charge off. I wanted to pause for a moment and enjoy where I was at that moment.
@simonbarnes I endorse your post 😀