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First proper dirt ride after a lay off is always a bit dodgy if you ask me. I need at least 2 or 3 rides before i stop bodging my lines and dabbing everywhere. Why not try a couple of really short MTB rides and see how you feel after that.
Mrs D-L & I were discussing that as you get older (i.e. past your mid-40's) you also seem to get a bit more anxious...
which hits me more with the road riding due to the traffic.
I've not ridden for about 6 months now. I go to the gym 4 times a week and run once or twice at the weekend. With me it is seasonal. I'm a fair weather biker, just cannot see the appeal of battling against howling headwinds on some godforsaken hillside. There I've said it.
Made the decision to sell off my full sus, ridden twice in 6 months. I mostly ride my Brompton and just built up a Roadrat. I think my plan will be to sell Roadrat and build up a rigid Ti 29er with one set of wheels for road and another with big tyres so I can still go offroad on the rare opportunities I get.
I started mountain biking in 1988 and for the following 21 years I was the world's most obsesssed mountain biker; every holiday was mountain biking (I even gave up climbing) and I did many of the Polaris events and local races, when people used to race, as well as mountain epics all over the UK. My brother and I talked about mountain biking every time we met, which even began to irritate the rest of the family. I got into night riding, all through the year, dealing with the cold and the mud but enjoying the rides.
Then in about 2008 I began to lose interest and started missing the weekend and Wednesday evening club rides. I don't know what happened; the obesession just seemed to fade away. I bought a nice steel Peugeot road bike from Bicycle Doctor and did a few short rides, then I bought a neglected 1990 Harry Hall in Columbus SLX, restored it but found it very punishing to ride more than 40 miles. Then in February 2009 I found a nearly new carbon 2006 Specialized Roubaix dumped off a bridge; took it to the Police who gave it back to me a month later and that was it; I was hooked. My mileage began to increase, my resting HR dropped and I began swopping flappy mountain bike attire for snug-fitting lycra kit. The increase in fitness was dramatic. My lovely titanium hardtail got hung up in the garage and has only been used since with slicks for my son to ride C2C. I often think about my old mountain biking days but cannot summon up one single ounce of enthusiasm for going out, working hard to cover a few muddy wet miles and coming home covered in filth. If you want to know what attracts me to road riding, read The Escape Artist by Matt Seaton, which is very good on the subtlety of technique, lore and traditions of road riding. I reckon I'm just a typical "born again" cyclist who has come back to road riding thanks to modern, comfortable carbon bikes, compact gearing, SIS, fat handlebars and all the recent developments that have made road cycling more attractive for leisure riders. The ability to go straight out from my front door onto stunning, empty country roads and come back a couple of hours later absolutely beasted but still reasonably clean also contributes, I'm sure. I'm also lucky in having met a cycling buddy of my own age who enjoys the same kind of riding and cafes and my son is now aged 17 and is beginning to come along on our rides and do some useful work on the front when he can be bothered, so there's a good way of doing stuff with my own son.
I'm marking my 60th birthday in April by organising a bike race for myself and about 15 cycling friends at a local track, followed by beer and a slap-up dinner. I see this as an important "statement" of how I hope to continue my life after retirement, if health allows.
Buy a fat bike.They are cheap and offer something totally different.
Cheap?
Globalti, doesn't Matt ditch the road bike and turn to the dirt in the book?
Brilliant book though.
I can't remember; I think he burned himself out racing and then family illness and the need to look after the children took up too much of his time. (Don't want to spoil one of the most shocking episodes in the book.)
Buy a fat bike.They are cheap and offer something totally different.Cheap?
I considered this for a while a month or so ago. I had a test ride on a on one fatty. it was horrendous.
the thought of trying to drag a sqidgy monster of a bike on a offroad ride does not appeal to me in the slightest now I have tried it.
Damn Ton, was just thinking last night I need to ride in some different places this year, "I know, I'll see if Ton fancies guiding us round some of his routes."
Say it isn't so.
Like Lowey said, remember the good times.
The ability to go straight out from my front door onto stunning, empty country roads and come back a couple of hours later absolutely beasted but still reasonably clean also contributes, I'm sure
An oft trotted out line, but surely mud is part of the fun?. I see it as an excuse that folks use to themselves to justify the fact that they just enjoy road more than MTB.
If it was a choice of 2 hrs on tarmac or 1hr 50mins on the good stuff, with the other 10 mins to clean up (which is very often not even necessary) I know which one I'd choose every single time.
Mud isn't part of the fun for me - it's usually just part of the deal. I had a great ride round the forest trails last week and it was great as everything had frozen hard. No cleaning necessary? I'll take that.
Agreed, it's a nice to have at times, but I love a fast muddy corner when yer not actually sure if the back end is gonna come round and meet ye!.
Mud , busy roads with lorries or quiet roads being used as a race track by BMWs?
I'll take the mud any day.
D0NK - MemberDamn Ton, was just thinking last night I need to ride in some different places this year, "I know, I'll see if Ton fancies guiding us round some of his routes."
Dave....just say when mate....something like that is the boost I need.
that said, me and essell are going offroad on sunday if anyone fancies. Sutton bank carpark at 10pm.
got a busy March but I'll give you a shout about a ride after easter.
has to be said my MTB mojo is at a low ebb at the moment, night and weekend rides are getting rare, thankfully I'm keeping up my fitness with commuting and some riding with the kids, but pretty sure it's weather/trail conditions. The frozen trails we had the other week certainly got me yearning for the trails again...til the wet came back 🙁