[Closed] Retiring from "Radness"

Your still riding and in my book that's all that counts.

The mojo will return in its own good time in I'm sure. 🙂

It comes and goes for all the dire muddy,cold "what am i doing" type days those dry sunny days always make me feel revitalised, few and far between admittedly ,but sometimes there is joy to be found in the mud just need to look harder

I haven't ridden off road since November 22nd, due to the snow and my proximity to the North Pole.   You are still riding, so see the positives*.

*XC skiing and snowboarding does make up for it however.

I've hardly ridden the MTB  locally this winter, just ridden the gravel bike. Did a  couple of MTB trips away to Wales / peaks which I've really enjoyed, can't be arsed riding locally in the slop and especially can't be arsed riding in the slop at night. Went out MTB during the freeze and snow and loved it.

I seem to have retired from riding in the mud. The bike isn't the issue, it's rigid with hub gears it's the fact that I'll spend more time each day getting in and out of wet muddy clothing than my off road commute actually takes. Did it for 7 years all year round so didn't give up easily but now I'm running to work where I also have a bike permanently on the turbo trainer and road rides at the weekends. I've a brand new Ramin 3+ sitting at work as well just waiting for some dry weather.

I used to play hockey when i was younger, stopped at 21, but still liked to go for a skate now and then. Went to canada in 2012/15/17, skated on the biggest ice rink in the world in ottawa.

been on the ice twice since then, after doing something epic, normal stuff just seems insufferable.

So, I totally get where you are coming from.

I'll never retire from radness.

You can't retire from something that you never participated in.

Go running and run the trails you normally ride. 8 min/mile is 7.5 mph so (maybe) not that much slower than your usual ride.

You can re-use your biking base layers, stupid beanies and technical socks. Just need the shoes

Go whatever the weather and and there's no cleaning up! No mud no muc-off no hosepipes!

A whole new world of Strava segments awaits

Retiring from Radness

Never.

#radtillidie

I agree the slop we've had for months now is depressing, but you get diamond days too I find. Sounds like you need a new bike.

Instead of

I find myself out on CX bike on Sustains routes bimbling from cafe to cafe or pub to pub instead of getting on with it.

try

In winter I tend to stick to Sustrans routes on my CX bike. I ride at the limit of my fitness and technical skill on the CX bike. Eventually rewarding myself with a coffee or pint. When the good trails dry out and the weather warms I'll be a super-fit riding god able to best make use of the summer

We haven't been out for a week or so 🙁 The roads are covered in salt and packed with entitled morons in ****er tankers and everywhere interesting is hub deep mud and/or icy water. I don't mind a bit of gloop but it's just a PITA dealing with the aftermath when we get home. Meh. Winter can GRTF.

First ride on MTB this weekend after neck arm injury in November. Still bimble about on the flat though. January sucks. Cheered myself up by deciding to go bikepacking in Nepal. Radness never goes you just have to look harder to find it the older you get!

Like rocketman I've been running my usual trails as the slop has been pretty sloppy this year. Last on the bike in January

For shame

I think it's seasonal lag - in November and even some of December you think "I'm still wearing shorts, we're not done yet" but come end Feb and the weather is still pants and you're thinking "sick of the slop and cold and the endless dark" but a couple of dry weeks and a warmer weekend and the mojo starts all over again

I’m never “rad” when I’m in the grim north - how rad can an old fart scratching around in sloppy woods and peat bogs on a rigid singlespeed be anyway?

The nearest I’ll get to radness is this summer in Greece, in hot sunny weather and on rocky, grippy, steep trails in biggish mountains. Although “rad” in this context is the Tobi Leonhardt, Axel Kreuter, Harald Phillip kind of radness, not “the hooning about landing big drops to flat and big doubles with endless manuals thrown in for good measure” kind...

I could never do that anyway.

I'm happy to be called a fairweather rider but the trails have been fine around here (SW Scotland) so been getting out all winter and still in (waterproof) shorts. Recently booked flights, car hire, etc for another 'ultimate' US roadtrip so that keeps the old interest (or is it called 'stoke') high 🙂

Depends on what you class as Rad i guess.

I've retired from the concept of trying to jump gaps, drops, walls etc... It's just not me. I'm now pushing towards 50 and falling off and crashing REALLY hurts now.

I'm still an Afan type guy, rocky rooty twisty turny.... But i'm staying right away from the insanity of pushing boundaries.

Barely rode at all last year (possibly 5 times) and only been out once this year so far.

I want to do it but getting my arse into gear is just too much hard work. TBH I think I'm still too wary after a bad accident almost 4 years ago now so just not enjoying it as much as I used to.

I do so want to get back out there though and try & get some of my radness back.

I'm with PP on this.

rad is massively overrated. I'd suggest the only important thing is having fun, but actually the only important thing is being happy (there's a subtle difference).

I've been giving my normal "rad" trail riding a rest this winter because of the reward/effort imbalance, but I've been keeping a base level of fitness by choosing a slop-free  (and thrill-free) loop that mostly involves canal paths and sustrans tracks, so I know that when decent trails return I'll be ready to take advantage. Can't run any more due to a cartilage - free knee and at my age I'm well into the use it or lose it years so I feel I have to keep going. I find that having a routine of riding Tue/Thur/Sun regardless of conditions frees me from the "shall I shan't I?" quandary and even allows me to revel grimly in the grimness of it all and I always find even when the ride is awful that I feel so much better afterwards

This winter has been a real slog. I generally ride in a group of three and this winter we have ridden one of 3 drier routes, twice a week. I swear, if it wasn't for the fact that I ride with other people I would have just stuck to walking the dog this year.

At least the snow was something different to ride in.

As for radness, when I hit 50, I bought myself a 130/120 mm full sus, as I know in the future I'm not likely to be hitting anything big.

I didn't get into mountain biking properly until my late 40s after many years as a roadie. I'm still pushing myself to try to develop the skills that would allow me to keep up with the youngsters, but a few broken bones have put me right off the idea of more crashes, which makes progress slow. Bad weather has never bothered me though. It just gives me a good excuse to avoid the more technical trails and spin along the easier stuff watching the seasons change, which is what I enjoy really anyway. It's the good weather that's a problem for me, as then I've got no excuse not to ride the stuff that frightens the crap out of me!

I find this every year around now as my patience starts to wear thin. The odd trip to a trail centre can revive it slightly.
Then all of a sudden the trails dry out sometime in March/April, speeds pick up and flow returns.
Good that you're staying fit enough to make the most of it. I'm trying to do the same.

Cross/Grave/Adventure bikes are amazing things!