[Closed] Why am I not enjoying the Dark side?

I think you know the answer.....

Your not doing it right...

Either it is a lovely pootle, relaxing, looking at the scenary, chatting and just getting out in the countryside

Or, it is a flat out pain fest trying to improve your strava time no time to get bored as your doing your best to not puke.

- most of my rides seem to be the latter.

Just think of the benefits when you get back on your mountain bike, I have seen a massive improvement in fitness in one year of road riding. More road miles = ability to do more off road miles.

I always aim to get one 2-3 hour offroad ride in a week, and 2-5 hours road depending on work

if you don't enjoy it and you wont train to get fit enough then ditch it

For Clarity I am a darkside rider

I found the same thing. Bought a road bike for the commute. Hated it! Stuck with it for a bit as surely if so many people enjoy it, then I must be missing something. I wasn't! They're shite! Its only thinking of getting on a proper bike that stopped me dying of boredom. Then I had a think about it, and remembered that the roadies I know are some of the most boring, pompous, terminally dull people I've ever met, and it all fell into place

So I sold the road bike, bought a decent hardtail (P7) instead, commuted on that and opted for the longer off-road, infinitely-more-fun route home.

I'd cut your losses and do the same

Have you joined a road club yet? That's probably your answer. Roads are like trails, the best (i.e. trafic free, nice views, nie climbs and a cafe at the end) ones are often a bit more hidden than slogging up and down Snakes Pass.

Slagging off road riding without giving it a propper go is like slagging off MTB in the Peaks after riding the Tissington trail.

Also it rewards fitness much more than MTB. There's nowhere to hide it 'being sociable pushing up hills', if you're unfit it's chuffin miserable plodding round busy roads on your own at 13mph averages.

The advantages are huge fitness increaces, even the 'steady' (code for 'slow group') Sunday ride is quick by my standards, yet offroad I'm probably one of the fitter/faster ones in any group! And that extra speed makes MTB mroe fun.

Road biking is all about self-flagellation. Wimps need not apply. So get yourself a GPS, sign up for Strava, and get ready for the suffering 😈

Almost forgot - it's also about drinking lots of tea and eating cake. Something roadies and MTB'ers have in common.

It's still boring however, even having ridden in the Alps.

But it is good for fitness.

and i'm not fit enough to race them for 2 hours

Therein is your problem, you can hide a lack of fitness off road far more easily than on the road.

Either cut your losses and accept you are unfit, or do something about it and get fit. Personnally i find being road fit helps off road in that i can ride longer, further, faster and enjoy the MTB more.

Using the inaccurate thing that is Strava, i am mid list roadie and one of the fastest mtbers in the area! The difference in fitness is vast between an average MTBer and an average Roadie.

Stuck with it for a bit as surely if so many people enjoy it, then I must be missing something.

A set of balls 😆

or an extremely high threshold to boredom?

😉

I think DT78 sums it up perfectly. I found the same and most established roadies seem really good at hiding the pain they are going through.

However my fitness on mtb and ability to suffer has improved exponentially so much so that a painful road session becomes fuel for mtb capability IMO.

Edit: plus I found I enjoy the hard work.

Sounds like OP isn't interested in the fitness aspect of cycling - which is allowed, of course - so buying a road bike was a mistake I suspect

If you don't enjoy it don't do it. As TINAS says, you need to find the better routes either by joining a club or trying a bit harder yourself.

I never really had time to commit to regular club rides so ended up plotting what looked like good routes through Google Maps, putting them onto GPS, and then riding them and diverting as I saw more interesting options.

It's a great feeling when you're chugging along at <whatever>mph down a lovely country lane on a sunny Sunday morning.

I find myself bored riding around lanes and roads just spinning away thinking about getting my trail bike out and doing some jumps.

Spinning? try a harder gear.

I've done a few group rides with mates but it's difficult to talk with cars around

Find better roads.

Ignore all the crap about suffering and pain - some people obviously didn't get hugged enough as a child. 😀

Buy a barbag & a huge saddlebag or some panniers.
Throw your bike computer away.
Take a good book, a camera, some decent food and go exploring. 🙂

It's not a race, you know.
Avoid people who think & dress like it is.
They tend to be very boring, unless they actually are racers.
(And no, 'Sportives' are not racing - they are Audaxes for fantasists with too much money).

If you want to go for a ride with decent people, join the CTC.
They always know the best cake stops.

I think it can be fun
Picking a place 30-50miles away and riding there
Attacking a decent with some good corners really fast
Hanging onto the back wheel of a faster rider with the skin of your teeth
Getting a good tan while you enjoy the scenery

Avoid riding at rush hour and spend some time looking over Google maps for proper country lanes
Quick and easy to get out without the faff of mtb too

Must have the wrong bike.

You have two choices basically (and the pros and cons can be debated just as well as any wheel size debate the MTB'ers enjoy):

1/ Spend a ridiculous amount of money on some overly expensive, mass produced carbon tat that someone has stuck Trek, Scott, Cannondale etc onto the tubes and then adorn it with even more expensive ultra lightweight wheels groupsets etc and then never be happy that its still not as light as someone elses

2/ Spend a ridiculous amount of money on a beautifully crafted if somewhat slight heavy, hand made steel jobbie, spend a further ridiculous amount of retro NOS vintage bits and bobs and a nice Brooks saddle and grow a beard. You won't care so much about the weight but will come out in a rash if you're within 5 feet of anything made of carbon.

Once you have picked which camp to join you will get out and ride to prove that you are batting for the right side, push yourself way into the red uphills and generally laugh and sneer at anyone who bats for the other team.

Personally I am firmly in camp 2 (without the beard).

Cheers

Danny B

you need to find the better routes either by joining a club

Cheers,
Jamie

Enter a few crit races, they are only 40 minutes ish long so really easy (honest! :wink:)

It's not that I dont enjoy the fitness aspect, I purposely sprinted a small steep climb yesterday to improve my Strava score and everytime I go out I try to increase my average speed and strava position however I can see that I wont be as fast as the top guys whereas when I get to the top of Upper cliff at the chase I get the red mist and really enjoy improving my technique like cornering and jumps to get a faster segment. I just don't get that on the road bike at all, I'm going to MTFU after my exam on friday and do my usual route at an average that makes me throw up I reckon. Whats a good average for 20miles?

Ignore all the crap about suffering and pain - some people obviously didn't get hugged enough as a child.

'Tis true 🙁

There are 2 types of endurance athlete - those trying to run away from something, and those trying to prove something 😉

Roadies are bikers that can't MTB.

And Mountain Bikers are just bikers that moan alot! 😉

I find myself bored riding around lanes and roads just spinning away thinking about getting my trail bike out and doing some jumps

It sounds like you know how to ride a mtb. Road is always going to be dull if you can jump a mountain bike and ride trails at a decent level.

Fire a few kids out, then you'll be grateful even for a road ride on a rainy day

I must be in the very small minority, I enjoy beasting myself up a hill on the road bike as much as i like riding downhill on the mtb.

With anything the more you do it, the better you become and therefore enjoy it more 🙂

Fire a few kids out, then you'll be grateful even for a road ride on a rainy day

Cheers,
Jamie

Whats a good average for 20miles?

20mph? Depends on your fitness as that's the only limiting factor, I'd be happy at 17-18mph over an hour on my own, 16-17 over 4 hours in a group.

It sounds like you know how to ride a mtb. Road is always going to be dull if you can jump a mountain bike and ride trails at a decent level.

Naaaa, being able to jump/hop is almost as much use on the road, you've got 4 options when face with a pothole appearing under your front wheel.

1) trash your wheel
2) crash into the guy on the left
3) crash into the guy on the right
4) jump it

Given the state fo the roads this is a fairly ongoing thought process on some roads!

There are 2 types of endurance athlete - those trying to run away from something, and those trying to prove something

...never were truer words said on STW!

This made me laugh, for its veracity too:

Then I had a think about it, and remembered that the roadies I know are some of the most boring, pompous, terminally dull people I've ever met, and it all fell into place

I'm following the OP on this. I used to hammer it on the road compulsively each week as part of my endurance athlete 'road miles', but now I only use the road bike for short road sessions in the winter once a week when it's too minging to ride off road. I think I've also turned into a 'fair weather MTBer' too now 😆 Strangely though, I also seem to be enjoying all of this two-wheeled stuff a hell of a lot more now... 😉

http://app.strava.com/activities/61180138

That was yesterdays ride which was fairly comfortable, certainly not sprinting all the way around. Too slow?

The one thing I loved about roadbikes was finding a cadence (doesnt have to be fast) and spinning it then dropping into a daydream/trance.

Try it- don't bother with group rides. Make it a really early start so no traffic to keep prompting you. Enjoy the sights around you.

If you want to sell and you are 6-6ft2 - email me.

Looking at that I don't think you need to worry about fitness - just get the Cotic! 🙂

I really enjoy road rides but only when in a group, gets bored quickly if out on my own. You need some goals though really, whether it's a certain distance, sportives or races otherwise you'll probably only want to get out on a nice summer's day, of which there's about 10 per year.

If you're riding road just to get fitter/faster and you're doing it on your own against the clock then it's going to be dull and unsatisfying, unless you're an anti-social masochist (also known as 'time trialist').
Join a club; you'll get your motivation from comparing yourself with others and, despite what MTBers think, roadies are a friendly bunch who enjoy a good crack (they just haven't worked out why those weirdos on overgrown BMX bikes keep waving at them).
Doesn't have to be an out-and-out racing club, you'd be surprised at just how fit and fast the people are on a standard Sunday club run or CTC ride.

It sounds like you know how to ride a mtb. Road is always going to be dull if you can jump a mountain bike and ride trails at a decent level.

Don't really agree. They're totally different things and I have places for both of them in my life. I don't ride the road bike to jump off things but I've had massive adrenaline rushes when descending off mountains flat out. I would defy any cyclist to get on a road bike at the top of a 15-20km descent and not have fun hooning down.

you'd be surprised at just how fit and fast the people are on a standard Sunday club run or CTC ride.

watch out for the 80 year old on some old beaten up 531 bike, riding along at 14-15mph, 12 hours later he will still be riding along at 14-15mph chatting whilst you are on the floor dying!!!

. I would defy any cyclist to get on a road bike at the top of a 15-20km descent and not have fun hooning down.

that'll be me, give me a 20km climb and i am happy though...

went out on Saturday, 135miles, out to the Gospel Pass, lovely way to spend the day, not fast, about 9hours, just taking in the scenery and watching the world go by.

Plan your routes properly - search out winding lanes up silly hills, with good surfaced main road descents 🙂

I disagree about riding in a group. Yes, group riding can be fun with the banter flowing and a good cake stop but I love getting out on my own - nothing to think about but my own thoughts - bliss.

Cheers

Danny B

as others said it's about pain and suffering, if you aren't hurting yourself (or just pootling enjoying the scenery) you aren't doing it right.

I would defy any cyclist to get on a road bike at the top of a 15-20km descent and not have fun hooning down.

watch out for the 80 year old on some old beaten up 531 bike

I've got into road-riding recently after the gauntlet was thrown down to ride the LEL in July.

So I got a cheap road bike, had a blast at the Northern Cyclone last year. [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-cheap-ribble-road-bike ] That bike is now for sale (Hora)[/url] and I've built up something that wil be more suited for the LEL.

I'm absolutly loving it. The distances you can go, the things you see. I rode home from Essex to Northumberland (600km) last bank holiday weekend. This saturday, I'm riding 400km to Edinburgh and back.

The only problem I have is the sheer time it eats up. I can't be bothered going for a 2 hour ride as it does nothing for me. Go large and then go home. 🙂

And road descents are a blast on the right bike. Mine's actually s cross bike, with disc brakes, so I'm very confident of its handling.

That said, the MTB comes first and these recent dry conditions I've been avoiding the tearmac as much as possible....

Presumably something you get used to

Definitely. The first time I got over 30mph I thought I was going to die. Perversely, my first road bike crash was hitting a pothole at about 5mph. No blood, lots of embarrassment.

Might have to search out some long decents that does sounds appealing. Any around the Staffordshire area?

I rarely look forward to a road ride like I do a mountain bike one but afterwards I actually more likely to be buzzing after a road ride.

There is no point in you carrying on. Give road bike to SaxonRider.

I would defy any cyclist to get on a road bike at the top of a 15-20km descent and not have fun hooning down

I did catch myself making motorbike noises riding down Yad Moss into Midlleton-in-Teesdale the other week...

I don't think I 'get' the enjoyment thing on a road bike, either....

I bought one at the end of last year to try and get out on the road a bit more and get my fitness levels up. I haven't ridden it that much, but I just don't enjoy riding on the road. I can manage a couple of hours, but I find it boring.
It is a good way to get miles in and fitness up, but enjoyable; nope. Not for more. It's more like an outdoors gym session.

I must be in the very small minority, I enjoy beasting myself up a hill on the road bike as much as i like riding downhill on the mtb.

Bollocks.

Ross, I'm not too far from you and get out on the road bike a fair bit. I don't think there's any massive descents, but I've found sone nice roads out towards the Leicestershire countryside starting from Tamworth. I like them because they're generally pretty quiet. Only downside is there always seems to be a bit of a headwind.

I'm not massively quick (average around 16.5 miles an hour) but feel free to drop me a line if you fancy a spin out. You might think that it's still crap, but you mind find the roads ok.

Personally I prefer MTB's but I'm much fitter since getting a road bike and the lack of faff is ace. I like being able to ride from the front door after work etc.

Don't really agree. They're totally different things and I have places for both of them in my life. I don't ride the road bike to jump off things but I've had massive adrenaline rushes when descending off mountains flat out. I would defy any cyclist to get on a road bike at the top of a 15-20km descent and not have fun hooning down.

Then you are in the minority. Off all the people I know who are skilled bike handlers none of them would rather go out on a road bike unless it is pissing it down and the trails are a bog.

Lets face it, when you can bunny hop, manual, drift round corners, pump and jump, road riding is almost always going to be a poor relation.

If you are poor at bike handling then I can see the appeal of road.

kudos100 - Member

It sounds like you know how to ride a mtb. Road is always going to be dull if you can jump a mountain bike and ride trails at a decent level.

Not in my experience, road riding's just a different buzz. Speed is fun. 🙂

I must be in the very small minority, I enjoy beasting myself up a hill on the road bike as much as i like riding downhill on the mtb.

Bollocks.

You need a big set yes.

For me, road riding is for fitness and catching up with my road riding friends. It's easy to keep the bike clean, efficient, can cover long distance comfortably and good for a quick ride after work without any faff.
Road riding makes getting fit a lot easier than mountain biking.

However... mountain biking is the closest I will ever get to being 8 years old again.

kudos, i think your missing a huge detail, why people ride. IF you want to be good you need to be fit, which means road miles, if you enjoy getting out in the country road/mtb, doesn't really make much difference. If your one of the new school MTBers for whom the point is riding downhill then maybe your right.

An Kudos i suspect your "skilled bike handlers" aren't really that skilled... i find there are a lot of riders who think they are far better than they really are. Seems to be a trait of mtbers!

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Mostly been said, but road riding is more fun the faster you get.

Also sort yourself out some decent loops with a lot of variety. Find some good climbs and descents. That route you posted looks pretty flat (was your max speed really 56.8 mph or was that a gps glitch?)

If you don't enjoy it then you just don't enjoy it. It probably has nothing to do with bike handling or fitness. There are many things I don't enjoy that thousands of other people do, I just accept it and do the things I do like.

Having said that I do really like riding my road bike so I must be dull and crap on an MTB.

I'm also in the love road climbing (and mtb climbing) over descending camp. But then I don't have the physique of the typical MTB-er 😉 .

I suggest the OP goes out on a CTC or other club Sunday run, sociable, fat-burning, fitness boosting, cake foraging. I went out with the beginners in or club last night for some ride leader practice, and if you can't sing or chat, then you are trying too hard. A couple of the guys were of the just-bought-a-road-bike camp, but all but one took to riding through and off just fine.

Road riding can be just as sociable as MTB. As long as you don't go out with the fast group - then it's a world of pain (in a nice way).

There's nothing magic about road biking that makes you fitter than MTBing. If you want to get faster you can perfectly well do it on the trails whilst having fun at the same time.

I find road riding more fun if I have big monster climbs to do, but you may not 🙂 The reason I do it is that when it works out well it allows me to get a sustained workout and enter a sort of meditative state (I think endorphins are involved) without being disturbed by trail obstacles, mud, dog walkers etc. It's also quite nice to be able to cover a lot of ground and feel like you've really travelled, instead of going round in circles in your local woods. Of course MTB can be lik that too, and is ace when it is, but you've got to be lucky to have that option where you live without ironically doing miles of road or driving.

Don't get me wrong, I still prefer mtb overall, but road has its place in my life. I wouldn't say that needs to be the case for everyone though.

Plan your routes properly - search out winding lanes up silly hills, with good surfaced main road descents

Then you are in the minority. Off all the people I know who are skilled bike handlers none of them would rather go out on a road bike unless it is pissing it down and the trails are a bog.

Lets face it, when you can bunny hop, manual, drift round corners, pump and jump, road riding is almost always going to be a poor relation.

If you are poor at bike handling then I can see the appeal of road.

It's funny, because some of the gobshite roadies have a similar sort of thing to say about MTB but revolving around fat pie eaters who can't go up hill without uplift or getting off the bike. They're as wrong as you are.

I think what you're saying is YOU don't like road bikes which is fine, but it doesn't make you right about anyone who does.

kudos, i think your missing a huge detail, why people ride. IF you want to be good you need to be fit, which means road miles, if you enjoy getting out in the country road/mtb, doesn't really make much difference. If your one of the new school MTBers for whom the point is riding downhill then maybe your right.

What does good mean to you? To me it means bike skills. You don't need to be amazingly fit to ride a bike with skill. It helps, but it is not the be all and end all.

An Kudos i suspect your "skilled bike handlers" aren't really that skilled... i find there are a lot of riders who think they are far better than they really are. Seems to be a trait of mtbers!

A number of them race Dh and do pretty well, so I'd say they were pretty decent bike handlers 😉

But what I, and presumably others above me, are saying is that we have the "rad skillz" you're talking about and love riding MTBs for that reason.

However, I love riding my road bike too. Choice is good.

It's funny, because some of the gobshite roadies have a similar sort of thing to say about MTB but revolving around fat pie eaters who can't go up hill without uplift or getting off the bike. They're as wrong as you are.

I think what you're saying is YOU don't like road bikes which is fine, but it doesn't make you right about anyone who does.

Never said I didn't like road bikes, its all bikes at the end of the day. What I said is that people who [i]I[/i] know who are decent on a mtb (and by decent I mean can ride proper DH, jump and flow) prefer the mtb every time.

I will be getting a road bike this year, as I cannot stand another winter of riding in a quagmire. Soon as it drys out I will be back on the MTB.

Mindmap thanks for the offer, I'll keep your address in mind for when i've got some free time.

I think I'm going to keep at it for a bit longer. I don't think i'll get the buzz some of you guys get but I'm ok with that if my fitness increases so i'll enjoy my MTB more. I think when i've got more free time next week i'll plan a longer ride with a nice stop half way, Maybe Ashbourne.

nervous handling, head down road bike with bugger all road contact and crap brakes doesn't fill me with confidence

It's in your head, the only things that scare me on road decents are oncoming cars and diesel. Road tyres are incredibly grippy compared to off road ones.

What does good mean to you? To me it means bike skills. You don't need to be amazingly fit to ride a bike with skill. It helps, but it is not the be all and end all.

I think what someone else said up there is true, some MTBers have far too overinflated ideas about

a) how difficult riding mountainbikes is
b) how good they are at it

The way you make MTBing a challenge is to ride hard up or down, cos it gets more exciting that way. I suppose the preferred way to make a road ride a challenge is to make it longer. 100 miles is epic in different ways - the first time you end up 50 miles from home and think 'f me, I am all the way out here without my car, I have to rely on my own strength to get home' is a good feeling, I reckon.

There's nothing magic about road biking that makes you fitter than MTBing.

It's in your head

Choice is good.

Amen Brother.

Thing is kudos to me a good rider is one who can get from a to b. uphill and downhill. I know a few riders who are good downhill but show them a technical climb and they haven't a clue.i know other riders who are ok dh but can climb, so who are the better riders?

Different skills, and very different ideas of acceptable risk.

generally a 3hour road ride is 3 hours of pedalling whereas a 3hour mtb ride is maybe 1.5 hours pedalling with a load of chat, faff, gate, style and other stops.

Speak for yourself. That's not intrinsic to mtbing or road biking, it's a characteristic of the kind of riding you do. Seems unlikely that a casual cake-stopping bimbler on the MTB will suddenly turn into a Team Sky candidate on the road bike. If want to get your head down off-road then go out on your own.

Do both and I love both.

Road biking is fun in a group and on my own for me. MTB is more fun with my mates.

I think the reason I enjoy it is because I can fire up the map, look at a place 200km away and go "I could ride there". It's freedom. and it's completely under your own power.

Plus with the road bike you have all the training metric geekery. Simpler to measure your improvements on it too if you ride solo a lot.

I don't get all the angst and disagreement about how others expresses thier likes and dislikes of each discipline - surely it's each to thier own?

Personally for reasons mentioned previously I've found it much more convenient / pleasant to get the road bike out during the winter slop, using the mtb singlespeed to break things up a bit.

This summer has brought a dilemma though, because I am enjoying the road bike club rides enough to ignore the mtbs, although I've enjoyed several MTB rides over the last couple of months.

That's why I've loved the road bike the last year. Moved to a new country and I already know it better than people who've been here for a decade or more. The reason? Road bike and the fact there's not much of the country I've not covered (it's a VERY small country).

I did the same with cyclocross. I bought a cx bike so i could mix it up abit and ride something different, but whenever I rode it, I was wishing I was on my mtb!

It didnt get me any fitter, was slower on the dh, not as much fun, and was generally Very uncomfortable. Lesson learnt for me.

For me road riding is much much better for fitness than offroad. If you follow a training plan it is much easier to stay in the right heart rate zones for the right length of time.

There are few trails where I can do that. Mountain biking is quite start / stop by nature whereas road is constant.

Anyways, got to say I was a hater but was driven to the road by trashed trails. Now love it.

And you don't have to spend a fortune, my carbon sram force rose cost £1800 and is perfect. Not sure I would notice spending more...

If you follow a training plan it is much easier to stay in the right heart rate zones for the right length of time

Yeah, if your training plan involves constant HR or power efforts. If you want a series of short max efforts then I reckon MTB is actually better. I find it far easier to properly bury myself for short efforts off-road cos it's just more fun and I don't focus on the pain. Also on steep climbs when you have to give it 100% just to avoid dabbing.

Watch American Flyers, spend every road ride afterwards humming the theme and thrashing along pretending to be Kevin Costner with trademark tash, Lycra and a Stetson.... Close thread.

Even without that I love road riding.

A lot of MTB pros train on road bikes. Wonder why?

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