Hi SingleTrackWorld! It's been a long long long time coming, but I finally got myself out on the mountain bike today...and it was brilliant!
It was a comparatively short and easy route in the forest of dean, but it's the furthest I've ridden a bike in about 4 years and by the time I was spinning (well...in my head I was spinning, in reality I was probably crawling. On the granny ring.) back through the car park I realised I was actually grinning.
Bikes are great. Actually getting out and riding them is even better! Who knew?!
And I just wanted to share that with you all. Thanks for reading.
What a nice positive post. Welcome (back?) Mr Roadie.
Thankyou and thankyou!
It really is good to be back - I've browsed over the forums a bit over the past couple of weeks and found that I've felt lifted after reading the threads so guess I wanted to contribute my own bit of positivity.
Welcome back sir !
I did too, and I went to jump off a fat tree root sticking out of a bank, hit it at an angle, it was covered in slimey wet moss… I crashed, hard. Hurt both knees and both arms. My right knee has a lump the size of a tennis ball. But it was brillllliiiiaaant!
I will remember to wear knee and elbow pads next time 🤔
Hey @desperatebicycle - that sounds sore! Hope you're ok tomorrow and that the bike is ok!
Glad you had a great ride though. 🙂
I got out o man my bike for the first time this year after a nasty bug and side effects. Very slow pootle along a local blue trail but like you I came away grinning
@bentandbroken - hey that's great news to hear that you're well enough again to start getting out and about. Coming away with a big grin is something that I didn't realise that I was taking for granted and which makes such a massive difference to everything.
Hope this sets you up awesomely for the rest of the week.
I'm in a similar position but a little behind you. Not been out for a couple of years and really need to!
Don't know whether to get the road or the mountain bike ready first...
I heard a similar thing a few weeks ago. After about a year of not riding my bike, I went out, just a slow poodle, probably 20 miles on a gravel bike. Nothing Gnarr, nothing especially wonderful, but so damn good.
Bikes are brilliant.
Either one will do. At least in my experience both road (roads are pretty quiet where I am with exception of the A82)and MTB make me grin
@WorldClassAccident - DUDE! You're still around these parts! It's great to see your post - you're one of the folk that I recall from 'my life before' and I recall you generally managed to get me to raise a smile. Really good to hear from you! Glad you're getting out on the bike again.
@dannybgoode - If I may offer a thought? Just do what makes your heart happy.
For me, the mountain bike was my first love, so despite the time I spent on the road (I'm probably the biggest roadie you'll ever see), I always seem to come back to the mountain bike when I need to start finding answers again.
@dannybgoode - If I may offer a thought? Just do what makes your heart happy.
For me, the mountain bike was my first love, so despite the time I spent on the road (I'm probably the biggest roadie you'll ever see), I always seem to come back to the mountain bike when I need to start finding answers again.
I think either would to be honest. I'm a roadie at heart and love my road steed but then the child has been getting into the muddy stuff and that is very tempting.
Got sucked into running the last few years so must get back at it...
I had 4 or 5 years off myself before early last year a friend convinced me to start cycling again and I'm glad they did. I'm probably cycling more now than I've ever done, have got sucked into the world of gravel riding (inc. in the FoD) and have my first ever bike packing trip planned in June. I also got hit by a car in January and fractured my hip but hey it's still an overall positive! :p
@fuzzywuzzy - I hear you, I had a big smash myself a number of years ago. In some ways the recover was tougher than the incident! Hope you're recovering ok and that the prep for the bike packing trip goes ok.
I was thinking actually - if anyone rides in the FoD maybe a meetup might be nice - a single lap of the collier's trail is about all I can manage at the moment though. Hoping that I can increase this.
Sounds like alot of things pulling you in alot of directions there, friend. I hope that I'm not projecting here and hope it's helpful to observe - if not feel free to disregard - that what you've written feels alot like how I felt a few weeks ago...knowing what I 'should' do but not feeling what I 'want' to do. Does that distinction make sense to you?
Lovely inspirational post. Thanks for sharing! I recently had a bit of an enforced lay-off due to illness and recovery from treatment, so know exactly what you mean. It was only a couple of months, but at my lowest point, the thought of riding again seemed remote.
My first ride afterwards was a very slow, wobbly and short road pootle, but was probably one of my best and most memorable rides. I was simply euphoric at being able to ride again and being reminded how great a simple bike ride can make you feel.
I'm not one generally to ascribe thoughts or emotions to inanimate objects. However, there is undeniably some real magic hiding inside that modest, pedal powered contraption in the corner of your garage.
Great post op - I've just started out volunteering at a local all ability cycling group, where people of varying difficulties and abilities get to cycle round an athletics track for an hour - the mixture of happiness & determination from the participants is a joy to witness.
That's probably the most Likes I've ever seen on a STW forum post, by a considerable margin. Well done. 😁
I bike to work mostly, this morning, running late I really should have gone the faster full road way. As I approached the turning to low/no traffic route on the gravel path that takes slightly longer, I may have been heard to utter **** it, and came the more fun way.
Even when the end destination is work bikes still make the journey more fun. I haven't done much riding for fun for ages, but all my rides are fun so that counts in my mind!
Sorry chaps - so I don't artificially inflate the thread I'll reply to you all inline below:
@blokeuptheroad - I know what you mean about the ridiculousness of emotive attachment to inanimate objects - but also - you're right. There's something about a bike which is special...
@dickyboy - YES! Kudos to you for giving something back to the local community. Also what you've said resonates with me from when I was a coach for a while - the commitment that the kids put into week after week was so inspiring.
@Cougar - ...now there's a name...you've been around here for a while I think? Good to see you again too! 🙂 I had to go and check out what you meant by 'likes' though. I don't think we had those 'when I were a lad'. 😉
@toby1 - glad you got to work with a grin. As I reminded myself when it started to rain on me yesterday 'a bad day on the bike is better than a good day in the office'.
This thread inspired me to go for a proper ride last weekend for the first time since January. Been utterly buried with work and stuff so kept putting off riding apart from commuting. Just cruised it, but felt really good afterwards. Might even do it again this weekend.
I haven't ridden a bike for two days and I'm feeling withdrawal symptoms already.
Well I at least got my mountain bike ready and had a few goes down the steps in our garden just to tune the forks.
May get up to Greno/Wheata this week for an easy trail loop.
The child was beginning to properly send his off them. They're not massively steep but given he's pretty new to riding he was doing well
