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On a nice summers evening pootle last night, I couldn't get the current BBC advert out of my head. But then I got thinking, what has Mountain biking ever done for me? So, in no particular order..
It helped end a toxic way of living that I had ended up in, getting me some much needed exercise, helped me stop smoking and given me a much healthier outlook on life.
It has taken me to some beautiful holiday locations around the world.
It has given me & MrsReady a hobby to grow old together with, and made us much stronger as a couple.
There are so many more positives and I'm really hard pushed to think of a single negative, except for the financial cost of getting started. But in the grand scheme of things - is it really that expensive?
So, what has Mountain Biking ever done for you?
It probably saved my life. I wrote about it at the time
https://singletrackworld.com/2015/10/throwback-thursday-my-prozac-2/
Briefly…
Friendship (alright mate? ^).
Mental and physical health benefits.
Excuse to buy kit.
Multiple sheds.
I started in 1992ish and just used to do it because it was loads of fun and a good laugh with my mates. Building jumps and generally dicking around in the woods etc.
As I've gotten older though, it's been a good way to challenge myself, given me a greater appreciation of nature and the great outdoors, kept me fit(ish), made me content with my own company (since all my biking mates have quit or moved away, and my work family schedule means it's hard to commit to plans with others anyway) and in more recent years it's been a massive benefit to my mental health and a much needed distraction from day to day stresses.
The only downside is I can't do it all day everyday... and the longer it's been since my last ride the more the aforementioned stresses start to pile on top of me. I think I like it so much it's made me less content with everything else.
I've been riding since about 1990 with mates, messing about in the local park etc. But as gotten older, I have built a core group of good mates from riding. It could be a day out to a local trail (I'm in Worcestershire, UK), could be a weekend to Wales or could be a week to Scotland or over to Morzine.
Like many I work in front of a computer all day or have a mobile stuck to my face and work in what can be a stressful industry (I'm a mortgage broker) so to have time to just get out there is fantastic for the mind. Tomorrow I am off to Long Mynd, not far, from home but when at the top, it is fantastic. It is great for the mind even if only out for an hour local, still find it a great release from office life.
It hasn't done many favours on the bank balance however.
I took my 14 year old nephew to Cannock only a few weeks ago, he had never done anything like it before but had a new Trek Marlin. I will just leave you with his comments at the end of the ride.. (genuinely)
'Wow, what an incredible way to spend an afternoon, thank you Stu'
Three concussions, two broken ribs, ruptured bicep tendon and a torn rotator cuff.
And the best antidote to mental heath issues I've tried.
Oh don't go there with the injuries!
I got a sun tan for the first time in I don't know how long and it really highlighted the scars on my arms and shins. Some have stories behind them, most are just because I fell off my bike in some shit manner or other.
most are just because I fell off my bike in some shit manner or other.
It wouldn't be right not to post an example of you in action 🙂
I also remember getting to the bottom of a descent near Hebden Bridge and coming across your bike on the floor, but no sign of you. Then I heard a groan from a nearby ditch. That wasn't funny though, because you had actually succumbed to the pre-holiday curse of the Monday Night Pub ride and properly spannered yourself
The BMX crash was 12 years ago! I have a large patch of pink skin on my left elbow that will forever remind me of it!
Then I heard a groan from a nearby ditch.
I got up and went over to Chipps who was holding a black bike. I went to get it and he said "this is mine, yours is over there somewhere" pointing towards a light source in the long grass. The distance to retrieve it was big enough to register on Strava.
pre-holiday curse of the Monday Night Pub ride
Drove to Suffolk the Saturday after with a some crunchy goings on in my left hand and wrist that I daren't tell the wife about. Still struggle opening jars to this day!
Friends, has kept me fit and healthy, taken me to some incredible places, given me something to do (researching places to ride/stuff to buy etc) on the internet whilst I should be working.
Met my wife - although she doesn't even ride a bike.
Gone to some places I would've otherwise never been to; Whistler, Utah, Morocco.
Some Friends who regardless of time and distance apart can just fall into conversation because of time spent together in the past.
Seen things you people wouldn't believe...
Started in 1987 as a teenager as an alternative to windsurfing on those windless days.
Given me amazing riding in many beautiful places with loved ones and friends.
Kept me fittish. Technically I think I'm riding better than I ever have.
Its been great to have a hobby that all the family do and as a parent made me proud to watch my little girls grow into teenagers and now beautiful young women still enjoying it as much as I am. Both far better riders than mum and dad
Apart from Kevins accident there's not alot I would change
Its the glue that holds some of my oldest friends together, who have all gone seperate ways in pretty much every other way but we still 'go play out on bikes' like we did when we were teenagers.
Its also cost me an absolute f**cktonne of money 🤣
Its been great to have a hobby that all the family do
I’m sat in the uplift at Innerleithen with my son - something I wouldn’t have contemplated doing a couple of years ago. As above, great for fitness in to later years and mental health in general.
it's given me an obsession.
an escape from the day to day
motivation to be fitter
an opportunity to geek out to new and old technology
the ability to share and connect with like minded individuals
also the ability to be by myself.
retail therapy 😉
knee pain, arthritic knuckles and a few disfiguring scars 😉
nah Im joking, Im many kg lighter than my brothers for whom beer and watching football is their thing, Ive had amazing adventures in the wildest places, made some brilliant mates, raced and ridden all over the place , as my kids are growing up Ive been able to take them with me
its a brilliant mental health reset too, my weekly evening/night rides are my 'me time' focusing on grip in a corner or making a sketchy jump makes all the other crap go away
There's something about the zen state you get into when the wheels are just rolling, and you're concentrating on your line, when to pedal, where to have your weight, that little eeeeh-ooof moment as you land well or make it round a tight tree. There's nothing like it.
There's a line in Fight Club, something about "it becomes the reason for staying in shape, for trimming your nails, keeping your hair short", I think of it sometimes when I go through a spell of riding often. It's great, gives you a real focus on something that's healthy exercise but also (crucially) fun!
"You lot dick about in the woods like a bunch of kids"
Absolutely! I remember working with a particularly pompous and humourless roadie and showing him videos of some of the stuff we'd just been riding in Morzine. He looked at me in disgust and said "so you just put your bikes on a chairlift, roll back down again, then do it again, like some kind of fairground ride?"
Indeed we do, you joyless ****! Thats the whole point! 😀
I'd say cycling in general, as I'm mainly a road cyclist as MTB was tiny when I started properly at 16 in 1986. Joined a road club, got a decent bike and that was history. Bought a top of the range road bike when I was 20 and a decent MTB in about 92 (I still have it) - we all used to go out on the MTB to do something a bit different, including us all doing Snowden on a freak day in February when there wasn't a cloud in the sky (must have been nuts on a rigid bike). Stuck to road, bit of road racing and mainly time trials until the kids and jobs cut the time down on the bike. Got back into it serious again 19 years ago, and was back commuting which led to a broken spine about 11 years ago.
At this point I switched to MTB and bought a full suspension, road bikes were put on hold. It's only been in more recent years have I gone back to road as well, but very cautious where I ride, although I do commute again since covid, I'm careful of the routes.
Seem to have done more on the CX bike and haven't touched the MTB for 18 months, as the FS is a bit OTT for what I generally use the CX bike for, plus I've tried to do nothing too stupid the last 18 months since breaking my pelvis and hip socket (avoiding falling on it again).
Certainly helps with general mental health, built some great friends up, although we all tend to ride solo/commute most of the time. We usually go away for a few days riding and beers, or a bit of bike packing etc. We usually have at least one casualty though on each trip, hoping the week away in December bucks that trend. Actually, despite my accident record, one lad has had a mechanical, then a dodgy knee, then a big crash that stopped him completing the weekend, and another lad, mechanical, fitness issues, and a massive crash that stopped him.
Oh man, where to start. Friends. Purpose. Health. Relaxation. Adventure. Distraction from work. Family who are bikers for life (and better than me, natch).
A lighter bank balance.
I bought a rockhopper the year I got married '86, bikes are for life but the marriage only 15 years
I mostly use a gravel with Mahle assist now but love the Di2 and hydraulic brakes
Just now on a dry evening I sometimes bimble on my 1990 rockhopper 7 speed unmarked with maybe 100 miles on the clock
Almost back to how I started
Kept me sane and stopped me turning to drink a the worst of times.
Made me laugh until I've nearly wet myself and made excellent lifelong friends at the best of times.
Made me much poorer many times, which might partly explain the stopping me turning to drink occasionally as I just couldn't afford that and nice shiny bits.
"You lot dick about in the woods like a bunch of kids"
Something to that effect needs to be on the next STW t-shirt @Ben_Haworth - although maybe leave out the kids bit.
Something to that effect needs to be on the next STW t-shirt @Ben_Haworth - although maybe leave out the kids bit.
Or "Playing out with your Bikey Friends?"
I've had my arse slapped by a saddle countless times,
I've been scared shitless in an incident involving a tree,a cliff and a clip that didn't release when I needed it to,
I've given up riding clipped in on the mtb for 20 years,
and returned to it occasionally last year
I have been to places and had experiences for which I truly am thankful, days I'll never forget
I ve had friendship that really lasts
Days when I have really lived
I've ridden to a bothy (Culra)and been woken up during the night by the sound of dozens of galloping horses all around the bothy
Even the days when I ended up covered in mud from my ankles to my oxters, at the bottom of some tiny anonymous hill near Linlithgow,
We washed ourselves down at the local car wash as we were that wet anyway
It's fortified my constitution. Certain internal organs too. Heart, though probably not liver.
I'd say lungs, but I've smoked them to death.
Ebiking has left my legs thinner, but somewhat wiry.
Visibly, you can tell I'm a cyclist by my shins.
It's left me mindful of others on the road and to remain chill..
They widened my idea of what my world was, it was smaller before MTBs. More 'bikes' than 'mountain biking' specifically, it was BMX that got me into bikes, then MTBs got me into riding places that were close by really, but felt like adventures to a handful of 13 year olds messing about in the hills and the woods. Then road bikes that took me even further, back to MTBs to go the furthest I've ever been. Racing XC as a kid taught me there was more to 'athletics' than school PE and not all sport was pointless rules and balls stuff. And it's been a outlet for creativity. Mostly it's still just a bit of space whenever it's needed.
Bikes are our greatest invention and the best £ you'll ever spend if you get a good un.
It got me on biking holidays in Vail, Colorado, for the ‘94 World Championships, Chamonix and the Parc du Volcans in France.
pretty much everything i do and have done since 1985 has been connected to mtb,ing or cycling.
Tons..... and i mean tons of friends....... my hardcore group and i have been riding together for 30 years and still go on a yearly riding holiday now we are all in our 60's.
kept me sane through some horrible times in my life, which in turn has kept my marriage on a very even keel.
made my relationship with my wife stronger as the years have passed...... she is my main riding partner now, we cycle together most days.
and one of the best thing ever is that i have ridden with my son from him being a toddler.... he is now 36 and now i ride with my grandson who is 6 and loves cycling as much as i do. been to Leeds urban bike park 3 times with him this week alone.
he has the bug.
when my time comes, hopefully i will be spinning up a huge hill after enjoying a good ride and a post ride pint.
Without the CTC and rough stuff touring I'd probably have a life similar to the kids I went to the secondary mod' with. I met people who inspired me to work at school and showed me a world beyond the Birmingham suburbs. I bought a French cycling magazine and persisted till I could read it.
When out of work and about to go broke my now wife and I got on bikes and rode down to Pau, started a business and prospered.
So as I look out on alpine peaks I know that getting mud on my tyres was a big part of getting here.
Three concussions, two broken ribs, ruptured bicep tendon and a torn rotator cuff.
And the best antidote to mental heath issues I've tried.
I see that and raise you, well, take your pick really.
Also some great parties (BBB for the first 5 years were possibly the best) and strange encounters. I met French Juan randomly on the train. I met Fred. I booked into a B&B which said they were booked until someone on here contacted them and told me to ring back - suddenly I had a room and a ride and a meal for the night.
Mountain biking has done a lot for me, and particularly for my wellbeing and fitness over the past 30 years.
But it has also made me meet my partner 2 years ago on a local ride. We are buying a house together, exchanging this month if all goes well...
It has bridged the gap left by not playing teams sports, which I loved, and has stopped me from becoming a couch potato. It has also introduced me to a whole new circle of friends. I am more of a road cyclist these days, but recently I have moved onto gravel and am now considering buying a new hardtail.
It's shaped my life over the last 25 years. I started riding properly at Glentress, that got me into trail building there, then a mate started building portable pump tracks and timber trails, we took them down to Portsmouth(?) and as far north as Thurso. During this time I helped with a kids club and got my leaders certificates (TCL and MBL). After a bit of a break for parenting I got back into trail building in the last year or two. Most of my closest friends I've made through biking and now my son has gotten back into it. It keeps me sane.
I can imagine most things you people have seen.
You people?
Hard to put into words really. My best mate can't ride anymore and he got me into it over 30 years ago. So, there's a tinge of sadness in my MTB life. Maybe it had a small hand in me getting divorced, but that's ok. Fact that my son now loves mountain biking is kinda wonderful. The days we've had out riding together, best days of my life.
Yeah, that's the short answer: What has Moutain Biking Done For Me? Given me some of the best days of my life.
