Fun and mental health .

but I still have you on the descents!

Until he buys his new full sus….

I only ride my bike for fun. Love racing, it’s fun.

Until he buys his new full sus….

I was on the monstercross SS… 😉

There’s different types of fun though. Some things are “fun”, some things are “fulfilling”. I would describe the following things as fun: having a pint with my mates, going to a gig, eating a cake maybe.

But I find that putting time, effort, and discipline into a training plan for cycling is something that I get fulfilment out of. I don’t always want to do a set of zone 5 intervals after work or ride my bike in the rain, but watching my fitness increase over time and achieving an objective of some kind is on balance, overall, something that makes me happier. It’s rewarding to work hard at something and see the dividends.

I don’t go to the gym but lots of people say they love it- but I imagine they really mean that they find it fulfilling rather than “fun”. They probably have to motivate themselves to go sometimes, but do so because they like the result.

People who sneer at “miserable” roadies grimly pounding away in the rain clearly are missing the point entirely, and it should be self evident as it’s not hard to summise really.

Everyone’s different and if you like riding your bike purely for kicks then fair play to you. But try not to look down on others who are simply getting something slightly different out of it.

Strava has helped me enjoy my commutes over the last month by encouraging me to push myself harder, more for comparing my own segment times, but it’s fun seeing how many other riders I can beat on a skinny fatbike! 😆

I ride to work cos it’s better than getting the bus. Otherwise I only ever ride for fun. I endure the ups cos they get me to the downs and the views are nice sometimes!!

And the bonus is it keeps me fit(ish)…

Good post Duggan. Personally I think racing is the most fun you can have on a bike, chasing people round a course is like being a kid again, and you can go as fast as possible without worrying about walkers round the next bend. The social aspect after is good too.

Training is good too, it’s satisfying and the burn feels good – i’ve done two turbo sessions today!
There is even some perverse fun in those long winter z2/3 rides through the murk and mizzle

I’m really glad you asked, and I’m glad there’s such a positive response!

I only ride for fun. If you’re not enjoying it, it’s a waste of time IMO. (I’m fully aware there’re different definitions of fun, e.g. Ferrals above, who finds racing fun, and myself who just finds riding cool trails at my own speed fun)

Fun/thrill/fitness/just getting out there/views…never competed in anything bikey unless overtaking a mate on Stiniog Blue counts as competitive 😉

God I sound dull.

Yeah, interesting topic, and one i have mixed feelings on.

I very rarely go for a ride that isn’t training. Some training rides work out fun, some blend fun with suffering, and some are just suffering.

I dabble in racing – mostly endurance mtb events, and i know i’d be disappointed if i under-performed because i didnt give everything to my preparation.

Another huge reason i train is so i can get maximum enjoyment out of doing the really big stuff. For example i did Raid Corsica a few weeks back, 6 back to back days of 160km, 2400m climbing. Without the training it would have been a world of suffering – with the training it was awesome, little suffering, soaking up the views and flying up the hills if the mood took me.

Where’s the fun in just riding around with no purpose and no intent of getting better and faster?

I find this a strange statement which suggests everything has to be competitive.

Many people go walking for pleasure, not with the aim to get better or faster at it. Just for the love of being outdoors, surrounded by nature, fresh air and with friends. Cycling is no different in that respect.

I like to walk, run, cycle, swim and much more and have no intention of getting any better or faster at any of those activities.

I just ride for fun, too old now not to. Due to work and family getting out on the bike is a bit of a treat so I tend to think there’s no such thing as a bad ride ride and they are what you make of them. Last week I was lucky enough to get three days work coaching/guiding and even when riding relatively slowly behind the kids, I was looking for different lines and seeing how I could make my own fun. Life’s too short.

I came into MTB after my first off road Triahtlon highlighted how bad my MTB skills were. I did a couple of XC races after that but now ride purely for pleasure. I avoid organised races, events and riding in large groups. I still like to test myself but MTB is first and foremost about relaxing, exercising and enjoying beautiful countryside in a bike.

Most of my riding is for fun, some if becasue I should.
Racing has been some of the most fun riding I have done.
The 2 are not exclusive and getting to a point where you are fitter can make the general riding more fun so it all adds up really.

In racing terms this year has been a slow one with only 2 enduro’s a 12hr 2 day XC and a 200 odd KM road ride for charity listed so far. Before that it’s been an assortment of long multi stage XC, DH, Enduro and whatever else comes up. Great to have those bits of difference in the mix. At the moment I’m back enjoying smashing out some solo road rides.

I definitely ride “for fun”, but riding is more fun when I’m fit, so I often go for rides when I don’t especially want to or that aren’t a lot of fun, so that I’ll be fit enough to make other rides fun.

Racing is fun (I do it very occasionally), but it’s really no fun at all if you’re not strong enough.

🙂

Also, training gives me the motivation to ride my bike more, which means I get to see more cool things, I wouldn’t ever get up and ride in the pre-dawn if I wasn’t training, which would mean missing out on seeing a host of wildlife, like the time I was spinning down some singletrack when an owl on the way home flew past above me, or seeing the first burst of sunrise illuminate all of South Wales as i get to a top of an exposed hill repeat. It seems odd to think just because you are on a training ride you can’t enjoy the more ‘soulful’ aspects. For those of us racing in the lower echelons, training rides are just like normal rides done with a bit more planning, purpose and effort and need to incorporate plenty of singletrack, downhills fun stuff for skills anyway

The anti-competition ethos that seems to be pervading a lot of things really winds me up, I’m no sportsman, and was mercilessly bullied at school for being shit at team sports but I still think it’s pretty neutering.

Anyway off for a z3 training ride. A.k.a. An extended commute around the coast 😀

I mainly just head out the door and often don’t know where I’m going even during the ride. If I have an event lined up I’ll ride more. Rollers in deepest winter just to get a fix, or maybe some local hill reps to keep the legs & lungs ticking over. If I do enter a race, the only person I’m racing is me.

Where’s the fun in just riding around with no purpose and no intent of getting better and faster?

Odd question? : )

Just depends on what you find rewarding or your attitude to riding, or life even. There’s a sort of scale from the performance-pressured Type A triathlete stereotype to the all-the-time-in-the-world old tourer and I think mountain bikers come in that whole range of attitudes. I’ve met people who at first I thought had managed to wring every bit of fun out of riding somehow, then I just accepted that they have different reasons for riding a bike.

(me – ride for fun and/or for some sort of experience that a bike is a great vehicle for, experiences that are a mix of having fun, a personal test and wider experience.)

maybe some local hill reps to keep the legs & lungs ticking over

Edit to add, this also, sometimes I can act like a grim-faced roadie : ) simply to get that physical-mental boost that I’ve become in need of over the years.

I ride my bike for fun & race my bike for fun. My ‘training’ is mostly just riding bikes a bit more, maybe in a slightly different way – very little structure to it (which is probably my downfall).

If it wasn’t fun, I wouldn’t do it. I might not find racing such fun if I was struggling to ride stuff, too unfit or getting smoked by 90% of the field, but that’s just me.

I don’t ride for fun I am pretty much always glad when it’s over but I don’t ‘train’ I ride to push myself and see what I can do

Can I get up there can I get down there can I ride that etc. Sitting and pedalling does my head in

More of a challenge than fun

I ride for fun, don’t think I’ve ever done anything that could be considered training except learning to ride on the velodrome and preparing for a team pursuits night…

I do find that more occasional or less experienced cyclists (<5 years of “proper” cycling) tend to talk about training more – perhaps this is because they need to train/are enjoying seeing the gains they make so much, or perhaps they give up after a few years cos they don’t enjoy it.

It keeps me physically and mentally healthy, makes me smile, and I’ve been doing it one form or another since my Puch Murray BMX. I love riding them and building them and especially discussing them.
And I have made some good friends through them.

As for racing, I’ve done the occasional enduro but only because of all the reasons above (plus I’m not fast enough to win..)

At this time of year I actually love trailbuilding as much as riding.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t ride for fun, well except for E bike haters.

I’ve always considered it fun, or an experience, or an education. If it wasn’t one of the three, i’d have stopped.

Sometimes i’ve not realised for a few days after the event, or even until the end of the season. But it’s always one of them.

Even interval training in ice cold sideways rain in the dark in february is an experience, and fun when it’s over. 😉

My lad asked me if I fancied doing the Hamsterley Beast next year with him. I politely told him to **** off.
That’s not fun. I’d rather go out for an all day steady away ride & a cake & coffee stop or two.

100% of my riding over last 40 years has been for fun only.

I have never trained and never raced. Even when I was 15 and very fast on a BMX I didn’t race and just messed around on the tracks.

I ride because I enjoy it and keeping me very fit is a side effect. I don’t do any other activities that keep me fit as I haven’t found any I enjoy.

nope you’re far from alone.

yes fitness is a motivator, yes seeing your own quicker times is a motivator, but for sheer good ole fresh air, some awesome natural scenery, shits n giggles, scaring yourself a little and freedom.. there’s little like it?

posted this here elsewhere, but 2 months ago a very old mate of mine has sold his road bike and bought an MTB purely because 1) he got knocked off 2) he knew i was riding with another mutual friend too.

first day out, after the first descent he said it was the best fun he’d had on a bike in 3 years. if thats not a telling story?

Another huge reason i train is so i can get maximum enjoyment out of doing the really big stuff. For example i did Raid Corsica a few weeks back, 6 back to back days of 160km, 2400m climbing. Without the training it would have been a world of suffering – with the training it was awesome, little suffering, soaking up the views and flying up the hills if the mood took me.

With Marmot and Merv? If you haven’t done the Dolomites you should do that. Best riding I’ve ever done on the road. Signed up for Massif Central already!

There are different types of fun and different things are fun for different people. Take the massif central example. My friend and I considered that a nice relaxing week of riding and didn’t train for it. But then we were routinely doing big rides every weekend in preparation for a 700km ride from Edinburgh to London. This brings me nicely onto the different types of fun:-

-Type 1 is fun while you are doing it – swoopy singletrack, fast descents, racing your mates on double track, cafe stop/pub chat.

-Type 2 is fun is only apparent when you reflect on it. Fullfilment is probably a good definition as discussed above. Big rides, challenges, training etc.

-Type 3 fun is fun when you tell you grand kids but in the short to medium term leaves you mentally and physically broken – 700km rides in the rain are a good example 😉

It gets me off the sofa.

I ride for fresh air, scenery, exercise and interest. I’ll stop sometimes to take a photo, think about some landscape feature or watch a bird fly over. I like to ride with others of the same mindset. When I was less knackered I enjoyed trailquests. I never did well but appreciated being shown someone else’s riding territory.

The inner teenager is still there on the occasional descent, but moderated by medical issues. It could be bad for me to fall off. Plus it hurts, and takes longer to heal.

Good post Duggan.

Agreed.

I don’t race as a rule unless I feel I can prepare adequately for it, so racing purely ‘for fun’ is out the door, but for me your post hits the nail on the head.

I only ride my bike for fun. Love racing, it’s fun.

This. Although some of my rides are certainly ‘training’ they are still fun*. Keeps me motivated to get out when I might not bother otherwise.

*not always type 1…

If it wasn’t fun, why bother?

so… I just attempted to go out for a fun spin in the woods on my recently build CX bike, only to realise after 2km that I laced and started to true the rear wheel but never fully tightened it – so it had come undone 😐 , walking back suddenly had lots of pain in both legs and look down to see 10-15 wasps doing their worst 😥 – NOT FUN

Now sat at home having trued and tightened my wheel thinking that can I really be arsed to go for a ride 🙁

Bike riding is awesome!

Especially in summer days.

If it wasn’t fun, I wouldn’t do it.

I’ve never ridden competitively..
Come to think of it, I’ve never done anything competitively 🙂

I ride bikes as penance for the sins of my ancestors 😐

Riding bikes is (unless you’re a pro or want to be a pro) about fun, fitness and meeting your own potential in what ever way you deem appropriate. I do it mainly for good fun, fitness and because I can.

🙂

To really sort the wheat from the chaff, ask people if they’d still ride if every 20 miles had the same health implications as smoking a fag.

Bikes are fun.
I’m aware of the health implications of regular exercise, as long as I can ride as far as I want, when I want, I’m happy.

I like big hills.
I was brought up as a Catholic, so need a certain amount of suffering to balance out the nice bits of life.

I also have an addictive personality and a badly paid job.
Endorphins are free and coincidentally, non fattening.

If by ‘for fun’ you mean not competing in events, then I’m another. I am toying with the idea of one of the enduros that is more at the fun end of the spectrum, but I have never ridden in any competitive event (just a few charity rides).

I just really like getting out in the countryside and then ragging my bike around a few trails. If it’s an evening ride a pint of ale afterwards is always welcome. If it’s a day ride, then a mug of tea after.