Increasingly of late, I fundamentally don’t like the technical / difficult bits of mountain biking. Does this mean it’s not for me any more?
The enjoyment pretty much solely comes from exercise, being out in the countryside, and whizzing along quite fast. I fail to derive any enjoyment whatsoever from the challenge of ‘cleaning’ a section, jumps, crashing, seeing mates crash, having to keep stopping, etc.
My ideal day out on the mtb is fast flowing, smooth, singletrack, with no rock gardens, sheer drops off one side, unrideable sections, mud, gates, or any other things that cause me to have to do something other than be riding my bike. But it seems this isn’t what most of the natural countryside can offer (e.g. peaks) or even what most mtbers want these days – which is why hardly any trail centres have that (a slight exception being sherwood pines) – consequently I just haven’t bothered doing much mtbing recently, always going out on my road bike instead.
The more I don’t use it, the more alien it feels when I do with its bounciness and its big wide handlebars and fat noisy tyres.
Is there not anything in the UK that’s a nice long ride, doesn’t matter how much climbing as long as it’s all rideable, but fairly ‘easy’, i.e. not particularly technical or perilous?