Actually I am much more interested in the riding than the scenery
Get a turbo trainer then 😉
I tried a turbo trainer once. Your mileage may vary but for me it was like what cycling would be like if cycling were 100% evil.
The riding includes more than just the exercise I could get from a turbo trainer. Singletrack, fast and swoopy bits, technical climbs and descents, rocky things, switchbacks (both up and down) are all important and I get more of a kick from them than I do from looking at the views as I ride.
Surely part of it is to get somehwere away from built up areas towns – see these pics and tell me you are not inspired?
Yes that's a part of it and your photos are very good. However the views are simply not the most important part of it for me. I can have a good ride even if I stay deep within an FC forest for the entire thing and never see any inspiring vistas.
It is perhaps interesting to note that when looking at your photos it doesn't take me long to stop looking at the views in the background and to start looking at the singletrack in the foreground and wondering what it's like to ride. 🙂 I'm pretty sure I wouldn't manage all the rocky steppy stuff, though…
And just to prove I do occasionally straighten up and look around me:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkingengine/sets/72157602416934406/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkingengine/sets/72157607806783259/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkingengine/sets/72157607806783289/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkingengine/sets/72157618588474420/
Edit: Weirdly, nesting quoted sections seemed to work in the preview pane, but didn't when I actually posted my comment.