I rode mountain bikes for nigh-on 30 years before my (then 8 year old) son started to want to do road riding some 3 years ago. He had the first road bike in the garage, but mountain bikes just weren’t cutting the mustard for me riding with him and his friends, so I bought my first shortly after stating that I would never, ever go down the road-cyclist route.
Well, 3 years have now passed and while my son and I still own (and ride) our mountain bikes, 90% of our time in the saddle is now on drop-bars. The bike store itself is testament to this – one MTB hanging up for each of us, but there are far more skinny-tyred bikes hung up on the dark side of the room…
And lycra? Yup, wear it every ride and wouldn’t consider doing otherwise. I even wear the same kit for MTB now, with the addition of a pair of baggy shorts as a nod to my former life, but like so many others have concluded before me, there’s a reason why cyclists wear such bloody awful looking clothing!
The rides are quite different – MTB is now more relaxed with more titting about, where the road rides tend to be a “get on the bike and ride for several hours” sort of rides, but I enjoy both and gain a lot of satisfaction from their very different fitness requirements.
I quite like enjoying debunking the prejudices of both sides of the cycling world too. Mountain bikers can be very fit indeed, but often seem to struggle on the continuous endurance of the road bike (unless they are marathon riders in the first place, of course!). Also, you’d assume that a mountain biker would be a more skilled bike handler, but anyone who’s ever watched a mountain biker trying to hold a wheel during their first group ride will confirm, there’s more to it than you’d expect. And if you’ve ever watched a road rider at a bike park…. 🙂
Get out there and ride and don’t worry about what or where you ride. Enjoy it all!