Road or Mountain? Yesterday I decided.

So I bought my first road bike a couple of months ago. I’ve wanted one for ages and I’ve done a lot of miles on it so far. And I was enjoying it at least a bit.
This year I’ve hardly ridden my MTB, just a handful of rides, and I was wondering if I was loosing my off road mojo…. I didn’t feel the dseire like I used to
But yesterday I went out on a Surrey Hills ride with the Retrobike crew on my 20 year old Explosif

Oh.
My.
God.

Dry dusty trials, a lovely steel frame, pub lunch, great giggles.

So I’ve made my decision. I’m a mountain bike rider through and through. Cut me and I ooze mud and suspension oil.

I’m a mountain biker.
Road riding is boooooring.

That is all 🙂

But we’re in good old Blighty and warm and dusty is just a temporary state. I’m a mountain biker too, ignoring the fact I’ve done four times as many miles on the road 😕

Why choose? I do both and love both equally. This weekend I did a 100 miler on the road on saturday then Dalby red on Sunday. Had a bloody great weekend

Why choose?

If you have to ask then you really don’t need to know. 😉

Maybe you bought a boring road bike?
Maybe you really enjoyed the mtb ride as you were nice and fit from riding the road bike?

Yesterday morning quick blast on the road bike, back home for lunch then out on MTB – can’t beat it.

( the road bikes good but I will always be a mountain biker ) 😉

I`m a cyclist

I class myself a cyclist. I love and hate both just as much!

I’m just someone that rides bikes sometimes.

2 years ago I wrote this on our local club site

5/20/11
Havent ridden a road bike for 20 yrs. Recently borrowed one, and went
out with other half today for a 50 miler.
Well, that’s saved me a grand. WTF do people see in road riding? Maybe
I have too short an attention span but theres none of the pay-off for
all of the effort. The act of riding itself is boring, theres no skill
or technique at taking a bend slower than I can on a 500lb motorbike,
so there’s no mental stimulation to distract from thinking “this bike
is uncomfortable”, “I hurt”, “I’m hungry” “f*ck me this is tedious”…

theres no reward from conquering a climb as any thrilling speed on the
down is lost to headwind. You expend all your energy slogging into
wind as youre more exposed than you are on tree lined singletrack and
travelling at higher speed (drag goes with V squared, so power needed
to overcome drag goes with V cubed, and yes you have time to think
about this sh1t). And this is before you end up on some busy A-road
microns away from articulated death.

I used to describe myself as a cyclist. I’m not. I’m a mountain
biker.

In the last 18 months I’ve ridden my road bike (second one Ive bought in that time) more often than my MTBs and my R1 combined, and my best day on 2 wheels this year was the Ronde Van Calderdale road sportif in April (crazy steep cobbled climbs in Yorkshire). 😳 😀

were all in cycling for different reasons, so I can respect all forms of wheels turning! But I’m with you, can’t think of anything more boring. off road for me 🙂

I see climbs as earning your DH and lovely singletrack though.. and ride a 160mm travel bike… I can imagine boring types of off road riding that others love, it horses for courses!

If we were all the same the world would be a boring place… but you wont find me anywhere near a road bike (or a 100mm narrow barred massive xc bike for that matter).

I see climbs as earning your DH and lovely singletrack though.. and ride a 160mm travel bike.

off-road I’ve always agreed (I ride a ~35lb Alpine 160!) on-road its all about taking on the climb.

It doesnt matter what your riding mojo is as long as you have one; night, road, single speed, rigid, whatever its all adding variation and dimensions to your riding experiences, stops you getting stale.