I can understand when people give mountain biking a go and it’s just not for them.

But I have ridden with a few people who give it a go and you can see they get the same buzz as what keeps me coming back year after year, they even do it for a few months, but then just stop.

I know one guy who made a conscious decision to stop as injury would have cost him and his employees a lot of trouble. But for most it just sort of peters out.

I know there will be a lot of factors…Partners….Money….Fear of Injury…etc

There is just so many times you can ask, before giving up.

Anybody had much success in getting someone like this to be a regular rider ?… I know quite a few people who this has happened to but I have one person in mind specifically…My Brother

One thing I have learned is don’t persuade, a riding buddy that a road bike is a good idea, or they may never ride MTB again…I am talking to you ANDY !!!!

A good mate refused for ages to ever come out riding. We played squash and I said many times give it a try. He struggled like hell at first with technical climbs mainly but I just kept encouraging him, not racing off and leaving him behind.
He’s progressed from a pos hard tail, to a boardman full suss, to an alpine160(which got stolen to be fair) and now rides a carbon nomad. They’re off to snowdon again in two weeks, reckon he’s eventually caught the bug…

Well that was strange, Just got a call from Andy from previous post ^^^ and we have fitted his new brakes to his MTB perhaps he will get off the road bike now 🙂

I used to do hang-gliding, just a little when a student. It was an amazing thrill, really, it’s hard to describe how it felt to be able to fly, just like in my dreams, but for real.

Haven’t done it for 25 years. It just didn’t fit in to my life, took too long. I guess my point is that life changes and people don’t/won’t always make time for everything.

Having said that, I’m tempted to start again, if I can find a local club.

It took myself and another mtbing friend 9 months to persuade hubby (boyfriend at the time) to start mtbing with us.
At first we just went to places such as Swinley with him, in nice weather.
Then suddenly he got the bug, went out regularly and bought a proper mtb and was completely hooked.
This was 13 odd years ago now. He’s a regular rider (in all weathers), he’s set up our local mtbing group with others and helps loads of newbies out.
Our garage is stuffed full of bikes, tools and all the other gear that goes with our sport.
His mtbing clothes fill drawers and a full wardrobe (not many normal clothes).

The one thing was not to nag him in the first place, more a cajole and encouragement, as we knew he had the skills from being a bmxer as a boy.

I came back to riding after a 10 year break. I was still commuting during this time but just ran a 1 step up from BSO. During that time I surfed. Proper drop everything, life revolved around it, type of thing. I’d watch the forecasts and weather and satellite images, plan my work around when swells would hit. I neglected the family for it and it put a huge strain on my marriage. I just got to the point where other things were more important.

I came back to biking because it simply cost less. The miles I was putting in for an hours surf was just too much. It’s much more instant, I can be ready to roll in 15 minutes, and the gratification is similar. Much friendlier bunch MTBers too. I don’t ride as often as I’d like, but I can get a fix out of cleaning or maintaining my bikes without the impact that the surfing did. There is only so many times you can re-wax a board.

I cut my quiver of boards down to one and that hasn’t been wet for 3 years. My boys enjoy bodyboarding when on holiday or the day trips to the beach, I’ll go in and play about body surfing. I do miss it occasionally, especially if the perfect day hits whilst we are away and I’ve no board. TBH the perfect days could be counted on one hand in over 10 years of surfing.

YEAH ITS LIKE FOXHUNTING…KEEPS ME COMING BACK EVERY YEAR