Sense of adventure
Does anyone else out there read mountain bike magazines who talk about “epic all day rides” and just wonder who actually does these things?
You know… those reviews which say something like…
Sure, the bike isn’t the most efficient XC racer, but with X inches of useable travel, this trail bike will comfortably eat up singletrack and allow you to pedal back up the hill on your next epic all day ride.
Honestly, I don’t actually know anyone who does this, although the concept really appeals to me.
Personally, I’m happy to be out and about, pedalling through the bush and just exploring the countryside. On reflection, the thing that brings me back to Donna year after year isn’t because it’s a technically challenging ride. A week after, I find that I’m recalling that it’s just an awesome experience to be pedalling your way through hub deep snow, where you’re unlikely to cross paths with another rider.
Meanwhile, most of my dirt riding friends seem disappointed when there aren’t endless lengths of flowing singletrack and superfast bermed downhills. What? 20km of dirt road? climbing? No thanks.
What’s with that?
I blame the invention of specialised mountain biking facilities.
Now, I love singletrack as much as any other mountain biker. And I’ll admit that it’s awesome feeling the g-forces pushing you out as you whip around a berm on Cressys. Or conquering Lysterfield’s log-rollover-that-you-can-see-from-the-moon.
But after the 153rd lap of Lysterfield Park, it all starts to wear a little bit thin.
The thing is though, I reckon some people get stuck in the mindset of “Well, this is mountain biking”, so the prospect of doing a ride outside of the confines of a dedicated mountain biking facility just doesn’t agree with them.
Where’s the singletrack?
There’s no flow!
Too much climbing!
Bah.
I see my mountain bike as my go-anywhere machine. Singletrack, roads, firetrails, 4WD tracks, up hills, down hills, over boulders, through creeks, snow, sun or rain. Sure, I might need to walk or even carry my bike for some bits, but I don’t want my ride to be restricted by the confines of a bunch of signs pointing me towards the next bit of track.
I want to be free to explore. Turn left when I want to turn left. NEED to resort to the GPS to find my way back to the car, not to see some useless statistics.
I want an adventure, not just a ride.
Good point raised there. We’re all getting too comfortable and precious with how we ride. Should get into more of exploratory rides as there are thousands of untapped trails to be ridden.