Give me 5 reasons to stay in mountain biking

bails87

whyamihere wrote:

I actually really like my Scandal. The few times I've ridden it, it's been great fun.

I think it's the practicalities (time and money) of travelling that are the problem. When you've got a car it's a lot easier to travel. Imagine if you had a 50 mile road ride to get to and from Cwm Carn or the other trails you ride.....how often would you still go?

Rindle

Is there not a mountainbiking club at your uni? If not set one up and recruit some members with cars.

Thewaylander

True enough bails, but i'd also make sure i wasn't living somewhere i couldn't get to ride but i take my riding to be very important to me.

bails87

Thewaylander wrote:

True enough bails, but i'd also make sure i wasn't living somewhere i couldn't get to ride but i take my riding to be very important to me.

Yeah, if/when I move it'll be a factor, but there's being where you can MTB, and there's having a job, the two aren't always compatible!

whyamihere

Thewaylander wrote:

True enough bails, but i'd also make sure i wasn't living somewhere i couldn't get to ride but i take my riding to be very important to me.

Call me weird, but getting a good degree from one of the best unis in the country is more important to me at the moment than living near trails...

whyamihere

Rindle wrote:

Is there not a mountainbiking club at your uni? If not set one up and recruit some members with cars.

There is, but it's expensive, and i have lectures clashing with the weekly rides, rendering it pointless.

Thewaylander

whyamihere wrote:

Thewaylander wrote:

True enough bails, but i'd also make sure i wasn't living somewhere i couldn't get to ride but i take my riding to be very important to me.

Call me weird, but getting a good degree from one of the best unis in the country is more important to me at the moment than living near trails...

Went to a top 10 uni at the time myself But to be honest it only counts so much, is see the interveiw process for high level accountants and where you get your degree isn't even factored these days there are only very few jobs that do factor this in these days...
If you have picked one of these I you have my sympathies, but there is never just one high level uni option if your good enough for top level uni's there will be a few to choose from.

Anonymous

I work with a wide variety of people, some from top universities, some from average and some never even went to university, and all getting around the same pay (and this is top end IT stuff). They're all usually happy with the choices they made. The choice of uni isn't much of a big deal though the results you got has some affect in getting the foot in the right doors. However 5 or 10 years down the line as people move on up and about, it evens out and actual abilities and skills count, not the university you went to.

Main thing is whether you have fun there and the experience you gain.

Where a top university counts for jobs is probably in becoming a Tory MP though :P

Thewaylander

Yup what Kenny said

The whole degree thing is so heavily sold by Careers people at school that while your in uni and before you have a pretty twisted veiw of what it actually means in the real world

But i digress its if you should quit off road cycling the answer is yes

whyamihere

For getting onto a good Phd, it matters.

Thewaylander

Again know a good few PHD people, some who have worked at google and they went to various uni's.

I think your putting to much emphisys on the uni rather than your own abilities but thats my opinion. and there i'm sure there are always options with uni selectiont here certainly was in my day


If it was work as Bails suggested I'd agree as sometimes you have to go where there is a job but there are always options with education

bails87

Thewaylander wrote:

there are always options with education

Probably not so much after spending a year or two at one uni.

Thewaylander

Nope :P but in the decision stage there were plenty of options i'm sure, and if cycling was important they would ahve been factored,

I certainly did, and ended up in a very good cybernetics uni with a great street riding scene as it mattered to me if it wasn't factored in it obviously didn't really mean allt hat much to the person :0)

whyamihere

When I was looking, the only uni with better riding opportunities and with the requisite research links was Sheffield, and I didn't like the course content. Manchester had essentially the same issue of being in a city centre, and the Welsh unis lack the research links, in general.

Kaise

i have the same3 thoughts but about my road bike but missk sorted that out, her thoughts were

"if you sell it now then its a certain that you will buy another one next year when the weather is nice. selling a great bike now and buying one later is a false economy"

wimmins know how to bring you back to earth, but its very true.

hence the bike has stayed!

ps - when your selling PM me, i always like to buy stuff!

Redhog14

Ok back in the room, stop pissing about universities the OP is about riding!

Don't do it. You will regret it it will be harder to replace in the future. Never mind your technical skills MTB is more about enjoyment, I do both but for different reasons, MTB put s grin on my face even when I have fallen off and drawn blood, Road riding is a workout and keeps me in shape to tackle the trails better,longer, harder.

My observation is that Roadies who turn to MTB seem to spend big and then are generally pussies on the techy stuff but MTB's who go over to the darkside are quite happy with a low-middle range machine. Did the Manx E2E tis year and the shaved leg dudes on carbon hardtails were so obvious on the up hills but just as obviously absent when pointing down the way.

ringwoodlights

Buy a cheap roadie and keep the MTB, have your cake and eat it too!

whyamihere

ringwoodlights wrote:

Buy a cheap roadie and keep the MTB, have your cake and eat it too!

Learn to read. I HAVE A ROAD BIKE.

Also, wrt choosing university, riding wasn't part of the choice at all. At the time, I couldn't walk, let alone ride, and didn't know if I was ever going to be able to ride a bike again.

MountainMonster

let me tell you, the only time the uni of choice actually makes a difference to employment opportunities or acceptance to a docorate program is when they are denying you because of the general shiiite quality of a place. Most universities these days are on fairly even grounds, so it pretty much doesn't matter where you go.

Nrj

Why do people need to travel to trails all the time???

I ride out from my house and just find places, bridleways, woods, shoreline, bridges etc...

My mate is a trail centre snob, took him out on my 'trail' the other day and he loved it. Forgot about getting back to basics.

Even if you live in the city there is enough to play on your mtb to enjoy yourself for hours.

Maybe its just me but i cant see the point in wasting time in the car to get to the trail centre, whereas i can ride all the time after work as ive made a decent 12-20 mile route through just riding round places checking them out.

Keep the mtb and the roadie.

jay12

if your not enjoying it and think an hour on the train is too long(i travel about an an hour and a half plus riding to and from stations most weekends) then just sell it as it's just taking up space and you could improve your road bike. then when you finish uni and have a job you could move closer to some trails and get a mtb again

roger_merriman

A few years ago I moved from the Brecon Beacons to SW london, what helped has been Swinley as it's 30mins door to carpark, where as Surrey hills are a good hour or so.

You need to have somewhere that is worth going to, If not you end up like the guys rolling around park paths, which never seems fun.

I would not keep the MTB if I just had Esher Woods or heaven forbid the Royal Parks. and the Surrey Hills are hardly epic and are just that bit further away to be more of a hassel.

Anonymous

Surrey Hills are epic if you know where to look and how to link it all up. They're the premium of trails down south outside of anywhere actually mountainous (i.e. Wales). Swinley is nothing by comparison.

But they don't hand it to you on a plate, you have to work for it, and explore a lot. If you like trail centres with nicely maintained trails and signs telling you where to go, then look elsewhere.

nosnevets_semaj

Get up earlier.
We get up around 6 every Sunday morning and travel to some amazing locations in Derbyshire. You can't beat it. Once in a while we do a whole weekend away. Get a mate with a car!

S-M

After reading this thread, i now feel quite lucky that i have such decent stuff on my doorstep.

This place is a mere 4-5 miles from my front door (not my video and crap music)

http://youtu.be/eJ94kLaNO9A

^^ the bottom of that crazy jump leads to this place,

http://youtu.be/KqhgifPdx98

which is where i smashed myself up about a week and a half ago on the FSR


Not sure i could be bothered to do a 25mile route in and then a 25 mile route home to get to the place 2-3 times a week, sounds a nightmare.