Why do you ride?

simonp123

Nice vague question eh? To clarify, I'm curious why people ride off-road i.e is it for the speed thrill of descents or twisty singletrack, or just the pure technical challenge presented, by rocks, or tight and twisty stuff? Does what provides your biggest kick affect what type of bike you ride? (I'm not thinking of specific downhill bikes here obviously)

ilovedirt

All of the above really, it depends what sort of mood i'm in. Sometimes it's just the speed, sometimes it's a nice flowy trail, sometimes it's negotiating a nice tricky tech section, all of them are fun! Mostly it's just getting out and doing something which allows me to get away from the more mundane parts of every day life...

Long_Time_Lurker

Either to relax and enjoy the scenery or to get the adrenaline pumping...
Getting out to places where there is no other person for miles - it's like having the countryside to yourself.
Or riding through wooded trails late at night with the 'big lights' on - scary and fast. One wrong move and you are over the handlebars or into a tree.

GSP1984

Riding/pushing/walking up stupidly large hills... admiring the incredible views that only a fractions of the population have probably bothered to go see for themselves... then the rewarding descent back down.

Perfect

IBISMojoHDamon

Because I'd be fat(er) than I am, biking is my main form of exercise... and all of the above... ;0)

rebel_brown

The adrenaline rush, mainly. Speed gives the biggest grins.

cooldad

Fun.

tarbot18

I have 2 young children its the only time i get on my own, besides the toilet! sigh.............

Mental Mickey

I decided a few years back to start commuting to work after many years away from cycling, I needed to do something about my fitness in my late 30's and hadn't commuted by cycle since I was 17 and fit as a butcher's dog.

After starting to commute, I realised just what I had been missing, the joy of cycling is immense and other than the fitness aspect, can also give you some really good quality 'thinking time'.

So with that in mind, I decided I would buy another bike for leisure purposes, originally I was thinking about going down the roadie route as I live in an area where country lanes are easily accessible, keeping me away from town centre riding.
I tested the water a few times on my commuter and was shocked the find that these country lanes (even on weekdays) were infested with motorised traffic, using the lanes as rat runs to avoid busier roads I suspect, but this experience left a bad taste in my mouth as I felt I was 'in the way' of these impatient drivers, a constant tailback of cars hanging off my rear end all the time.

I'm also lucky enough to live with spitting distance of miles of canal networks, countryside, and an A.O.N.B known as Cannock Chase, officially the smallest (A.O.N.B) on mainland Britain but charming all the same.
So the answer to which direction I should turn was obvious, been riding off road since and still enjoying it immensely.

concorde

I like it all. Don't get a shed load of speed so not so much that. Mainly I like the flowing descents, berms I like :-)

Crash Test Dummy

Because I dont want to risk my life cycling on the roads, especially with all the crazy truck drivers, taxi drivers and others who cant drive on the roads properly. I dont feel safe cycling on roads, and havnt since I was a teenager.

Last year my mate lost his life, in a hit and run accident with a van whilst he was cycling to work.

mcnultycop

When I was 17 I started because it was fun, I had no fear and though nothing of riding 50+ miles in a day. I then discovered nightclubs and women.

At 31 I got back into it because I needed to lose weight and running was no good for my knees. At 34 I'm getting braver again (although nothing like I was at 17) and really starting to enjoy the technical challenge as I get better at the rocky rooty bits.

.blitz

Fail to derive any enjoyment by simply sitting on a bike I couldn't do spin classes or turbo training or churning out road miles.

It has to be fun - chilling or challenging I don't mind but not riding for the sake of it.

bails87

I enjoy my road commute more than I thought I would. Being on two wheels is just so much more engaging than sitting in a car. When it's windy and cold and wet in winter it can very occasionally (once or twice, in the whole time I've been commuting) be grim, but when it's sunny, or even when it's not, I really quite enjoy sweeping through country lanes, chasing deer and pheasants, watching the lambs skipping about in the fields and dealing with mostly decent drivers.

I do enjoy MTBing more though. The commute is good time to think, MTBing is (for me) time to clear your head becuase if I try to think about something else while really pushing it I'll end up wrapped around a tree!

It doesn't even have to be particularly challenging to excite me. I found the blue run at FoD more fun than the 'challenging' climb at Cwm Carn. Speed and swooping through flowing bends and berms are what I like. There are times when I get to the end of a section, and I'm laughing out loud to myself because I'm having so much fun. I look nuts, but I love it.

Rankles

Riding offroad solves all of life's problems. I used to get some really good ideas and inspiration when I rode before/during university and enjoyed getting out of town to some peace and quiet.

Now it's more training focused and I have less daunting things on my mind, but it's nice to get out of the city for a while or go somewhere new.

simonp123

Answering my own question..

Well I first started MANY years ago when I saw it on TV. I went out and bought a Marin Palisades, grey with luminous yellow forks etc. I soon found out how hard it was trying to ride rutted bridleways with rigid forks! Unfortunatley due to financial issues I had to sell it only a few months later (youth and credit cards don't mix!).

Move on many years to 2008 when I decided that at 41 I really needed to get fit and lose weight. The year before we had hired bikes to ride from Wadebridge to Padsotw (or Padstein!), and I had forgotten how much fin cycling was.
I'm still a learner, and at my age there is not so much speed there, but for me the fun is the technical challange and huge concentration that it required which gives that feeling of aloneness even of you ride with others. I do love a few fast sweepy berms too though. Still hate the damned hills though, serves me right for not losing enough weight though I guess.
Looking forward to riding more after 18 months of injury issues hopefully being behind me in a month or two
I'm very sad in that I also like the tinkering and setp/maintianence too :oops:

1mancity2

Crash Test Dummy wrote:

Because I dont want to risk my life cycling on the roads, especially with all the crazy truck drivers, taxi drivers and others who cant drive on the roads properly. I dont feel safe cycling on roads, and havnt since I was a teenager.

Last year my mate lost his life, in a hit and run accident with a van whilst he was cycling to work.

They caught him but he got off lightly, I'd have strung the f**ker up.

I ride to forget about work and the crap part of life we all endure, I prefer techy downhill with drops and jumps, but I also go down the skatepark with my little boy which is fun.

Rushmore

Why don't you ride???

chez_m356

tarbot18 wrote:

I have 2 young children its the only time i get on my own, besides the toilet! sigh.............

i actually laughed at that, its so true its scary, so thats +1 to that, exercise, but mainly because its fun

mrmonkfinger

its fun, I like the outdoors, I like learning the physically technical skills, there's a huge potential for gear geekery... riding & building bikes ticks a lot of entertainment boxes

bbug

I think I'm having an age crisis! That, and becoming an endorphin junkie. I say this because I did'nt get my first mountain bike until I reached sixty. Since then, I've found that I get a definite feel-good kick out of the exetion involved and get really grumpy if it's been more than a few days since my last ride.

tenfoot

To get away from the wife

But really because I just love being on a bike. I find tarmac munching rather dull, but off-roading throws up so many different types of terrain and obstacles that when you're "in the zone" there isn't any time to think of anything else other than picking a line. That total immersion is fantastic, and I find, generally hard to come by any other way.

Crash Test Dummy

1mancity2 wrote:

Crash Test Dummy wrote:

Because I dont want to risk my life cycling on the roads, especially with all the crazy truck drivers, taxi drivers and others who cant drive on the roads properly. I dont feel safe cycling on roads, and havnt since I was a teenager.

Last year my mate lost his life, in a hit and run accident with a van whilst he was cycling to work.

They caught him but he got off lightly, I'd have strung the f**ker up.

I ride to forget about work and the crap part of life we all endure, I prefer techy downhill with drops and jumps, but I also go down the skatepark with my little boy which is fun.

Apparently all the driver got was "a suspended 12-month prison sentence, a 12-month driving ban, and 200 hours community service." for killing a cyclist.

So folks, if you ever want to murder somone, do it with a car and get off scott free

sloppycowpat

that is sick, these driving incidents are getting worse and more frequent if anything and no one seems to do anything abou it

vans are the worst I got hit by one a couple of years ago and the bast"rd just left, I was unconscious so could get no number plates etc so i reported it and gave a few witness numbers to the police and nothing came of it, and could claim for damages as they was no party to blaim... gah

schmako

To escape from everything else.

weeksy59

Fitness and seclusion of being out in the middle of nowhere alone.

johndouglas2011

fitness & clearing my head a bit at the end of the day. i love seeing the countryside or being on my own in the darkness if cycling at night. mostly though keeping fit means i've got more energy for the kids.

dav1

I just enjoy being on a bike (outside, indoor riding is very dull!). I enjoy the challenges of it, the peace and quiet, the social aspects of club riding, the time to clear my head if I am on my own. The list is endless.

I have to say I enjoy the road as much as the trail, but it all depends on mood as to which I want to do.

I like the MTB because of the adrenaline rush of racing through twisty single track or getting the bike through a technical section. I like that MTBing is usually much more stimulating, always have to be alert and using your head to get around, makes for a truly immersive experience. I would add enjoying the scenery as well, if on an epic and taking time to stop; however, this is something I associate much more with road then MTB where you can enjoy surroundings more on the move due to the lack of trees/rocks/jumps/...

cycle monster

To avoid the sheer monotony of road riding, enjoy challenging riding without having to worry if some drug crazed whacko has stolen a car and being chased by the boys in blue, wants to take me with him. Seriously, this happens on the Dark Side all day long.

Or

Fun, fitness, getting away from the office and the Dark side.