How old were you when you started mountain biking?

Lungs94

So how old were you?

angry_bird

When I started seriously, probably about 14-15 I think, about 10 years ago anyway. It was pretty much as soon as I could fit on my dad's bike as mine was a PoS. He wasn't using it anyway

Maro

About 15 for me too, although I was always trying to jump off things and ride down hills n stuff from the age of about 8.

I stopped riding for 10 years or so and came back to it 2 years ago.

nicklouse

No idea when did it become mountain biking?

Was always messing about on bikes to me. Still is.

mikeyj28

Messing about on bikes - about 6 years old.
MTB racing/taking it seriously - 17
Road bike riding - 28

Lungs94

I think you missunderstood, I mean at what age did you take it seriously, not when you first rode a bike or doing jumps at 6, or going down hills on a BSO.

buddy_club

14 - Been a good two years

nicklouse

Lungs94 wrote:

I think you missunderstood, I mean at what age did you take it seriously, not when you first rode a bike or doing jumps at 6, or going down hills on a BSO.

Define seriously.

BSOs did not exist. Neither did Mountain bikes. ATBs came in about
So you tell me when mountain biking started and I will tell you how old I was.

But I was ragging about on the trails on a 26" cow bared racer frame with Knoblies on in the 70s.

Lungs94

Oh lol, seriously as in when you really got into off roading "properly" or learning to do it properly

cooldad

I have never taken it seriously, but was riding a racing bike with the bars spun round off road in the early 70's.
And playing BMX on 'borrowed' kids bikes.

And I'm just as sh1t now as I was then.

Just with fancier gear.

mikeyj28

shelle wrote:

I was 14 years old, it was on small mountain not so far away from my hometown.. This is my first post here, just want to say big HELLOO to everyone on this forum...

Hello and welcome to the forum!!

Lungs94

shelle wrote:

I was 14 years old, it was on small mountain not so far away from my hometown.. This is my first post here, just want to say big HELLOO to everyone on this forum...

Welcome!

nicklouse

Lungs94 wrote:

Oh lol, seriously as in when you really got into off roading "properly" or learning to do it properly

What is properly?

Who learns it?

rockmonkeysc

I started racing at 30 but for me it's all just messing about on bikes and has been for as long as I can remember.
A days race training always ends with sessioning a big jump and seeing who can do the most stupid trick (slapping a ginger bloke mid back flip is the best I have seen). When it all becomes serious and the stupidity stops it's no longer mountain biking, you might as well give up and buy a road bike.

Lungs94

nicklouse wrote:

Lungs94 wrote:

Oh lol, seriously as in when you really got into off roading "properly" or learning to do it properly

What is properly?

Who learns it?

Think... I wouldn't call going down a hill or riding along a muddy path "proper" mountain biking, I call hitting technical singletrack, drop offs, long XC rides, fast trail runs, hitting jumps etc & learning as in practicing all the skills needed , thats "proper" mountain biking IMO

Lungs94

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I started racing at 30 but for me it's all just messing about on bikes and has been for as long as I can remember.
A days race training always ends with sessioning a big jump and seeing who can do the most stupid trick (slapping a ginger bloke mid back flip is the best I have seen). When it all becomes serious and the stupidity stops it's no longer mountain biking, you might as well give up and buy a road bike.

I didn't mean serious as in an athlete or a racer, like when you started taking it seriously as in buying all the gear & honing your skills rather than riding up & down a hill without much interest in MTBing

cooldad

Lungs94 wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

Lungs94 wrote:

Oh lol, seriously as in when you really got into off roading "properly" or learning to do it properly

What is properly?

Who learns it?

Think... I wouldn't call going down a hill or riding along a muddy path "proper" mountain biking, I call hitting technical singletrack, drop offs, long XC rides, fast trail runs, hitting jumps etc & learning as in practicing all the skills needed , thats "proper" mountain biking IMO

I must be proper then. I regularly hit technical singletrack. Often with painful consequences to the body part doing the hitting.

rockmonkeysc

Does taking it seriously have to include riding up hill? Personally I do xc and DH but some of my friends are serious DH racers who train hard but never ride up hill.

cooldad

Lungs94 wrote:

I didn't mean serious as in an athlete or a racer, like when you started taking it seriously as in buying all the gear & honing your skills rather than riding up & down a hill without much interest in MTBing

What gear do you need except a bicycle? It's all a means to and end, the end being having fun.

Lungs94

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Does taking it seriously have to include riding up hill? Personally I do xc and DH but some of my friends are serious DH racers who train hard but never ride up hill.

You're missing the point either that or you're being sarcastic

Lungs94

Ok it's official this topic has been missunderstood, obviously what I call "proper" or "serious" is much different to everyone else

rockmonkeysc

Lungs94 wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Does taking it seriously have to include riding up hill? Personally I do xc and DH but some of my friends are serious DH racers who train hard but never ride up hill.

You're missing the point either that or you're being sarcastic

I think you are missing the point. If you're taking mountain biking seriously then you're doing it all wrong. Chill out, hit some jumps, do stupid things and have some fun :-)

bob6397

Back on topic.. I first started mountain biking for the sake of mountain biking and having some fun aged around 13/14.. Basically when I got my first decent bike with 26" wheels on it..

I think that's what the OP is getting at - when did you start doing it for the sake of doing it rather than, say, as a means of transport - IE When did you first start just "Going out for a ride.."

paul.skibum

I bought a rigid raleigh in 2000 when I was 29 and started riding for fitness - I scrambled around my local woods and rode bridleways around my home town. I bought a hardtail in 2003, smashed it and myself to pieces on a tree 4 months later, bought another while recuperating, went to the Alps for the first time that year. So lets say 2003, 32 yrs old.

iwilldoit

Hi All.

For me I started at 51 bit late but loving it, tried a couple of races and found they far more relaxing than when I tried motorbike enduro's , 2 races 2 1st in age group and a 10th & 9th overall so well pleased.

kinioo

nicklouse wrote:

No idea when did it become mountain biking?

Was always messing about on bikes to me. Still is.

Same here.

Angus Young

Lungs94 wrote:

Ok it's official this topic has been missunderstood, obviously what I call "proper" or "serious" is much different to everyone else

No, don't worry about it, this forum is crawling with smartasrses so it's often difficult to get a straight answer while everyone is tying to show how clever they are. It's a very simple question, no need for dancing.

50 for me.

rockmonkeysc

The whole point of mountain biking is that it isn't serious and for most of us it's just a continuation of the stupid thing we did on bikes as kids. The only differences are we ride further now, jump bigger, wear helmets, pay for our bikes with proper jobs and don't use them for paper rounds.

cooldad

I agree with this guy ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

(Which scares me a lot)

But a lot of people take it all very very seriously.

They wouldn't want to ride with me though.

rockmonkeysc

They should be on road bikes if they take it seriously. To be honest though, even the competitive xc racers I know enjoy a fair amount of stupidity, they just do it faster than the rest of us.

Angus Young

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The whole point of mountain biking is that it isn't serious and for most of us it's just a continuation of the stupid thing we did on bikes as kids. The only differences are we ride further now, jump bigger, wear helmets, pay for our bikes with proper jobs and don't use them for paper rounds.

The question was very simple: How old were you when you started mountain biking? It only got complicated because you and a few others decided to be smartasrses instead of simply answering the question.