Mountain Biking - Is this mountain biking?

I realize that many of you are shredders who can handle single track trails, do bunny hops and have great bike handling skills. I don't happen to be blessed with great coordination. I do, however love to ride on dirt roads, some of which are pretty rough. I know of and take routes that go for 50- 70 miles that are mixes of dirt and pavement. I enjoy the heck out of it.

Is this mountain biking?

I recently posed a similar question to roadies. What makes a roadie/mountain biker? I have a Giant Rainier modified for the road, but it can certainly handle tough trails as well. Does that fact that I ride a certain bike on a certain terrain make me that type of cyclist? Is it who I ride with, what type of bike I have no matter where I ride it? I'm not sure how to define it.

Close enough for Gov'ment work....

If there's a hill, call it a mountain, and your in.

Seriously though, if you feel it's mountian biking, it is.
Now go enjoy yourself.

Mountain biking has coolness to spare.

No one cares if you leech.

That rocks, Bricktop :beer:

Who cares! Ride where you want to ride. Call it what you want to call it. Ride whatever bike you want to ride. Have fun! Be fit! See stuff! What, me worry?

If there's a hill, call it a mountain, and your in.


So if I ride my road bike on a paved road up a hill... I'm mountain biking?

So if I ride my road bike on a paved road up a hill... I'm mountain biking?

Well, unless it's a massive chunk of rock that sticks up out of the ground a few thousand feet, I'd call it biking on hills;) If you are riding a bike in the mountains...on paved roads...that's, well, biking in mountains. Mountain biking needs a modicum of, at least, dirt roads thrown in to be mountain biking. And, no, it doesn't have to be single track. Some of the toughest rides I've done were on very nasty jeep roads.

Seriously though, if you feel it's mountian biking, it is.

Riding up the local trails to a campsite on my touring bike with a rack, panniers, and 1.5" slicks? Feels like mountain biking to me. Rough, rocky, dirty, having to pay attention to your line, etc.

I realize that many of you are shredders who can handle single track trails, do bunny hops and have great bike handling skills. I don't happen to be blessed with great coordination. I do, however love to ride on dirt roads, some of which are pretty rough. I know of and take routes that go for 50- 70 miles that are mixes of dirt and pavement. I enjoy the heck out of it.

Is this mountain biking?
According to the people who run the Flint Hills Death Ride it is!
http://www.flinthillsdeathride.com/
I personally do a lot of training on gravel and dirt roads.

Why do you feel the need to tag a name onto it? You're a cyclist.

Why do you feel the need to tag a name onto it? You're a cyclist.

To be honest, I consider it mountain biking. Here in Arizona where I live is very rural and there are dirt roads everywhere that are not maintained and quite challenging. Getting to single-track trail is not possible except for a few times a month. I don't have the skills to handle the single track like I see many people do and I would worry about breaking something (I am 48 years old) and putting myself out of work. I wrecked in a sandy wash a couple of months back a fractured some ribs and can see myself doing worse easily. I manage to fall over at least once a week in sand, rocks and such and realize that I do break when I hit hard things.

What level of bike handling skills do many of you have? Are you bunny hopping logs and rocks? How often do you pile up and lay there in the dirt and do a total body check and see if things are still working? Do you ride alone and worry about wrecking and trying to get back out to your cars or make it home?

One afternoon I nearly collided with a cow that jumped out from behind a juniper tree. We didn't see each other. I was alone 25 miles from town on an old double track and was surprised by her and began to worry about what I would do to get help.

Labels... :rolleyes:

What level of bike handling skills do many of you have? Are you bunny hopping logs and rocks? How often do you pile up and lay there in the dirt and do a total body check and see if things are still working? Do you ride alone and worry about wrecking and trying to get back out to your cars or make it home?
Sometimes I pile up every ride for weeks, Sometimes I go months without crashing. I consider them rights of passage! Alone, with friends, doesn't matter to me. I'm no prize for heaven or hell, so neither side wants me that bad!

Sometimes I pile up every ride for weeks, Sometimes I go months without crashing. I consider them rights of passage! Alone with friends, doesn't matter to me. I'm no prize for heaven or hell, so neither side wants me that bad!

http://www.geocities.com/shlntv/pictures/banzai.jpg

^^^ Where did you find my picture?

^^^ Where did you find my picture?

:D

Carry a cell phone, small first aid kit, and tell someone where you are going and when you should be back.

What level of bike handling skills do many of you have? Are you bunny hopping logs and rocks? How often do you pile up and lay there in the dirt and do a total body check and see if things are still working? Do you ride alone and worry about wrecking and trying to get back out to your cars or make it home?

Everyone has different stuff to ride on. I live in a big MTB area, and the reason people come here is the good riding and the challenging trails. But what we ride on is nothing like what the North Shore or Whistler riders get to ride on. My skills are adequate for here, because I've been on these trails for a long time, but I couldn't do what the BC riders call "mountain biking."

I don't go down very often, but I did the other day, at walking speed, while trying to adjust my saddle without stopping. (An hour later I had my new Gravity Dropper and I won't do that again.) I haven't gone down at any kind of speed in a while.

Most of the trails I ride are popular MTB trails. Even if you rode alone, you wouldn't lay there for more than a couple of days before someone came along.

maybe half-mtb?

Is this mountain biking?[/QUOTE]

Some of the warranties for road bike components define that their use is intended for smooth pavement and tracks.