Oil_LOL

Usually, I am primarily a road rider. Most of my bike's use if to commute to work, and run errands, and my primary bike is a single speed road bike... Anyway, a few weeks ago, I picked up a late 90's Specialized Rockhopper for 150 off of Craigslist. The bike is in perfect condition, and it rides beautifully. So, the freewheel has started to give out on my road bike. I need to pick up a new one, but I really felt like riding today. i was dicking around town on my bike, when I came across some light singletrack along side the railroad tracks that run next to my town, and I tried it out, never really having done real off-road stuff before. Holy ****, I had so much fun. I want to do this all the time, find new trails, etc.

Flying Merkel

My '96 Rockhopper was my favorite bike ever. Good find, decent price. Mountain biking does seem to be more about fun than suffering.

pablosnazzy

welcome....it only gets better....

FrenchFit 

this year will be all about the MTB for me. I've been mapping out my forests, getting technical ratings. I'm jazzed.

born2bahick

I Can't speak about the whole " fun rather than suffering" thing but i do know that training on the road will never peak my hr like the trails. if i do a tt yeah i get to burning the cardio, but the trails do it every climb, and here where i'm at the dh are short so your pretty much always climbing

mattm0805

To me...MTB riding is WAY more fulfilling than road. (but I do a lot road riding as well). MTB is always a fresh, new experience, even on the same trails. LOVE IT!

3speed

Just wait until you find some the good trails near you! I was pretty much in your same situation starting on a mid-nineties MTB and am now looking into spending $500+ putting together a new bike... Enjoy the ride! You're gonna have fun!

jboyd

Yeah, I know....Right? (I'm 53. That sounded silly. I'll try again)
Dude, it's awesome! (I'm 53. That sounded silly. I'll try again)
It really is groovy!!! There, that is better

catonec 

I mountian biked for 10 years and never had the desire to ride on pavement untill I got in car crash and screwed up my back. while I was recovering I was able to ride the mtb on the mup without too much discomfort, trail riding was out of the question. eventually I put slicks on the mtb which lead to my road bikes. Now I enjoy the smooth, high speed, clean biking more although every now and then I find some mud and tear it up.

Oil_LOL

what I like, is, on the road, I can think and stuff, but I get bored. Here, I have to think about every move I make on the bike, and watch out for obstacles, and it feels much more like an adventure.

3speed

^ Exactly. To me, I MTB for fun, and road bike on nice days when I want some nice relaxing exercise. Road bike is chill time. MTB is "Holy ****, that was awesome!" time.

Oil_LOL

Right... even when I lost control on a fast descent, and I stubbed my toe, because I stopped myself with my foot, I still felt great, and wouldn't have cared if that happened again. If I was riding a road bike, I would have felt like an idiot.