Ed said something in another thread that got me to thinking. Technical features and skills add to my enjoyment of the sport by making it about more than just aerobics. Does anyone else feel the same?

My best riding buddy is fitter and faster, except on roots and rocks and tight turns and so forth when it is my turn to shine. It is the technical features that even things out a bit so we can enjoy riding together without either one always waiting on the other.

Anyone can ride a bike, some can ridem up an down hills, but some dont ride technical stuff very well at all. I've seen many roadies hammer Down the trail and set it on fire but get to an average log crossing hop off to walk over it. I love technical stuff as it changes stuff up an makes the ride better I think.

Mountain biking is not riding said labeled bike on a smooth, dirt path. That's what a hybrid is for. I read people saying things like "Mountain biking is different for everyone". Sure, if you want to make yourself feel better, but there was a whole "trekking" group set designed for the "rigors"() of fire roading and hybriding.


What is the obvious difference between urban mountain biking in the true sense of the word, and just commuting? Technical riding.

Smooth singletrack is mountain biking. The narrow and winding trail adds a small amount of technical challenge to the inexperienced rider, but a wide, gravel path is just hybriding.

I think we should invent a new marketing label to the sport to increase marketing revenue.

Remember the Klunkers movie? Those guys back in the 70's saying: "Let's go Klunking." or "Let's go on a klunk."

"Hey guys! Go grab your helmet mirror! Let's go hybriding!"

i think technical riding is part of it, and enhances the experience. you don't have to clean every section or be able to ride everything, but if you refuse to ride a trail that may be "technical" then you are missing out. i know a guy who will ride any of his favorite trails super fast and can't wait to drop you, but if you suggest he ride a techy trail you might enjoy, he won't ride it. because "that's not riding a bike." he won't admit he is scared or can't do it and he doesn't want to learn. he isn't a "mountain biker" in my opinion. he is a roadie on dirt. many riders are.
technical trails are a GREAT equalizer. i'm happy to take guys who ride for fitness and act like they are so badass on techy trails, and suddenly, they aren't having any fun, because they aren't winning and can't ride a bike.
also, as i've said before, it comes down to attitude. don't act like you are the king $h1t and tell me how badass you are unless you can ride what i ride. i'm not fast, but i can handle a bike a lot better than many "mountain bike racers."

Some people think this is mt biking.

I do a lot of techy stuff and enjoy the challenge, but I won't do goat trails with actual risk of death. Not worth it now, or ever, for me. I'm talking about the 10-20" wide trails with sheer dropoffs. I've seen them in Colorado, hiked a few, but I'm not talking my MTB (or my enduro dirtbike) on them.

That crosses a line between MTB technical skills and being a thrillseeker, I think.

I ride with quite a few folks than can pound me into the ground if it's just fast smooth trail. Once it get techy though, they quickly get stymied and I'm in front.

Horses for courses.

I'm pretty slow until I get to the tech stuff...then I slow down.

I love technical stuff.

I'm actually so lame I don't even like the idea of full suspension. I do a little road biking too and used to BMX dirt jump, so I can handle a bike fine and ride singletrack fairly well, but slow and sketchy* is how I like it. I think technical stuff is definitely an equalizer if you're riding with a smooth singletrack person who's afraid to hit some "real" trails. But stay positive and keep explaining it to them and maybe eventually you can turn them into a really awesome riding buddy who appreciates the good stuff like you do.

*Sketchy for me, of course. There's always someone riding your sketchy stuff like it's as natural as walking. As long as you're having fun and everyone on the trail is friendly and having a good time...

I do too. I measure my growth by my meager increases in ability to ride increasingly difficult terrain and clear ever more difficult obstacles.

I've ridden some janky FS bikes and I hated them. Then I rode a good one and I liked it a lot, so I built one.

Sometimes people say you can just pick good lines and not need a FS bike. Well, you don't need suspension at all, but it helps. Eventually you will find places with no clean line, and a good FS bike is really awesome.

That's for the XC and singletrack trail riding I do. For DH and AM, it's a massive benefit... but there's not much opportunity to ride those conditions for me.

I must be a sissy when it comes to "technical" riding. We have a trail called the "Rock Garden", and it is a simple 2 mile loop that has about 15 or so rock "obstacles" that are littered on the trail. Some of them have drops; some of them are kinda like stairs; others are a spine that you have to ride along; others are just at weird cambers. Everytime I ride it, I think to myself "ok, today you are going to ride more of the obstacles", but when I get there, I still ride the two or three that I am capable of, and walk around the rest.

For me, I guess the risk just isn't worth the reward anymore. I mean, I will heal, but why trash my bike?

Good one

yeah, but you at least ride the trail (or walk it, whatever). you try. you are a mountain biker. there are the people who won't even go near the trail but act like a badass cyclist and can't wait to drop you on every ride and talk about how they will drop you because they are such "great cyclists". they are the ones that are just roadies on dirt. they are the ones that miss the point.

Sometimes where you live dictates a huge part of what your definition of "TECHNICAL" is. I lived in Northern NM and thought I was good. Then we made a road trip to the Durango and Crested Butte area. Durango was only 60 miles away, but the difference in terrain was huge. Our definition of technical was pretty weak up to that point.

I am lucky that I live 20 minutes away from Bootleg Canyon. When I feel the need to get new scar tissue I go there. Technical stuff is what makes riding a real workout. Plus its a blast hoppin and boppin up stuff.

Funny you should bring that up, because it's another topic I've been meaning to post about.

It's true. We are all a function of the terrain we have available to ride.

The distinction that Pablo makes, and it's one I agree with, is that some are simply after an aerobic ride through the woods. Anything that detracts from sustained spinning is seen as a detriment. I am speaking here of the "roadie on dirt". Whereas others relish technical accomplishment, the roadie on dirt is all about pedaling faster for longer--nothing more.

Technical challenges add spice to a trail. They also hold down speeds such that those of us who are less fit can still hope to keep the pace. Not that being less fit is desirable -- far from it! I just like the fact that success on a mountain-bike trail is not solely the product of a single dimension such as aerobic capacity.

I don't consider myself a "techincal" rider because of my mindset. I am a competitive off-road motorcycle racer, and my mind still operates as if I am on a motorcycle: AVOID THE THINGS THAT WILL WIPE YOU OUT!

As I go down the trail, I am looking for the smoothest, fastest, SAFEST line. When I am trying to increase my skills, and ride specific obstacles, it feels like I am riding a left-handed bike........It is simply a foreign concept for the way my brain is currently wired. I do recognize the benfit though, and DO try to ride any and all trails.

PW, that is a very smart and savvy mindset.

When you are picking the best line it makes every trail easier, but this doesn't necessarily mean the trail is 'easy'. For a really tough section, picking the best line could be the difference between riding it and walking it.

One of my younger friends races motocross. Talk about your bike handling skills. I have him on endurance because I ride pedal-bikes more than he does, but whenever the trail tilts downwards he just flies like a bat out of hell. What is terrifyingly fast to me is a slow walk in the park to him. His BMX and motocross backgrounds combine to let him have a rocking good time descending at speeds that I can't even begin to approach.

I'm sure we all do a lot of that to an extent. Sometimes I'll experiment with a new line once I get really comfortable with a given obstacle. I suppose I see riding a trail like riding my way through a puzzle. Somehow I've got to unlock each obstacle. Often there are several keys, and I just need to find the one that works for me, and then link everything together.

Exactly. You try. No one is saying you have to go out of your way to hit the hardest and most dangerous lines. But at least you don't just walk away.

It kinda makes me chuckle at times though, because we have a very wide range of riders in our lunch-time group. Some are SUPER FAST up the hill, but usually the last guy in the line going down. Or SUPER FAST going down, but could not care less about how long it takes to get up.

One of the guys that I like to follow is about as creative as it gets regarding jumping off stuff. Most of the trails around here have a "go around" if there is an obstacle in the trail. THAT is where my eyes first take me, but if I am forcing myself to follow his line, we are going up and over EVERYTHING that is possibly available, and then some.

Stuff that I would NEVER see, he is doing "kick outs" over.

Regarding "carry over" of bike skills, I am a firm believer that ANY time on a two-wheeled machine will benefit your abilities on any and all other two-wheeled machines. Riding my mtn bike FORCES me to account for every rock, ledge, rain rut, root and drop that may be in the trail. On my moto, I am really only looking for the "bigger" stuff that can take me out. Aside from those obstacles, I rely on the suspension of the bike, the gyro of the wheels, and the throttle to get me through.

When I get off the mtn bike, and on to the moto, my eyes are tuned-in to SO MUCH MORE of the trail. The physical conditioning/endurance that is gained through mtn biking DIRECTLY benefits the lower body on the moto.

Going downhill, I am amazed at how similar it is to riding a moto. You can pretty much go as fast as your heart desires, and line choice and body positioning are eerily similar. When you are "in the zone" on either one, you tune out everything else, and your focus is totally consumed with the task at hand.

That is actually what made me gravitate very early on in my mountain biking to downhill racing. All those sensations from racing flattrack, scrambles, MX and desert cross country came rushing back when I pointed a bicycle down hill .

PW

I rode my Giant X2 FS bike while following, and trying to keep in sight, a middle aged guy on a Specialized P2 hardtail jump/park bike. We were descending Noble Canyon in the Laguna Mountains east of San Diego. The trail has some significant technical difficulties. I was astounded at his speed and skill and ability to make that bike work in what seemed to be to be an environment alien to it's nature.

Had a beer with him after the ride. He had been a high level competive motocross rider for over 25 years. He said the crossover to mountain biking was very easy. He also said that several days on the mountain bike in steep technical terrain really prepared him for Motocross competition.

Some days I like trials like technical riding, some days fast flowing single track, some days I like to put in miles on scenic fireroads. And, a lot of days I ride my road bike and pretend I don't know those freaks on those weird bikes with funny front ends and bobbing back ends.

There you go.

To say that riding fire roads isn't mountain biking is really silly: does that mean that a guy doing a thousand miles on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route isn't a "real" mountain biker? After all, the vast majority of the GDMBR is gravel roads. One of my great dreams (as yet unrealized) is to ride from Cape Town to Durban in South Africa, on dirt. That's not "real" mountain biking? Is everybody sure about that?

If anybody feels compelled to lecture me on what is "real" mountain biking and what isn't, I will cheerfully ignore them and go for a ride. Wherever I feel like riding. That's real mountain biking.

I'm a former motocross and enduro racer too. (Still ride recreationally.) The biggest transition for me on MTBs has been clipless pedals. They're hugely beneficial climbing and pedalling bumpy conditions, but when things get really loose, I have decades of muscle memory that say PUT YOUR FOOT OUT and I couldn't do it on instinct alone. Eventually I had to just leave the platforms at home and ride clipped in, even if it meant a few crashes. (Which it did... and still does.)

This is on Kansas trails, no DH. If I had the opportunity to ride DH, I could see myself still preferring platforms.