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Here's one.
Starting at the top of Coed y Brenin's Gomez...followed by Morticia, Pugsley, Pugley's Bottom, Lurch then Uncle Fester in one go. Blinking bloody brilliant! Guaranteed massive grin all the way down 😆
Agreed Wayne, brilliant bit of trail.
Mine this weekend was being up here:
[url= https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7126/27934139695_fa382fdf58_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7126/27934139695_fa382fdf58_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/JyrLwc ]Helvellyn Summit[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/91843706@N08/ ]Sam Dexter[/url], on Flickr
4.8" tyres 🙂
The calenders
The different air temperatures as you burst out the forest, or drop in and out of dips.
The hollow sound of tyres on dry, peaty soil.
The feel of water on your legs after a watersplash.
How much ground you can cover in a day.
Being on the summit of a mountain, with clear views and a big descent awaiting, is one of life's absolute joys.
And a pub at the bottom.
Yesterday I got paid to put kids on bikes and show them how to ride a pumptrack. Slightly broken today but good fun and wouldn't have been doing it if I hadn't bought an MTB almost 30 years ago.
Those moments of silence
The feeling of accomplishment as you push yourself past an obstacle
The sweet taste of a well earned pint
Hi Sam - Helvellyn eh? Up the zigzags and down Sticks? Good ride that.
rascal - Member
Hi Sam - Helvellyn eh? Up the zigzags and down Sticks? Good ride that.
Indeed, top day on the bike!
.The thrill of speed.
.Starting a ride and looking at the far off hill that this ride will take you to the top of.
Riding alone
Riding with friends
Strava, well someone had to say it 🙂
It occurs to me when I speak to friends who sail, rock climb, ski, snowboard, mountaineer, wind surf etc etc that mountain biking is a fantastically weather independent activity. Unless the weather is truly extreme/horrendous one can nearly always go for a bike ride. I really, really like that.
Giggling like a little schoolgirl after [i]just[/i] managing to stay upright through a sketchy section
Building jumps then riding them with your son.
When I was eight I got a Grifter.
I used to run home from school, get changed and rag it round the tight, steep track just round the corner in Boggart Hole Clough, as did every kid from a few miles around.
I'm 48 now and it's a MTB, not a Grifter and Hurstwood trails not Blackley, but it seems no one's grown up that much.
🙂
There's got to be something in it, surely?
Climbing up through the trees then breaking out into the open to see the views, in full, that you've caught glimpses of on the way up 🙂
Boggart Hole Clough? Delamere? It feels like my life is being stalked here...
[url= https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boggart_Hole_Clough ]You're safe.[/url]
North Manchester.
Big old park ,bandstand, cafe, zoo(?) etc.
Overgrown nicely by the 70's.
Lots of what I'd now called singletrack, tight, twisty rooty, off camber stuff.
Steep too.
Real bombholes.
Heaven as a kid.
I didn't know there was another one.
😀
Smiling so much at views and big skies that you miss your turnoff, have to backtrack, but don't care because you get to see the other direction...
Swaledale yesterday was looking gorgeous.
My blummin mates that's what (I was very lucky to have circumvented the auto correct there or that would have been entirely different)
And the now huge amount of people I know thanks solely to bikes that I stop and have a chat with in the Forest of Dean.
And beer after...
Starting at the top of Coed y Brenin's Gomez...followed by Morticia, Pugsley, Pugley's Bottom, Lurch then Uncle Fester in one go. Blinking bloody brilliant! Guaranteed massive grin all the way down
I went to CyB on Friday with a newbie but competent mate, knew nothing about the place but dropped 3 quid on the maps in order to pick out the decent bits. It just so happens that after a round of Cyflym Coch we rode up the road to do the above. I personally prefer natural to trail centres but in this instance I'll agree - really nice bit of trail building.
The feeling of trenchfoot you get when you're out riding in the rain and your shoes don't let the water out.
I was out the other week and had one of those "wow" moments.
Rode from my house with the aim of doing a few miles gentle spinning. Far end of the ride I was peddling along some dry moorland singletrack and there was silence. Absolute silence apart from a whirring chain. Round the corner and had the valley where the stubborn farmer's is in the middle of the M62 laid out in front of me. Sat in the warm evening sun, had a banana and then rode home again. No phones, no other people, nothing on my mind - was great.
And then Brexit fked it all up.
Hills.
Bugger.
where the stubborn farmer's is in the middle of the M62 laid out in front of me.
Urban (rural?) myth I'm afraid - the line that each carriageway takes is the most efficient route. If they ran next to one another then either they would have had to build an embankment across the hillside or dig a long way in to the hillside.
Back on topic: When you've already been riding for four hours and the cafe opens early for you 😆
The smells: wet pine forest, bluebells, wild garlic
Putting tyre tracks into freshly-fallen snow knowing nobody else has been that way today (dunno why, but I like it)
Solo night rides jumping at shadows
Summer nights where it's [i]just[/i] warm enough to sit out at the pub in short sleeves after a ride and you can enjoy the chill riding home
I found one of these
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And some of these
[img] 
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Made for a bloody brilliant weekend 😀
Regressing to being a child. Being out in nature. The feeling of flow and being in the moment as you ride the trail - all the everyday noise just fades away.
The sense of accomplishment as you clear a tricky obstacle,or push your limits.
Feeling alive 😀
Shredding the gnar on my massive rig, then making adjustments to my cockpit system to eek out even higher levels of trail funk.
Spent a great day riding the Valley. Did the Rodwell zig zags a few times. Sat on one of the rocks halfway down, put my feet up and let the world drift by. Love it.....
[img] 
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I always tell roadies 'why ride past scenery when you can ride through it'....?
Mountains.
When you hit a corner perfectly and exit with more speed than when you entered with.
When you find a tenner in your camelback that you forgot was there.
When you see a newbie click and fall in love with the sport.
When you see said newbie rock up with a cool new bike.
When you realise you are grinning like a lunatic just because of the ride.
When your head empties of everything apart from the sound of your own breathing.
When your realize that you have climbed something that months ago left you blowing, and now you do not notice it.
Finding an awesome new trail. I ride off-piste in FoD a lot, and this happens all the time 😀
reading this has made me realise that i am still a mountainbiker at heart.
the line about riding past the scenery rings a bell......i have been doing that through the last few years, not by choice.
i am now gonna start to ride through the scenery again.
oh, and ordering a new bike is a brilliant feeling........... 😉
😕 i ride through scenery all the time on my road bike.
Maybe you are just using the wrong roads. The longer the number the better. (No numbers is best)
Likewise ton, this thread is making me miss mountain biking. I haven't ridden for ages, just been too busy so making do with road rides so I still get some biking in my life. Hopefully getting a new frame soon and I can't wait to get back out on a ride - might treat myself to a long mynd all dayer 🙂