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I was having this chat with one of my riding buddies the other day and it seems to differ quite significantly from person to person.
For example, my "normal mountain bike ride" takes in plenty of downhills - ideally with a bit of tech and a jump or two, but it'll require a fair bit of climbing to get the most out of it. One of my riding buddy's "normal" is a big cross country ride that takes in a lot of views and gets you out of the house for a good few hours. Another lad I ride with is all about the push and play, where he'll just session the big features on a trail.
So, no wrong answers - what's your "normal mountain bike ride" look like?
Get on bike, pedal it on stuff that is mostly off road.
A ride is a ride in my book
One where a trail bike is the perfect tool for the job and you don't feel under or over biked.
Map based xc, using coughpaths to max off roadness of route. No mountains whatsoever, well except the Oxfordshire alps.
Hmm. Normal.
750m ascent/descent. 25km. A bit of everything, but generally a bias to more tech-flow and woodsy singletrack. Within tolerance, I much prefer tech climbing, but its energetically expensive and must be balanced against the rest if the ride.
Double everything on the eeb.
Get on bike, pedal it on stuff that is mostly off road.
A ride is a ride in my book
👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼
We usually do one of two rides :
Longer all day epic just about getting in some good kms off road as much as possible but trying to tie in some good descents to make the hills worth it.
Shorter in distance but usually more climbing - winch and plummet trying to take in as many descents as possible. Riding around Hebden Bridge you're either going up or coming down.
Enjoy both in equal measure and usually depends on the weather how long i want to be out for. I've got a 150/150 do anything bike which helps a lot.
I guess it depends where you live, or what you can reach without a huge drive from home.
Mine started out as riding maybe blue/red grade trails and visiting trail centres/local woods quite often, gradually increasing the technical side of things. Then I started doing more local XC from my door with some road and green lanes to make a loop. These days I'm on a rigid MTB mostly riding what's now labelled as gravel riding I suppose.
I've got to the point/age/level of grumpiness where I can't get my head around 2 hours worth of bike prep/driving/cleaning and tidy up for the sake of a 2-3 hour ride, I'd rather go for a blast from the door on back lanes and the odd bridleway unless it's a full day out on the MTB.
I like this thread. When I started riding as a teenager in the UK there was only the option of bridleways and footpaths, plus a small woodland with some undulations. The most thrilling downhill was a gravel bridleways.
Where I live in Oz an Mtb ride for me is either a council owned and sanctioned mtb park, a National Park with a community maintained mix of official (some machine made) and unofficial tracks, or occasionally a trip to a privately owned Mtb Park where we have to pay a small fee.
Most other stuff is gravel.
I get out before or afterwork in the week maybe 1-2hours with a bit of everything Road Gravel and ups and down (Peaks rider) 10-15 miles
Weekends normally something more maybe a Lakes Hike a bike route .. 20+ miles if I have the time . Any ride is a de-stress in my book .
2.5 to 3.5 hours of off-road, 30 - 50km, bit of up, bit of down.
Yes exactly, my rides can be exactly that - techy xc, fireroads, trail centres, rocky tech in the peaks, uplifts like antur and revs.
Easier for my to say mostly off road as it is all mountain biking
@graham11980 yeah that's absolutely fair enough.
I've had issues organising rides where I've shared a GPX of the route but not been specific enough on what to expect and had people come on everything from fully-rigid singlespeeds, gravel bikes, and even had one bloke turn up for a 25km planned ride on a DH bike.
Just shows how wildly 'a normal ride' differs for people
Main types:
lunch solo: quick smash - 50 mins, 9 miles, 1,100ft couple of steeps, singletrack, double track climbs
weekend/evening solo: 2, 2.5 hours - more laps of the steep stuff, 13-16 miles, 2,200ft- 2,900ft
weekend with mates: more time, less up, couple of pints.
Mine tend to be either 20ish mile Peak District trail rides or winch and plummet until I can’t face doing the climb again eg Golfie Warncliffe etc
Very timely question as if you asked me this 4 months ago I would have said <30 miles 2500' coffee and cake was my normal but as I am in training for a silly week long offroad ride my new normal is a 50+ 4500'+ twice a week so perhaps the normal ride evolves with need, trails, location, time etc I Know mine does.
James
3 distinct rides :
- Out the door from home - flat paths, round the edge of some muddy fields, double track bridleways/farm tracks, cheeky cut through some private woods while no one is looking, bit of tarmac from one village to another, easily doable on a gravel bike but more fun on an 'XC' bike. Midweek. Nearly always alone.
-Got a free Saturday/Sunday morning? Trail centre usually, actually relishing the chance to hit actual singletrack, get the wheels (briefly) off the ground. Again - nearly always alone.
-Once in a blue moon, when the stars align and some riding mates are actually available - an actual mountain bike ride. Dales, Peak District etc - share a gpx, meet in a car park, faff, more faff, ride, eat sandwiches, have a pint, ride more, crash a bit, ride more, up actual big climbs and big descents. A handful of times a year. Eternally jealous of those who get to do this week in week out due to location and availability of people to go with.
Like lots of other folks on here. Mix of either; winch and plummet, taking in as much tech as you can before either crashing badly enough to need to stop, or just no juice left in the legs OR long-ish XC in a big loop (woods or moorland) to see the countryside, with one or two good descents thrown in.
4-5 hours at a local riding spot. Surrey Hills, Petersfield, Hindhead etc.
'Enduro' style riding. Winch to the top, bomb down, onto next trail. Rinse and repeat.
Although occasionally it is an XC ride.
Majority of them start on the sofa and continue from there.
Out my door are mostly training rides. I can ride to some decent trails, but it's a few hours each way to get there.
Otherwise meeting mates for a longer ride, then 35-40k in the Peaks.
Occasional trail centre or uplift.
A few bigger rides when I'm on holiday.
"For example, my “normal mountain bike ride” takes in plenty of downhills – ideally with a bit of tech and a jump or two, but it’ll require a fair bit of climbing to get the most out of it"
My rides are mostly like this but without the jumps😂
Do like a bit of gravel or xc type rides too though.
There is only two absolute conditions that must be met for it to be classed as a mountain bike ride in my opinion:
- Your tyres must touch dirt/mud at some point during the ride.
- You must have fun during the ride (type 1) or after reminiscing (type 2)
Everything is up for debate.
Standard mantra of it’s not a ride unless it’s 1000m of climbing? 😆
Mostly off piste trail/steeps riding from my doorstep, occasional XC loops as I can ride to the main cycle centre in FoD, do a blue & red loop & ride home for some fitness, but only in the week, as its a war zone at weekends.
If I’m putting a bike in a van to drive to ride, I would usually want to do 1500-2000m of descent (and subsequent climbing) to make it feel like its worthwhile to me.
For me my regular ride is 50-80km. That’s 32km of xc commuting to the trails and the rest having winch and plummet fun, the longer rides as the weather improves and there’s more to ride. You have to work hard for your fun! Will do that both days at the weekend if I have the time. During the week urban commutes.
Try to get as many away days as possible, trail centres, FOD and BPW. Gravel rides and xc adventures.
Years ago would be up, along, down, pub. Latterly with skill compensating bikes, tend to be up, down, up, down, up and bit of along, down, pub .
Post november head injury and still not driving these are all from the door (elevation under 100m) and mainly on the moor (which is a bit over 400m), but no more than 500-600m climbing and 10km or so of riding over a bit more than an hour Mainly peaty singletrack with a few local trails with built features, Little jumps.
A weekend ride tends to be double the climbing and there or four times the distance to get a bit further afield, sometimes on a cross bike.
I really do need to find some fitness from somewhere. Might have to get the roadbike back in play.
I consider it getting on a mountain bike and riding it. They're all different. Even on the same trails in the same order. People. Weather. Thoughts. There's no 'normal'.
They’re all different.
According to strava (and I was a relatively late adopter) one of the climbing sections on Wednesday's ride was my 250th effort on that climb. I'm not sure I've got another 250 in me but we'll see. Either way, they're not all that different and some are fairly normal to be fair,.
Anywhere between 40-60k around the local woods linking together the best bits (flowy or steep or techy or all 3), lately I've been taking a flask to sit on a hilltop with a coffee and have a me moment.
Occasional jaunts to the Peaks or Woburn to ride with my son and a few multi day trips to Scotland, the Lakes etc
Either way, they’re not all that different and some are fairly normal to be fair,.
The trails can be identical, but the actual experience of riding them can be quite different would be my take, even if Strava says they're the same. It's about how you experience the ride, not the stats.
That said, Strava Local Hero badges are a subtle hint that you should maybe consider broadening your route horizons 🙂
normal for me is a potter about the local tracks and trails, like today, 20km circuit from the back door, in the sunshine 🙂
That said, Strava Local Hero badges are a subtle hint that you should maybe consider broadening your route horizons 🙂
Guilty! 🙂
(I hate those local hero things as much as spammy autokudos)
A 1hr or so play in the woods out of my door - rolling singletrack, no jumps or anything gnar. For fitness of mind and body.
A longer natural ride - purpose being to look up and take in where I am. If the trail under my wheels happens to be fun this is a happy bonus. This could be anything from a half day to a couple of nights under canvas.
A half day at a trail centre - once every now and then I'll put in a ride at a trail centre. Half a day is plenty. To be honest I prefer a flowing red to a black with lots of risk/exposure, especially if on my own.
A fat bike beach and coastal ride - anything from a couple hours to a day.
So I guess that's pretty much a bit of everything below the gnar threshold.
Anything really, as long as it's an hour or over and I don't overly enjoy bike park style riding.
For instance, I had a 2.5 hour solo ride at Wharny Sunday with 1,200m of up n down, 1.5hr riding some nice singletrack from Eyam with the Mrs on Wednesday and I'm in North Wales this weekend to do Yr Wyddfa and some off-piste stuff round Betws y Coed.
I just love riding bikes!
Always from the door, 2-4 hours, linking together techy trails by road.
Trail bike or XC bike, rides are similar enough, I just take trail bike if the route skews towards steeper trails and/or less tarmac.
Love techy trails but don't really like winch and plummet. Also I hate doubling back on myself for some reason, always prefer to see a nice open loop on the map.
All of it. The variety is one of the best parts of riding bikes.
One where I'm feeling somewhat unfit on the uphills and much more comfortable on the downs. It's between 2 and 3 hours long and takes place somewhere in central Southern England.
It has probably involved some kind of child organising or automotive journey stress.
I've definitely settled on "ride up a hill, do an awesome descent, repeat". I mean, I moved house to be closer to the tweed valley. I don't hate exploring or an xc ride, I used to do a lot of that from the door but it's not why I ride, so over time I've just put more and more time into the thing i like most- scaring myself shitless on some nightmare of a trail built by a loony.
- Weekend day
- Drive 45m-2h to ride
- 4-7 hours
- 30-50km
- 800-1200m pedalable ascent, not technical, not much pushing
- Not much tarmac, climbing or traverse is ok, tarmac descents are bad
- Singletrack or old bridleway type descents
- Bit of a remote adventure feeling
- Good views
15-20 miles, probably 60-70% off tarmac roads and the rest on necessary evil of tarmac (I'm in Derbyshire so tarmac to like up things is normal). Grovel up the hills, whiz down them - ideally with fillings a nanometer from being shaken out. Rough or rooty, but not jumpy. Big views where possible, as few as possible other people except my mates for the day.
"Get on bike, pedal it on stuff that is mostly off road."
Tried to think up a clever answer, but couldn't beat this.
My typical rides are from home 1-3 hrs 10-15 miles 2000ft ish, mostly on my own due to my days off being during the week but I often get distracted by trail tinkering and scouting out new ideas.
I love steeper trails but can't 'session' the same features/trails over and over again so prefer to incorporate these lines into a ride.
Two of the local builders are building trails that are just too tight and steep for my abilities so I am trying to come to terms with this and enjoy the trails I enjoy rather than punishing myself 🙂
I miss group rides but not enough to go out on and evening when I can ride during the day. And Sundays is the only day of the week that we have as a family.
Occasionaly I find the time for a day/weekend out and don't really mind if its something epic in the Lakes, a half day at Win Hill, Bike park, Tweed Valley, bike packing, as long as its shared with others.
Traws Eryri coming up at the end of May for a proper adventure with Simon.
'Normal' (every day) is a 2 mile commute which may involve about 750 yards of woodland climb, but is usually just a road affair.
Thursday night's group ride by contrast involved a 30 min drive into East Devon, and was a mix of easy bridleways, road transitions, and unexpected degrees of lairy steeps / loose rocky & rooty singletrack that I'd never ridden at all before - 17.5 miles / 1725 feet of climbing.
Weekends tend to be more XC type from the door blend of bridleways/green lanes/ country lanes, or occasional trips to Haldon, with the family. But any time on the bike's good.
Depends on who I'm riding with, Most Sunday rides tend to be 'winch and plummet' (cheesy term but describes it well) which aren't big on miles but get plenty of steep climbs and descents in. Midweek more of a loop with some woodsy tech thrown in conditions depending. Don't do big XC loops that often now TBH, but its just good to be out in the hills though either way!
A short blast at FOD, a long epic day on Dartmoor, shuttling runs in the van, lift access in the Alpes, BPW, pump-track riding with the kids, a potter around Haldon with my son, a short XC loop around Woodbury Common or a day on hired e-bikes lapping as much as we can at FOD.
All of those are a ‘normal mountain bike ride’ in our house.
Spoiled here in Aberdeenshire. So normal evening / quick weekend spin is about 15km, 700-800m climbing and typically looks very like a wee enduro course. Probably 1.5-2h on the bike and get in 4 or 5 decent descents. At a guess red-black level if anyone labelled them with roots, rocks, steeps depending where you're heading.
Brilliant - except I'm 4 weeks into recovering from a broken collar bone and missing it - grumpy and miserable here.
My normal mtb ride is from my front door and then riding up to the trails at Beecraigs Country, either early morning or late afternoon/early evening and riding as much as I can in the time I have.
The trails may not be Tarland, Glentress or the Golfie, but there is enough to entertain me for an hour or two, and when ridden at pace can be very fun and tiring.
Im basically a wander around the scenery rider these days. Multiple days even.
Living in Suffolk, my normal rides are between 1-3hrs, 12-25miles with a 'whopping' 250-500ft of elevation gain.
So I have the occasional weekend roadtrips to get my gravity fix, with the nearest place being Peaslake at 2.5hrs away<!--more-->
I don't think I really have a normal type of ride. I like lots of different types of riding, the variety is good 👍
I'm actually amazed by how many people's normal rides are 50km+ - around here it's almost impossible to ride anything over 40km without a staggering amount of climbing added to it (or very boring and careful route planning). I managed a 70km route last summer that had nearly 3,000m of climbing on it - I was cooked for days after that!
"normal" or "proper"?
Normal: probably just going around the same old trail centre because its close, has a cafe, and we're on a time limit.
Proper: Big day in the hills. Probably described as "XC" these days, but on a bike that isnt a racing snake thats going to send you OTB as soon as it gets entertaining.
Some double track, more single track, a little road to connect it up. Earn the descents.
Dartmoor was lovely yesterday. First time out in ages.
Smashing tracks, Bike Parks, etc. doesnt count. Its got its place for sure, but its not a "proper ride" any more than taking a BMX to thes skate park is a proper ride.
Grey area on smashing tracks where you ride the ups, i guess.
Whatever a normal mountain bike ride is, I haven't been on one for ages. Involves hillier places than my doorstep, lots of singletrack on the hills, in and out of bombholes, small jumps, small drops, roots,a few berms, bluebells, lots of twisty windy up & down singletrack amongst green leaves on trees! Unless its winter.
What passes for a mountain bike ride for me these days is riding using urban features as obstacles, riding down steps, dropping off ledges, using walls as skinnies, whether on cliff tops or in parks, often involves a skatepark and farm tracks.
Riding my trail bike with my mates on a good XC loop taking in good singletrack for a few hours . Noting better than finishing and good ride followed by a beer .
Currently MTB rides for me are just pootling along local bridleways when I have a spare hour or 2 on a day off. Not sure I'd call it proper riding as it's so flat and tame here, honestly I'd rather be on a road bike to cover more ground more efficiently! Occasionally get over to Northampton or Leamington bike park to at least make it feel like a "proper" ride with trails.
Back when I was riding more, my usual rides were sessioning the DH trails at Woburn, sometimes going further afield to FOD, Bike Park Wales, Stile Cop etc. Did the odd longer xc rides at Long Mynd but I don't really enjoy covering loads of miles on an MTB, feels like too much of a slog and I prefer "bike park" style descents with jumps and berms. At least we have a couple of local options for that now, but I don't think the jumps/trails are as well built as Woburn. Going back there feels like home and all the jumps feel right!
Oh, I love this topic. See, I’m with Hannah. I sum it up as the journey not the ride. I appreciate that’s a cliche but for me it’s been true.
I recently moved from the Tweed Valley. I worked at Glentress. The trails people traipse up to the area for were not for me. It took me a long time to realise it wasn’t my fault.
I used to work at a bike centre in Swaledale. Beautiful area but I was as happy along the valley bottom or a journey with views as haring down an old mine working.
People out on bikes full stop is the thing.
I stopped reading Singletrack because I didn’t find the articles where people traverse the Andes or Peru very interesting or relatable.
I’ve just read articles in the current issues on Bike Park Swindon, and the Yorkshire Coast. That’s the stuff I like. Relatable participation. Thank you..
From the door I have 4 rides. Bits and bobs of local singletrack - just an hours play, Out to the pentlands and as many climbs and descents as I can be arsed with - very XC with great views. 50 ish KM and 1000+ m of climbing. Then I have two "gravel" loops each of about 60km and fairly flat. Tend to do one a week of them. Very little road in any of those routes
Not been to the pentlands much recently.
I also use a bike to ride into the hills and camp. Is that real mountainbiking? Its a broad church. 🙂
I went on a ride yesterday right up into the hills, 10miles from the nearest village. Rocky. Fast. We carried over bogs. Pushed through woods. Rode some single-track. Ducked midges. Got some phat air on a rocky lump in the trail. Coasted back to the village on a 5 mile downhill.
Apparently it was 'gravel'....
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*Ok, 10cm in the air...
1-4 hours ebike or all day possible on a proper bike from the garage door. Bonkers amount of trails locally if you know where you're going. 3 hours today on the pedals all quality woodland singletrack then beer. Peaks , Wales, Shropshire all an hour or so but can't be arsed driving to ride unless I'm having a day off work and making an effort to go elsewhere. Definitely go other places less than I used to. Partly having 3 kids/ less time but also just cant be arsed driving instead of riding.