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Inspired by the Delamere thread, I miss NWMBA Wed night rides. Once popular they just fizzled out to 2 or 3 of us (2001)
The Flintshire Challenge, a great end to the summer.
What do you miss?
I miss riding it up proper big hills like in the lakes and wales.
fingers crossed in the future I may be able once again.
A&E
Hopefully
Not being worried about crashing.
Big, all day rides with the Brighton MTB crew.
Proper hills
London is shit in the hills department
Everything I’ve not ridden for a few years and can’t muster myself to start again.
Bikes with 26" wheels.
Bikes that were all the same size so i could swap parts across easily
the TBC night rides
DezB - Member
Not being worried about crashing.
This.
And I miss being injury free and able to ride what I like.
Junkyard - lazarusBikes that were all the same size so i could swap parts across easily
all mine still are. Being a luddite has advantages
Whistler. Don't think I'll be able to go back any time soon 🙁
stevied - Member
Whistler. Don't think I'll be able to go back any time soon
Oh this, I went in 2011, mostly as a giant F-You to the Surgeon who said I wouldn't be able to ride any more in 2009, but I was still a wreck, massively unfit, nervous and sore, still had a blast though.
Fitter, stronger, faster now, but even the idea of finding a couple of grand and a week or so to go on a long-haul hol and leave the family behind seems laughable.
Other than Whister, trees.
I freely admit to being a trail centre mincer, but the trails I fell in love with 10+ years ago don't exist any more, not like they used to anyway. Seems everywhere that used to like riding through a dark and moody forest over soft soil and roots has become a barren wasteland of naked rock surfaced trails between dead stumps
I really miss the old skool xc riding days. These days everyone I used to ride with is only interested in riding ridiculously steep enduro crap and wearing goggles with massive helmets. I crave the old days of singletrack rides across the NY Moors and Dales but it seems few others do.
Some folks that I used to ride a few years back but don't now, as they've chucked it. My friends these days seem mainly to be folks I ride with, and a couple of proper old friends.
Being able/young/fit enough to do a 65 mile epic in the Highlands one day & a 32 miler the next.
Seems everywhere that used to like riding through a dark and moody forest over soft soil and roots has become a barren wasteland of naked rock surfaced trails between dead stumps
Aye, I know it's all part of the forestry process, but last time I went to Kirro, did Cairnsmore of fleet, then fancied a lap of the red, binned it after 10 minutes, it's totally changed in character since they cleared the larch out, barren and dull feeling.
Like Drac, everything: I can't seem to fit it in around the rest of Dad Life.
Being able to singlespeed everywhere without my back going twang.
Throwing two bikes, a tent and a mate into a car and heading to France for a fortnight with no plan.
Being out on the hills riding into a gale force headwind full of rain with a massive, masochistic grin on my face.
Driving to the opposite end of the country for a weekend involving a ten mile ride and a drinking marathon that would probably kill me now.
Nailing some super technical French trails I couldn't even contemplate now, and yelling out loud with euphoria when I cleaned the bits I could barely contemplate even then.
The Wight Diamond: every year spending it mostly drunk, riding to all the crazy golf courses and partying hard on Sunday night.
The ego-fluffing times when it all came together on descents.
Being on the Downs at dawn in a cloud inversion.
That sort of thing.
*stares out of window*
The challenge of a good climb and the thrill of a fast descent
Scotland.
I was up there before open access so limited in where I could ride and bivy.
Was up there last spring had forgotten just how huge the hills and mountains are. Proper bike country - apart from the midge.
Night rides..only average 2-3 per winter over the last couple of years ..it used to be every Wednesday without fail ..and some truly long epics at that .
I think the weather has had something to do with that ..the last few winters have been wet & muddy as opposed to hard packed & frosty..
Need to do another Northumberland bothy weekend too..with my regular bike buddies had an amazing couple of evenings on the last visit ..
Not a huge amount really.
I certainly don't miss the endless amounts of cleaning, fixing broken things, driving 100 miles to ride 10 and the general amounts of faffing that any group ride invariably ended up with.
But I do miss the ability to get into much more remote places on much more serious trails than my CX bike can comfortably cope with.
Some folks that I used to ride a few years back but don't now, as they've chucked it. My friends these days seem mainly to be folks I ride with, and a couple of proper old friends.
This too 😐
A couple of years ago if it was just 3-4 of us it seemed pretty low-key, these days it's usually just the two of us, Mrs Jay calls him "my other wife" ha ha. No one chucked it in, some prefer to go it alone, some only come out when the sun is shining, it's not too windy, not too cold, not too hot... I'm sure planets need to be aligned just right.
The worst ones though... you know the type, the sort you get stuck with at parties because "Jamie likes bikes" he'll yarn on for 30 mins about Whister this, or Danny Mac that, but you know his bike is laying dirty and rusting since the last time he threw a leg over it for an hour three and a half years ago. I mean, the Faux Surfer I understand, the Gower is full of them, but the Faux Mountain Biker, why? Mountain Biking has never been cool - the closest we get to cool is a 30 second clip of Rampage on E4s Rude Tube.
Crashing, after breaking my arm 3x in two years I've got such a massive phobia (probably justified, I reckon it would snap like a twig again) of coming off that I dab a the earliest opportunity rather than riding it out. I'm not slower than I was, or any less inclined to jump etc, it's just a bit more binary whether I ride something or not, if I feel a wheel start to go on an off camber I immediately unclip rather than see if I can power back up the hill again, or I only do jumps I'm 100% sure I can land rather than the 50/50 ones that would actually get me to progress.
The only part of my 21 years on mountain bikes that I miss is the Polaris Mountain Marathons, especially the summer ones where you didn't have to carry kit or camp above 1000 feet in a wet windy field. We did two or three in the North York Moors, which were the most amazing rides ever; I remember miles of dry swoopy singletrack through forestry and scrub, superb scenery and great campsites.
My brother and I did a winter event in the Cheviots in the early 90s where everybody slogged on foot up a big hill in un-rideable wet slush, tempted by two high-value checkpoints. I worked out that we were going to be late back and my bro and I had a huge public row by the trail with other riders smirking as they passed but eventually I persuaded him that at that speed we were going to run out of time so we turned round, bagged a few easy checkpoints near the overnight camp and came in with a few minutes to spare. Almost everybody else came in horrendously late and lost a stack of points to time penalties while we, by guile, ended up coming 13th overall in Seniors.
I miss having a bike I enjoy riding, but hopefully get that sorted soon!!
Riding all day, then hanging out in the pub afterwards or having takeaway, a movie and a sleepover at a mate's house.
Oh, those Brazilians, you know? Circa 1970? Broke the mould. Theory out the window. Free expression of [s]football[/s] cycling. Uncategorisable. Is that a word? It is now! You know? Far cry from small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts. Rush goalie. Two at the back, three in the middle, four up front, one's gone home for his tea. Beans on toast? Possibly, don't quote me on that. Marvellous.
Time really and adulthood are the things that get in the way. The weeks I would spend 5 out of 7 days off-road and the other 2 commuting to my part-time job...
I still feel like a big kid out on the bike - that’s not changed!
The holiday I was on just a few weeks ago - oh how I miss those dry dusty trails of CO/UT/AZ
Not much to be honest.
Messing about in the woods? Nobody seems to like doing that in our group. Always the need to press on.
Grass roots companies coming up with crazy ideas.
Feeling like you're welcome on the hills 🙂
In general, even though I've been mountain biking since 1988, this is the best time to be doing it. I'm having more fun on a bike now than ever.
That feeling of accomplishment having ridden up a really big hill quickly or up something steep. Not something I'm likely to regain the ability to do. Riding the ebike is great but I don't get the accomplishment feeling going uphill.
I make a big effort to get out into my local woods with its compacted trails (Bristol), which thankfully I live only about 10 minutes' ride away from.
With kids, crumbling parents and a job - I do feel really pleased that I'm usually out in the woods at least once a week. (Plus loads of commuting and some road and touring). I even did it today!
But, I do miss *mountain* biking. I have such happy memories of exploring the Brecon Beacons and the early trail centres in my late teens and early twenties. Now, I'm fortunate if I get to a trail centre twice a year.
To be fair, it's within my gift. I recently rode for 3 days with an old friend, although it was road touring as he doesn't do MTB - and many of my newer cycling buddies and / or events are road-based...
The time to do more of it.
Da Cotswold Massiv.
It actually got pretty massive at one point. The sport seems to have moved on though, folks want rollercoaster trail centres not bridleway bimbling.
Having ridden pretty much the road iron exclusively for the last 12 months, I didn't realize how much I mussed just dicking around in the woods with my mates until just recently.
In contrast to the more serious club rides, messing about on the mtb is about 90% piss taking and 10% bike riding. So, it's the craic with my mates that I've missed, although I can't say it's any different to what it's always been.
The two things I miss the most....
1. The right line
2. The landing
😕
the perma-smile that hurts your face after you smash a tricky fast downhill section! Always had this at Afan, great place to ride!
JMc
And reading through the Stiff et al ads innthe mags, comparing best prices for latest bits..
And reading through the Stiff et al ads innthe mags, comparing best prices for latest bits..
6 page CRC adverts.
CRC actually delivering stuff next day (RM 1st class) for free
the two massive stw forum meets we had at glentress
Riding - working mostly nights at the moment, so can't do our weekly local night ride which can be anywhere between 3 and 15 or so folk. The rest of the time it's finding motivation
Bravery - up until last year, I'd attack every section without much fear. Then I came off and broke my jaw
Everyone going to the pub after a ride - the majority seem to slink off home now either before, or straight from the car park. There's only every a small few of us have the obligatory post ride pint
Days before Strava - how about just going out for fun, rather having to beat your PR, or try for a KOM on every single section? It puts noobs off too.
tbc night rides.
The sheer joy in discovering tracks round Rothiemurchus and Glen Feshie for the first time.
Other than that, not much. Other than the past few months I'm doing more MTB riding than ever and I've not being doing it long enough to develop nostalgia.
Riding with my kids. ex-Teen1 is at Uni and Teen2 developed and allergy to physical exercise. Except... joy of joys, he's asked to go mountain biking on his brother's Trance# 😀 . Happy days and maybe a trip to BPW (he's ridden Afan and FoD a few times already).
#This may be related to me letting him ride my old race bike to school, and he's remembered that nice bikes are actually fun.
-The fearlessness and reckless enthusiasm of my teenage years
-Silver wrapped MBUK coming through the door once a month in the early 90's
-Weds night TBC rides
-Before enduro
Actual standards.
Being a better rider than 'er indoors.
My gold and black Giro E2.
GT splatter paint schemes.
Silver finishing kit.
Marzocchi MX forks.
26ers.
Shimano brakes that worked.
Purple.
My mojo and fitness, both robbed by my brain
Wednesday night rides in the Wyre or Kinver, and mates from said rides
Not knowing where I am.
These days I have maps and GPS.
Getting lost and serendipity was fun. 🙂
The southern trailquest series run by Trailbreak
Wed night Thetford rides - rain or shine
+1 for scanning MBUK ads
That feeling when I first saw the 1996 Stumpjumper
When entries were cheaper
3k would get you top end with full XTR
1 size BB/headset/axle etc etc
Not thinking “this is gonna hurt”
Peak District riding, or at least the novelty of riding it in the early years just heading out as a bunch of underprepared, wild eyed teenagers for long days out, returning covered in sweat, dust, stings and bloody scrapes to still dick about on the jumps behind our houses then get pissed on a 4 pack of fosters.
The miles and miles of woodland singletrack down where I used to live in Herts. Was back three just the other day enjoying bone dry trails, which are a pipe dream up here at this time of year.
But I do have real hills and plenty of rocks now, do on balance I think I'm ahead.
-Imagining new trails round every corner and in every remote glen, until I ruined it by trying to explore them all with a tent and a trailer 🙄
-TBC Night Rides 8)
-EBC Night Rides: mostly EBC staff, almost exclusively running Cat Eye halogens with the stick batteries that mounted either side of your bottle cage, doing pretty much the exact same Pentlands routes that we did on long summer days 😀
I miss the lack of a huge expanse of fatness I've produced over the last 20 years.
Doesn't stop me riding, or the amount of joy I get from it but, does prevent me from living how I know I should.
Still, only got myself to blame - pass me the biscuits....
This year I’ve been out more just to explore , to look for routes etc just out on the bike with no planned route or real goal.
Best riding year in ages
or I only do jumps I'm 100% sure I can land rather than the 50/50 ones that would actually get me to progress.
Seriously attempting something that would have a 50% chance of the outcome being a Crash ?!
There is no way I'd do that! I feel like I'm pushing it too far if I think there is even a 1% chance I will crash on something.
Being young, being new to mtb any all bike parts being soooo sexy, saving for months for bike parts, riding with a massive hangover.
Winter mud not being a cleaning chore but actually fun!
grannyjone - Member
or I only do jumps I'm 100% sure I can land rather than the 50/50 ones that would actually get me to progress.
Seriously attempting something that would have a 50% chance of the outcome being a Crash ?!There is no way I'd do that! I feel like I'm pushing it too far if I think there is even a 1% chance I will crash on something.
Yeah, can relate to that. 🙁
That said, had my worst crash in the summer for a long time. Nothing broken, just shook up.
Funny thing is.... I now look back on the crash with a smile and realise I'm not quite as fragile as I think I am. 🙂
All this being fields
People mostly, who've vanished in the ebb and flow of life and geography and kids and other stuff. The rest of it is mostly the same but different.
Finding riders who just don't want to ride their local trails to death. Youngster don't want to explore anymore. When i was a student we were exploring every week end every corner of the county/country.
Riding with friends and someone other than me planning the route.
OH! and mountains!
Seriously attempting something that would have a 50% chance of the outcome being a Crash ?!
Maybe 50/50 of landing cleanly would be a better phrasing. I only jump when I know the landing isn't going to be a squirrely mess, just nice, smooth and with both wheels together.
BadlyWiredDog - Member
People mostly, who've vanished in the ebb and flow of life and geography and kids and other stuff...
It has always been so, even in the 1890s
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Being new, so everything was an adventure. First time to glentress, first black route, first race, first expensive bike, first race that wasn't riding in circles being bored, first uplift, first riding holiday, first trip to the alps... Firsts are great and you use them up fast. First trips to new places, first time down a new trail, first ride with a new person are pretty much endlessly refilling though.
And I miss not being able to ride stuff! Not crazy stuff, I have no problem with not doing big gaps or whatever. But everyday stuff. It was a constant breadcrumb trail of things to do next time. The line between "hit that line better" or "gap it further" or whatever is way smaller, for me it takes away some of that big feeling of progress and achievement.
Lastly I kind of miss pentlands wednesday rides. But I'm realistic about that one, I just didn't dig it very much when I tried to restart those, I like the memory more than the reality.
Feeling like I can ride all day without guilt.
Having kids is great though.
Secondary, CRC sending stuff out within a day or two of it being ordered...
I could list a lot actually,
Lycra shorts and a polo shirt, rigid bike with bar ends just exploring riding wherever I could, the tingling feeling in bed after a long day or evening out on the bike from all the nettle stings (still get that sometimes), getting lost/getting so far from home I had to get a train/lift home.
Essentially, adventure is what I miss. I love my local trails, I've managed some adventure this year (1st bivvy trip, and a go on a "local" loop that was long enough to not be most people's idea of local, one new munro in horrendous conditions)
For me, the simplicity.
BITD the bikes were basic but so were my expectations. Just go ride!
Now the bikes are far superior but then you/riding buddies/group spend ages faffing about and rides can be ruined by over thinking and/over analysis. Or riding around with loads of spares etc waiting for some impending mechanical doom.
^reading this might highlight I'm not in the best place today 😆