Quote Originally Posted by xeney View Post
Mountain biking doesn't have to mean lots of crazy downhills or technical stuff! It can just mean dirt roads, depending on what kind of terrain you have available. I sometimes take my mountain bike out onto the levee trail here on windy days -- it's not a very exciting ride, but the cross winds bother me less on my very heavy mountain bike than they do on my road bike, which sometimes feels like it's going to blow sideways.
Exactly, here we have a 5 mile MUT that would be great on a windy day. There is some traffic but nothing that is too big of a pain to negotiate. Leashes are required, the path is wide crushed and pressed gravel or something. You could easily ride a hybrid and many people do. It is a very pretty ride, not too boring and nothing you could even construe as mountain biking.

Also many mountain bike locations also have fire paths and jeep trails outside the singletrack. That is something fun, slightly challenging but doesn't really require mountain bike skills. Even hard packed singletrack can be fun for a beginner and you can just walk anything you don't want to do. I still walk a bunch but it is all good. If you ever want to try just find the beginner trails and make sure they know you mean really beginner!

But if you are still timid I understand and highly recommend the hiking. A good hilly hike can really be a great workout, trust me you glutes will remind you the next morning!