Poll:why DON'T you mountain bike?

[fasteryet]

I like the thought of mountain biking, but I fear I would be too distracted by the scenery and crash often. I have a lot of aches and pains from hitting the racetrack(with horses) a few too many times, and falling, while it comes easily, doesn't appeal to me any more.

[Lissaria]

I started road biking when I was 14, before mountain biking was mainstream. A friend of the family was a triathalete and helped me pick out a bike and taught me technique etc. I loved it! I rode a lot until college. I moved from the city to a rural area for college, mostly dirt roads. My bike couldn't handle the gravel on the paved roads let alone the dirt roads! So I stopped riding, I didn't have the money for a mountain bike and I had a real fear of falling and getting hurt. It was 9 years after college that I decided I really wanted to start biking again and I could afford a new bike. Now my son is 9 and when deciding on a bike I went for a mountain bike, not thinking I'd like it better but that's what he'd want to do. And I wanted to ride with him.

It's 9 months later and I have to tell you I LOVE my mountain bike! I honestly wouldn't have gone this direction if it hadn't been for my son. I do live in a rural area, with plenty of trails near by and I find more all the time. When I first took my bike out last February I was terrified of the snow and ice, but once I gained trust in the bikes traction I was everywhere this spring usually covered in mud! At some point I may invest in a road bike again, but for now I'm a convert!

[Monica]

Driving an hour to bike does not interest me. Otherwise I might be doing it. Also Calgary has a wonderful pathway network. My bike is a MTB but with thinner and smooth tyres. It is not quite as fast as a road bike but I like it.

Monica

[kimba]

Originally posted by maryellen
I want (no, need) a Crash Test Dummy jersey. Where did you get it???

Maryellen, checking in from vacation in Provincetown, where unfortunately the pavement is wet

Well - I was browsing the web again- and I found this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7100349269

I've gotten stuff from this guy before.No problem...

anyone else have a request?

: D

I dunno- it was weird- I found both jerseys tonight- and I wasn't even looking for them!

see how much I love you guys??

Kimba

[spazzdog]

Way to go Kimba... and I though I was a research geek (and I mean that in a very admirable way)

I've never used Ebay... something about it makes me a little crazy. Too many choices, none of them "known". I don't know...

spazzdog

[Irulan]

Originally posted by fasteryet
I like the thought of mountain biking, but I fear I would be too distracted by the scenery and crash often. I have a lot of aches and pains from hitting the racetrack(with horses) a few too many times, and falling, while it comes easily, doesn't appeal to me any more.

That's why I ride slow. I saw a really cool camoflaged salamander in the trail the other day.

This has been really interesting to read all your repsonses, gals. Thanks for the replies.

Irulan

[Roadrunner]

I've done some off road biking and it's okay, but I prefer going along quite roads where the scenery changes from time to time. The last off road I did was in a forest and there was nothing to see except trees (yawn)

[smurfalicious]

Originally posted by Margaret
The last off road I did was in a forest and there was nothing to see except trees (yawn)

Yawn!? Yawn!? Oooh my gawd the trees are so beautiful!!! Okay, so I'm a forestry major, but even still. I love coming over the the Portland area and seeing different trees than I have at home, I love taking in their characteristics, and calling them by their names, I love how ones that I don't know don't seem to mind, I love going home and curling up with my tree books, trying to identify this new tree or shrub, I love the huge old growth junipers of the Badlands, and the dry canyons. I love the smell, breathing in the fragance of the trees, especially after a rain. And speaking of rain, nothing is better than being out on the trail, on horse or bike, in central Oregon.

I heard the greatest quote, on This American Life on NPR. A gal was talking about how she differed from her hiking partner, in that she needed a name for all the plants and he could care less. Her conclusion, "I've come to relase what I love most about nature is her indifference to who does the appreciating."

love and cookies
-smurf
Future Forest Resource Manager

[biknjen]

..always been a roadie. When I'm out in the woods I like to "stop and smell the pine.." so to speak. Have been nearly run over by mountain bikers, crashing through the woods on the trail And off and have been turned off by their inconsiderate ways. I'm sure there are LOTS of considerate mountain bikers out there who have respect for others, the wildlife and environment. As for me I will, when I have the chance to be 'in country', continue to hike and hopefully enjoy the quiet solitude of the wilderness.

[Roadrunner]

Yawn!? Yawn!? Oooh my gawd the trees are so beautiful!!!

Don't get me wrong I love trees and the smell was wonderful but a lot of forests in Scotland are man made forests, so to speak and every tree is exactly the same, no variation.

[KkAllez]

I did mountain bike, for years. Never lived anywhere near a paved road. Was terrified of a roadbike. Got brave and rode a roadbike, finally when we got on pavement, and loved the speed. So now.....after spending a fortune on road bikes, time to get a good mountain bike, cause I do have a nice mesa to fart around on, about 13 sections of land. I figure the mountain bike will be the winter bike. Or just a change of pace. Apples to oranges. Kinda like when I would ride my husband's quarter horse after miles and miles on my Arabians. Or Coke over coffee. It is a mood thing with me and hey, as long as people bike I don't care if they do it on a Radio Flyer tricycle as long as they JUST DO IT!

[CorsairMac]

why don't I mountain bike?.....becuase I was born N raised in Michigan/Indiana and a) we didn't have mountians there and b) mountian biking is a relativly new sport compared to me and I never knew anyone who did. I still don't except thru places like here. I would LOVE to mountian bike but living in Albuquerque re:foothills of the Rockies, I think it would be a BAD idea for me to try it alone. Right now I don't even own a moutain bike nor would I have a clue how to even go about purchasing one. I've checked the NM Cycling Clubs and I didn't see one for mountian bikers either. I figure - I'll try that sport one of these days - heck I've tried just about everything else! The older I get (46) the more I wanna try! But caps off to you Irulan - you keep biking for us!!!

[moonfroggy]

i don't have a good mountain bike, but my hybrid would work for some stuff, mostly i don't cuz i have no one to ride with and cuz i don't drive so getting places would be sorta hard, i would have to ride the bike to where i was gonna mountain bike

[smurfalicious]

Originally posted by Kim
Or just a change of pace. Apples to oranges. Kinda like when I would ride my husband's quarter horse after miles and miles on my Arabians. Or Coke over coffee.

Hee hee, this just made me giggle. I grew up on a fast as all get out, scare the pee out of ya, turn on a dime and toss back change morgan/arab cross. Now I ride a purely functional, 82% foundation QH gelding that is a built like a sherman tank. I love him, don't get me wrong, but every now and then I need the fix of running bareback weaving through trees, or chasing cows on my beloved arab/quarter monster at my summer job. Yes folks, this is my thinly veiled plea for Pine Mountain to hurry up and sell the road bike rentals.

[KkAllez]

The thing about riding the quarter horse was that he was so nice and calm and sane. The downside was that he was so broad he made my hips and legs ache for a week after riding him. The Arabians were like riding uncontrolled rockets and felt like straddling a fish!

The BEST thing about my bike? I don't have to take shots to ride it. I'm not allergic to the air pump either like I am to hay.