I’m a fairly avid cyclist and have a hybrid bike I’ve logged a lot of miles on. Last year, I went “bikepacking” for the first time and I loved it.
One of the things I love about cycling and hiking is solitude and I keep thinking that mountain biking would sort of enable me to hike on a bike – i.e., get off the beaten path a little. But I don’t want to spend money on a mountain bike if my hopes for mountain biking are at odds with reality.
I am in no way a daredevil or speed demon. I’m turning 60 this year and have zero interest in flying over obstacles or hurtling downhill through the woods at breakneck speeds. I don’t mind rugged or challenging – but I want to tackle it at my own pace.
A lot of state parks in our area have mountain bike trails. Are these things geared primarily towards the daredevils and speed demons? Does mountain bike culture allow for people who are not interested in that kind of experience?
Thanks in advance for your insights and observations!
In my very limited experience, mountain biking trails run the complete gamut from flat hard packed soil through the woods or a field to basically straight down a mountain.
Before you spend a lot of money on a bike, maybe visit some parks near you and scout the trails a bit. However, I don’t think your expectation sounds unrealistic.
Most mountain biking trail systems are set up for cross country travel or technical/speed work, usually with a mix of the two. Talk to your local mountain bike store to get a recommendation and maybe demo a bike for a day and try out your local trails.
For technical or gravity assisted rides, a full suspension bike is really worth it. For cross country riding it may not be needed. A good bike with a front suspension might be enough depending on the type of trails you end up riding. It will also be cheaper and lighter.
Best way to find out is to try it for a day or a weekend on trails near home and see if it clicks.
The bike industry invented a new niche a few years back - ‘gravel riding’ named after the gravel roads you have in the US, nowadays morphing into ‘adventure bikes’. The surprising thing about this, in contrast to the usual marketing bollox sports industries invent to sell stuff, was that it’s actually an excellent idea.
How many people who own mountain bikes are really interested in putting them through their paces on hard technical terrain - flying over obstacles or hurtling downhill through the woods at breakneck speeds as you say? It’s probably a minority when you consider total MTB ownership. Most people actually want to do what you’re describing, get out in the countryside on smooth-ish trails, bit of bike-packing, explore their local wilderness etc and you don’t need a MTB to do this.
Whether you actually need to spend money on a gravel bike when you have a hybrid I’m not sure - A gravel bike is a tweaked cyclocross bike, optimised geometry comfy to ride all day with 33 knobbly tyres or a bit bigger [intermediate between off-road and mountain], disk brakes. Every major company does one, so maybe something to look at in the bike shop and see what you think. Some examples:
I do a lot of mountain biking and I reckon the technical side of the sport would be tough to take up when you’re 60, candidly speaking [the fitness side would be fine and just like any other aerobic sport]. There’s a learning curve to riding a bike down a rocky hillside that involves falling off a lot, minor broken bones at some stage, and a small risk of worse. I ride with guys who took it up in their 30s and nearly all struggle on difficult stuff. OTOH - anyone who’s ever ridden off-road motorcycles seems to be an awesome MTBer from the get-go, so I guess it depends on the type of sports you’ve done in your life previously.
MTB has historically being divided into Downhill and XC and trail centres are labelled as such. THe downhill tracks are the terrifying ones that you ride on a bike that only works in one direction. State park MTB trails will be a mix of graded XC stuff with plenty of smooth stuff for beginners.
Depending on where you are, there are usually lots of unpaved/semi-maintaned roads and rails-to-trails routes in National Forests and BLM land. For example, there’s the Bizz Johnson trail out of Susanville or Coulterville Road on the outskirts of Yosemite.
My original mtn bike I purchased around 1990, and has since been converted to a touring bike. I used to ride that bike around the Santa Cruz Mountains trails back in the day, and it was sufficient for that. Having moved from the Bay Area years back I got more into road riding and stopped riding the unpaved.
I recently purchased a new mtn bike and boy, the technology sure has changed: frame geometry, disk brakes, hydraulics, varying kinds of suspension - front and rear, tubeless tires, 29ers, seat tubes that compress and expand at the press of a button. I bought a hard-tail because, like you, I wont be racing or bombing-down a mountain. I just wanted something sturdy enough to ride the local dirt trails at a couple of nearby lakes and river canyons. I am talking mostly well-worn and maintained trails and dirt roads with the occasional rough patch. I could not be happier.
I checked-out gravel bikes and like them, altho I felt I would be limited to the kinds of trails I could take-on with them. Cobbles and rutted washouts are all over and I wanted a bit more capability than the gravel bikes offered. If all you are looking to do is dirt roads and tame trails, a gravel bike could work.
I think you have realistic expectations and are being truthful with yourself. I like the suggestions to rent a mtn bike and try it out for a weekend - on the very trails you are thinking about. People ask me what is the best bike for them and the simple answer is - the one you will ride.
Others have given good feedback on the types of terrain you can find. To address the “get off the beaten path a little” desire, that might be tougher depending on your definition of beaten path. The options available to mountain bikers tend to be much more restricted than for hikers, so it can be rare to ride a trail and experience solitude for long stretches.
That obviously depends on your location, and you might have miles of empty trails open to you. But keep in mind, if trail options are at all limited, you will see a lot of other people on them.
Same here. I enjoy moderately rugged terrain, but don’t wish to emulate several friends who have endured non-trivial injuries requiring long recoveries.
And I’ve yet to find a mountain bike trail I didn’t feel free to take at my own pace. At worst, you briefly dismount and let a faster rider past.
Perhaps there are “Ride crazy or go home” sites, but surely they are uncommon and easily avoided.
Mountain biking can be whatever you want it to be. It can be a casual roll down a winding path or literally 100-foot back flips over canyons in the desert.
I used to work in a bike shop and people would come in to buy a bike and I’d ask them what kind of a mountain bike they wanted. Often the would say, “I don’t know.” I would then get them to close their eyes and picture themselves out there, riding. I’d then ask them, “Where are you? Describe where you are and what you are doing.” I would sell them a bike that suited their description, provided they didn’t describe something wildly beyond reality.
One of the limiting factors in mountain biking is not whether there are mountain biking trails in your area, but whether there are appropriate trails in your area. I’ve been riding mountain bike for years and have been on some of the best trails in the world, but there are trails in my home town I wouldn’t dare attempt as they are thoroughly wheelchair-inducing. Luckily, there are plenty of other local trails that offer a lifetime of rewarding riding.
Blissful mountain biking emerges when body, bike, trail, and skill all match, so look at it through that lens. So, find out if there are enough of the right trails in your area to keep you happy and, if so, go to a good bike shop and get the right kind and size of mountain bike for those trails and then get out there and have fun. Keep in mind that your skills will grow and you might find your trail demands shift. You’ll have to decide if your locale can accommodate that.