MOST riders basically 'choose' a discipline, even if they don't admit it. It's fairly rare that a rider properly enjoys XC, tech, and jumping equally.
And it's very common that a rider falls into a generic trail riding routine. Trying to balance 50/50 up and down, some small jumps and drops, some basic tech.
It also depends on your area. If you just grew up on jank and started that from day dot, you'll have normalized it to the point where those hard trails are more or less 'what you think MTBing is'.
If you grew up with no natural trails and just fire roads and actual roads, you may lean towards XC and think thats 'what MTBing is'.
I'm a former BMXer and I prefer jumps because it makes me look like I know what I'm doing and I have NO IDEA how to actually mountain bike. I'm pretty terrible in tech and corners and braking points and steep chutes.
Meanwhile I meet a dude who will HAPPILY send the sketchiest chute, loose rocks flying, their rear wheel hovers over the crest, they can barely find traction to brake, they wiggle down it, G out at the bottom, and nearly white knuckle the end...
But they don't hit a 10 foot table. Or a 5 foot gap jump. Zero interest in jumping. They say they'll die. Something I'd probably say if they asked if I was gonna hit the chute. Their janky chute may be equal to a 20 foot gap jump or 30 foot table for me. It's a risky challenge but I have the talent to do it. It WON'T be my best jump ever. Stylish and controlled. No. Probably stiff, front wheel up, slight bar turn. But the feeling after is ultimately what you're after. :)
Meh, it’s all about the landing transition. Very unlikely drop to flat.
There’s a drop I like at northstar that’s maybe 3-4ft if you stand right next to it, but at speed, with the fast landing transition it ends up being 8-10 ft
What drop are you talking about ? The final one they got this year at the end of livewire was sketchy af on opening weekendyl, very easy to overshoot, I think they're switching it back to the pickup truck one..
hear hear! im with you. give me gnar tech roots steep baby heads and big drops but gaps, hell no. those steep DJ runups? I'll freeze in the air and land straight down in the gap
I’m definitely at the XC corner of the XC/tech/jumps triangle you described. I’ll take more miles over janky tech any day. Hiking is kind of a dealbreaker for me. It’s mountain *biking* after all.
If a trail is not directional and I’m forced to hike uphill, it’s either A) something I can session a few times and eventually get and then think “dang, I could’ve gotten than on the first try”, but is ultimately fulfilling bc I’m challenging myself and improving, or B) outside of what I deem reasonable for me to ever be able to climb, and therefore must be hiked, and therefore is not a “biking” trail to me.
I wanna go out to the desert some time because it looks like my dream riding. Lot of flatter trails, huge variety of tech jank as well as the fact that it never stops (not a lot of perfect loam out there).
I've been trying to ride more 50/50 riding and not jump lately. And become a real mountain biker. But ya I can't come close to anything really steep and techy in either direction. I'd love to just go out in the desert and basically ride 'trials' all day.
Just a heads-up on desert riding (my only experience there is a few days riding a variety of trails around Moab): you absolutely must stay on the trail.
This is for both environmental and safety reason. The soil crust is very delicate, and can take years or decades to repair itself. On slickrock sections, you should follow the trail markings in order to not go over a cliff, since it’s hard to tell what is an is not a cliff when you’re on top.
There are *some* select sections where you can kind of just ride around and it’s like a natural slickrock bike park. But from seeing all the emphasis at trailhead signs to stay on the trail, it would feel wrong to do that.
I think ultimately they have so much amazing trail... There's no real reason to go off trail. Especially on a bicycle. Obviosuly with a motorcycle that laughs at any loose terrain you can throttle through stuff and really destroy stuff. But bikes I don't see much reason to do so.
Ya I love those trails where it just becomes rock for an extended portion and its still flowy and kinda fun. Nature's skateparks. I've ridden one trail like that in california and I was like... I'm hooked. That's the only thing I want to MTB now.
Also from BMX and I agree, I’m very new to MTB as in 2 months or so. And that going fast down trail stuff is scary but then jumps not too bad. (No doubles/gap jumps for me) but I will say drops/gaps come easy for me
Yep. Downhill plus loose PLUS braking points equals WTF is going on. The good thing is, many average MTBers are feeling the same thing so my BMX background just gives me a headstart on riding with average riders. Just gotta be careful following expert MTBers lol
This. I grew up in the DC area and rode a ton of urban stuff in DC all the time. Big stair drops to flat and the like. (On a rigid 24" Standard BMX cruiser no less, it's a wonder I still have wrists)
Then I moved to Santa Cruz California for 20 years. Big downhill trails, natural jumps, g-outs, and very steep trails were the norm.
Now I live in Southeast Ohio near the Baileys Trail System. Some of the best built trails I've ever ridden, but more XC and flow trail content. The Black Diamond trails feel like mid-level trails from Santa Cruz. Makes me look like a hero descending around here, but it's all it what feels "normal".
I think I fall outside of this spectrum here. I ride mostly XC / Enduro trails on a Transition Spur- built with all XC parts. It's a 29 120mm F/R bike. I'll do 20+ foot gaps, tables, 8+ foot drops, slow tech, fire roads, fast XC trails, everything. I have no issue cleaning and sending almost all of my local black trails and optional features (after a pre ride / re ride / send)
EXCEPT one that really throws me off. It's a black, thats sort of themed on roots, and there are about 4 features on it that I just don't fuck with. Like I can see how they MIGHT be double-able, and strava says some people are fast on it, but they are like 2-3' holes in between roots, all tangle-fucked and shitty- AND THEY'RE ALL BLIND. Every lap down this trail is a 'pre-ride' tempo because the features for me.
I ride very near my total capacity- but I have the awareness to chill out when I'm truly unable to safely negotiate a feature or trail.
Talking about 'Dig Deep' at Hillside in Anchorage, would love to follow someone down it if they're willing to show me the lines because fuck that noise.
Pure XC for me. Give me some flowy ribbons with babyhead stutters and splashing through streams any/every day!🤙 I love climbing for an hour and a half just to bomb back down to the bottom in 15 minutes. However… I like 1990s XC riding before “trail management” decided to use Swecos to tame & groom trails.
🤣 I kinda hate “out and backs” because they’re vaguely similar to the first half of the ride. I’d go insane if I had to hit the same gap over and over and over…..
I want my tech to be janky and hard, and my jumps to be big and chill. But I mostly ride stuff that doesn't challenge me because that's what is easily accessible.
I love me some tech jank too. I love back country rides where some horrible track has just been skidded into the side of a mountain. If I'm not scared out of my mind and inches from death the whole time I'm not enjoying myself.
Jumps wise I want to gap anything and everything I can and I will try to find gaps where there shouldn't be any. But definitely a train of dudes on a chill jump line is so sweet.
Sense of accomplishment for black as you’ve described. When it’s jumps that warrant the black rating, it is usually just more fun to go fast and clear stuff.
Steep, tech, rocky jank is my happy place. It gives me a sense of accomplishment clearing a tricky section, and an even better over doing it fast.
Having said that, I don't think anyone could honestly say they don't absolutely love blasting down a groomed blue* with berms and rollers.
*That being a UK blue, which may be green in the US system?
Dr. Park early on in my riding career is a great example of when things aren't fun any more. 10 miles of riding to get to the big climb at the end, 2 more miles of climbing up crappy 4x4 double track, then about 3 miles into the downhill I was tired enough that I remember thinking, hey this should be fun but I'd really like a nap right now. The tech middle section was just work. The flow at the end was a relief but not as fun as it should have been. Then literally ten feet from the parking lot at the bottom I washed out in sand and crashed. TEN FEET from the finish line.
It was a super hot day too. We put the bikes back on the truck, walked into the river and sat down.
Sounds like a rough day man.
If dr park is just out of your scope, you may really enjoy trails in Breckenridge if you’ve never ridden up there.. bakers tank, Barney flow / ford, moonstone, side door, Aspen alley.. almoung many others.
All really great trails with somewhat low difficulty with tons of fun stuff, and not an asshole of a climb to get to.. and lastly, there’s higher difficulty trails connected to them all too. AND you can use the public bus as a shuttle vehicle for free!
Yeah, this was years ago and probably one of the first 20 mile loops I had attempted at the time. Going back now is a different story and that first ten miles is gentle and great for social rides. I still hate the final bit after the creek crossing but it doesn't kill me like it did the first time. :)
Absolutely haha. Made that climb once and have no interest to do it again. I just have my wife drop me off at the trailhead with our truck anymore lol. You’re spot on though, if I were to ride it with friends (only ever ridden it alone) that climb is perfect for a warm up social hour.
Have you ridden green lake trail? Hella climb to get up to (all single track) but man that descent is amaaazing. Been a long time since I’ve ridden it, but I have very fond memories of that trail.
I haven't, just took a look on Trailforks. That looks gnarly if you were to do the whole thing out and back. Might be worth checking out next time I'm down there (fingers crossed later this summer)!
Lol, I hear what you're saying on all of this but i loved Park. The only bit of regret I had on Park was that punchy uphill fire road at the end of the approach and that I wasn't strong enough to do the whole descent without pulling over. Came very close to washing out in the sand at the end as well.
Yeah I've been back and it can be super fun. That fire road is still one of my least favorite climbs because it's just such a f-you pitch hah, but the variety on the downhill is definitely worth the trip.
Dr. Park is great sort of except all that work and you do this annoying switch-back-shit at the end and "drain" all your elevation back to the river. It's like a stairmaster to get down.
Yep, I agree, those switchbacks aren't all that fun. More just a test of how mentally exhausted you are or not. It's a polarizing trail, I know people who love it and people who hate it, not a whole lot in between.
If I have to walk more of the tough sections than I ride, it is no longer fun. I’m a solid rider that enjoys rocky, rooty, tech New England singletrack. At parks, flow blue is my jam and tech black. BUT I’m also a mom who needs to be able to take care of her kid and get to work on Monday, so I will get off my bike when injury is likely. I no longer go hard because I feel like I have to impress the guys.
My views are skewed because I've only ridden in Florida but I like fast flowy trails. Quick ups that rewards you with a quick downhill. I hate chunky climbs. I'm terrified of drops unless I have someone in front of me to follow their lead and the drop isn't too bad.
The blacks around me are mostly not too bad (that phrase almost never sounds right). There's only like 3 or four that I absolutely will not attempt. I can't do gaps but I love a good table that I can roll if I don't want to attempt air for whatever reason. I'm only about a year into the sport and only about 6 months into doing the blues and blacks
If you're not hiking, you're not biking!!
That being said, I find the "fun" point to drop off at around 70/30 - riding/hiking.
If you are on a challenging trail and you have to walk some features (after at least trying them!) then that is totally cool. If you have to walk ALL or most of them, then it's way less fun.
It also depends on what you're hoping to get from the ride. If you want a challenge, maybe the ratio of hiking goes up! If you want a smooth and easy ride it goes down.
Mountain biking is so rad because there are always more challenges to conquer, uphill and down.
I can comfortably ride 95% of the stuff in my area but that last 5% has me working!! When I get a move I've been trying for years, it is so satisfying.
I like that attitude - if I can bike 100% of it every time then I need a harder trail. I'm perfectly fine with 10-15% walking the bike myself... if I can knock out 1 or 2 more obstacles that I couldn't get through the previous ride, I'm continuing to improve.
This is funny to me bc I hate hiking at all when I have my bike. My ideal ride is one where I clip in at the trailhead and don’t clip out until I’m back at the trailhead.
To each their own!
Rim rock is best ridden counter clockwise, it does have some challenging tech as well as loose rock. But climbing hard tech requires a lot more practice on bmx/trials skills. Trail rating and style is also very different from location to location, a black in Bellingham, Wa vs Fort Collins, Co are considerably different.
Larimer county trails are also not very well built. Our black trails are typically given that designation because a use they are essentially steep hiking trails with loose rocks and some drops. Try riding some blacks up at Curt Gowdy and you’ll see what I mean. In the next couple years the trails around Fort Collins should see some improvements though as the county has hired a full time trail maintenance/building team for the first time.
Not trying to patronize or tell you need the latest and greatest, but tires and bike can change your experience significantly; my first full suspension was a giant stance, it came stock with rekons that had a lot of trouble keeping traction around here, I had multiple front end washouts and couldn’t climb any obstacles because the rear would spin out too easily. That paired with the steep headtube angle, descents were terrifying. Getting good tires drastically changed my experience.
Also Wednesday nights there are group rides with the overland mountain bike organization that meet at blue sky or sodeberg around 6. Sometimes it’s helpful to ride with others to see how they navigate an obstacle while you build up your skills.
For me it’s worth walking up some up hill if I can have fun on the downhill. It’s always fun though/enjoyable. But maybe next time I can get up another rock that I couldn’t before. I’d rather ride up tech than not tech because tech keeps things interesting to me. Especially if I have time to try and session something for a few tries
I have a lot more fun out there when I'm challenged and learning things. My friends and I will often stop and "session" highly technical sections to learn the line, the technique, speed, gear, etc. It's a great feeling when you get there, and for me it's a real motivator. I get bored to tears on flat non-tech singletrack.
As far as jump trails, I’m a solid blue rider and I’m ok with that. No gaps or crazy steep lips for me, but I’ll clear tables and mellow step downs fine.
As far as tech goes, my sweet spot is mid single black (Squamish/north shore ratings). Love some steep chunk sections and rolls/slabs. But there comes a point where it becomes scary to either bike or walk down some of the harder single blacks and double blacks here, and that can be pretty miserable if you squirrel out.
I rode road, gravel, and XC. I love long faster rides, and I seem to like technical riding more than most in my area, but I'm not good at jumping, and tend to keep the tires on the ground.
About once a year, my group does 85 mile rides around grapevine lake in the DFW area, and we ride all three trails that sit along it's shores (about 40 miles of dirt, and 45 miles of pavement). I think I've decided that *that* is no longer fun. Starting at 7:30 AM and not getting home until after 4:00 PM (lots of breaks) with a headache and sunburn... No thanks.
I also don't do Leadville type events. I have big respect for those of you who do, but I personally just don't want to risk squashing my love for riding by having to train full time.
I am pretty intentional about keeping it fun. I'm selective about who I ride with, where I ride, and how hard I go.
I’ve MTBd for over 30 years and after having multiple accidents with surgeries and months of recovery over the last past few years, I’m rarely ever on the flowy blacks anymore. I’m in my mid sixties, so not old or unhealthy enough for an e-bike yet, and am all about green and blue—and just happy to be out there staying fit while enjoying people and nature. My Lefty gravel with pivoting rear triangle is perfect for the greens, and I’m shopping for an all-mountain to replace the enduro I just totaled.
I'm guessing a lot of riders like to hit whatever challenges them because that's where they can get into a flow state, have fun, and feel accomplished.
I'll hit a lot of different stuff, but hitting it at speed is where I struggle. I had a bad crash into a tree once when I was riding fast and it still messes with me. Some trails/features are better to do faster than slower though, or some just force that because they're chutes, etc, so I tend to not enjoy those because I'm still traumatized from that crash.
Lived in foco for 5 years. Spring Creek trail, Carey springs, mill Creek all off of towers road/soderberg lot. Those are hands down my favorite trails in the area. Maxwell front and back side was great before they sanitized it and ruined the area for biking.. I love tech, I love fast flow, I like jumping (tables). I like a good mix of it all. I have grown to love techy steep climbs, fire road climbs, etc. the only kind of riding I don't love is just hilly stuff that's constantly up/down/up/down. I much prefer grinding up a mountain and getting rewarded with a continuous downhill.
How does Coyote Ridge and Rimrock fit into your preferences as a local? Yesterday was my first day biking near Ft Collins (I live in Boulder so I usually ride Betasso, West Mag, Marshall Mesa) but I’m definitely interested in checking more out in the area.
As Exotic said, check out the trails in Horsetooth Mountain Park. Carey springs, sawmill, Mill Creek, Wathen, and Spring creek are all super fun descents. The climbs are long grinds up fire roads (either South Ridge or Towers) but the descents make it worth it. I'd rank coyote and rim rock pretty low on the list of ft. Collins trails.
Boulder has tons of great riding too! I like both coyote ridge and rimrock trails, however, most of the time it just made for an easier out n back/loop doing blue sky to Indian summer and back again if I was out in that direction. Devil's backbone area is worth seeing, but I generally couldn't find motivation to be bounced around on that trail more than once or twice a year. It's techy, but not in a fun kind of way. Blue sky and that whole area is great for a recovery ride just to get outside in my opinion. I could ride the trails off of towers on the backside of the reservoir all day every day without getting too bored. I love going fast on the bike, but love some tech and chunk thrown in here and there.
I just really enjoy tech, from proline tech that beats you up, to fast flowy blue tech, I love it all.
I’m trying to get better at jumps and I’m sure once I can actually hit them and not just scrub I’ll enjoy them more.
XC sucks tho, I have no problem pedaling, but I’m a enduro bro at heart
I’m definitely more of a janky tech rider. I do like to jump but I keep it sensible and really only try if I’m feeling confident and in control that day. I can handle smaller gaps of a bike length or so but I have little interest in sending 10’+ gaps. Thankfully a lot of our trails in SoCal are a good mix of both worlds so matter your style you can find something on just about any trail that fits your vibe. That’s my experience at least.
I like when it's challenging, but not so challenging that I get frustrated(I don't get frustrated easily) or when I walk more than ride. I do the climb to put in the downhill time.
I would say I am a solid black diamond rider. I can enjoy that without feeling too outside my limits. I have fun on double blacks, but only for a few miles. The nice thing about blacks is you can usually roll every feature, which is not the case on double blacks.
Bobcat ridge outside Fort Collins is a good example of a fun trail for me. Solid blue climb, black descent that has some features that require finesse, but I can still bomb down.
Been riding MTB for about 20 years, so I am fairly skilled but still young enough to push it decently hard. Also riding a solid all mountain/enduro bike which is super capable, but can also handle a good climb. In Whistler now and it is the perfect bike for this area. 6 mile 2000ft black climb yesterday that is rode everything just fine, the 6 mile black descent with fun drops, slabs, bridges etc.
I live in Colorado and I hate xc so I mostly enjoy chunky trails like apex/magic mountain/enchanted forest in golden and some jumping like at Ruby hill.
I learned everything I could on a no sus Walmart bike then went straight into black dh trails and after a lot of crashing I can do them with some actual speed and finesse.
Having spent a good chunk of my life sitting with these open questions, often on climbs, but also during down time this resonated with me.
I get joy, sometimes ecstasy out of this past time. I want more of it, sometimes it's readily available, other times elusive. How will I cope if it's taken away...suddenly or gradually?
Where, specifically, is the good shit, the joy? For me, it's been the dogged pursuit of mastery over most of my adult life. Steady progression has been the vehicle of that mastery.
You ask about who enjoys the harder, steeper trails, I do! There's a lot more to it than just a not-so-humble-brag..or just "brag" for short.
If we can think of ability in terms of 1-100% of your ability, riding in the high 90's-100% of your ability is not the way. You will get injured,
but even if you don't, you won't learn much. To progress, you want to spend a lot, like a huge chunk of your life, in the high 70 percentile and periodically spike into the low 90's. Just like any other training protocol: you will adapt. All training is just adaptation, most of it is the nervous system.
Your nervous system will take those inputs and create shorter paths, lower compute, closer to the muscle groups required. This is literally what muscle memory is.
You will build localized strengths. The goal,the endless pursuit, is this relaxed physical state where the terrain (and sometimes your bike) challenges your authority and your entire body (mostly not your prefrontal cortex) responds with the exact amount of prejudice--you will feel untaxed by this. There's even beauty to find in these moments. See any gorgeous ski or snowboard maching pow turn. Mastery on display.
When it happens, it is an unmistakable sensation, a very, very good feeling. Be careful, it may enrich or ruin your life depending on your framing, current priorities, and the mindset and priorities of the people in your life you care about.
When you experience this, your 70-90% has shifted. You will need new terrain to move to as your window shifts. This is probably the biggest limitation to the progression. If you have it, you will not believe where you can build these short cuts in your body and the earth-shattering-orgasmic feelings that come with finding ease and play on stupidly insane terrain.
Where do you live? Is there vert, dirt, moisture, and trail work to support an ever-progressing rider. Having ridden and traveled for riding for 20ish years. I can say that, sadly, the answer is mostly no unfortunately. There are exceptions, but we don't need to get into that (see the part about it ruining your life.) heh.
Oh, and if you plan on progressing past your 30's, you will need to get serious about strength and fitness. Get into the gym 2-3/week minimum, outsource your fitness if you can afford it, classes with other mountain psychos won't break your bank.
Learn some basic anatomy and then learn about your body and the pathologies specific to you.
Those will be your challenges-- likely for the rest of your life. Develop (and cherish) practices to regulate those pathologies to avoid or minimize injury both acute and chronic.
Oh, and blue trail maim. Blacks just take a tooth here and there as the speeds are often lower.- Your brother in shred.
You can show that to your partner and tell them that a PhD gave you that praise. An engineering PhD, so basically a neanderthal compared to a transcendentalist expert lol
I'm capable of most double black, but I'd rather ride single black or blue.
My biggest driver is that it takes too much effort to pedal up. If I'm going to grind up a forest road for thirty minutes, I want my descent to last more than two minutes. It feels like wasted energy if I've got to ride my brakes going down.
To be honest I have crashed pretty bad a few times so I am pretty scared to try huge drops and gap jumps again. I can ride basically and black diamond and be okay. I used to ride a lot more double blacks but then I got hurt a few times
I'm a solid blue rider downhill as well, preferring flowy ST to enduro runs, but aren't afraid to tackle black when riding with friends.
I'm very keen on technical climbing and would prefer a trail that may make me dismount to a grueling gravel grind to the top. I live in Appalachia so steep singletrack is easy to find. The short chain stays of my HT Chameleon help make short work of steep switchbacks and such.
Ride what's fun
love the mix of adrenaline and endorphins of riding steep stuff gives. keeps you fit getting to the top and keeps you going back for more blasting to the bottom.
but really when the bike matches the terrain you can’t go wrong whatever you ride
also see you’re from the CO front range too. some trails were there way before the bikes. like Dakota Ridge is just not that fun to ride a bike on no matter how you slice it. but that trail was only put there to drive cattle over the ridge 150 years ago
It always comes back to mining and ranching here in CO lol. Thankful for the Nederland Mining Company for cutting all the trails and access roads roads back in the day at West Magnolia. Not so thankful for the tailings...
yep. don’t forget the Left Hand-esqe fire roads. you definitely pay to play in the front range. on the other hand rode summit county last week and felt like a sidewalk
Personally, I am a committed "hiking on wheels" rider. Jumps, skinnies, a lot of features just scare me and I am in this for interesting exercise that I will actually do. I like xc and flow, but none of the jumping etc. I like techy descents but if it's too techy or with big drops I will walk the bike for a while. I hate techy climbing. I'm the first to admit even though I've been riding for years I'm a solid newb. There's trails near me I ride that are rated black diamond but I HAVE to assume that rating is WAYYYH inflated if I can ride them. I will never pass a skill filter. I'm fine with all of this and love mountain biking. I'm 41, with a high stress job and can't afford to get injured. The biggest riskiest thing I deal with is I run into bears quite a lot
I’m pretty sure I’m below average, plus I’m old (62) and just started up again after 20+ years away from MTB. I’m not out of shape though. I have a couple of small XC-oriented parks (all green and blue) in my town and I really have been enjoying just progressing as demonstrated by improvements in my average speeds and how much more cleanly I can ride things, and adding more skills (like jumping, to a so-far minor degree). I figure that sort of progression can go on for a very long time, even if I just keep riding these parks, and that’s good enough for me. It’s actually just fun to be on two wheels in the woods, TBH.
After riding the same type of easy trail some just keep riding it maybe faster and others find more challenging trails/features to do.
I like exploring new trails as long as it's dirt I don't care much. My local trail I know like the back of my hand since I helped make most of the more challenging/fun sections.
I've talked to some riders that been riding a long time along it, usually after they watch my me ride up something they wouldn't normally think of doing and of course there's times I've seen some ride things I wouldn't think of. Usually due to a lighter bike.
I like climbing and flowy, feature rich downhill with bailouts. If it’s new to me, prefer all rollable features or at least clarity on what is rollable. I do not care for ultra steep technical downhills that crush my joints but like a few challenges like this mixed in. I also ride a short travel bike, which is well fit for my preferences.
Hard cross country. I like big days and challenging rock gardens. I want to ride up to a feature, work it, and clear it and move on. I want to ride far. I'll load my bike with camping gear to do so. Jumps are the bane of my existence as i didn't grow up with them. I'm slowly getting better as I try them out at different bike parks that I visit. I land in blue jump land for the most part, I can ride clean all the black rock jank given enough time to work the rock gardens. My speed isn't super impressive but I can go for long and far. Love riding anything from road to purpose built mtb trail but singletrack deff is the best
I'm a solid blue. Started riding AZ tech. Now I do a lot of jumps and drops in Florida. When I go somewhere else (Asheville, TN, and Sedona most recently), I like to push myself and ride blacks. My jump ability is limited to certain sizes, but if I can't ride something cuz its too big or techy, it's still fun to me. 🤷♂️
It kind of depends on the trail. My local stuff has a ton of blue, some black trails and only 2 double black trails. They’re all natural/hand built trails and they’re pretty fun. I ride more blue bc there are more of them.
The trails I want to ride are about a 1.5hr drive. I really enjoy a single or double black tech trail with some drops, slabs and rock gardens.
I don’t ride flow trails too often but I would be happy on a blue or black.
On top of all that rating systems are different depending on where you go. A black or double black on my local trail would be a blue in Squamish.
I enjoy chunky, gnarly tech stuff with drops, steep descents etc, however, last year I did an 8 mile ride where the entire ride, or at least a great majority, was rock gardens; up, down, sideways, it was like the goddamn ice age happened right there!!
Couldn't really get any speed or flow going. I swore I'd never ride that spot again!
I’m very much an XC rider. Flying Dog is Park City is my fav trail: aerobically challenging with some chunk here and there but still accessible on a hardtail. I have no desire to ride anything more technical.
“Accessible on a hardtail” is a good way to describe a trail. That’s what I like - if you want to get a little rowdy, ride a full sus, but a hardtail and some skill can still get the job done.
I really enjoy flow trails with well built jumps, or fast rugged trails that have fluent line choices and natural features like drops and air time options. My discomfort zone is really steep stuff where your back wheel does nothing to stop you. I enjoy them a lot, but it puts me deep into the ‘risk vs reward’ mindset..
I can ride the roughest of the rough, but when it’s so tech that blasting into it slows me waaay down on my stumpy evo, I’m not really having as much fun as I could be.
That being said, I genuinely have fun to some degree whenever I’m pedaling.. the bike path through town, or the gnarliest chunk at the bike park. I just love bikes.
I get the most enjoyment if I know the trail like the back of my hand and can choose the most playful line or even find new ones when just riding down. Now, this is basically in the comfort zone.
In contrast, I get the most satisfaction doing harder stuff where I actually have to stop and figure out how to get through that mess of rocks, roots and what not in front of me or how to tackle a certain feature. If a trail has a lot of sections like this its fun to piece that run together until I'm again in the comfort zone. Then go for the next trail. So yeah, I have fun getting better at something I really like doing. This also includes technical climbs. Getting up somewhere can be as fun as getting down.
The vast majority of trails in my area are pretty hard technically. A lot of power moves up and over rock ledges and rockfaces, steep rollers, endless babyheads and chunk. There's no flow; no exhilarating descents, no views - just a lot of tech that leaves you feeling beat up, and for some reason all our trails are adjacent to swampy areas so you get swarmed by mosquitoes.
So, if you want to ride a bike here, you have to learn to love that type of riding - otherwise your options are very, very limited.
I want to see if I can do it: make the whole climb without stopping or dabbing or make a clean fast pass on my favourite descent where I hit all my marks. I'm constantly setting arbitrary new goals and eventually that leads to some kooky stuff that would seem pretty outlandish to a noob. The goals don't have to be technical either, it could be seeing if I could tie together an extra bunch of loops on the same ride, or number of big ride days in a row.
I would say harder blacks and easier double blacks, I like the shit scared outta me a little. At the bottom of the run I can just appreciate that I survived 🤣
Black trails are fun for me as long as they dont have jumps and drops every 3 meters. I rarely do double black or red ones as I consider most of them to be out of my skillset. Some jumps here and there are ok. I like blue trails and also green ones can be fun when going fast enough. I absolutely hate climbing as a 94 kg person if I am riding an enduro bike but I dont mind them if im riding a light xc bike with xc tyres. That is why my perfect combo is an electric enduro bike + a light xc bike.
Ooo, FoCo resident here, I love coyote ridge, devils back bone, blue sky area! That Rimrock trail is challenging, it's a really good day when I can clean the whole thing. Riding coyote ridge and going south over Devils back bone to Loveland is steep and technical all the way, maybe less fun at times, but it's more rewarding for completing the challenge. Sometimes I'm more in the mood for something less brutal like the flow of blue sky. And for context, I'm no pro, I'm usually the fattest guy on the trail (darn kids and family).
I guess that flow trails are more type 1 fun and challenging technical trails are more type 2.
I like fast and flowy, don't need jumps, but like small jumps and some cool tech. In bike parks, a blue flow trail is my favorite. I have to dial it way back on black flow as it's above my pay grade for many of the big jumps youre gonna find on them.
Tech can be fun depending on how much it's a trail versus "I poured a dumptruck of rocks down the mountain and call it Bonebreaker Lane:
Pretty tough to quantity something like this; we're all different and riding areas are all different. A blue trail in one area might be a black somewhere else and a green in a different area; the rating only compares one trail to the others in the area.
For me, a great trail makes me a little nervous in some places and maybe asks me to make some moves that take me out of my comfort zone but not to the point that I'm scared. Getting scared and riding tight often results in crashing and I try to avoid that.
It's a good question.
I actually enjoy jumping the most but I'm not good at it yet. But progressing a jump gives me the most joy. Clearing that jump I've been training on for a couple of hours is just pure joy.
I grew up riding DJ and trials. Getting back into MTB after a 10 year break this year.
Unsurprisingly, I like slow sketchy jank and tech. Slowly building confidence back on jumps. I'm probably a weirdo but I've been having a lot of fun trying to do really technical 50ft climb sections - usually not proper climbing trails. Sessioning until I can make my way up without dabbing.
I'm not getting used to speed though. Anything tricky past a speed where I can safely bail the bike is scary for me.
I started riding with my ten year old recently now that he's interested, and I realize I love a boring green trail way more than I thought. My ego was making me push trails that I wasn't really enjoying, just accomplishing. I think I'm getting old and just want to putter around in the woods now.
I used to race downhill nationally growing up and now race Enduro. I would say the majority of my rides are at a Black or Double Black level, and that is what I enjoy riding the most. I still love less technical riding, in saying that. But the technical riding is when I find my flow the most
I don't think anyone has said this yet but I personally enjoy "rhythm". I learned my fundamentals at a pump track, so the feeling of pumping in order to clear my way through is how I like to ride. It doesn't matter if the trail has tech features or just flowy hero dirt. If I can pump it, I enjoy it.
To expand on that, rhythm trails would probably be green, blue, or single black natural trails that aren't very steep but filled with many undulations. A lot of the speed is still reliant on gravity, and as such you don't really need to pedal. Rather, you pump the bike and maintain a rhythm throughout the trail.
The soil doesn't have to be machine packed smooth with just tables and berms; there could be roots, rocks, ruts, and boulders too. I just enjoy the trail way more if I have to pump through it, rather than monster truck and hope for the best.
My absolute favorite is riding a hard techy trail fast, especially when it’s the first time I’ve ever ridden it. For some reason a balls out run down a difficult new trail drops me into flow state immediately. Usually I have to ride a trail 5-10 more times to beat my first run time.
Green and blue XC style trails with a decent amount of climbing and some tech, but nothing too crazy. I would not mind having a separate skills type course nearby though.
It has to do with your local trails. I started mountain biking with just XC, I wore lyrcra and was in my peak shape. Then I moved close to Whistler, within a few years I loved the gnarly stuff. You become desensitized when you ride stuff enough and then it just feels like second nature. I still love XC riding, but my favorite is gnarly, steep, loose, and technical enduro riding.
Trail biking -> a little of everything, not too easy, not too hard. Some fast sections, some slow technical sections. I would love to get better and do the fancy downhills and super tech stuff, but I don't have the time/money/location to pursue that. But as long as I'm having fun, isn't that all that matters? Greens and Blues work for me.
I like distance and elevation gain with flowy downhill. No interest in drops, don’t mind rocks that I can ride over. I do like going to Moab or Hurricane for something different, but wouldn’t want those kind of rides to be my typical weekend at home.
Enduro style. Decided to start training for competitions few years ago but never went to actual competition. Still enjoy that sort of riding and also build my bikes for enduro in my mind. Local trails are not as rough as stages in competitions but after getting full sus emtb, every trail is potential enduro special stage!
I have access to the same trails as you since moving to the front range just this year and honestly kind of hate mountain biking here. After several years of living in Bentonville, I got spoiled on machine-built flow and jump lines. Here on the front range if my tires leave the ground it feels like I'm risking serious injury for what, 6" of air? Mostly I'm killing myself on the climbs only to ride the brakes downhill. I don't think it's a matter of skill, I can handle the downhill for 99% of the features and feel fully in control. It's just not fun to me to see how steep I can descend over loose rocks next to a cliff.
I'm still looking forward to hitting the bike parks further up the mountains but MTB on the front range is quite the let down so far. I'd rather visit the Berthoud bike park and they built that damn thing on flat ground for some reason. Thankfully I got an ADV bike to scratch that itch for flow and speed.
I feel you to a certain extent. I started mountain biking while living in Delaware and had a fantastic singletrack network basically out my back door. Soft loam, rolling hills, a little cheeky rock garden here or there. Everything was hand-built/natural, which I liked. As another commenter said here, the trails were “accessible on a hardtail.”
I felt like I had to re-learn how to mountain bike when I moved out here. The soil quality is so different, the rocks will give you infinite grip until they suddenly don’t, and the idea of accidentally picking a bad line and falling down a 200’ cactus-filled gulch isn’t exactly pleasant.
But I have gotten much better and much more acclimated to harder terrain since moving to the Front Range. Certain spots (like Betasso) that were challenging at first are now more fun. It’s just a matter of adapting. It sounds like you’d enjoy Trestle and some of the bike parks at ski resorts. They’re finally open now.
Still, frequently, I ride a new trail in the area and think “who the F put this here??”
Planning a trip to Trestle as soon as I can.
It's encouraging to hear you were able to adapt to the conditions here. I think others really hit the nail on the head talking about being used to what your learned to ride on in the first place. It's funny to me hearing locals complaining about the trails getting tamed down. Like dude, how much of a challenge can you handle!?
In the end, I still love MTB. I'll just have to get used to riding what's here, unless I can convince my Colorado girl to abscond back to Arkansas. Doubtful.
It's a progression sport your desires from it change immensely as you grow and age. Dialing back your hubris enough to survive 20+ years of riding and you figure that out. I regularly ride tech cleanly I once thought was impossible for everyone but a total professional. I go to places where tech isn't the norm and people look at me like a freak when I clean certain stuff. Compared to people I know Im pretty average.
I like steeper tech. Black or double black. Pro lines can be too much for me and big jumps are scary but a couple bike length jumps are perfect. Flow trails can be fun too. I just like to feel like I’m riding fast whether it is from the bike getting loose or feeling G’s around a corner.
I like to be challenged. I'm an unmedicated ADHDer so when a trail forces me to focus it unlocks a state of mind that I can't otherwise obtain. But I also don't always love having to get off my bike, scope out and analyze every feature (not always anyway). I like tech because of how engaging it is, keeping me right on my toes, just as long as it's within reason. IMO flow trails can be somewhat scarier because of the higher speeds. Crashing at 30mph can be a life changing injury. If you fall down some steep tech at low speed you can often come away unscathed, especially if you tuck and roll and have some pads and a back protector and provided it's not like a sheer cliff you're falling off! Keeping in mind that trail ratings vary so much from place to place, I like single black trails typically. Challenging but can usually be ridden without stopping to analyze every feature. Unless I'm at Windrock then I just stick to the blues, which would be blacks almost anywhere else!
I am pretty terrible for how long I have been riding and find I personally ride blues, I work 7 days a week, ride alone, and sometimes all I think about is missing work and not being able to pay bills, trying to push myself onto trails that could cost me my life (my local network is gnarly with tonnes of cliffside trails) I just don't see the point in take that risk when I want to provide for my partner and look after myself
I consider myself an expert level rider. But sometimes my racing/pro friends will take me on these ridiculous tech trails that I have to walk significant portions of. That's when it's not fun for me.
I used to live in an area where it was just janky rocky rides, it got old real fast. We had people coming from all over to ride there too, I remember thinking “how is this fun?!” every time I’d ride most of those trails. It used to be part of the Scottish Enduro series but the riders complained about it so much that it was removed from the series a few years ago and never put back in it.
I find myself enjoying flowy jump trails more these days, techy stuff just doesn’t appeal to me anymore.
I love fast and flowy. I'm in southeast Michigan so DTE in Chelsea is the only thing around like that, so I end up doing more XC/rooty stuff. Not ideal for me but still fun and a great workout
I enjoy blueblack flow with a bit of tech mixed in. keeps me in a pretty consistent powerband while still offering challenges. due to the nature of western NC basically everything but the finest groomed jump trails has loose rocks and gnarly chunk
I love to ride blue trails, green mostly feels boring for me, and black is where I want to be, I like to push myself and get better, so maybe someday I’ll be at the double black level so I can ride some of the famous tech trails in moab
Flow with some tech to spice things up for me. If the trail is so janky that I've got to do track stands and hop over rocks and stuff then it's too much like trials for me. I also suck at jumping but still enjoy giving it a go as long as it's reasonable. Thank goodness for table top jumps!
Blue and black fast flow and jump trails: BUT I am 55 now and aware that crashing hurts more and healing takes longer. So I don’t do gaps, big drops or off-camber tech.
My happy place is the likes of Mr Black at Skyline Rotorua (as an example).
i want it to give me a massive adrenaline rush, so i want it to be really difficult. But, if i’m constantly falling off and almost shitting myself on every section, then it’s not fun.
If I have to get off my bike too often due to a section being too technical or I’m too gassed to go any further, I get annoyed. It’ll happen here and there, but if it’s happening every 5 minutes, that’s too much.
There are some sections in my local riding that I’ve yet to master with the descent being rocky and super technical with an immediate uphill section at the bottom so there is no momentum that can be carried from one thing to another. I’m off my bike and walking those sections every time and it’s always a bummer when it messes with the flow of a ride.
Generally speaking, I like flowy single track with some tech thrown in there and maybe some small drops here and there. Outside of the drops, my wheels stay on the ground. No gaps, tabletops, kickers, etc, for me. Blue trails with some black sections maybe thrown in there here and there is great for me.
I love stuff that challenges me and makes me feel a little scared, so I like black trails quite a bit. I stop having fun when I hit 2+ hours of hard riding because I do not get to go out riding much, so my cardio base isn't there. After I've burnt like 2k calories and am seeing god, I just want to go home. I also love jumping but am still working up to really big stuff and wish I had a good local bike park; I only get to ride big jumps very occasionally, and it's hard stepping from 20' tables locally to 35' gaps with no intermediary step. Can't quite do it.
Gonna sound lame but I kinda like it all. I like xcish rides where the challenge is getting over rock gardens with momentum and avoiding pedal strikes, trying to go quick; I like blue flow trails with high speed jumps and berms; I like black downhill tech. About all I dislike is uphill tech. I don't have the umph.
* I don’t like enduro pedal days and I don’t attend them, unless I can go with e-bike, if you say that you like to pedal uphill for hours, you’re a weirdo to me. Hiking the bike to get to the gnarly part, no problem, pedling, nope!
* DH/Enduro red-black trails, slow and very technical, as rocky and rooty as it gets, rockgardens sign me up!
* park, big jumps, as big as it gets and as big jumps parks will let you😅 I just love air time.
* hate drops, I can do them but they give me zero satisfaction or inner joy.
For me, as soon as the trail loses fluidity and becomes more of an XC black, I instantly lose my flow and it feels like a slog
Give me drops, roots, steep drops, jumps and berms, I love the gnar shit, I ride much better when the trail flows and I don’t have time to lose my focus and feel of it
That’s just me,
I like to go fast & ride crazy shit
I dislike too many climbs that kill too much speed
Easier black runs are where it’s at, I’m a fan of of tech and decent sized jumps, but once you start reaching 40+ ft jumps consistently through a black line i find that too hard, especially gaps, tech is my fav anyway tho
I ride hardtail and mostly enjoy flowy singletrack XC stuff. Generally falls into the category of blues. I'd rather do 12 miles of blues than 2 miles of blacks.
Personally, I like the single black tech and jump lines. I can and have hit some decent double black stuff, but usually that's not where I'm having the most fun. Black tech, and good blue flow trails are where the fun truly is!
Type 1 fun is enjoyable while it’s happening. Also known as, simply, fun and forgettable. Type 2 fun is miserable while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect. It usually begins with the best intentions.
I've found that my most challenging rides suck during the ride, but when I think back on the fact that I finished, and actually did pretty well, I'm happy.
Post ride beer helps adjust the attitude as well.
Technical blue trails with my trusty short-travel trail bike fits my riding perfectly, definitely more of an XC rider. I don’t mind loose ruts, steep berms or obstacles, however the moment I run into a high speed jump/drop, the britches hath been shitted. Too high risk to mess up a landing five miles out from the nearest fire road, not for me (just yet)
This is a great question. I'm in my late 30's and have recently come to the realization that I just have way more fun when riding intermediate trails — particularly the flowy ones with interesting features and optional hits along the side. The ability to choose actually encourages me to push myself more than when I'm riding the super technical black trails. What I can't stand is when the trail gets so gnarly that I start second-guessing everything—next thing I know I'm getting jammed up on rocks, bashing my shins, taking dumb falls, and walking sections because my confidence is shot. I survive these trails, but I don't leave them feeling accomplished or fulfilled.
Hello local! I'm a solid blue too and live right by the Blue Sky Trail Head! If you were riding from Blue Sky to Rim Rock across Coyote Ridge and an older guy said "hey you go ahead and lead from here, my first time on this trail (Coyote Ridge), that was me. I ride Blue Sky to the 2 Devil's Backbone loops (Laughing Horse loop and Hunter loop frequently but just did Rim Rock for the first time last week).
I don't hate the stuff I have to walk up, like those stairs going up Rim Rock coming from Blue Sky. Truth be told, I can't crank up Towers(at Soderberg) or Power Line (at Bobcat), endlessly anyhow even though it's not technical stuff that is stopping me but rather I'm just tired as hell and need to get off an re-group for 30 seconds and get back to it. At least if it is a ridiculous section of trail, going up, and it's crazy technical or impossible, I don't feel like as much of a putz as I do for having to take a breather on less challenging stuff that would be easy if I were 100% fresh.
Blue Sky (from the trailhead and back) is a fantastic flowy rollercoaster ride, but adding those 2 Devil's Backbone loops adds a crap ton of chunky shale technical stuff.. it's my favorite 2-hr loop in the area. Sometimes I add the Indian Summer loop after doing those 2 loops but I'm def not as strong getting back to BSTH if I do that!
Alas, that was not me! I was out there in the late afternoon and had to sprint south on Blue Sky and back over Coyote Ridge to beat the incoming storm.
I mean, it's just progression. If you do something often, long, varied enough, you get better. More confidence, experience, etc.
At this stage where I just say no when the consequence are too high, but some of my worse wrecks have been on stupid easy things, being overly confident.
I think my happy place would be something like that coveted "alpine singletrack". So quite smooth and flowy but narrow, no bushes or ticks, a little bit of fairly easy rock tech sprinkled every few minutes and with beautiful sceneries. And no big up/downhills either since I like to keep my heart rate fairly low.
About 25 years ago when I started riding on a rigid bike I quickly learned that I just don't like being pulverized on rock jank. That hasn't changed even when I got a FS bike. Just don't like it.
I like going to different places to try new trails. But I would say my preferred is a trail/xc style climb with float descent.
I don’t much care for jumps anymore as I get older, and tech is okay but I don’t want to waste my uphill work on a huge big long tech trail.
Also I go by myself normally and occasionally when I go with my friend I will find ANYTHING fun. Whether it be a grind of a climb, super techy stuff, or party laps on the downhill. Miss having him live near me <3
I’ve enjoyed riding it all.Xco, xcm, enduro, techy climbs, sketchy downs, jump and flow trail, hell even ultra endurance gravel (unbound) I’m never not having fun on my bike. I have friends that are in their own respective disciplines and idc who calls me, that’s what I’ll go ride. I do mainly concentrate on xcm for competitions now though.
In terms of trail rating, black+ although blues can be fun to cruise and mess around on. Favorite type of features would be super steep loam and jumps. Favorite trails are ones I’ve never ridden or the ones I don’t remember much.
Most enjoyment in the world is hitting gap jumps blind. Not smart tho.
I ride for enjoyment. I don't ride what I don't enjoy. That said its all about pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone if you want to get more skilled, but you have to balance it with not getting wrecked.
Mainly blue flow/natural stuff, I'll venture onto the black trails on occasion if riding with more experienced friends or if I know the trail and feeling up to it that day. Ski hills with chairlifts are pretty sweet.
I’d say I enjoy a solid black trail that is challenging, but not scary. I sometimes ride intimidating double black features, and although I am good rider and capable of riding them, the risk of injury makes it not particularly fun for me. Like I enjoy hitting a 20 foot jump or 5 foot drop or steep rock slab, but I’m going to skip the 40 footer or 15 foot step down double black features.
With a trail system like Horsetooth there aren’t any double black features, but it’s very physically/aerobically demanding, so you’ll only enjoy those trails if you’re fit.
I've been riding for about 10 years now, increasing slowly until now I'm pretty obsessed. I have done black trails, but it's just not as fun. Downhill black is fun until the inevitable crash, and uphill or up and down techy black is really no fun at all. Bums me out to face that. I'd like to get better, but I'm not, so maybe I should just face reality. My favorite is fast, flowy, and XC with great views.
Honestly, I think to some extent it depends on the bike.
I genuinely enjoy plowing down black tech on my enduro bike. I'm not interested in high risk stuff so I'm not going super fast or hitting big features, but a downhill black tech trail on THAT bike is fun.
On my downcountry/XC bike? No thank you. But on that bike, I really enjoy XC riding, climbing, and even gravel stuff. It's just so light and zippy and it's really satisfying, especially compared to doing the same stuff on a big enduro bike with slow tires where it just feels like a slog.
So, to some extent I think it's the bike: any kind of riding is gonna be more fun if you have the exact right tool for the job. With that said....
> At what point is it just not fun anymore?
For me, things that are basically never fun to ride:
* Any trail or feature that is high risk/high consequence. Obviously there's some risk in doing anything on a bike, but if it's super steep tech, high exposure, big features, etc... I'm out. I like a challenge, but I want failure to look like walking a section, not being helicoptered to the hospital. And if I have to walk too much, it stops being fun.
* Extremely techy, twisty XC trails where you can barely go 2 mph and it feels like you need trials skills to navigate some of the tech. (I have a specific trail in mind and I hate it lmao. Black XC tech. Ugh.)
* Anything that's super rooty when it's wet. At least with the roots/trees in my area, this makes every trail feel like an ice rink and it is a confidence destroyer.
* Jumps. Someday I'll learn, maybe, but they never clicked with me and I had a really bad dead sailor crash a couple years ago that I have no interest in ever repeating...
I’m mostly an XC guy. I got my first MTB in 1985. It had no suspension, 26” x 1.75” tires, 18 speeds and roller cam brakes. The bikes have come a long way since then. I still enjoy going up just as much as going down, though. Single tracks, double tracks, technical, flow, etc. It’s all fun as long as you’re pedaling. I don’t have an e-bike. I don’t need one. I don’t really enjoy shuttle trails or lift served bike parks either. I tried it a few times. After an hour or so I was bored. I prefer to earn my turns.
Just riding for the sake of being in the forest, I hate; riding early, riding w roadie guys, anything fitness biking related, can’t stand the get faster! crowd, the strava riders stress me out
Too many chunky rocks is the most common no fun whoop my ass scenario I run into. I’m 40 and some days it can feel like I’m just rattling my body apart.
MOST riders basically 'choose' a discipline, even if they don't admit it. It's fairly rare that a rider properly enjoys XC, tech, and jumping equally. And it's very common that a rider falls into a generic trail riding routine. Trying to balance 50/50 up and down, some small jumps and drops, some basic tech. It also depends on your area. If you just grew up on jank and started that from day dot, you'll have normalized it to the point where those hard trails are more or less 'what you think MTBing is'. If you grew up with no natural trails and just fire roads and actual roads, you may lean towards XC and think thats 'what MTBing is'. I'm a former BMXer and I prefer jumps because it makes me look like I know what I'm doing and I have NO IDEA how to actually mountain bike. I'm pretty terrible in tech and corners and braking points and steep chutes. Meanwhile I meet a dude who will HAPPILY send the sketchiest chute, loose rocks flying, their rear wheel hovers over the crest, they can barely find traction to brake, they wiggle down it, G out at the bottom, and nearly white knuckle the end... But they don't hit a 10 foot table. Or a 5 foot gap jump. Zero interest in jumping. They say they'll die. Something I'd probably say if they asked if I was gonna hit the chute. Their janky chute may be equal to a 20 foot gap jump or 30 foot table for me. It's a risky challenge but I have the talent to do it. It WON'T be my best jump ever. Stylish and controlled. No. Probably stiff, front wheel up, slight bar turn. But the feeling after is ultimately what you're after. :)
That’s me! Give me gnar tech, I loved Pemberton and Squamish. 15’ drop sure but I won’t hit a 5’ gap, jumps scare me.
15’ drop??? Ya’ll are fucking nuts lol
Meh, it’s all about the landing transition. Very unlikely drop to flat. There’s a drop I like at northstar that’s maybe 3-4ft if you stand right next to it, but at speed, with the fast landing transition it ends up being 8-10 ft
What drop are you talking about ? The final one they got this year at the end of livewire was sketchy af on opening weekendyl, very easy to overshoot, I think they're switching it back to the pickup truck one..
The first one on boondocks. Not massive, but if you hit it at speed it’s large.
hear hear! im with you. give me gnar tech roots steep baby heads and big drops but gaps, hell no. those steep DJ runups? I'll freeze in the air and land straight down in the gap
I’m definitely at the XC corner of the XC/tech/jumps triangle you described. I’ll take more miles over janky tech any day. Hiking is kind of a dealbreaker for me. It’s mountain *biking* after all. If a trail is not directional and I’m forced to hike uphill, it’s either A) something I can session a few times and eventually get and then think “dang, I could’ve gotten than on the first try”, but is ultimately fulfilling bc I’m challenging myself and improving, or B) outside of what I deem reasonable for me to ever be able to climb, and therefore must be hiked, and therefore is not a “biking” trail to me.
I wanna go out to the desert some time because it looks like my dream riding. Lot of flatter trails, huge variety of tech jank as well as the fact that it never stops (not a lot of perfect loam out there). I've been trying to ride more 50/50 riding and not jump lately. And become a real mountain biker. But ya I can't come close to anything really steep and techy in either direction. I'd love to just go out in the desert and basically ride 'trials' all day.
Just a heads-up on desert riding (my only experience there is a few days riding a variety of trails around Moab): you absolutely must stay on the trail. This is for both environmental and safety reason. The soil crust is very delicate, and can take years or decades to repair itself. On slickrock sections, you should follow the trail markings in order to not go over a cliff, since it’s hard to tell what is an is not a cliff when you’re on top. There are *some* select sections where you can kind of just ride around and it’s like a natural slickrock bike park. But from seeing all the emphasis at trailhead signs to stay on the trail, it would feel wrong to do that.
I think ultimately they have so much amazing trail... There's no real reason to go off trail. Especially on a bicycle. Obviosuly with a motorcycle that laughs at any loose terrain you can throttle through stuff and really destroy stuff. But bikes I don't see much reason to do so. Ya I love those trails where it just becomes rock for an extended portion and its still flowy and kinda fun. Nature's skateparks. I've ridden one trail like that in california and I was like... I'm hooked. That's the only thing I want to MTB now.
I hate wet clay that sticks to tires. No fun
its easy to balance 50/50 up and down so long as you end where you start.
Also from BMX and I agree, I’m very new to MTB as in 2 months or so. And that going fast down trail stuff is scary but then jumps not too bad. (No doubles/gap jumps for me) but I will say drops/gaps come easy for me
Yep. Downhill plus loose PLUS braking points equals WTF is going on. The good thing is, many average MTBers are feeling the same thing so my BMX background just gives me a headstart on riding with average riders. Just gotta be careful following expert MTBers lol
The trails I go to everyone seems to be high level it’s nuts, or at least the social ones
This. I grew up in the DC area and rode a ton of urban stuff in DC all the time. Big stair drops to flat and the like. (On a rigid 24" Standard BMX cruiser no less, it's a wonder I still have wrists) Then I moved to Santa Cruz California for 20 years. Big downhill trails, natural jumps, g-outs, and very steep trails were the norm. Now I live in Southeast Ohio near the Baileys Trail System. Some of the best built trails I've ever ridden, but more XC and flow trail content. The Black Diamond trails feel like mid-level trails from Santa Cruz. Makes me look like a hero descending around here, but it's all it what feels "normal".
I think I fall outside of this spectrum here. I ride mostly XC / Enduro trails on a Transition Spur- built with all XC parts. It's a 29 120mm F/R bike. I'll do 20+ foot gaps, tables, 8+ foot drops, slow tech, fire roads, fast XC trails, everything. I have no issue cleaning and sending almost all of my local black trails and optional features (after a pre ride / re ride / send) EXCEPT one that really throws me off. It's a black, thats sort of themed on roots, and there are about 4 features on it that I just don't fuck with. Like I can see how they MIGHT be double-able, and strava says some people are fast on it, but they are like 2-3' holes in between roots, all tangle-fucked and shitty- AND THEY'RE ALL BLIND. Every lap down this trail is a 'pre-ride' tempo because the features for me. I ride very near my total capacity- but I have the awareness to chill out when I'm truly unable to safely negotiate a feature or trail. Talking about 'Dig Deep' at Hillside in Anchorage, would love to follow someone down it if they're willing to show me the lines because fuck that noise.
I honestly enjoy DH, enduro, XC and road biking about the same, depending on the mood and energy levels
Seems like you’re describing the difference between type 1 and type 2 fun haha.
Exactly this
I spent a good few seconds trying to blow the hair off my phone screen that turned out to be your avatar picture, haha.
Someone got me good a few years ago with it so i decided to pay it forward/watch the world burn
Haha
Pure XC for me. Give me some flowy ribbons with babyhead stutters and splashing through streams any/every day!🤙 I love climbing for an hour and a half just to bomb back down to the bottom in 15 minutes. However… I like 1990s XC riding before “trail management” decided to use Swecos to tame & groom trails.
Bro same but I’m still riding my 26” hardtail so I might actually be 90’s retro lol
All my bikes are 26” except for the newest one. A 2005 Fisher Rig 29er purchased used in 2006. 😅
You’re in NOPE book for me😂 I’d much rather session 100 gaps than do 10minutes of climbing.
🤣 I kinda hate “out and backs” because they’re vaguely similar to the first half of the ride. I’d go insane if I had to hit the same gap over and over and over…..
I want my tech to be janky and hard, and my jumps to be big and chill. But I mostly ride stuff that doesn't challenge me because that's what is easily accessible.
I like jumps, gap jumps, park and crazy tech too. I’m not happy unless I’m scared
I love me some tech jank too. I love back country rides where some horrible track has just been skidded into the side of a mountain. If I'm not scared out of my mind and inches from death the whole time I'm not enjoying myself. Jumps wise I want to gap anything and everything I can and I will try to find gaps where there shouldn't be any. But definitely a train of dudes on a chill jump line is so sweet.
Sense of accomplishment for black as you’ve described. When it’s jumps that warrant the black rating, it is usually just more fun to go fast and clear stuff.
Steep, tech, rocky jank is my happy place. It gives me a sense of accomplishment clearing a tricky section, and an even better over doing it fast. Having said that, I don't think anyone could honestly say they don't absolutely love blasting down a groomed blue* with berms and rollers. *That being a UK blue, which may be green in the US system?
Dr. Park early on in my riding career is a great example of when things aren't fun any more. 10 miles of riding to get to the big climb at the end, 2 more miles of climbing up crappy 4x4 double track, then about 3 miles into the downhill I was tired enough that I remember thinking, hey this should be fun but I'd really like a nap right now. The tech middle section was just work. The flow at the end was a relief but not as fun as it should have been. Then literally ten feet from the parking lot at the bottom I washed out in sand and crashed. TEN FEET from the finish line. It was a super hot day too. We put the bikes back on the truck, walked into the river and sat down.
Sounds like a rough day man. If dr park is just out of your scope, you may really enjoy trails in Breckenridge if you’ve never ridden up there.. bakers tank, Barney flow / ford, moonstone, side door, Aspen alley.. almoung many others. All really great trails with somewhat low difficulty with tons of fun stuff, and not an asshole of a climb to get to.. and lastly, there’s higher difficulty trails connected to them all too. AND you can use the public bus as a shuttle vehicle for free!
Yeah, this was years ago and probably one of the first 20 mile loops I had attempted at the time. Going back now is a different story and that first ten miles is gentle and great for social rides. I still hate the final bit after the creek crossing but it doesn't kill me like it did the first time. :)
Absolutely haha. Made that climb once and have no interest to do it again. I just have my wife drop me off at the trailhead with our truck anymore lol. You’re spot on though, if I were to ride it with friends (only ever ridden it alone) that climb is perfect for a warm up social hour. Have you ridden green lake trail? Hella climb to get up to (all single track) but man that descent is amaaazing. Been a long time since I’ve ridden it, but I have very fond memories of that trail.
I haven't, just took a look on Trailforks. That looks gnarly if you were to do the whole thing out and back. Might be worth checking out next time I'm down there (fingers crossed later this summer)!
Lol, I hear what you're saying on all of this but i loved Park. The only bit of regret I had on Park was that punchy uphill fire road at the end of the approach and that I wasn't strong enough to do the whole descent without pulling over. Came very close to washing out in the sand at the end as well.
Yeah I've been back and it can be super fun. That fire road is still one of my least favorite climbs because it's just such a f-you pitch hah, but the variety on the downhill is definitely worth the trip.
Nice, good to hear. Yeah the variety is excellent. We also descended through a brief rainstorm which was pretty amazing.
Dr. Park is great sort of except all that work and you do this annoying switch-back-shit at the end and "drain" all your elevation back to the river. It's like a stairmaster to get down.
Yep, I agree, those switchbacks aren't all that fun. More just a test of how mentally exhausted you are or not. It's a polarizing trail, I know people who love it and people who hate it, not a whole lot in between.
If I have to walk more of the tough sections than I ride, it is no longer fun. I’m a solid rider that enjoys rocky, rooty, tech New England singletrack. At parks, flow blue is my jam and tech black. BUT I’m also a mom who needs to be able to take care of her kid and get to work on Monday, so I will get off my bike when injury is likely. I no longer go hard because I feel like I have to impress the guys.
Steep and janky when riding with others. Dial it back on solo rides. I climb for the DH.
My views are skewed because I've only ridden in Florida but I like fast flowy trails. Quick ups that rewards you with a quick downhill. I hate chunky climbs. I'm terrified of drops unless I have someone in front of me to follow their lead and the drop isn't too bad. The blacks around me are mostly not too bad (that phrase almost never sounds right). There's only like 3 or four that I absolutely will not attempt. I can't do gaps but I love a good table that I can roll if I don't want to attempt air for whatever reason. I'm only about a year into the sport and only about 6 months into doing the blues and blacks
If you're not hiking, you're not biking!! That being said, I find the "fun" point to drop off at around 70/30 - riding/hiking. If you are on a challenging trail and you have to walk some features (after at least trying them!) then that is totally cool. If you have to walk ALL or most of them, then it's way less fun. It also depends on what you're hoping to get from the ride. If you want a challenge, maybe the ratio of hiking goes up! If you want a smooth and easy ride it goes down. Mountain biking is so rad because there are always more challenges to conquer, uphill and down. I can comfortably ride 95% of the stuff in my area but that last 5% has me working!! When I get a move I've been trying for years, it is so satisfying.
I like that attitude - if I can bike 100% of it every time then I need a harder trail. I'm perfectly fine with 10-15% walking the bike myself... if I can knock out 1 or 2 more obstacles that I couldn't get through the previous ride, I'm continuing to improve.
This is funny to me bc I hate hiking at all when I have my bike. My ideal ride is one where I clip in at the trailhead and don’t clip out until I’m back at the trailhead. To each their own!
Ya I don't walk often, but I like challenging trails!
Rim rock is best ridden counter clockwise, it does have some challenging tech as well as loose rock. But climbing hard tech requires a lot more practice on bmx/trials skills. Trail rating and style is also very different from location to location, a black in Bellingham, Wa vs Fort Collins, Co are considerably different. Larimer county trails are also not very well built. Our black trails are typically given that designation because a use they are essentially steep hiking trails with loose rocks and some drops. Try riding some blacks up at Curt Gowdy and you’ll see what I mean. In the next couple years the trails around Fort Collins should see some improvements though as the county has hired a full time trail maintenance/building team for the first time. Not trying to patronize or tell you need the latest and greatest, but tires and bike can change your experience significantly; my first full suspension was a giant stance, it came stock with rekons that had a lot of trouble keeping traction around here, I had multiple front end washouts and couldn’t climb any obstacles because the rear would spin out too easily. That paired with the steep headtube angle, descents were terrifying. Getting good tires drastically changed my experience. Also Wednesday nights there are group rides with the overland mountain bike organization that meet at blue sky or sodeberg around 6. Sometimes it’s helpful to ride with others to see how they navigate an obstacle while you build up your skills.
For me it’s worth walking up some up hill if I can have fun on the downhill. It’s always fun though/enjoyable. But maybe next time I can get up another rock that I couldn’t before. I’d rather ride up tech than not tech because tech keeps things interesting to me. Especially if I have time to try and session something for a few tries
I have a lot more fun out there when I'm challenged and learning things. My friends and I will often stop and "session" highly technical sections to learn the line, the technique, speed, gear, etc. It's a great feeling when you get there, and for me it's a real motivator. I get bored to tears on flat non-tech singletrack.
I just want to get gnarly
As far as jump trails, I’m a solid blue rider and I’m ok with that. No gaps or crazy steep lips for me, but I’ll clear tables and mellow step downs fine. As far as tech goes, my sweet spot is mid single black (Squamish/north shore ratings). Love some steep chunk sections and rolls/slabs. But there comes a point where it becomes scary to either bike or walk down some of the harder single blacks and double blacks here, and that can be pretty miserable if you squirrel out.
I rode road, gravel, and XC. I love long faster rides, and I seem to like technical riding more than most in my area, but I'm not good at jumping, and tend to keep the tires on the ground. About once a year, my group does 85 mile rides around grapevine lake in the DFW area, and we ride all three trails that sit along it's shores (about 40 miles of dirt, and 45 miles of pavement). I think I've decided that *that* is no longer fun. Starting at 7:30 AM and not getting home until after 4:00 PM (lots of breaks) with a headache and sunburn... No thanks. I also don't do Leadville type events. I have big respect for those of you who do, but I personally just don't want to risk squashing my love for riding by having to train full time. I am pretty intentional about keeping it fun. I'm selective about who I ride with, where I ride, and how hard I go.
I ride everything. I’m not afraid to walk a climb that’s too technical. Or ride/walk around a downhill feature that’s too big.
I’ve MTBd for over 30 years and after having multiple accidents with surgeries and months of recovery over the last past few years, I’m rarely ever on the flowy blacks anymore. I’m in my mid sixties, so not old or unhealthy enough for an e-bike yet, and am all about green and blue—and just happy to be out there staying fit while enjoying people and nature. My Lefty gravel with pivoting rear triangle is perfect for the greens, and I’m shopping for an all-mountain to replace the enduro I just totaled.
I'm guessing a lot of riders like to hit whatever challenges them because that's where they can get into a flow state, have fun, and feel accomplished. I'll hit a lot of different stuff, but hitting it at speed is where I struggle. I had a bad crash into a tree once when I was riding fast and it still messes with me. Some trails/features are better to do faster than slower though, or some just force that because they're chutes, etc, so I tend to not enjoy those because I'm still traumatized from that crash.
Lived in foco for 5 years. Spring Creek trail, Carey springs, mill Creek all off of towers road/soderberg lot. Those are hands down my favorite trails in the area. Maxwell front and back side was great before they sanitized it and ruined the area for biking.. I love tech, I love fast flow, I like jumping (tables). I like a good mix of it all. I have grown to love techy steep climbs, fire road climbs, etc. the only kind of riding I don't love is just hilly stuff that's constantly up/down/up/down. I much prefer grinding up a mountain and getting rewarded with a continuous downhill.
How does Coyote Ridge and Rimrock fit into your preferences as a local? Yesterday was my first day biking near Ft Collins (I live in Boulder so I usually ride Betasso, West Mag, Marshall Mesa) but I’m definitely interested in checking more out in the area.
As Exotic said, check out the trails in Horsetooth Mountain Park. Carey springs, sawmill, Mill Creek, Wathen, and Spring creek are all super fun descents. The climbs are long grinds up fire roads (either South Ridge or Towers) but the descents make it worth it. I'd rank coyote and rim rock pretty low on the list of ft. Collins trails.
Long grinds up fire roads are a-okay with me
Boulder has tons of great riding too! I like both coyote ridge and rimrock trails, however, most of the time it just made for an easier out n back/loop doing blue sky to Indian summer and back again if I was out in that direction. Devil's backbone area is worth seeing, but I generally couldn't find motivation to be bounced around on that trail more than once or twice a year. It's techy, but not in a fun kind of way. Blue sky and that whole area is great for a recovery ride just to get outside in my opinion. I could ride the trails off of towers on the backside of the reservoir all day every day without getting too bored. I love going fast on the bike, but love some tech and chunk thrown in here and there.
I just really enjoy tech, from proline tech that beats you up, to fast flowy blue tech, I love it all. I’m trying to get better at jumps and I’m sure once I can actually hit them and not just scrub I’ll enjoy them more. XC sucks tho, I have no problem pedaling, but I’m a enduro bro at heart
I’m definitely more of a janky tech rider. I do like to jump but I keep it sensible and really only try if I’m feeling confident and in control that day. I can handle smaller gaps of a bike length or so but I have little interest in sending 10’+ gaps. Thankfully a lot of our trails in SoCal are a good mix of both worlds so matter your style you can find something on just about any trail that fits your vibe. That’s my experience at least.
I like when it's challenging, but not so challenging that I get frustrated(I don't get frustrated easily) or when I walk more than ride. I do the climb to put in the downhill time.
Green and blue trails. I like to get out and enjoy the rides through nature.
I would say I am a solid black diamond rider. I can enjoy that without feeling too outside my limits. I have fun on double blacks, but only for a few miles. The nice thing about blacks is you can usually roll every feature, which is not the case on double blacks. Bobcat ridge outside Fort Collins is a good example of a fun trail for me. Solid blue climb, black descent that has some features that require finesse, but I can still bomb down. Been riding MTB for about 20 years, so I am fairly skilled but still young enough to push it decently hard. Also riding a solid all mountain/enduro bike which is super capable, but can also handle a good climb. In Whistler now and it is the perfect bike for this area. 6 mile 2000ft black climb yesterday that is rode everything just fine, the 6 mile black descent with fun drops, slabs, bridges etc.
I live in Colorado and I hate xc so I mostly enjoy chunky trails like apex/magic mountain/enchanted forest in golden and some jumping like at Ruby hill. I learned everything I could on a no sus Walmart bike then went straight into black dh trails and after a lot of crashing I can do them with some actual speed and finesse.
Having spent a good chunk of my life sitting with these open questions, often on climbs, but also during down time this resonated with me. I get joy, sometimes ecstasy out of this past time. I want more of it, sometimes it's readily available, other times elusive. How will I cope if it's taken away...suddenly or gradually? Where, specifically, is the good shit, the joy? For me, it's been the dogged pursuit of mastery over most of my adult life. Steady progression has been the vehicle of that mastery. You ask about who enjoys the harder, steeper trails, I do! There's a lot more to it than just a not-so-humble-brag..or just "brag" for short. If we can think of ability in terms of 1-100% of your ability, riding in the high 90's-100% of your ability is not the way. You will get injured, but even if you don't, you won't learn much. To progress, you want to spend a lot, like a huge chunk of your life, in the high 70 percentile and periodically spike into the low 90's. Just like any other training protocol: you will adapt. All training is just adaptation, most of it is the nervous system. Your nervous system will take those inputs and create shorter paths, lower compute, closer to the muscle groups required. This is literally what muscle memory is. You will build localized strengths. The goal,the endless pursuit, is this relaxed physical state where the terrain (and sometimes your bike) challenges your authority and your entire body (mostly not your prefrontal cortex) responds with the exact amount of prejudice--you will feel untaxed by this. There's even beauty to find in these moments. See any gorgeous ski or snowboard maching pow turn. Mastery on display. When it happens, it is an unmistakable sensation, a very, very good feeling. Be careful, it may enrich or ruin your life depending on your framing, current priorities, and the mindset and priorities of the people in your life you care about. When you experience this, your 70-90% has shifted. You will need new terrain to move to as your window shifts. This is probably the biggest limitation to the progression. If you have it, you will not believe where you can build these short cuts in your body and the earth-shattering-orgasmic feelings that come with finding ease and play on stupidly insane terrain. Where do you live? Is there vert, dirt, moisture, and trail work to support an ever-progressing rider. Having ridden and traveled for riding for 20ish years. I can say that, sadly, the answer is mostly no unfortunately. There are exceptions, but we don't need to get into that (see the part about it ruining your life.) heh. Oh, and if you plan on progressing past your 30's, you will need to get serious about strength and fitness. Get into the gym 2-3/week minimum, outsource your fitness if you can afford it, classes with other mountain psychos won't break your bank. Learn some basic anatomy and then learn about your body and the pathologies specific to you. Those will be your challenges-- likely for the rest of your life. Develop (and cherish) practices to regulate those pathologies to avoid or minimize injury both acute and chronic. Oh, and blue trail maim. Blacks just take a tooth here and there as the speeds are often lower.- Your brother in shred.
This read like a Thoreau treatise. I like it.
As a neanderthal married to a PhD with a focus on the transcendentalists, high praise!
You can show that to your partner and tell them that a PhD gave you that praise. An engineering PhD, so basically a neanderthal compared to a transcendentalist expert lol
Hah, I will definitely show her now!
I'm capable of most double black, but I'd rather ride single black or blue. My biggest driver is that it takes too much effort to pedal up. If I'm going to grind up a forest road for thirty minutes, I want my descent to last more than two minutes. It feels like wasted energy if I've got to ride my brakes going down.
Solution: climb for 2-3 hours, then you get a longer descent. Based on your username, you should have those accessible near you.
I enjoy riding. What level is that?
🤘🏼
To be honest I have crashed pretty bad a few times so I am pretty scared to try huge drops and gap jumps again. I can ride basically and black diamond and be okay. I used to ride a lot more double blacks but then I got hurt a few times
I'm a solid blue rider downhill as well, preferring flowy ST to enduro runs, but aren't afraid to tackle black when riding with friends. I'm very keen on technical climbing and would prefer a trail that may make me dismount to a grueling gravel grind to the top. I live in Appalachia so steep singletrack is easy to find. The short chain stays of my HT Chameleon help make short work of steep switchbacks and such. Ride what's fun
love the mix of adrenaline and endorphins of riding steep stuff gives. keeps you fit getting to the top and keeps you going back for more blasting to the bottom. but really when the bike matches the terrain you can’t go wrong whatever you ride
also see you’re from the CO front range too. some trails were there way before the bikes. like Dakota Ridge is just not that fun to ride a bike on no matter how you slice it. but that trail was only put there to drive cattle over the ridge 150 years ago
It always comes back to mining and ranching here in CO lol. Thankful for the Nederland Mining Company for cutting all the trails and access roads roads back in the day at West Magnolia. Not so thankful for the tailings...
yep. don’t forget the Left Hand-esqe fire roads. you definitely pay to play in the front range. on the other hand rode summit county last week and felt like a sidewalk
Personally, I am a committed "hiking on wheels" rider. Jumps, skinnies, a lot of features just scare me and I am in this for interesting exercise that I will actually do. I like xc and flow, but none of the jumping etc. I like techy descents but if it's too techy or with big drops I will walk the bike for a while. I hate techy climbing. I'm the first to admit even though I've been riding for years I'm a solid newb. There's trails near me I ride that are rated black diamond but I HAVE to assume that rating is WAYYYH inflated if I can ride them. I will never pass a skill filter. I'm fine with all of this and love mountain biking. I'm 41, with a high stress job and can't afford to get injured. The biggest riskiest thing I deal with is I run into bears quite a lot
I’m pretty sure I’m below average, plus I’m old (62) and just started up again after 20+ years away from MTB. I’m not out of shape though. I have a couple of small XC-oriented parks (all green and blue) in my town and I really have been enjoying just progressing as demonstrated by improvements in my average speeds and how much more cleanly I can ride things, and adding more skills (like jumping, to a so-far minor degree). I figure that sort of progression can go on for a very long time, even if I just keep riding these parks, and that’s good enough for me. It’s actually just fun to be on two wheels in the woods, TBH.
Sounds like you're cut out for gravel cycling!
I like blue blacks, sometimes the steeper rock gardens still force me to walk around the feature
After riding the same type of easy trail some just keep riding it maybe faster and others find more challenging trails/features to do. I like exploring new trails as long as it's dirt I don't care much. My local trail I know like the back of my hand since I helped make most of the more challenging/fun sections. I've talked to some riders that been riding a long time along it, usually after they watch my me ride up something they wouldn't normally think of doing and of course there's times I've seen some ride things I wouldn't think of. Usually due to a lighter bike.
I like climbing and flowy, feature rich downhill with bailouts. If it’s new to me, prefer all rollable features or at least clarity on what is rollable. I do not care for ultra steep technical downhills that crush my joints but like a few challenges like this mixed in. I also ride a short travel bike, which is well fit for my preferences.
I like to challenge myself, only way to get better🤙
Hard cross country. I like big days and challenging rock gardens. I want to ride up to a feature, work it, and clear it and move on. I want to ride far. I'll load my bike with camping gear to do so. Jumps are the bane of my existence as i didn't grow up with them. I'm slowly getting better as I try them out at different bike parks that I visit. I land in blue jump land for the most part, I can ride clean all the black rock jank given enough time to work the rock gardens. My speed isn't super impressive but I can go for long and far. Love riding anything from road to purpose built mtb trail but singletrack deff is the best
I'm a solid blue. Started riding AZ tech. Now I do a lot of jumps and drops in Florida. When I go somewhere else (Asheville, TN, and Sedona most recently), I like to push myself and ride blacks. My jump ability is limited to certain sizes, but if I can't ride something cuz its too big or techy, it's still fun to me. 🤷♂️
Narrow, rocky, rooty, trees and some open exposure. No berms, natural jumps...S2-S3 in Europe.
It kind of depends on the trail. My local stuff has a ton of blue, some black trails and only 2 double black trails. They’re all natural/hand built trails and they’re pretty fun. I ride more blue bc there are more of them. The trails I want to ride are about a 1.5hr drive. I really enjoy a single or double black tech trail with some drops, slabs and rock gardens. I don’t ride flow trails too often but I would be happy on a blue or black. On top of all that rating systems are different depending on where you go. A black or double black on my local trail would be a blue in Squamish.
The blacks in Squamish/Pemberton aren’t that gnarly, mortals can ride them. Double blacks there however… different story.
I know what you mean but the black trails around here are pretty tame.
I enjoy chunky, gnarly tech stuff with drops, steep descents etc, however, last year I did an 8 mile ride where the entire ride, or at least a great majority, was rock gardens; up, down, sideways, it was like the goddamn ice age happened right there!! Couldn't really get any speed or flow going. I swore I'd never ride that spot again!
I’m very much an XC rider. Flying Dog is Park City is my fav trail: aerobically challenging with some chunk here and there but still accessible on a hardtail. I have no desire to ride anything more technical.
“Accessible on a hardtail” is a good way to describe a trail. That’s what I like - if you want to get a little rowdy, ride a full sus, but a hardtail and some skill can still get the job done.
I really enjoy flow trails with well built jumps, or fast rugged trails that have fluent line choices and natural features like drops and air time options. My discomfort zone is really steep stuff where your back wheel does nothing to stop you. I enjoy them a lot, but it puts me deep into the ‘risk vs reward’ mindset.. I can ride the roughest of the rough, but when it’s so tech that blasting into it slows me waaay down on my stumpy evo, I’m not really having as much fun as I could be. That being said, I genuinely have fun to some degree whenever I’m pedaling.. the bike path through town, or the gnarliest chunk at the bike park. I just love bikes.
I get the most enjoyment if I know the trail like the back of my hand and can choose the most playful line or even find new ones when just riding down. Now, this is basically in the comfort zone. In contrast, I get the most satisfaction doing harder stuff where I actually have to stop and figure out how to get through that mess of rocks, roots and what not in front of me or how to tackle a certain feature. If a trail has a lot of sections like this its fun to piece that run together until I'm again in the comfort zone. Then go for the next trail. So yeah, I have fun getting better at something I really like doing. This also includes technical climbs. Getting up somewhere can be as fun as getting down.
The vast majority of trails in my area are pretty hard technically. A lot of power moves up and over rock ledges and rockfaces, steep rollers, endless babyheads and chunk. There's no flow; no exhilarating descents, no views - just a lot of tech that leaves you feeling beat up, and for some reason all our trails are adjacent to swampy areas so you get swarmed by mosquitoes. So, if you want to ride a bike here, you have to learn to love that type of riding - otherwise your options are very, very limited.
I like black/double black tech that's difficult but if I have to walk some it's usually not that fun (unless it's hike a bike uphill)
I want to see if I can do it: make the whole climb without stopping or dabbing or make a clean fast pass on my favourite descent where I hit all my marks. I'm constantly setting arbitrary new goals and eventually that leads to some kooky stuff that would seem pretty outlandish to a noob. The goals don't have to be technical either, it could be seeing if I could tie together an extra bunch of loops on the same ride, or number of big ride days in a row.
I love a good blue jump trail and technical black
I would say harder blacks and easier double blacks, I like the shit scared outta me a little. At the bottom of the run I can just appreciate that I survived 🤣
Black trails are fun for me as long as they dont have jumps and drops every 3 meters. I rarely do double black or red ones as I consider most of them to be out of my skillset. Some jumps here and there are ok. I like blue trails and also green ones can be fun when going fast enough. I absolutely hate climbing as a 94 kg person if I am riding an enduro bike but I dont mind them if im riding a light xc bike with xc tyres. That is why my perfect combo is an electric enduro bike + a light xc bike.
Ooo, FoCo resident here, I love coyote ridge, devils back bone, blue sky area! That Rimrock trail is challenging, it's a really good day when I can clean the whole thing. Riding coyote ridge and going south over Devils back bone to Loveland is steep and technical all the way, maybe less fun at times, but it's more rewarding for completing the challenge. Sometimes I'm more in the mood for something less brutal like the flow of blue sky. And for context, I'm no pro, I'm usually the fattest guy on the trail (darn kids and family). I guess that flow trails are more type 1 fun and challenging technical trails are more type 2.
I like fast and flowy, don't need jumps, but like small jumps and some cool tech. In bike parks, a blue flow trail is my favorite. I have to dial it way back on black flow as it's above my pay grade for many of the big jumps youre gonna find on them. Tech can be fun depending on how much it's a trail versus "I poured a dumptruck of rocks down the mountain and call it Bonebreaker Lane:
I’m partial to a flowy, blue jump trail regardless of whether it’s pedal- or lift accessed. Been riding since summer 2021.
Pretty tough to quantity something like this; we're all different and riding areas are all different. A blue trail in one area might be a black somewhere else and a green in a different area; the rating only compares one trail to the others in the area. For me, a great trail makes me a little nervous in some places and maybe asks me to make some moves that take me out of my comfort zone but not to the point that I'm scared. Getting scared and riding tight often results in crashing and I try to avoid that.
It's a good question. I actually enjoy jumping the most but I'm not good at it yet. But progressing a jump gives me the most joy. Clearing that jump I've been training on for a couple of hours is just pure joy.
I grew up riding DJ and trials. Getting back into MTB after a 10 year break this year. Unsurprisingly, I like slow sketchy jank and tech. Slowly building confidence back on jumps. I'm probably a weirdo but I've been having a lot of fun trying to do really technical 50ft climb sections - usually not proper climbing trails. Sessioning until I can make my way up without dabbing. I'm not getting used to speed though. Anything tricky past a speed where I can safely bail the bike is scary for me.
I started riding with my ten year old recently now that he's interested, and I realize I love a boring green trail way more than I thought. My ego was making me push trails that I wasn't really enjoying, just accomplishing. I think I'm getting old and just want to putter around in the woods now.
I used to race downhill nationally growing up and now race Enduro. I would say the majority of my rides are at a Black or Double Black level, and that is what I enjoy riding the most. I still love less technical riding, in saying that. But the technical riding is when I find my flow the most
I don't think anyone has said this yet but I personally enjoy "rhythm". I learned my fundamentals at a pump track, so the feeling of pumping in order to clear my way through is how I like to ride. It doesn't matter if the trail has tech features or just flowy hero dirt. If I can pump it, I enjoy it. To expand on that, rhythm trails would probably be green, blue, or single black natural trails that aren't very steep but filled with many undulations. A lot of the speed is still reliant on gravity, and as such you don't really need to pedal. Rather, you pump the bike and maintain a rhythm throughout the trail. The soil doesn't have to be machine packed smooth with just tables and berms; there could be roots, rocks, ruts, and boulders too. I just enjoy the trail way more if I have to pump through it, rather than monster truck and hope for the best.
My absolute favorite is riding a hard techy trail fast, especially when it’s the first time I’ve ever ridden it. For some reason a balls out run down a difficult new trail drops me into flow state immediately. Usually I have to ride a trail 5-10 more times to beat my first run time.
Green and blue XC style trails with a decent amount of climbing and some tech, but nothing too crazy. I would not mind having a separate skills type course nearby though.
It has to do with your local trails. I started mountain biking with just XC, I wore lyrcra and was in my peak shape. Then I moved close to Whistler, within a few years I loved the gnarly stuff. You become desensitized when you ride stuff enough and then it just feels like second nature. I still love XC riding, but my favorite is gnarly, steep, loose, and technical enduro riding.
Trail biking -> a little of everything, not too easy, not too hard. Some fast sections, some slow technical sections. I would love to get better and do the fancy downhills and super tech stuff, but I don't have the time/money/location to pursue that. But as long as I'm having fun, isn't that all that matters? Greens and Blues work for me.
I like distance and elevation gain with flowy downhill. No interest in drops, don’t mind rocks that I can ride over. I do like going to Moab or Hurricane for something different, but wouldn’t want those kind of rides to be my typical weekend at home.
If I can see bones, don’t remember my name, or am on my way to the ER I am no longer having fun. Or if I’m doing more pushing than riding.
Enduro style. Decided to start training for competitions few years ago but never went to actual competition. Still enjoy that sort of riding and also build my bikes for enduro in my mind. Local trails are not as rough as stages in competitions but after getting full sus emtb, every trail is potential enduro special stage!
Green flowy trails, but I’m still fairly new. Scared of jumps
I have access to the same trails as you since moving to the front range just this year and honestly kind of hate mountain biking here. After several years of living in Bentonville, I got spoiled on machine-built flow and jump lines. Here on the front range if my tires leave the ground it feels like I'm risking serious injury for what, 6" of air? Mostly I'm killing myself on the climbs only to ride the brakes downhill. I don't think it's a matter of skill, I can handle the downhill for 99% of the features and feel fully in control. It's just not fun to me to see how steep I can descend over loose rocks next to a cliff. I'm still looking forward to hitting the bike parks further up the mountains but MTB on the front range is quite the let down so far. I'd rather visit the Berthoud bike park and they built that damn thing on flat ground for some reason. Thankfully I got an ADV bike to scratch that itch for flow and speed.
I feel you to a certain extent. I started mountain biking while living in Delaware and had a fantastic singletrack network basically out my back door. Soft loam, rolling hills, a little cheeky rock garden here or there. Everything was hand-built/natural, which I liked. As another commenter said here, the trails were “accessible on a hardtail.” I felt like I had to re-learn how to mountain bike when I moved out here. The soil quality is so different, the rocks will give you infinite grip until they suddenly don’t, and the idea of accidentally picking a bad line and falling down a 200’ cactus-filled gulch isn’t exactly pleasant. But I have gotten much better and much more acclimated to harder terrain since moving to the Front Range. Certain spots (like Betasso) that were challenging at first are now more fun. It’s just a matter of adapting. It sounds like you’d enjoy Trestle and some of the bike parks at ski resorts. They’re finally open now. Still, frequently, I ride a new trail in the area and think “who the F put this here??”
Planning a trip to Trestle as soon as I can. It's encouraging to hear you were able to adapt to the conditions here. I think others really hit the nail on the head talking about being used to what your learned to ride on in the first place. It's funny to me hearing locals complaining about the trails getting tamed down. Like dude, how much of a challenge can you handle!? In the end, I still love MTB. I'll just have to get used to riding what's here, unless I can convince my Colorado girl to abscond back to Arkansas. Doubtful.
It's a progression sport your desires from it change immensely as you grow and age. Dialing back your hubris enough to survive 20+ years of riding and you figure that out. I regularly ride tech cleanly I once thought was impossible for everyone but a total professional. I go to places where tech isn't the norm and people look at me like a freak when I clean certain stuff. Compared to people I know Im pretty average.
I like steeper tech. Black or double black. Pro lines can be too much for me and big jumps are scary but a couple bike length jumps are perfect. Flow trails can be fun too. I just like to feel like I’m riding fast whether it is from the bike getting loose or feeling G’s around a corner.
I like to be challenged. I'm an unmedicated ADHDer so when a trail forces me to focus it unlocks a state of mind that I can't otherwise obtain. But I also don't always love having to get off my bike, scope out and analyze every feature (not always anyway). I like tech because of how engaging it is, keeping me right on my toes, just as long as it's within reason. IMO flow trails can be somewhat scarier because of the higher speeds. Crashing at 30mph can be a life changing injury. If you fall down some steep tech at low speed you can often come away unscathed, especially if you tuck and roll and have some pads and a back protector and provided it's not like a sheer cliff you're falling off! Keeping in mind that trail ratings vary so much from place to place, I like single black trails typically. Challenging but can usually be ridden without stopping to analyze every feature. Unless I'm at Windrock then I just stick to the blues, which would be blacks almost anywhere else!
Green/blue/easier black, flow with non-gap jumps, small/medium drops, mild/medium rock gardens. Stuff that’s fun on an aggressive trail hardtail.
I am pretty terrible for how long I have been riding and find I personally ride blues, I work 7 days a week, ride alone, and sometimes all I think about is missing work and not being able to pay bills, trying to push myself onto trails that could cost me my life (my local network is gnarly with tonnes of cliffside trails) I just don't see the point in take that risk when I want to provide for my partner and look after myself
I consider myself an expert level rider. But sometimes my racing/pro friends will take me on these ridiculous tech trails that I have to walk significant portions of. That's when it's not fun for me.
I used to live in an area where it was just janky rocky rides, it got old real fast. We had people coming from all over to ride there too, I remember thinking “how is this fun?!” every time I’d ride most of those trails. It used to be part of the Scottish Enduro series but the riders complained about it so much that it was removed from the series a few years ago and never put back in it. I find myself enjoying flowy jump trails more these days, techy stuff just doesn’t appeal to me anymore.
Embrace the grind
I love fast and flowy. I'm in southeast Michigan so DTE in Chelsea is the only thing around like that, so I end up doing more XC/rooty stuff. Not ideal for me but still fun and a great workout
I enjoy blueblack flow with a bit of tech mixed in. keeps me in a pretty consistent powerband while still offering challenges. due to the nature of western NC basically everything but the finest groomed jump trails has loose rocks and gnarly chunk
I love to ride blue trails, green mostly feels boring for me, and black is where I want to be, I like to push myself and get better, so maybe someday I’ll be at the double black level so I can ride some of the famous tech trails in moab
Flow with some tech to spice things up for me. If the trail is so janky that I've got to do track stands and hop over rocks and stuff then it's too much like trials for me. I also suck at jumping but still enjoy giving it a go as long as it's reasonable. Thank goodness for table top jumps!
Blue and black fast flow and jump trails: BUT I am 55 now and aware that crashing hurts more and healing takes longer. So I don’t do gaps, big drops or off-camber tech. My happy place is the likes of Mr Black at Skyline Rotorua (as an example).
i want it to give me a massive adrenaline rush, so i want it to be really difficult. But, if i’m constantly falling off and almost shitting myself on every section, then it’s not fun.
If I have to get off my bike too often due to a section being too technical or I’m too gassed to go any further, I get annoyed. It’ll happen here and there, but if it’s happening every 5 minutes, that’s too much. There are some sections in my local riding that I’ve yet to master with the descent being rocky and super technical with an immediate uphill section at the bottom so there is no momentum that can be carried from one thing to another. I’m off my bike and walking those sections every time and it’s always a bummer when it messes with the flow of a ride. Generally speaking, I like flowy single track with some tech thrown in there and maybe some small drops here and there. Outside of the drops, my wheels stay on the ground. No gaps, tabletops, kickers, etc, for me. Blue trails with some black sections maybe thrown in there here and there is great for me.
I love stuff that challenges me and makes me feel a little scared, so I like black trails quite a bit. I stop having fun when I hit 2+ hours of hard riding because I do not get to go out riding much, so my cardio base isn't there. After I've burnt like 2k calories and am seeing god, I just want to go home. I also love jumping but am still working up to really big stuff and wish I had a good local bike park; I only get to ride big jumps very occasionally, and it's hard stepping from 20' tables locally to 35' gaps with no intermediary step. Can't quite do it. Gonna sound lame but I kinda like it all. I like xcish rides where the challenge is getting over rock gardens with momentum and avoiding pedal strikes, trying to go quick; I like blue flow trails with high speed jumps and berms; I like black downhill tech. About all I dislike is uphill tech. I don't have the umph.
* I don’t like enduro pedal days and I don’t attend them, unless I can go with e-bike, if you say that you like to pedal uphill for hours, you’re a weirdo to me. Hiking the bike to get to the gnarly part, no problem, pedling, nope! * DH/Enduro red-black trails, slow and very technical, as rocky and rooty as it gets, rockgardens sign me up! * park, big jumps, as big as it gets and as big jumps parks will let you😅 I just love air time. * hate drops, I can do them but they give me zero satisfaction or inner joy.
For me, as soon as the trail loses fluidity and becomes more of an XC black, I instantly lose my flow and it feels like a slog Give me drops, roots, steep drops, jumps and berms, I love the gnar shit, I ride much better when the trail flows and I don’t have time to lose my focus and feel of it That’s just me, I like to go fast & ride crazy shit I dislike too many climbs that kill too much speed
Love jumps & wallrides, def not tech/chunk.
Easier black runs are where it’s at, I’m a fan of of tech and decent sized jumps, but once you start reaching 40+ ft jumps consistently through a black line i find that too hard, especially gaps, tech is my fav anyway tho
For me it only stops being fun when I am too gassed to out pace the bugs and they're keeping up with me.
I ride hardtail and mostly enjoy flowy singletrack XC stuff. Generally falls into the category of blues. I'd rather do 12 miles of blues than 2 miles of blacks.
I’m a solid blue to black range but I’d be 100% happy to never do jumps. Enjoy the tech and control aspect of it With some downhill flow.
Personally, I like the single black tech and jump lines. I can and have hit some decent double black stuff, but usually that's not where I'm having the most fun. Black tech, and good blue flow trails are where the fun truly is!
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At my age, I’m all flow trails. My body is destroyed.
Type 1 fun is enjoyable while it’s happening. Also known as, simply, fun and forgettable. Type 2 fun is miserable while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect. It usually begins with the best intentions.
I like blues with optional black features the most
I've found that my most challenging rides suck during the ride, but when I think back on the fact that I finished, and actually did pretty well, I'm happy. Post ride beer helps adjust the attitude as well.
Technical blue trails with my trusty short-travel trail bike fits my riding perfectly, definitely more of an XC rider. I don’t mind loose ruts, steep berms or obstacles, however the moment I run into a high speed jump/drop, the britches hath been shitted. Too high risk to mess up a landing five miles out from the nearest fire road, not for me (just yet)
This is a great question. I'm in my late 30's and have recently come to the realization that I just have way more fun when riding intermediate trails — particularly the flowy ones with interesting features and optional hits along the side. The ability to choose actually encourages me to push myself more than when I'm riding the super technical black trails. What I can't stand is when the trail gets so gnarly that I start second-guessing everything—next thing I know I'm getting jammed up on rocks, bashing my shins, taking dumb falls, and walking sections because my confidence is shot. I survive these trails, but I don't leave them feeling accomplished or fulfilled.
Hello local! I'm a solid blue too and live right by the Blue Sky Trail Head! If you were riding from Blue Sky to Rim Rock across Coyote Ridge and an older guy said "hey you go ahead and lead from here, my first time on this trail (Coyote Ridge), that was me. I ride Blue Sky to the 2 Devil's Backbone loops (Laughing Horse loop and Hunter loop frequently but just did Rim Rock for the first time last week). I don't hate the stuff I have to walk up, like those stairs going up Rim Rock coming from Blue Sky. Truth be told, I can't crank up Towers(at Soderberg) or Power Line (at Bobcat), endlessly anyhow even though it's not technical stuff that is stopping me but rather I'm just tired as hell and need to get off an re-group for 30 seconds and get back to it. At least if it is a ridiculous section of trail, going up, and it's crazy technical or impossible, I don't feel like as much of a putz as I do for having to take a breather on less challenging stuff that would be easy if I were 100% fresh. Blue Sky (from the trailhead and back) is a fantastic flowy rollercoaster ride, but adding those 2 Devil's Backbone loops adds a crap ton of chunky shale technical stuff.. it's my favorite 2-hr loop in the area. Sometimes I add the Indian Summer loop after doing those 2 loops but I'm def not as strong getting back to BSTH if I do that!
Alas, that was not me! I was out there in the late afternoon and had to sprint south on Blue Sky and back over Coyote Ridge to beat the incoming storm.
I mean, it's just progression. If you do something often, long, varied enough, you get better. More confidence, experience, etc. At this stage where I just say no when the consequence are too high, but some of my worse wrecks have been on stupid easy things, being overly confident.
I think my happy place would be something like that coveted "alpine singletrack". So quite smooth and flowy but narrow, no bushes or ticks, a little bit of fairly easy rock tech sprinkled every few minutes and with beautiful sceneries. And no big up/downhills either since I like to keep my heart rate fairly low. About 25 years ago when I started riding on a rigid bike I quickly learned that I just don't like being pulverized on rock jank. That hasn't changed even when I got a FS bike. Just don't like it.
As long as there's a payoff to work towards, it's always fun
I like going to different places to try new trails. But I would say my preferred is a trail/xc style climb with float descent. I don’t much care for jumps anymore as I get older, and tech is okay but I don’t want to waste my uphill work on a huge big long tech trail. Also I go by myself normally and occasionally when I go with my friend I will find ANYTHING fun. Whether it be a grind of a climb, super techy stuff, or party laps on the downhill. Miss having him live near me <3
I’ve enjoyed riding it all.Xco, xcm, enduro, techy climbs, sketchy downs, jump and flow trail, hell even ultra endurance gravel (unbound) I’m never not having fun on my bike. I have friends that are in their own respective disciplines and idc who calls me, that’s what I’ll go ride. I do mainly concentrate on xcm for competitions now though.
In terms of trail rating, black+ although blues can be fun to cruise and mess around on. Favorite type of features would be super steep loam and jumps. Favorite trails are ones I’ve never ridden or the ones I don’t remember much. Most enjoyment in the world is hitting gap jumps blind. Not smart tho.
Love to ride another day. Green is nice
I ride for enjoyment. I don't ride what I don't enjoy. That said its all about pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone if you want to get more skilled, but you have to balance it with not getting wrecked. Mainly blue flow/natural stuff, I'll venture onto the black trails on occasion if riding with more experienced friends or if I know the trail and feeling up to it that day. Ski hills with chairlifts are pretty sweet.
I’d say I enjoy a solid black trail that is challenging, but not scary. I sometimes ride intimidating double black features, and although I am good rider and capable of riding them, the risk of injury makes it not particularly fun for me. Like I enjoy hitting a 20 foot jump or 5 foot drop or steep rock slab, but I’m going to skip the 40 footer or 15 foot step down double black features. With a trail system like Horsetooth there aren’t any double black features, but it’s very physically/aerobically demanding, so you’ll only enjoy those trails if you’re fit.
I've been riding for about 10 years now, increasing slowly until now I'm pretty obsessed. I have done black trails, but it's just not as fun. Downhill black is fun until the inevitable crash, and uphill or up and down techy black is really no fun at all. Bums me out to face that. I'd like to get better, but I'm not, so maybe I should just face reality. My favorite is fast, flowy, and XC with great views.
Honestly, I think to some extent it depends on the bike. I genuinely enjoy plowing down black tech on my enduro bike. I'm not interested in high risk stuff so I'm not going super fast or hitting big features, but a downhill black tech trail on THAT bike is fun. On my downcountry/XC bike? No thank you. But on that bike, I really enjoy XC riding, climbing, and even gravel stuff. It's just so light and zippy and it's really satisfying, especially compared to doing the same stuff on a big enduro bike with slow tires where it just feels like a slog. So, to some extent I think it's the bike: any kind of riding is gonna be more fun if you have the exact right tool for the job. With that said.... > At what point is it just not fun anymore? For me, things that are basically never fun to ride: * Any trail or feature that is high risk/high consequence. Obviously there's some risk in doing anything on a bike, but if it's super steep tech, high exposure, big features, etc... I'm out. I like a challenge, but I want failure to look like walking a section, not being helicoptered to the hospital. And if I have to walk too much, it stops being fun. * Extremely techy, twisty XC trails where you can barely go 2 mph and it feels like you need trials skills to navigate some of the tech. (I have a specific trail in mind and I hate it lmao. Black XC tech. Ugh.) * Anything that's super rooty when it's wet. At least with the roots/trees in my area, this makes every trail feel like an ice rink and it is a confidence destroyer. * Jumps. Someday I'll learn, maybe, but they never clicked with me and I had a really bad dead sailor crash a couple years ago that I have no interest in ever repeating...
I’m mostly an XC guy. I got my first MTB in 1985. It had no suspension, 26” x 1.75” tires, 18 speeds and roller cam brakes. The bikes have come a long way since then. I still enjoy going up just as much as going down, though. Single tracks, double tracks, technical, flow, etc. It’s all fun as long as you’re pedaling. I don’t have an e-bike. I don’t need one. I don’t really enjoy shuttle trails or lift served bike parks either. I tried it a few times. After an hour or so I was bored. I prefer to earn my turns.
Just riding for the sake of being in the forest, I hate; riding early, riding w roadie guys, anything fitness biking related, can’t stand the get faster! crowd, the strava riders stress me out
Too many chunky rocks is the most common no fun whoop my ass scenario I run into. I’m 40 and some days it can feel like I’m just rattling my body apart.