Ok, I was getting a bit worked up today about downhill mountain bikers. Now, I know I shouldn’t generalize like this, but in my short summer back into the world of mountain biking, I’ve made one observation of most downhillers.
Downhilling is the ONLY type of mountain biking that exists, anything else is crap.
Ok, well not all feel this way. But I feel that this trend is way out of hand. Seriously, when I got into biking, cross country was where it was at… We had idols like Ned Overend, John Tomac, and Juli Furtado. These racers embodied what was great about the sport. Do anything and go anywhere with all the energy you could possibly expend! They pushed themselves beyond the limits, riding their bikes harder than anyone else would or could, going up and down. It was, in my opinion, the best mountain biking era there ever was.
Now, I don’t have anything against downhilling as a sport in itself. In fact, John Tomac was one of the first to get into it hardcore! It is a good and fun sport. Just like I think a Harley is a decent motor bike, Macintosh makes good computers and Starbucks has decent coffee. What I have against it is the “image” people are trying to achieve by getting into it. As it, by some magical osmosis, because they bought and ride a downhill bike, they’re in this “cool” group now. Very much like many who buy Harley’s and sit in Starbucks on their iMacs… Sure, there are those into these “fads” because of their personal choice based on likes, dislikes and actual research, but so many are seemingly into it because of the image they are trying to portray (I mean, seriously, why else would someone willingly pay $5 for a cup of coffee???).
Ok, so back to downhilling. What bothers me is the attitude. The typical downhiller attitude is the very same attitude that drives me nuts about so many people today (kids and adults alike). There seems to be this prevalent attitude of “me” that goes beyond the typical human natured selfishness. Like they can’t see anything BUT themselves and what they’re into, which is downhilling. Go onto any mountain bike review site and read a bunch of reviews of local trails. The majority of the trails are rated based on their downhilling aspects. “This trail is pretty lame. Maybe the odd 2’ drop at the most, but that’s it.” “Not worth it. You have to walk your bike all the way to the top for only a 15 minute ride down, most of which isn’t even that gnarly really.” Seriously? I have ridden some of these trails that have received poor reviews from downhillers and they are excellent cross country trails! Tough climbs, flowing single-track, with a few steep downhill sections mixed in. Sure, for a downhiller, probably not the best choice. But for cross country, a great trail! As cross country riders actually ride their bikes to the tops of the hills, this throws in an entirely new aspect to the same trail that a downhiller can never appreciate.
Of course, my best example to date was when I went looking for a flat bar for my bike, and the kid at Taboo cycles (a downhiller) looked at me blankly and just asked “What for?” That is a classic example of the short-sightedness that gets me hot under the collar. What for??? I ride cross country, ding bat! Oh, right! There are other disciplines of mountain biking out there…
But really, the reason I got worked up about this subject this morning was the Tom Moore trail. A couple of downhillers appeared to have taken a ride down the trail last night. As such, the corners, the sandy sections, and many other portions of the trail were quite ripped up with deep trenches from them sliding and skidding their way down. A typical cross country rider usually understands the importance of riding controlled and balanced, leaving little to no traces of their passing. A typical downhiller only knows speed, and as such is willing to rip up a multi-use trail for a few seconds of fun. Sure, that’s great, but not so great when they start banning bicycles on city trails because of this type of disregard! And, not to mention that there are so many people on these trails at any given time, no one can safely ride at such speeds without putting others at risk. You cannot see around the next corner, but you’re willing to slide around it at a speed that will not allow you to stop in time for that little girl hiking with her dad?
Ok, time to get off my soap box. I have ranted enough for today and will go back to work now… Thanks for listening!
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