By The Wayside by Brad Walton

Excellent article !! I can totally relate.

I got a very late start on the scene and started riding 5 years ago. Since then I have retired twice now, thinking I was getting too old, but low and behold, just bought another DH bike this year .. so I am "back in the game" … again. For how long, I don't know myself.:???:

I don't know if its the riding itself, or just the freedom of being able to spend a day having fun with my wife and friends who also ride.

Yeah I am older now … but not by my choice. Age to me is just a number, and when its time to quit for good, I'll know it. All I can guarantee this time is that it won't be because I "think" I am too old for the sport ….

The day will come, but it won't be anytime soon … I hope :woot:

These days the risk/ratio reward has changed. The big huck days are over. I

Thanks everyone for the great feedback! It's good to know that so many can relate.

Best of luck Eugene. You are lucky that you have had good doctors that insisted on the initial biopsy. You'll be with us on the trails in spirit while in remision this next time.

-Brad

I'm fairly new to biking….well that's my excuse. I guess I've been riding for about 2 years now. I've never thought about quitting as its fun for now but I have wondered many times if I will get any better. I mean if you're not getting any better then you're riding the same stuff same level every weekend and eventually it'll get mundane which is what I think will happen.

I ride every weekend but due to a young kid, I can only ride the shed as it's close. I've progressed enough to be what I would consider myself as on the border of a newbs/intermediate rider. I also ride alone so that puts a bit of fear into me as I don't want to get hurt when no ones around.

I do want to get better but I always wonder when that "want" will stop. I've never giving up in life and I love challenges but I have called it quits on hobbies due to the mundane feeling. Right now I feel that biking allows me to escape my life for a bit so I love it. I get stoked watching others or even hearing stories on hear about others. The stoked feeling is what I'm addicted to. Well also the thrill and adrenaline I get. I'm pretty sure I haven't thought about calling it quits yet but I can relate from past hobbies/addictions that I no longer do.

I also ride alone so that puts a bit of fear into me as I don't want to get hurt when no ones around.

This is the one that gets me. Due to work and personal life schedules, I don't always get the chance to ride in a group. I suppose I could make more of an effort to find people to ride with, but I will admit to being slightly picky and anti-social. My biggest worry is that I'll make a stupid mistake on an easy stunt I've done a thousand times before and really screw myself up when I'm riding alone. I've gotten to the point where I carry my cell with me, but it doesn't do me a fat lot of good if I get knocked out, if the battery dies, or if I can't get reception. It's something that really moderates what I do now.

I love riding, and I'm glad I got back into it after being out for years, but I can see where people might need to take a break to focus on other stuff, get healthy, or "allow your stoke to breath".

I'm fairly new to biking….well that's my excuse. I guess I've been riding for about 2 years now. I've never thought about quitting as its fun for now but I have wondered many times if I will get any better. I mean if you're not getting any better then you're riding the same stuff same level every weekend and eventually it'll get mundane which is what I think will happen.

Find more people to ride with! Get chased by someone. Or try and keep up with someone much faster. Or take out someone really new and show them some stuff. Go try the DJs. Keep infusing new stuff into your riding. If you feel like you're plateau-ing and verging on boredom switch it up!

Or you can do what people in buff places do: make your bike make the ride harder i.e. go singlespeed or go rigid…

Or you can do what people in buff places do: make your bike make the ride harder i.e. go singlespeed or go rigid…

So true. Riding 7th is not too hard, but riding 7th on an old school hardtail with a crazy steep head angle, 3" forks, narrow bars, 120mm stem and V-brakes, the trail becomes really exciting.

So true. Riding 7th is not too hard, but riding 7th on an old school hardtail with a crazy steep head angle, 3" forks, narrow bars, 120mm stem and V-brakes, the trail becomes really exciting.

So ironic! :damn: That is exactly what I built this past winter. My old school single speed rigid gets ridden more these days than all of my other bikes combined.

What a great read. I sort of feel outside the loop on the topic of buddies to ride with. I starded riding MTB about 6 years ago at the ripe age of 34. It all was about getting out of the house and "alone/man" time. I grew up on BMX in the 80's and always loved the freedom that riding gave me. I the late 80's a buddy in Vancouver introduced me to a "Stumpjumper" and the UBC Edowment Lands. There were some other things we tried mixed in there but that's another story. I never forgot the feeling of riding a big bike in B.C. and the "Sacking" that Stumpy gave me repeatdedly that day. At 36 I returned to Van on business and for the hell of it rented…you guessed it, a Specialized Stumpy XC and headed for Fromme. After a day of getting my ass handed to me I can honestly say that I was changed. I guess the bruises would deter most but now I remember my rides by them. I live to ride even if it is alone. Thanks for such a great read

i considered selling my bike this past winter, just to pay the mortgage and pay the bills, after we had a kid. but im glad we didnt get that far, but now neither of us can even afford a bike park pass. so since thats what i have lived for, for so many years, it will be like not even having a bike.
you gotta be doin it for the right reasons…

Ok, so there's a few other loners out there.

I've been riding for 12 years now, never had any regular riding buddies. I ride when I can. My Dad's been the most consistant. After I quit hockey, we had very little in common. I built him a bike when I worked at a shop, and he started coming to whistler with me, 8 years ago. We're going to Moab again this May. Looks like mountain biking salvaged our father-son thing.

I've never been injured from mountain biking (bruises, bumps, strains etc aside). I've always avoided an obstacle (stunt, drop w/e) until my skill level far exceeded it. In other words, I've been kind of a wussy on the bike. I didn't get a whistler pass last year, and I don't think I will again. I may not get any better at it, and that's ok. I love being in a forest, on my bike. I've heard that moving past trees clears your aura. Moving past them on a bike is a spiritual thing for me.

Maybe it's cuz I've never been injured, maybe it's cuz I don't mind the woods as my only riding companion, but I will NEVER stop mountain biking. It doesn't sound like Brad will either.

icing my elevated, spiral fractured tibia, this article was just what i needed.

thanks brad.

Good article, Brad.

I gotta say the thought of you quitting biking is somewhat laughable to me. I haven't met many people with more passion for the sport.

EB

I've heard that moving past trees clears your aura. Moving past them on a bike is a spiritual thing for me.

As much as I wanted to laugh at that, I couldn't as its true.

I wish my dad biked. He's a bit too old for it now. You're a lucky guy