Are we *misunderstood ...

[Bearbonesnorm]

by the general cycling community?

I get to meet lots of mountain bikers in my line of **work and the vast majority look at me like I'm some kind of mentalist when I start to talk about bikepacking, etc. It almost seems that the prospect of having to actually ride your bike for more than 3 hours, possibly look at a map, maybe push a mile or so through a rough boggy bit, etc, etc doesn't register as mountain biking

Maybe it's the level of effort required or the potential for physical discomfort that causes this attitude or perhaps we've just taken over from ***singlespeeders as the group to point at

Anyone else encounter this 'you lot are all mental' attitude?

* Me ... more than usual
** I'm aware that some will never class it as work
*** If you happen to bikepack on a SS, you're buggered

[barney]

i first "got into" bikepacking from that now legendary thread on singletrack, instantly thought i've got to have a go and haven't looked back. if it wasn't for a young family i'd probably be out a lot more than i manage now

my traditional saturday rides are with a group of up to 20 riders and there are only 2 of us that it appeals to

our usual over-nighters are met with much head scratching and sanity questioning (we also get the "brokebike moutain" comments whenever we head off into the woods )

[Ian]

You know that asterisks are supposed to go after the word in a sentence don't you?

[Ian]

Serious reply now:

People at large have been sold a different type of mountain biking through the press. In small increments, first came riser bars, longer travel forks, more rear suspension, wider tires, pro pedal shocks etc.
Go back 15 years and you could get 500 people to pay money to enter Polaris and do just what you describe at times of the year where the weather was guarenteed to be crap. Somewhere along the way people failed to see the appeal of such riding and decided to take their increasingly bouncy bikes around more predictable trails where risk of getting lost or stuck in a bog is reduced to nil. They have fun I guess, just different fun to the riding we do.

[gairym]

Stuart,

Yeah, most people simply don't get it and don't want to (which is fine as it means more bothy space for us).

These days it's all about trail centres and man-made single-track.

Most people who ride mountain bikes wouldn't necessarily even call themselves 'outdoors enthusiasts' never-mind be willing to put up with the hardships that proper riding as we do it entails.

Ian,

That was my first thought too!

[Cheeky Monkey]

IMO, classing "MTBers" as one homogenous community where all members share nearly the same set of interests and desires is incorrect.

I've spent over a decade as a volunteer trailbuilder. I used to think 1 in 20 "riders" would be a potential volunteer. After many years I'd say it's more like 1 in 100. He'll, we can be building trail and people ride past without even looking, nevermind acknowledging, us.

Not chelping, most folks couldn't build a decent trail if they tried But I think it shows the wide gaps between "fellow" riders. As such I'm not surprised the majority of folks look at anyone daft enough to spend a night in some way slightly different from the norm askance. Nevermind the bizarre inclination to strap the kit to enable you to do so to so
e poor bike and then ride miles with it.

[Cheeky Monkey]

:? Goddamn auto correct.

[Ray Young]

I think a lot people may not get what we do because they can't see past the technical riding bit of off roading. Bikepacking to me is so much more than an extended ride. It's about the adventure, the sense of freedom, exploring and riding new terrain, being self sufficient etc,etc,etc, you know what I mean. Due to ill health I had a 10 year break from MTB'ing and when I came back trail centres had sprung up all over the place. These places allow people to do lots of technical riding in an easy package and there's nothing wrong in that but to me mountain biking is about being out in the countryside with a map, a route in mind and the more days you have to spend doing it the better.
I would be very interested to know what % of people only ever ride trail centres and how much xc riding has declined (if at all) since the advent of trail centres.

[Dan_K]

I'm all about XC riding really but pretty new to bikepacking.

I bought a full suss bike last year after buying into the hype of gnarly trails but to be honest, it's not me and I think the bike will be sold pretty soon. I seem to always go back to my hardtail.
I'm happiest on remote tracks rather than downhills.

For me, bikepacking is an extension of a long ride. People struggle to understand when I try to explain to them but generally my friends and work colleagues aren't outdoorsy people and never understand the whole outdoor life anyway.
I think if i'm brutally honest, I prefer hiking to mountain biking but get frustrated with the lack of distance that I can cover on foot which tends to veer me towards mountain biking. I road cycle more than anything, just for fitness really but find myself getting more and more frustrated with other road users.
Deep down, i'm an antisocial bastard and just enjoy being away from people.

[gairym]

Deep down, i'm an antisocial bastard and just enjoy being away from people.

I hear that!

[Ray Young]

Deep down, i'm an antisocial bastard and just enjoy being away from people.

I hear that!

Me too!

[Bearbonesnorm]

Deep down, i'm an antisocial bastard and just enjoy being away from people.

I love you all :D

I would be very interested to know what % of people only ever ride trail centres and how much xc riding has declined (if at all) since the advent of trail centres.

I can say that it's not uncommon for me to coach someone who has only ever ridden at trail centres. It's also common for them to define their riding ability by colour ... I think in the UK the 'trail centre mentallity' is now very deep-rooted.

I've met a few folk this year who were riding the TCW. I always stop for a natter and everyone I met said they were staying in B&B or pubs and many were using a shuttle service for their gear ... the act of riding for 2 or 3 days back to back was far enough out of their comfort zone without asking them to carry everything and sleep in the hills.

[Cheeky Monkey]

Pretty similar to climbing in some ways. There's now many folks who only climb indoors on articificial walls more akin to gyms. Even amongst that number there's probably a big sub-set that don't lead or top rope, only boulder.

Just the way things go I think. Stuff gets de-risked the more "mainstream" it becomes and the more people of a greater variety (kids, women, young, old etc) want to do it.

Sometimes the thought crosses my mind that people aren't doing the "real" thing. But then I realise that's quite pretentious and even if it isn't "real" it's a lot better than a big swathe of the population who's only adventure is watching the box, playing computer games and going out on a weekend to drink.

God, what a hippy

I completely agree onthe antisocial b*stard thing though 8-)

[nobeerinthefridge]

Yip, I'd imagine that if I announced at work that I was for cycling 10 miles up the river on a Thursday night, bedding down with no tent, eating super noodles and drinking a wee hip flask of bramble whisky (not all of it,obviously) 99% of the folks I work with would think me an outcast of some sort!.

It's all cycling though. The fixie n jeans squad, the roadies, weekend warriors etc etc. the one thing I'd say, at least they are getting out, the likes of the trail centre addicts, yer average footy fan never, ever takes part in as much as a kick a bout. Cyclists are a broad church, but it's all good.

[pedalhead]

I think most of us westerners have gotten a bit soft in these modern days of central heating and creature comforts. Me & a mate just spent a few nights in tents at a couple of campsites in Scotland and the people at both places thought we were bonkers. We were the only tents at both sites, everyone else was in caravans or similar. Even the bloomin campsite owner at the first site thought we were silly. On the contrary, car camping with a gas stove & a real pillow felt like luxury! I dunno, I thought they were tough outdoorsy types up there north of the border.

Similarly, when I get dragged to dinner parties etc with the wife I generally try & shift the conversation to bivying & stuff at some point because it's more interesting than the usual dull conversation. Inevitably the other guests tend to consider me a bit of a freak for enjoying it. But hey, more space out there on the ground (or in between trees) for us then, so it's all good.

[Dan_K]

I feel really sorry for people who don't do anything outdoors. Sitting in their boxes on their comfy sofas watching crap TV.
Life's pretty short and if you don't bother experiencing it, what's the point in having it?

[Matt]

barney

i first "got into" bikepacking from that now legendary thread on singletrack, instantly thought i've got to have a go and haven't looked back.

Sounds like I can take credit and get a pint out of that :)

[slarge]

Anyway, these trail centre places, do they have bogs and rivers and climbs so steep you have to push up them, and a cake and coffee stop halfway round? I might give them a go!

And yes, most people think that biking everywhere and sleeping out in the woods or under the stars is bonkers. Better that than crap telly.