[Gakster]

I should have know that it will come to this. Bought my 1st road bike 2 years ago to supplement my mountain biking; to make me a better mtn biker. How insidious. Now, I am losing my religion .....

These pass months I have clocked close to 1,000 miles on the road bike and maybe 150 miles of mtn biking. My interest for mtn biking peaked this year at Sea Otter Classic. I remembered the passion I had leading up to Sea Otter. Riding in cold, wet trails trying to get in shape to do well in the race. Showing up at Skeggs Pt at ungodly hour riding thru soggy mud, wet roots and feeling elated after all that. These days I had to push myself to rack up the bike, drive to the trail head to ride.

Every small step I take I seem to gravitate more toward road biking. I recently signed up for my 1st Century at the end of August - the Napa Tour and I am totally psyche about it. Riding 40-50 miles every week-end preparing for the tour. Thinking about my choice of tires, changing out the cables and generally fussing over the road bike. Meanwhile the Turner sits there unwashed and forlorn. Watching, reading about Lance, Tyler etc only makes me want to ride the road more.

Please don't get me wrong, I not saying one is better than the other. I am very grateful that I have found my passion in biking. It is just that I have always considered myself a 'Mtn biker' and now I am feeling a little ... guilty ? No, that can't be right. I am feeling a little ... confused.

Decision, decisions : Italian hottie or America sweetheart; Aria or Betsy; Tiramisu or home made apple-pie.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Fuelish]

Ahhhhhhh, don't worry 'bout it....probably will be a neverending pendulum ride, back and forth between mtb and road for the rest of yer rideable years....enjoy the road, for you will one day tire of it and get back to mtb....and so on, and so on, etc, etc, .....

 

[Duncan!]

Its just a superficial thing ... you'll be baaaaaacckkk. Try swinging between THREE evil temptations (road,XC,DH) - and you'll realize that you have it easy. D.

 

[pacman]

Have any quiet country roads?

Think safety. Enter into your training log each close call - stupid driver, etc. You may conclude you can ride forever but in my case I hung up the road wheels.

 

[Gakster]

That's part of the "problem". Lots of very nice country roads.

Think safety. Enter into your training log each close call - stupid driver, etc. You may conclude you can ride forever but in my case I hung up the road wheels.

And a lot of them are 20 minutes ride away from the front door.

Cheers.

 

[gabe0807]

I gravitate back and forth too. Go with what you enjoy. Right now I have a fixed gear road bike that I love riding. Go with what you like.

 

[Cabin Fever]

totally understandable. look at it this way though...

...no matter which discipline end up sticking with, you win! as long as you're still riding, that's the main thing. i can understand your dilemma though, feeling that you're losing part of your identity, what has always made you, you. the few times i've ever felt like i was just starting to get slightly burnt out, i got super worried due to the fact that cycling is what i know, it is part of me. it is me. if i stop riding, what will i do? i'd be losing a lot, and it is a scary thought. in your case though, i suppose it is just a matter of slightly changing tastes; people change as they grow.

 

[Frankenschwinn]

Try four, BMX, XC, DH and road.... As long as its on two wheels, its all right...

 

[Cary]

I ride both. I tend to road bike more in the winter because once the trails get muddy around here, they are impossible (Northern California Adobe). It all works out well in the end and complements each other. You will find some years you ride more road, some more mountain.

 

[Homsar]

You aren't alone

Go into any bike shop, they have sold more $2000 road bikes this year than they did in the entire 90's.

Two possible causes:
1) The Lance factor.
2) the Hucker factor. I don't know if you noticed, but Mountain BIking has evolved, and in a direction that many people who call themselves "cyclists" do not want to go. Many good XC trails have become Hucker trails, making it less fun for anyone not interested in body armour and 6" of travel.

For myself, I have the most fun on long ride on buff singletrack, one involving climbs, decents, twists, and picking lines. A distant second is a good 2-hour road ride with friends, ending with an sprint to the city-limit sign. Way off in third place is riding my mountain bike on a shuttle-seviced Hucker trail that used to be buff single track. And I am finding most attempts the first are ending up looking like the third, and as a result, I tend to be doing a lot of the second.

 

[GirchyGirchy]

This summer I began riding more on-road than off. I bought a new road bike to help with that. Do I care? No. It's not what or where you're riding, it's that you're riding.