[Tall BMX'r]

The trails I ride are in an area known as Dog Park. There is a dog park at the entry to the trails, thus the name. The area is technically on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corp Base, but the trail area is part of the State Parks wilderness area. I was taking a rest near a hill top today looking down onto the Marine Corp Base. I noticed a toy hauler type of trailer in a dirt parking lot on the base. There was a row of mountain bikes just outside of the trailer. Then I noticed a bunch of people riding the bikes around in the parking lot. About 30 minutes later I was riding on a narrow single track that has 2 way traffic. I see a guy coming towards me on a nice Specialized mtb. I pulled off the trail to let him pass and he says " Sorry, but I have about 20 behind me..He was the guide and there was a guide on a nice YT mtb bringing up the rear. It was a Marine Corp troop all on nice 'Rocky Mountain' hardtails. The ones near the front could ride, but the ones near the rear were having trouble shifting down for some steep ups, and looked pretty out of shape. I could tell they were all new enlisted soldiers. There was a hand full of women in the group as well.
What great basic training and having a little fun at the same time.

 

[smartyiak]

That's rad. I wish that was a "training tool" when I was in!

 

[Ailuropoda]

I'm sure it wasn't basic training.

 

[CEB]

Maybe doing this to better "patrol" the Stowe trail.

 

[Fleas]

"Fun" to us!
Some people really don't think it's fun. 😄

-F

 

[cdalemaniac]

Probably just a recreational unit thing.
On every military base you can rent various outdoor equipment through MWR.
I did this at our unit back then as well, guided a bunch of newbies on rental bikes through our local trails.
Our MWR rental fleet was “only” old aluminum hard tail TREK mtb’s though.
Great way to get folks introduced into the sport.


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[TooTallUK]

Probably just a recreational unit thing.
On every military base you can rent various outdoor equipment through MWR.
I did this at our unit back then as well, guided a bunch of newbies on rental bikes through our local trails.
Our MWR rental fleet was “only” old aluminum hard tail TREK mtb’s though.
Great way to get folks introduced into the sport.


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Things might be training. I was British military and we got people qualified as instructors, got a fleet of bikes funded and used them for teambuilding, PT, leadership training, cadet engagement etc.

 

[786737]

Maybe doing this to better "patrol" the Stowe trail.

Not when they can crash their quads through the vegetation to surprise riders and leak gas / oil onto the ground whilst writing tickets. Yes, that was a thing.

 

[mackdhagen]

I live near Marine Base Quantico and its full of trails that they ride too. I don't know for a fact that its part of their regular training but they do use them as groups..FBI too

 

[Tall BMX'r]

They were in their 'Civvy's' for the most part, so I'm pretty sure it was an optional exercise. I think a few in the back were not too happy about. It's got to be a bit challenging for someone who's never ridden on the dirt, let alone single tracks with some steep up and downs.

 

[Sidewalk]

I am sure it was a morale event, not training.

Especially since their boot camp is down the street at MCRD. I think Pendleton is just used for their practical training during boot, the rest is done at MCRD. I wasn't a Jarhead, but I was stationed at MCRD.

 

[Sarguy]

I also ride on trails on MCB Quantico. I just do my best not to run over any Marines

 

[Jayem]

I see soldiers occasionally at the rock gym I go to. I wish they would have done more of that stuff when I was in, sub a regular PT day for some physical training AND fun.

 

[Bikeventures]

I sold my Canfield to a kid that was deploying to Korea. He said he heard there were great trails over there. Hope he had a great time with my old bike.

 

[Curveball]

Things might be training. I was British military and we got people qualified as instructors, got a fleet of bikes funded and used them for teambuilding, PT, leadership training, cadet engagement etc.

I camped next to a Scottish Army unit on mountain bikes at a lake in Jasper National Park about 30 years ago. I couldn't understand anything that they said, but they didn't seem too happy about the ride and camp. It was nice to have them next to me in that grizzly country.

I caught a giant brook trout and shared it with them for dinner.

 

[Taroroot]

Will occasionally see troops training at snow resorts, but theyre in full gear on xc skis.

 

[chazpat]

I camped next to a Scottish Army unit on mountain bikes at a lake in Jasper National Park about 30 years ago. I couldn't understand anything that they said, but they didn't seem too happy about the ride and camp. It was nice to have them next to me in that grizzly country.

I caught a giant brook trout and shared it with them for dinner.

I flew back from Europe talking to a Yugoslavian and a Scot (yes it was awhile ago). I could understand the Yugo's English a WHOLE lot easier than the Scot's.

 

[Wheelspeed]

The trails I ride are in an area known as Dog Park. There is a dog park at the entry to the trails, thus the name. The area is technically on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corp Base, but the trail area is part of the State Parks wilderness area. I was taking a rest near a hill top today looking down onto the Marine Corp Base. I noticed a toy hauler type of trailer in a dirt parking lot on the base. There was a row of mountain bikes just outside of the trailer. Then I noticed a bunch of people riding the bikes around in the parking lot. About 30 minutes later I was riding on a narrow single track that has 2 way traffic. I see a guy coming towards me on a nice Specialized mtb. I pulled off the trail to let him pass and he says " Sorry, but I have about 20 behind me..He was the guide and there was a guide on a nice YT mtb bringing up the rear. It was a Marine Corp troop all on nice 'Rocky Mountain' hardtails. The ones near the front could ride, but the ones near the rear were having trouble shifting down for some steep ups, and looked pretty out of shape. I could tell they were all new enlisted soldiers. There was a hand full of women in the group as well.
What great basic training and having a little fun at the same time.

Cool man, thanks for sharing that. I think it's a good idea. I'm sure some new recruits are pretty out of shape, so why not give them the option to replace a jog once a week or so with a ride? Maybe a higher-up is a mtb fan and sprung for the cost in his budget to have some bikes, which is pretty neat. Maybe one day, a new Olympic sport? Instead of skiing and shooting, you mtb and shoot?

 

[Jayem]

Cool man, thanks for sharing that. I think it's a good idea. I'm sure some new recruits are pretty out of shape, so why not give them the option to replace a jog once a week or so with a ride? Maybe a higher-up is a mtb fan and sprung for the cost in his budget to have some bikes, which is pretty neat. Maybe one day, a new Olympic sport? Instead of skiing and shooting, you mtb and shoot?

Because running is better bang for the buck in terms of time and basic training is very time-limited. They are trying to get the troops up to the level where they can pass the physical tests and so on. It's also a mental break-down and it's not supposed to be "fun" in the traditional sense, in that if you can survive it and get through it, you will be able to deal with much of the crap that happens if you actually go to war.

 

[TXNavy]

Not training...as most have said, it's an MWR-organized thing.

Just for fun, my intro to "real" mountain biking was an MWR-organized MTB tour of the island of Corfu, Greece when my ship visited in 2001. About two dozen of us followed a guide for maybe five or six hours and twenty miles on cheapo hard tails. Because of that, I just had to have a MTB when I got back, but didn't really get to use it until two duty stations and two years later...in Monterey. There I even saw our quasi mythical founder of MTBR on local trails and at events a few times :-D Ever since then I have basically "chosen" my duty stations based on mountain bike (and later, surf) access: PNW, San Diego, and DC. Don't laugh, DC area trails aren't so bad and the MORE folks that run them are the best!

So technically I guess Navy MWR got me into mountain bikes, and the Navy has kept me around really good trails about 80% of the time ever since.