I was reading an article in Bike Mag the other day where Thomas Vanderham was being interviewed about his experience riding with Sam Hill in North Shore for the filming of Follow Me by Anthill Films (photo credit). During the interview, Vanderham was asked a simple question…
How do you like being a professional freerider?
His answer…
I am a mountain biker.
Vanderham’s answer to this question set me back for a second, but makes complete sense. It is also how we should look at mountain biking on the most personal level.
I Am A Mountain Biker
Back when I started riding about 14 years ago, there was no DH, AM, XC, Endurance, FR, etc. You bought a mountain bike and your rode it where ever you could find fresh dirt. As time moved forward and technology advanced, different categories of equipment started to pop up to meet the needs of different riding styles. I can remember when the first red RockShox Judy DH hit the market with an unheard of 80mm of front travel. Everyone was ready to huck off their roofs with that amount of DH gear!
But…as we look at the sport and how it has progressed, the classifications of different riding styles are really there to distinguish parts…not riders. Even then…it is not about the classification and what you are doing with those parts…just that you are riding them.
I think it is easy to get sucked into the marketing side of mountain biking and start to classify yourself away from other riders and into your own niche. For those of you that like to stick to one style of riding (and there is nothing wrong with that), you can find a home within the ranks as an XC racer or AM rider, but in reality…you are still just a mountain biker.
Classifications Create Division
I am all about friendly competition amongst different riding styles and riders. Part of what makes the sport of mountain biking so great is the ability to be an individual and challenge other individuals. Where we run into issues is thinking that one aspect of mountain biking is better than another just because that corner of riding is where we happen to call home.
I hear riders say some stupid ass things all the time like…
- “Riding a bike that heavy on this trail is stupid.”
- “How could you possibly like climbing?! No one likes climbing.”
From someone who likes to bring in as much diversification into their riding as possible, those riders that throw out comments like that sound like a re-tard. No matter how you like to get rubber to dirt, we are all mountain bikers. Instead of using equipment and classifications as division, we should be using it as strength to bring up the sport.
Luckily, I think the percentage of riders that create the division is much smaller than those that enjoy the differences…but while we are all out there…just remember…it is all about the ride.
Yup, that’s my favorite, the “wow, you brought THAT thing to ride here…wow, you’re waaay overbiked. You need that?” (I only have one bike, so yeah, I bring it everywhere…if I want to ride a bike that day I’ve not much choice…)
Most of the time this happens with the “aggressive-AM crowd”…you know, the ones with lots of gear and no balls. They’ve hit this one slightly bigger drop, and they now figure that are freeriders just minus the bike. It makes them feel special for riding with less travel than you do (and at the same time, that always provides a ready excuse when they chicken out of a feature…”yeah, I didn’t bring the BIG bike today…”).
I’m with the author on this one. I’m happy for all people biking. Even the spandex-clan…
One of the best things about this site is the total disregard for political correctness! F’ing retards.
Hey,I agree.My wife and I just got into mountian biking a year ago.I am in my early fifties and my wife is a little younger.My bike is an old walmart bike with rear coil over and judy front shocks.I bought my wife a motobecane full suspension for 450.Good bike for the money and the local trails we ride.Bottom line is there are people with bettter rides and skills,but we love biking and we are also mountian bikers.See you on the trails Herb
I cannot agree more – with the article and the comments. A little friendly competition is cool. Negative comparisons is very much uncool. The more friendly and laid back attitudes most MTB’rs project is why I like the sport so much more than any other I have participated in. I used to *love* to surf – now not so much. Why? Crappy superior attitudes and locals-only turf wars… Too many people being way too impressed with themselves. Bunch of selfish morons. It just ought not to be. I hope and pray that MTB riders maintain that friendly and open vibe that attracted me to the sport way back in the late 80′s.
Hey,I agree.My wife and I just got into mountian biking a year ago.I am in my early fifties and my wife is a little younger.My bike is an old walmart bike with rear coil over and judy front shocks.I bought my wife a motobecane full suspension for 450.Good bike for the money and the local trails we ride.Bottom line is there are people with bettter rides and skills,but we love biking and we are also mountian bikers.See you on the trails Herb