I was out for a fun 4th of July MTB ride and I left from my house, which had about 5 miles of public road (3.5 mi being gravel) before getting to the trailhead.

Anyways, on my return from the trail I am back on the gravel road and have a mile or so left of gravel when I encounter a group of horseback riders. I’m on a decent, I know this trail/road and there is an outfitter that gives tourists a guide-led ride on this road. So I figure it’s one of them or maybe a family for a ride. I let the back of the group know I’m there, approach slowly and am on the opposite side of the road.

I’ve grown up in Montana and know horses, I spooked one a bit and said sorry , but the guide stops me a bit aggressively, he rides on and I’m like why isn’t he halting? I know a ride like this just needs the leader to stop and boom the rest would to.

Anyways, it’s all on the video, that’s how I felt when it happened. I was shook by this guy and I literally ran high school track exercises up this hill as a kid (I’m 36 now).

What do y’all think? Was I in the wrong? Should I talk to someone about this? There’s a local Facebook group I could always add it too.

Thanks y’all for your thoughts.

Happy fourth and happy riding!!!

Edit: wow this blew up!! Thanks for all your comments and feedback. Yes, I could have announced better, but on a road, not legally required.

I know the company this guy works for. It’s been taken care of.

Thanks again y’all.

Ride safe, have fun, and put out the positive vibes.

Edit #2:

I can’t believe this post is still rolling. But thanks for checking it out and participating in this discussion.

I’ve dealt with the situation directly with the owners of the company.

Let’s just say the Cowboy has some time off and leave it at that.

Lately in my local bike park (also a city park) has been having more electric dirt bikers poach the trails. I have two concerns. 1) Safety for others. It's a commonly used park for trail runners, cyclists, and dog walkers). 2) Electric dirt bikes are dirt bikes and destroy trails that the mountain bike community volunteers to build and maintain. 3) There is a bylaw that clearly states motorized vehicles are prohibited in parks.

Should I report to Bylaws or Police or just leave it alone?

#mountainbike #mtb #britiishcolumbia

I never thought this would happen. Recently went on a pretty big ride with a couple riders, some of whom I've never ridden with before. At the end of the day, one pulled me aside and hit me with this absurd take:

"Wearing a full face helmet on anything other than double black diamond trails is ridiculously lame, makes you look super stupid, and is actually MORE dangerous than a half shell because it blocks peripheral vision. Anybody who crashes puts their arms up first, so the chin bar is pretty much useless. But hey that's just my opinion, if you want to look like a dumbass on the trails that's your call."

That's as close to verbatim as I can recall. I told him that was a shit take and another rider who heard agreed with me. In hindsight I wish I'd called him out for being an asshole- definitely not riding with him again, at the very least.

People, ride your ride. If you feel safer, more comfortable, or more confident in a full face then there's nothing wrong with that no matter how easy/hard a trail is. I ride better in my full face because I feel more confident, and it stays in place better than a half shell ever could. Anybody who has problem with other people's choice of safety gear is just judgmental asshole who you shouldn't listen to, let alone ride with.

Aye shit and fractured my lower wrist

Is it just me or is watching Redbull Rampage like waiting for a car crash? Watching the women’s event live right now…Even the commentators sound worried for each rider, and their reactions are more relief rather than excitement.

I dunno if I’ve missed the plot. It seems more of a test of survival than of talent. I just realized Emil hasn’t ridden since last year and Adolf may never ride again. Crazy to think that two riders at the top of their game are knocked out of the sport for this one event.

https://apple.news/A9kGU8qcjTQeCyvzMbvNjJg

I didn’t appreciate how much land Trump’s bill will sell off to industry. Enjoy your local trail system before it’s gone.

Thanks Republicans! /s

200 miles of single track from town? Yes.

Flat cross-country and steep techy descents? Yes.

Active trail organization building new trails with Red Bull riders like Carson Storch? Yes.

Year-round riding in the high desert? Yes.

Cute town full of transplants who are also eager to make new friends? 100%

Easy to drive to places like Oakridge, Hood River, Sandy Ridge, even WA and BC? Yes.

Skiing/snowboarding/XC skiing to mix it up in the winter? Yes. Mt. Bachelor has one of the longest seasons of any ski resort in the US.

Bend has everything, and lots of it. While none of it is an 11/10, there’s so much, and so much of it is good, that it’s truly the best place to live and ride. Trails are never crowded, and you never fight traffic. People are friendly, there are things to do in town, and it’s safe— so safe you pass bikes on the back of cars as you walk into Trader Joe’s.

If you’ve been looking to make a move for your mental health, don’t sleep on Bend.

Come ride with me!

I am not trying to start a E bike debate. I am glad that e bikes exist as it gives more options of riding mountain bikes.

I recently sold my eMTB for an equivalent spec MTB. I felt like the assist removed the challenge, and I would finish rides feeling little to no accomplishment.

For me felt like with the eMTB, the activity lost its “soul”.

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this.

Edit: Appreciate everyone’s mostly pleasant responses. They have all been interesting to read.

Saw this two identical crash & was wondering do other brands bend like this when hitting something hard

I can't believe football is getting in and downhill MTB isn't. it would be so sick.

Luckily, there is a trail split not too far ahead, or I'd be with them for a good while. Wondering what your take would be? Cheers.

Looks like Cannondale is the next one to fall

I was climbing a popular bidirectional single track that’s a weekly ride for me. Dude and his buddy coming down.

The vast majority of folks will pull off and stop to yield the right of way; the trail is narrow in spots and it can help to be able to control your line while climbing.

Two older dudes with beer bellies coming down the trail at a decent clip. First guy goes all the way to the edge in the weeds and rides by me. Not the most polite pass, but we’ve all been in the groove on a DH and haven’t stopped when we probably should have.

Second dude tries to follow his buddy’s line, but the trail is tight and he ends up dragging his handlebar along the outside of my forearm, leaving a gash a few inches long.

Dude kept riding like nothing happened. I called him out on his shitty trail manners before I realized that I was bleeding. He was defensive and not remotely apologetic.

Why is it so painful for some people to admit that they fucked up? We all make mistakes. Why can’t people leave their entitlement at home when they hit the trails and just be chill?

Edit: When I called him out, dude acknowledged that he knew uphill riders had the right of way. That wasn’t enough to make him a) yield or b) apologize though.

That's all

Cracked my Raaw Jibb V1 frame at the seat stay weld a while back. I am not the original owner, so they offered me 30% off a crash replacement front triangle, which is cool. Paid up about a week ago without thinking too much about it and got an email from UPS today saying they won't deliver until I pay a 50% tariff because it's aluminum from the EU. Really punishing those foreign companies by taxing me $325. Can't wait for New England to secede and become our own country with Quebec.

I'm not talking about a bunch of pricy bike lift parks. Which area has an abundance of great mountain biking spots?

Title

I am noticing far less people at the trailhead this season and I'm not sure if it's part of a wider trend. I live in Australia and recently visited Mogo which is a fairly new, comprehensive trail network on the long weekend.

Last season I was there at the same time and there would have been average 5 people PER TRAIL HEAD. the busiest one probably averaged like 15 or so people at any one time during the day. This time, I saw probably 10 different people total.

But it's not just that, there is less YouTube content and Instagram reels from local networks and the race days I've seen have lower turnout - at least it feels that way.

Is anyone else noticing this?

Obviously it doesn't matter to me, but I find it interesting.

To engineers who are also MTBers,

Can you think of some bike/components design elements that you think are pure genius/goated from an engineering standpoint? Conversely, what are some terrible/marketing BS designs?

I am not an engineer, but one engineer friend of mine thinks that Cannondale Lefty is a genius design, and that any non-J-bend spokes are marketing BS. Also, he says yoke-driven suspension layouts are terrible for shocks.

Just want to hear more about this kind of discussion from this community. Thanks!

EDIT: Thank you for the imput my learned friends. It seems that A LOT of you think FSR is goated; mind elaborating why? And what is your take on the current design trend of 6-bar layouts to separate frame flex from shock side loading? Is it BS?

Been trail/XC riding for almost 5 years, always on flats. I ride clipless for road and gravel, and my buddies all ride MTB clipless so I tried it for a few weeks. I largely enjoyed it, particularly that my feet didn't need readjustments during the ride, but I couldn't shed the anxiety about not being able to unclip during technical sections.

I fell a few times, which I expected, but the anxiety affected my confidence when approaching technical features. I found myself failing more features that I'd normally have no problem on flats. Also, jumping got a little sketchy because of how easy it is to bring up your feet. My bunny hops and jumping form are much better on flats.

I'm glad I tried it and do kinda wish I enjoyed it more, but I'm sticking with flats. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Today I was in the funeral of a fellow mtb racer. I didn't know him before but I raced in the same race with him last Sunday. He finished the race in good time and then while preparing to put the bike on his car he had a heart attack and collapsed. The ambulance immediately took him to the nearest hospital but they couldn't save him.

He was almost the same age as me - 45 years old. He left two children fatherless.

Be careful out there.

Edit: apparently, the best advice would be take care of your health, do tests etc.

I have been riding mtbs for over 4 months now and I have a very basically mtb, if it isn't considered one as the suspenion does even work. But I love it. And I have been saving and will soon buy a 600 euro bike that should be a massive upgrade. And I have seen dropper posts everywhere and idk if its worth saving for as theyre quite expensive and im on a pretty tight budget.
All opinios welocomed and if you have a suggestion for a budget dropper post its more than welcome.
Thanks!

I've been riding for over 20 years and was in great shape when I started. About 5 years ago I put on a lot of weight and I'm not sure why, but I did. I can't ride nearly as much as I want to because of it. I need to lose 50 pounds. Have any of you struggled with this before and how did you lose the weight?