Climbing...

So many of you IMTBers are amazing climbers. I hate you all for it. The numbers you post blow my mind. Yes, I know that if I did ______ I too could rack up better numbers, but I deliberately choose to allocate my time differently. So I will be content with just being envious of you who can rack up 5000 to 10,000' in a single ride.

This Pinkbike Poll admits that the MtB industry seems to have relented to the fun side of the sport and has gone away from climbing efficiency as the number one seller of bikes (as would have been common in the '90s).

Debate, brag, comment, whatever.

Click here to start.
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/poll-has-climbing-become-unfashionable.html

 

To each their own. I'll keep my hardtail and gravitate to the climbing side.

Didn't expect that outta me?

 

Only because you have never tried a full sus.

I saw your reaction to a better fork.

 

I love the climbing it’s a sickness

 

I love having climbed.

 

Even DH bikes kinda sucked at going down hill in the 90s.

120mm stems, 72 degree head angles, 3” of elastomer travel, v-brakes. No amount of purple anodize was going to make your bike go faster with features like that...

So uphill performance can be a real discriminator.

 

Riders are getting more and more lazy......bottom line.

 

Speak for yourself mister! I climb as much or more than ever.

But yeah, the e-bike tag line "more of what you love, less of what you hate..."

Wall-E is coming to fruition! (Along with Idiocracy)

 

Yup....now that I read the article.....my previous post was spot on.

 

I’m down with climbing and enjoy it. Currently trying to figure out how to get a bike that’s more pedal friendly than my current rig.

 

I still love the challenge, rhythm, and feeling that a sustained climb brings. But my new bike is heavier by nearly two pounds than any other bike that I have ever owned, and that slows me down a bit.

However, I climb, and therefore, I am.

 

Charlie Kelly never raced up Mt Tam. QED

 

Cranking up grades is kind of like running. It’s not that hard to do it for a long time once you break through the initial barriers. If you can run for 90 minutes, I say you can run a marathon. A standard equation: maximum running time is ~3x your training time (or distance).

Understandably, not everyone can or wants to put in the time to explore the far reaches of their ability. But, in some ways, it gets easier. Duration training will teach your body how to recover during, not just after, the activity. Once you kind of get in that zone, and dial in your prep and intake, you can go darn near indefinitely. That’s how these nuts do all the sick push and multi-day stuff that gets done.

No lie, some riders (or whatever activity) are better athletes than others. But the minds of individuals have been a far bigger impediment to achievement than genes. You can’t even believe what you can accomplish. Your survival instincts don’t want you to believe it.

 

See that red squiggly thing? That means every inch I climb I’m working harder than [most of] you...so there!

 

'07 SX Trail. Full coil. It was a little heavy but one of the best climbing bikes I've ever had. Oh yeah. I used to avoid climbing like the plague but now I plan my rides for the climbs.

 

There is hope for humanity! It seems that even on Pinkbike most people think there should be balance in the mountain biking universe.

Seriously, though... How do you justify the plate of tacos after the ride if you don't pedal your ass uphill? Tacos do not come cheap. I figure maybe one taco for every 2,000 feet. On cheat days, and social rides, I'll do one for every 1,000.

Think about it... e-bikers don't earn tacos. They earn bean sprouts. And non-alcoholic light beer.




I'm trying to talk myself into at least a 3 taco ride... The discussions are not going well.

 

I'm hoping for at least a two taco ride at SkyPark today!

 

Yesterday on my weekly hill run there is a short section where I run on a winding sidewalk next to the road. I was passed by two young women on e-bikes. One of them wasn't even pedaling I'm here to tell you - if I can run up a hill as part of a 6 mile hill run, you damn well can ride a bike up it

I stick to my prior forecast, which is that recreational e-biking (on trails) is a fad. E-bikes make complete sense if you are a commuter and/or live in a city. However whatever motivates people to go outdoors and ride in nature is not suddenly created just because of the advent of e-bikes. I have never seen the same e-bike back in the hills twice. Usually I see people that are like "wow, so this is mountain-biking?" and I never see them again.

I had a moment of sweet revenge two days ago when I saw a middle-aged gentleman pushing an e-bike uphill through a cross walk. Looked like he ran out of charge. He was not a happy camper

In related news, my daughter will shortly be going to school at San Jose State. The university has just outlawed all electric scooters/skateboards from campus grounds. Too many accidents.

 

Negotiate!

I remember quantifying a given drive in beers. Yea, that’s a two-beer drive. Measuring rides in tacos and/or beers seems more balanced...

 

Love climbing on my full rigid carbon! Descending rocky techie trails, uh... wrong bike

 

I love mountain biking. The sport has saved my life many more times than it has tried to end it.
The aspect of the sport that allows me the most reflection is the climb. On the climb, I take my time, and meditate. I find that gear, that cadence, where my HR and breathing are stressed but not overly. I imagine circles as I seek a perfect rotation of the cranks. Never find it, but that's why I keep seeking.
I take my personal troubles and grind them into dust, packed down by my tire tracks and bear prints. I emerge from a sea of depression and anger and enter into a calm lagoon of thoughtfulness and caring.
"You're nuts!" You say. Climbing sucks! I shuttle. I only ride parks. E-bikers have call me "stupid" for climbing. Saddled with poor fitness and improper gear, these people refuse to accept the Tao of the climb.
So be it.
Like a surfer in a wave pool, you're doing something, but you're missing the point.
The point is not just having fun. The point is getting fit enough to enjoy the whole sport. The point is using your sport to better yourself and your relationships with the people around you. Can't do that bouncing off the jagged, exposed, rocks of Sunset trail.

Sure as shìt you can do it on the climb up there, though.

 

I don't see anything "fun" about climbing. It is just a way to get to the downhills for me.

 

Dude... I need to get to know you better

 

I love the challenge of a good climb.

 

f@cking AWESOME description!

 

I’d submit that the sort of technical climbing that the author of the article is lamenting the death of never really was that big a part of the sport for us mortals.

For most of us, he’s just lamenting the death of hike-a-bike...I’m a big fan of pedaling to get places. But I’m not planning to clean Joplin to the peak. And I’m not above walking some of the moves on San Juan—on the way up.

The article did make a broader point about uphill in general, and I’d agree that a good loop or out and back ride gives a kind of satisfaction that I don’t get from park laps.

 

I’m two tacos in!

 

Maybe "fun" is not the correct word. How about a sense of accomplishment. Climbing 4000 feet to the top of the mountain just so you can look out at the view, not just as a means so you can do the downhill. Much like a rock climber who has reached the summit. Mountain biking for me has always been about the adventure in the outdoors. Getting me to places I wouldn't have explored otherwise. Views from the summits I would not have visited otherwise. Downhill adrenaline is great and all, but not at all what attracted me to mountain biking.

 

Well said Rossage. All that and a bag of chips when Gravity takes over.

 

Climbing for the Win !!

Climbing will facilitate adult neurogenesis, the creation of new brain cells, in the Hippocampus and Striatum areas of the brain.
The Hippocampus is a brain area that is particularly important for cognitive functions such as learning and memory, and for emotions, mood, anxiety and stress response. The Striatum is known for its role in motor coordination and also has important roles in the regulation of reward, aversion, motivation and pleasure. It is recognized as a key structure in higher cognitive functions, particularly in " cognitive flexibility, " the ability to adapt behavioral goals in response to changing contextual demands.