10 reasons why mountainbiking beats road or track cycling
1 Mountain bike clothes don't make you look like a sponsored superhero, a look which road cyclists think cuts down on drag and makes them more visible. We suspect it's less to do with safety and more to do with "look, my carbonfibre spoke-rocket is worth more than your car". Having ridden way up into the hills to find it, mountain bikers appreciate good scenery. Road bikers want to be the scenery.
2 Teams of of mountain bikers don't ride down your road first thing in the morning shouting at each other about who's drafting who and waking up the neighbourhood. The reason they do this at dawn is because they haven't yet adjusted to dressing like a heavily sponsored superhero in public.
3 You won't see mountain bikers congregating at urban cafes smelling of sweat and lycra. No, they're the ones at rural cafes smelling of sweat and mud and bleeding slightly.
4 Mountain biking, of course, has an appreciation for nature. Especially trees and topography. Take up mountain biking and you soon gain a working knowledge of root systems. Keep mountain biking and eventually you will gain an appreciation of bark texture. Some unprotected parts of your body will appreciate the above more than others.
5 When a tree knocks you off your mountain bike, there's only one excuse. When a car knocks you off your road bike, there are many excuses. Sometimes it can be because the driver was dazzled by the logos on your shirt.
6 Then again, actually riding around the tree and the next 1000 of them is much more fun than riding around parked cars or velodromes will ever be.
7 Mountain biking brings families together. Usually around the hospital bed of their 16-year-old downhill rider who found a whole new way down the mountain the previous weekend and won't be going up there for another few months.
8 If you ride through a big puddle during the mountain bike race, it's rainwater. If you ride through a puddle during a road race, it means the race frontrunners aren't too far ahead. Eeew. In mountainbiking, there is always a tree to go behind and no need to rust your chain.
9 If roadies seem more uptight than mounties, look at the equipment - they ride on skinny wee high-pressure tyres and their seats are way up there. Whereas mountain bikers spend a good part of their income buying bikes that have more springs than most bed shops and ride on big fat soft knobbly tyres. Which feels pretty comfortable until you encounter number 4 above.
10 A fat guy on a road bike is called a "good start". A fat guy on a downhill bike is called "momentum". The latter may not lose any weight but he'll have a lot more fun.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=31&objectid=10396730
1 Mountain bike clothes don't make you look like a sponsored superhero, a look which road cyclists think cuts down on drag and makes them more visible. We suspect it's less to do with safety and more to do with "look, my carbonfibre spoke-rocket is worth more than your car". Having ridden way up into the hills to find it, mountain bikers appreciate good scenery. Road bikers want to be the scenery.
2 Teams of of mountain bikers don't ride down your road first thing in the morning shouting at each other about who's drafting who and waking up the neighbourhood. The reason they do this at dawn is because they haven't yet adjusted to dressing like a heavily sponsored superhero in public.
3 You won't see mountain bikers congregating at urban cafes smelling of sweat and lycra. No, they're the ones at rural cafes smelling of sweat and mud and bleeding slightly.
4 Mountain biking, of course, has an appreciation for nature. Especially trees and topography. Take up mountain biking and you soon gain a working knowledge of root systems. Keep mountain biking and eventually you will gain an appreciation of bark texture. Some unprotected parts of your body will appreciate the above more than others.
5 When a tree knocks you off your mountain bike, there's only one excuse. When a car knocks you off your road bike, there are many excuses. Sometimes it can be because the driver was dazzled by the logos on your shirt.
6 Then again, actually riding around the tree and the next 1000 of them is much more fun than riding around parked cars or velodromes will ever be.
7 Mountain biking brings families together. Usually around the hospital bed of their 16-year-old downhill rider who found a whole new way down the mountain the previous weekend and won't be going up there for another few months.
8 If you ride through a big puddle during the mountain bike race, it's rainwater. If you ride through a puddle during a road race, it means the race frontrunners aren't too far ahead. Eeew. In mountainbiking, there is always a tree to go behind and no need to rust your chain.
9 If roadies seem more uptight than mounties, look at the equipment - they ride on skinny wee high-pressure tyres and their seats are way up there. Whereas mountain bikers spend a good part of their income buying bikes that have more springs than most bed shops and ride on big fat soft knobbly tyres. Which feels pretty comfortable until you encounter number 4 above.
10 A fat guy on a road bike is called a "good start". A fat guy on a downhill bike is called "momentum". The latter may not lose any weight but he'll have a lot more fun.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=31&objectid=10396730
