These last few weeks I have been fortunate enough to ride on some new trails and try out some new bikes. It reminded me how interesting and varied mountain biking really is. It also refreshing and really fun to ride some new tracks that I had never ridden before.
One of the greatest things about mountain biking must be to ride a new route. Not knowing what to expect really keeps your eyes wide open and focuses your attention. I have ridden some new fast downhills and tricky single track in the last few weeks, a welcome change from the routine of the regular routes. The feeling of blasting down a hill not knowing what is coming up and only being able to see a few meters ahead is one of the greatest feelings around. It got my adrenalin pumping and I new that if I slipped up there would be consequences.
Some of these new trails I rode with friends in various parts of the country. They showed me where to go and lead the way, a great way to get to know a new area. But some of the others I just discovered by riding out and following some paths and tracks. Exploring and finding new routes also has to be one of the great things about riding mountain bikes. It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to find new routes. More often than not you will find some great new riding by just venturing out and looking for something new.
Riding a different bike on an unknown trail is also a sure way to keep the blood flowing. I took my first real ride on a 5.5” trail bike, the Commencal Meta 5.5 – what a blast. I rode some really sweet singletrack and rocky trails at Groenkloof in Pretoria. If you are going to ride some new technical singletrack then I can recommend a long travel bike, especially the Meta 5. When I got the lines all wrong and was heading for trouble I just held on and blasted over the rocks, with the suspension looking after the rest. It was amazing and seriously fun. After riding this long travel bike I can see what all the fuss is about. Here I was on someone else’s 5.5” trail bike going faster downhill that I could with my own bike that I know backwards. The combination of the trail tuned geometry and extra suspension gives this bike the ability to push past your previous limits and discover some new ones. It is seriously fun mountain biking – when everyone else realises this you can bet the race numbers will be dropping and the bike park and trail side numbers will pickup.
So the last two weeks were really fun just by doing something different, riding some different routes and swapping out bikes and getting a feel of something completely new.
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