Mountain Bike Culture
by
Joshua Schoenfeld

The culture of Mountain Biking is an interesting one but also a common one. There is tremendous camaraderie involved with Mountain Biking. We always want to help each other out. We can't stop talking about Mountain Biking. In addition, we are always buying ridiculously priced items for our bikes and bodies to make the whole bike ride better and more fun. It very common for a Mountain Biker to have a $3000 bike and more invested for clothes and accessories. We all love the sport, we all have something in common, I'm not sure if it's a culture or an addiction.

I remember when I went into high school and I met new friends. I wanted to hang out with them more often so; I needed transportation to get to their houses or to hang out spots. I was to young and poor to drive, so I went around to my neighbors and asked them if they had any spare bike parts laying around. I managed to collect enough parts to build a rather unique, ugly, rideable bike. The local neighborhood kids were actually jealous of my creation, mostly because I built it with my own two hands and with their junk parts.

I was now able to get around to my friends' houses, and I actually enjoyed driving in the streets and dodging careless drivers that almost hit me on daily bases. After a few years past, my friends started to get cars that there parents gave them. My Father was too poor to give me a car, so I still had to ride my bike. I used to race my friends to my house, they would use their cars, and I would use my bike. I would always win. Not because they drove slow, but because I could run the red lights.

Well I ended up getting a job and buying a car, no more biking for me. I didn't miss it at first, but after a year, I did. I would talk about my void in my life (biking) to my friends, and then all of us wanted bikes, not just any bike, Mountain Bikes. So a bunch of us ended up buying some bikes, all used but all really nice compared to the bikes of old. Instead of single speeds or ten speeds, they were 21 speeds with neat ways of shifting, Gripshift was one, where you never take you hands off the handle bars, you just roll your wrist, and magic, it switches gears. Then rapidfire, push a small button, and bam, another gear. The bike I bought was a 1991 Specialized Stumpjumper. It was most likely stolen. I got it for $75. A great deal for this particular bike, but I didn't know that at the time when I bought it. I started to actually Mountain Bike on a rare occasion, I never knew what it really was, I thought I did, but I really didn't. I have ridden bikes all through my child hood on small trails in the woods and on old railroad tracks. I thought that was Mountain Biking, boy was I wrong.

A few years past and I bought a new but used bike. This was a 1996 Raleigh M80 with a front shock. I bought this one for $150. I told myself I would never pay more than that for a bike. Needless to say, I broke that promise in a big way.

I was now making some new friends through this sport. One friend I made was Darin Kram. I knew him growing up in school, but was never friends with him. I actually taught him how to bike, really on how to use all those 21 gears. He ended up buying a $1000 bike shortly after I bought my M80. His bike was a Gary Fisher Joshua. This "thing" didn't look like a bike to me; it was just plain strange. The frame was shaped in a Y, and it had front and rear shocks.

Darin, my girlfriend Leanne, and myself started to bike together at various places were there were miles of narrow trails called "singletrack". There were also tons of obstacles in the way. We would also run into other Bikers with all this "stuff" on them and their bikes. This stuff was something I had never even dreamed of. Clipless pedals, which sounds like there are no clips…wrong. You are actually clipped to your pedals so you are one with your bike. I thought it was such a bad concept because if you fell, you were stuck to your bike. Hydraulic brakes, Who needs that on a bicycle? One weird thing is how friendly the other bikers were. They would love to talk about their equipment and how the trails were and how many times they had fallen.
Darin seemed to be taken by all of this more than Leanne and myself. He started spending a lot of money on his bike and himself. He also started to get better at riding then Leanne and myself. After that season passed I heard rumors, that Darin was biking everyday during the winter. I would never do that, Too cold! I ran into him one day, what a change, he must have lost about 50 pounds. He was a tall overweight kid all his life. He must have weighed 250lbs now he looked almost skinny, down to 200lbs.

The next season he started to race in an association called EFTA. He was now undeniably better than Leanne and myself. He would try to convince us to race with him. We never would even give it a second thought. We loved biking just for the fun of it, not for competition. He would tell us that it wasn't about competition, that it was just fun. We wouldn't take him seriously; A race is a race, competition.

After a few months, Darin convinced me to race but not Leanne. I decided to race at Mountain Sunapee, I trained very hard in a short period of time for this race. The day of the race Leanne and I went to Dunking Donuts a 1\2 mile down the street from us. At Dunking Donuts, there was a Volkswagen gulf with a Mt bike on his car. That person also noticed my bike on my car. He came up to us and asked if we were racing. I was a little surprised he came over to us, He was very friendly. He asked if he could follow us to the race, of course I said yes.

I was told to be at the race for 10am, I was right on time…early actually. I was very nervous, sick to my stomach. Leanne was with me to support me. When we got there, there were so many cars it was unbelievably, cops controlling traffic, lot attendants to help us park, not what I expected at a little New England Mountain Bike race. We went to the registration desk and I tried signing up. "Hi, Id like to sign up to race for novice please." "Well there they go"(he points to a big group of people leaving the starting line). I was very disappointed. "You can sign up in the sport class" (That means twice the miles). I thought about it but decided not to. It turns out that this was the only race of the season that starts at 9AM as opposed to 10AM.

As I was taking that long disappointed trip to my car, I noticed something, All the people there, not just the racers (about 600 racers) but all the people to watch the racers. Its kind of hard to watch a bike race, its not an oval track or any thing like that, its deep into the woods, all you can do is find a spot to watch and see bikers pass you by.

I decided to race in the last race of the season, "Second Start Enduro" At Clough State Park in Weare NH. I consider it my back yard although I lived a ½ hour away.

I was working the graveyard shift at the time. I would come home at seven in the morning and sleep from 8 a.m. till approximately 4 p.m. Despite it being a full eight hours of sleep, let me add that sleeping during the day is very different from sleeping at night. Daytime sleep is a very light kind of sleep, where you wake up many times. Nighttime sleep is very deep and undisturbed. I never had that peaceful sleeping pattern. It was always interrupted, and consequently, had a negative affect on my ability to be attentive during my training.

Five days before the race, I went down to the bike course to do a practice ride-through. It was October, around 5 p.m., and it was about to be dark soon. Some other bikers arrived at the same time I did. I went over and introduced myself. There were two guys and girl, and they invited me to ride with them. I accepted. Before we began biking, I asked if they planned to race that upcoming weekend. They all said they were. I then asked what class. They told me it was 'Expert class.' Right then, I knew I was out of my league, but I decided to go along for the ride anyway. They then asked me what race I was in. I said, "Novice class. I never raced before."

"Don't worry," they said, "We aren't planning to ride hard." I was sort of at ease, but I knew I was in for a challenge. I also suspected they were humoring me.

We started to ride. For the first eight miles, I was doing great. One guy was in front of me, and the other two were behind me. The biker in front me stopped, so I did too. He told me he wanted to wait up for the others. When they caught up, the girl told me that I was really fast, and that the other two guys were going at full speed. That boosted my confidence. I actually thought that I was just as good as them.

Soon after we took off, we approached a really steep downhill. We were all racing really fast down it. The conditions were bad on this part of the trail. There were many rock obstructions, and on top of that, it was very muddy. As I was biking down the hill, my front tire caught a big rock, and I flew over my handlebars.

I had fallen many times, but never like this. I landed very hard on my left shoulder. The first thing I did after the fall was move my arm and shoulder around to make sure nothing was broken. Everything was intact, but it was extremely painful, so much so that my body was going into a slight state of shock. I began feeling lightheaded, weak, and started to get tunnel vision.

My companion bikers came over and asked me if I was alright. I said I was fine, and that I could keep going. I really didn't have much choice. I was in the middle of nowhere, and night was starting to fall. I started to bike again, but was so weak that I was trailing way behind. The girl kept waiting for me. At this point, my ego was bruised just as badly as my body, and I didn't feel good at all. I approached another steep hill, attempted it, and of course went over my handlebars again. This time, thankfully, I didn't get hurt. The sand was very soft and cushioned my fall. Well after that, I told the other bikers I had to take off and go to work soon. I must admit, it was sort of a made-up excuse. I just couldn't take the humiliation anymore, and on top of that, I was really exhausted. Later, I discovered that the hill was named, "The Wall of Death." That title doesn't do it justice.

When I got home, I took a shower and showed my girlfriend my battle wounds. After that experience, I strongly considered not racing that weekend.

At work, I told everybody about my little adventure. I didn't have much choice but to tell them, since I had scrapes, bumps, and bruises all over my body. The funny thing is, the more I told the story, the more I realized how much I enjoyed the whole ride.

A couple of days later, my friend and I went out and pre-tested the course again. I didn't fall, but this time, we got so lost that we ended up riding 25 miles more than we intended to, in the pouring rain and darkness. I enjoyed that also.

Back to race day. I'm so nervous. I barely slept the night before due to pre-day jitters and my night shift at work. I signed up for the race, and now I have to wait three hours for my heat.
Here I am, at the starting line watching the clock tick backwards. I'm so nervous with anticipation. It feels as though my heart is pounding through my stomach. It's the same nervous feeling I used to get when I ran track. I haven't had it in years. The clock nears zero. The man yells, "Go!"

Finally, it's my turn to race. I was in the last heat, because I signed up so late. Five minutes after I started, I wasn't nervous anymore. Since I was in the last heat, there were a lot of slow people in front of me. Everyone I passed was very courteous. They all moved out of my way and usually said something like, "sorry" or "hi." While I found it a little aggravating passing so many bikers, I'd be less than honest if I didn't say it was a bit of an ego-boost as well.

It was 75 degrees at the end of October, and I was riding through mud up to my knees. During the race, someone in front of me fell, and I accidentally ran over his bike and his leg. He said sorry, and I was also very apologetic to him. I couldn't believe the level of camaraderie. I was expecting a cut-throat competition, but it turned out to be the exact opposite.

Over 15 miles later, I was tired, muddy, and extremely happy. After the race, I talked to other participants about what a great race we had. I ended up running into the three bikers who had witnessed my fall earlier in the week. It turns out one of the guys came in seventh place in the 'Expert class. I came in eleventh place in my class, seventy-first place out of everybody.
I found the race to be both fun and challenging, not to mention a great way to meet other mountain bikers. Leanne and I decided to ride in every race that we possibly could in the season to follow.

In the next season, Leanne and I raced in almost every race there was, we met many people just like ourselves, people who loved to bike. The best part of the race is when we finished, talking to other riders about our experiences of the day. We all would have a good time talking about what happened.

We recently all got together for a boring awards ceremony, most people didn't go there for the awards, they went there for the same reason I did, to see everybody again, and talk about the upcoming season. Not that its important to say, Leanne and myself came in 1st place for novice class, and we are now in the sport class, one step away from expert.

I recently interviewed some fellow Mountain Bikers that I know. I asked them a series of questions, asked them to answer honestly, and sincerely. They all obliged. The interviewees were Leanne Herbert, 23 of age, an orthodontist assistant, my girlfriend for over 5 years, and a competitive Mountain Biker. Darin Kram, 23 of age, a construction laborer, a good friend of mine, and also a competitive Mountain Biker. Darin is also the one who got me into racing in the first place. Jim Stumpf, 48 years old, an engineer, and a competitive Mountain Biker. I met Jim at a local Bike shop called Alternative Bike Shop, we had a brief encounter, and that was it. Darin then reintroduced me to him when we went for a small group bike ride. Then coincidentally I ended up working with him at Velcro USA for about a year, during that time we rode a lot together, and hopefully we will keep riding together. And the final person I interviewed was Ryan Belanger, 24 years of age, Owner of Alternative Bike Shop since age 16. He started the shop with the help of his uncle, and has since made it into a successful business. Ryan and I have ridden and raced together several times, he is very knowledgeable about the sport and culture of Mountain Biking.

Why do you like Mountain Biking?
Leanne: "Because it's fun and exciting, and it's good for my body."
Darin: "Cause I get out in the wilderness, away from the disgusting city, I like being one with the wilderness."
Jim: "Because it takes my mind off of everything else."
Ryan: "Because of the health benefits, and its fun."
Mountain Biking is a strenuous sport witch injury and fatigue are big factors in, why do you still bike?
Leanne: "I still bike because anything you do in life is a risk, tragedies happen, and you never know when its going to happen, there are a lot of 'ifs' in anything you do in life, you just got to do it and hope for the best.
Darin: "I don't even think about that, I'm not even worried about it."
Jim: "I think that's part of the attraction. It forces you to concentrate, it forces you to put everything on the back burner for a while, it's an escape."
Ryan: "Because anything you do to much of is strenuous, If you drink to much water you'll blow your bladder out. Cause anything in moderation is a good thing."
Mt bikes are very expensive, roughly you need about 1000$ for a bike that works to most peoples standards, why spend this much money on a bike?
Leanne: "Because I'm on my bike more then I'm in my car."
Darin: "Why not? It's worth it to me, well worth it."
Jim: "You pay what you can afford, cost a lot of money to be bored with your life."
Ryan: "Its pennies for the miles, a car is about 4x less efficient than a bicycle."
Most people think Mountain Bikers are crazy for paying so much for their bikes, what do you want to say to those people?
Leanne: "Its something I absolutely enjoy and feel it is worth the money."
Darin: "What do you spend your money on? Most of the people that think I'm crazy do nothing but sit on their ass all day."
Jim: (above quote)
Ryan: "Don't knock it till you try it."
I know in my experiences that I have a bad habit to talk about Mountain Biking all the time to people that don't really care about it, do you share that same habit?
Leanne: "Yes I do, Mountain Biking is my life and at work, we all talk about what we did on the weekend and I will tell my patients what I told my coworkers and one time this lady (coworker) insulted me about talking about it so much."
Darin: "No, as soon as I notice they don't care, I wont bother. Ill talk to them if it comes up, but other wise I wont bother."
Jim: "Oh ya. That's why every one I know cares about Mountain Biking, whether they want to or not."
Ryan: "Its not a bad habit, it's just your passion. Anything your passionate about, it doesn't matter what they think, they'll listen cause of your passion."
I've noticed that when I'm biking and I pass another rider, that rider and I almost always say "Hi" or wave to each other, why do you think that is?
Leanne: "Mt bikers are nice people, I do the same thing, it's just a respect that we share together, Corvette drivers do the same thing."
Darin: "I think every Mountain Biker is out there for the same reason. They love to do it, so there is a lot of camaraderie in the trails."
Jim: "Same reason owners of Jeeps do it, same reason motorcyclists do it. You become part of a club. We all have the same problems, we all see the people want us off their trails, we all see the people that don't understand why we pay so much for our Mountain Bikes. Theirs a kinship, we all share the same challenges that both of us know we've gone up against."
Ryan: "A connection. We both share the same passion."
I have a habit of buying new parts better parts for my bike even if the existing ones still work; do you do the same?
Leanne: "No I do not, I never replaced the parts on my bike in 4 years, but I feel I will in the future."
Darin: "I sure do, that's why I try to stay away from the store (Laugh). A lot of times there is a better part out their that I want."
Ryan: "Ya, because you always want something new, more interesting, cause it's your passion and you want to maintain that passion. You like to work on your bike, I like to work on my bike."
How many miles do you bike a week on average?
Leanne: "Definitely 50, but probably more." Why so much? "It's a competitive sport, to keep yourself feeling good on the trails and terrain that I do I have to keep my body fit for it, and if I slack off, I don't feel so good doing it, I get a little bitchy, and feel I cant do it so I keep my body in good shape."
Darin: "100." Why so much? "Why so little? (laugh) I like to get the miles in, its god for cardio, I just like being on the bike."
Jim: "I don't go by miles, I go by time. In my peak weeks, between 10 - 14 hours. On my easy weeks 5 hours." Why so many hours? "Couple reasons, one is for my quality of racing, it's required. The other reason is, because racing is an excuse for riding, a lot of people ride so they can race better. I race so I can ride some more."
Ryan: "100 - 200 miles a week." Why so many? "Because its for me. I work, I go to school, I do everything…my bike is for me."
Why do you race?
Darin: "There is no other time where I can be out with so many other Mountain bikers at the same time. Its just awesome being out with the same type of people, doing the same thing, it's just a awesome time."
Jim: "I race so I can ride some more."
Ryan: "The challenge, because its so difficult. You can push yourself to be your best."
Racing Mountain Bike is very expensive, roughly 35$ a race even to the extreme of 60$, why do you attend these races when the cost is so high?
Leanne: "I enjoy the atmosphere, its better then going out on the weekend and spending the money on drinks, it benefits my body more, I enjoy being around a whole different crowd of people, meeting new people, and being out having a life doing something good for myself.
Darin: "Same reason as I said before, its just awesome."
Jim: (Jim works at the local bike shop, Alternative Bike Shop for free, and in return, the owner Ryan Belanger pays for his races.) "I work at the shop, it offsets it that way. Before that, name a one day activity that last 7, 8 hours that you can actually enjoy as much as I enjoy biking for less than 70 bucks."
Ryan: "It's not expensive, if you compare the 35 dollars to the joy and memory you get out of it, it's priceless. You can't put a price on what you get out of it."
How many people usually attend these races?
Leanne: "600." Why do you think so many? "Because people enjoy the sport."
Darin: "300+ usually, depending where it is." Why do you think so many? "There is just a lot of people out there that like to do it."
Jim: "Between 3 - 400." Why do you think so many? "A lot of the reasons are the same, some people race cause they like the competition, and those are the ones who ride so they can race better. A lot of riders, even up to the expert class are just riding for fun. They race cause they enjoy being out in the woods with people they know, having a little bit of friendly competition. You get together with the guy you beat this week but lost to last week (or vice versa), its fun."
Ryan: "200 - 2000" Why do you think so many people? "They all get the same excitement, they all get the same pleasure, challenge out of the sport."
At a race, do you care if you win or lose?
Leanne: "No." Why? "I'm doing something for my body, its not about coming in 1st place, it feels good to come in 1st place but I'm not in it for that, I'm in it for myself and my body."
Darin: "For the most part, no." Why? "Its just an awesome time, I think its great if I can win, but I'm just there for me, myself, and I."
Jim: "Ya, I don't ruin my day when I lose, I have a goal I set for my given level, I have a pretty good idea of where I could finish, so I set my goal. If I don't meet my goal for whatever reason, I just try to take a lesson from it, come back the next race, and make improvements on it. If some one has a phenomenal day, and beats me…"
Ryan: "Depends on my expectations. If I go thinking I'm going to win, and I lose, I'm very upset. I like to do my best. If I go and I lose, ill still have a good time."
At Mountain Bike races, I've noticed that there is a real camaraderie that most Mountain Bike racers feel towards each other, why do you think that is?
Leanne: "I feel most people are like that because we all are doing it for the same reason, the fun of it, the sport of it, their not out there racing in this big time national league where they are going to the Olympics, it just a respect for one another.
Darin: "I don't know…. We are all just kind of weird, to what other people think." Would you say we are a culture? "Ya, you could say that."
Jim: "I don't know…I think it may be you have to explain yourself why your spending this kind of money, this kind of time, you don't have to explain yourself to other riders. Theirs a level of understanding.
Ryan: "Cause we all share the same passion."
Hypothetical question. If you were racing and your bike broke down, what do you think would happen when the other racers pass you by?
Leanne: "The hard core racers that are doing well for them selves and are looking to get the place, they'll just go by. But there are many people that are very friendly that will stop and give a lending hand, because I would be stuck in the middle of nowhere with a long walk back.
Darin: "I think they would stop and help, not every one of them, but most would stop and help. They are out there for the same reason."
Jim: "Usually people ask me if I'm all set, if I have all the tools I need. I've had people stop when I've been in tears, I've done the same, I would expect that to continue, its not as often that the higher ranked riders to stop as much as the novice riders, but it does happen."
Ryan: "They would probably ask you if you're alright and see if you're ok. Most people would stop and help even though it's against the rules. (In a race, one of the rules are that you cant help out another Mountain Biker, they have to fix their own repairs, or that rider who is broken down could get disqualified because it is an individual sport.) Anyone in a race will help you."
Just this past Sunday (4/30/00), I was at the first Mountain Bike race of the season. It was great seeing everyone again. Talking about how much fun this season is going to be for us. Complaining about not being able to bike (as much) during the winter months. And of course, riding and competing against each other. After the race we all got together and compare battle wounds. We all talked about how hard the course was, but of course, how fun it was. We always mention that we can't wait until the next race. It is what we love to do.
In conclusion, there is no doubt in my mind that Mountain Biking is a culture. It is a passion, love, addiction, and desire that all Mountain Bikers feel. In the responses above, the answers to the questions, for the most part, are very similar in proving that Mountain Biking is a culture. It is a culture that I am proud to belong to and love. Without being part of this vibrant culture, I would be truly lost, as would my fellow Mountain Bikers.

E-mail the author feedback