UK "flow" biking.

Mike D.

Mike D.

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Speaking as an old-skool "get out with a day pack and explore raw countryside" biker (which, BTW, emtb-ing has expanded and enabled massively in terms of distances and terrain capability), YT videos of those in-the-woods "flow" trails and their near-cousins bike park jump trails, to me, have started to look identical to each other.

Although there's nothing wrong with fairground rides per se and I'm not trying to diss them, I think that that's exactly what they are.

They're so distant from anything that could be described as "mountain biking" that the activity should really be called "Flow Biking" as a matter of course, don't you think?

Discuss.
 
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It would be nice to have the choice! It's a bit sparse around Hamburg. The nearest bike parks are several hours away.
 
Any good trail whether natural or man made needs to have flow, after all that’s what makes it a good trail, irrespective of water it’s XC or a jump line!

I think what you are describing is bike park riding.
 
People like different things, that could be bridleway bimbling, hitting up flowy/techy/jumpy trails in local woods/trail centre or a mix of everything. I don't think we need separate sports when they can all be done on the same bike on the same day out.

I quite like getting out on a big bridleway ride now and again but they can sometimes be slog and the descents few and far between.
The local off piste stuff gets you lots of great descents without the milage and you have a good choice of steep tech and more flowy bermy jumpy trails depending on what you prefer
 
I like bridleways. If I want fast flowing, I can use my motorcycle on the roads.
 
Well of course, there's bridleways and fire roads, but in my part of the world, there's anything between that and steep rubble-and-rain-channelled twisty track. There's no nicely bermed and well maintained smoothly surfaced helter-skelters. As yet...
 
Yeah. But all that rubble and rain channelled twisty stuff you have can still actually be ridden far smoother with good flow by someone with the skill to.

By hating on or dismissing nicely sculpted trails with berms, lips, compressions and flow you're basically hating on your own skills progression too.
 
Gary said:
Yeah. But all that rubble and rain channelled twisty stuff you have can still actually be ridden far smoother with good flow by someone with the skill to.

By hating on or dismissing nicely sculpted trails with berms, lips, compressions and flow you're basically hating on your own skills progression too.
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Weird. Who said anything about hating.
 
I can't think of anything more tedious than mile after mile of bridleway, regardless of the scenery. I like a nice a view as much as the next old fart, but if I'm on my bike I prefer it to be whizzing past.

I've been riding since the late '80's and that's what mountain biking has been about for me since then.
 
Doomanic said:
I can't think of anything more tedious than mile after mile of bridleway, regardless of the scenery. I like a nice a view as much as the next old fart, but if I'm on my bike I prefer it to be whizzing past.

I've been riding since the late '80's and that's what mountain biking has been about for me since then.
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You should try the bridleways around us. It is NOT tedious. It's hard work.
 
I'll pass thanks, it'll still be tedious, but also a slog and I don't have the arsed for that. If there isn't a banging descent after a hard climb then I've just ridden the wrong climb.
 
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Mike D. said:
Speaking as an old-skool "get out with a day pack and explore raw countryside" biker (which, BTW, emtb-ing has expanded and enabled massively in terms of distances and terrain capability), YT videos of those in-the-woods "flow" trails and their near-cousins bike park jump trails, to me, have started to look identical to each other.

Although there's nothing wrong with fairground rides per se and I'm not trying to diss them, I think that that's exactly what they are.

They're so distant from anything that could be described as "mountain biking" that the activity should really be called "Flow Biking" as a matter of course, don't you think?

Discuss.
Click to expand...
Meh, mountain biking is so wide ranging, it covers all the above and more.
 
Mike D. said:
Speaking as an old-skool "get out with a day pack and explore raw countryside" biker (which, BTW, emtb-ing has expanded and enabled massively in terms of distances and terrain capability), YT videos of those in-the-woods "flow" trails and their near-cousins bike park jump trails, to me, have started to look identical to each other.

Although there's nothing wrong with fairground rides per se and I'm not trying to diss them, I think that that's exactly what they are.

They're so distant from anything that could be described as "mountain biking" that the activity should really be called "Flow Biking" as a matter of course, don't you think?

Discuss.
Click to expand...
I've only read the first post (cos I've got a life and getting wankered in me van atm???) and just had the weekend up SW Scotland (still there atm) and was surprised how the trails have come on.
Mabie and Dalbeattie have some surprises for ya.
Not gonna hurt ya, but all the same I was impressed.
Did Dalbeattie today and scarey to think the last time there the trees weren't waist height.
I'll add a pototo if I can be arsed...
 
There are enough sub divisions already. X Country, downhill, enduro, trail, etc. why do we need more?

Al
 
Mike D. said:
Well of course, there's bridleways and fire roads, but in my part of the world, there's anything between that and steep rubble-and-rain-channelled twisty track. There's no nicely bermed and well maintained smoothly surfaced helter-skelters. As yet...
Click to expand...

I think, from the address shown in your profile, you're in Granada Province. Not sure how it is over there, but every time we get something nicely bermed and smooth over on this side of Andalucía, someone drives the cattle, horses and goats up it.

And as for what happens when it rains :eek: (we're not talking gentle Scottish. Anyone who has been to Spain will have seen the storm drains and I can assure you that they are all grossly undersized!) those gentle smooth tracks become metre deep ruts. (Which gives lie to my old saying about the only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. Turns out it's the same thing!)
 
Spanish version of "Bike Park" <- that's what the signboard to it says. It's in Segovia, if you fancy giving it a try...

IMG_2710_DXO.jpg
 
Personally I only ever ride bikeparks, that's what mtb is to me.
The thought of bimbling around bridleways looking for interesting terrain and features to ride would bore me silly.
I want a start, a finish and a quick route to the top to do it again and again and again.
Each to their own.
 
All that's missing is Toni Bou.
 
cozzy said:
Personally I only ever ride bikeparks, that's what mtb is to me.
The thought of bimbling around bridleways looking for interesting terrain and features to ride would bore me silly.
I want a start, a finish and a quick route to the top to do it again and again and again.
Each to their own.
Click to expand...

We are different. I don't like skiing for that reason. You go down, then up and down again and again. I also get bored doing go-cart racing (same reason - and yes, I was reasonably good at it).
 
I love natural trails, I love bike parks, and I love a long ride through some epic terrain.

Just pick your flavour and have at it, that’s the joy of biking
 
alan_sh said:
We are different. I don't like skiing for that reason. You go down, then up and down again and again. I also get bored doing go-cart racing (same reason - and yes, I was reasonably good at it).
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You ever tried ski touring? Pretty much like XC mtb.

I do a lot of split boarding, no need to ever go near a lift
 
Kilham5 said:
The thought of doing the same terrain at a bike park, "again, and again and again", as you put it, is almost by definition, boredom epitomised?
Click to expand...
Yeah. Why do anything you actually love doing more than once, eh? ?
 
Mike D. said:
Speaking as an old-skool "get out with a day pack and explore raw countryside" biker (which, BTW, emtb-ing has expanded and enabled massively in terms of distances and terrain capability), YT videos of those in-the-woods "flow" trails and their near-cousins bike park jump trails, to me, have started to look identical to each other.

Although there's nothing wrong with fairground rides per se and I'm not trying to diss them, I think that that's exactly what they are.

They're so distant from anything that could be described as "mountain biking" that the activity should really be called "Flow Biking" as a matter of course, don't you think?

Discuss.
Click to expand...

In my opinion ‘mountain biking’ means exactly how it is written, i.e. riding down a mountain. The majority of mountains have trails formed by both human and animal activity over many centuries, starting at the top with rocky outcrops, becoming thick wooded forest and then into lush green farmland towards the bottom of the valleys. The closest to natural mountain biking these days would therefore be ‘downhill’

Exploring raw countryside as you put it would be ‘cross country’ or ‘XC’

Man-made or man-enhanced trails, usually in forests, I would class as ‘trail centres’. If these trails have a series of jump features and are more gravity orientated, I would class these as ‘bike parks’. Off piste lines crafted and cared for by keen enthusiasts are usually far more gnarly but I’d refer to these as ‘local trails’

Personally I enjoy all types, and my choice of terrain depends upon the mood I’m in and the weather conditions at the time. Trail centres in forests are usually good to ride even after heavy rain whereas after rain XC can guarantee you thick slushy mud, peaty bogs and generally a harder slower ride

Strictly speaking though I’d reserve the term ‘mountain biking’ for riding mountains downhill, fast. Just my opinion
 
I love XC & I particularly love XC in the slop. A positive part of the experience for me is getting covered in shit, nothing says decent shift like having to hose down the bike & me at the end of a ride. I guess that makes me an outlier of some sort.

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"mountain biking" began as a marketing term coined by a bunch of cali stoners making their own bikes to race down dull featureless fireroads at fairly high speeds.
The meaning evolved and left the cali mountains 40 years ago.
Do keep up at the back.
 
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