How Long Have You Been Mtn Bike Riding?

[girlygirl]

;D

[off piste]

Bought my first MTB -- an Alpina Stumpjumper clone, in 1985. Didn't get into it serious until 1997, when I quite smoking. Now I'm riding a Stumpjumper....

[chqm8]

Bought my firts mtb, a gt avalanche hardtail w/rock shox mag-21 front fork back in '93 maybe? rode it for a few yrs then turned into a roadie......

Just trying to get back into it now...bought a full suspension kona 2 weeks ago.....theres nothing like a new bike to make ya feel like a kid again....

[slapheadmofo]

Somewhere around 15 years now.
Holy crap, time really does fly.

[pk]

1990.

In the last ST, I wrote that I started in '92, and I was surprised how many people had to correct me. I guess I'm gettin' old! ;)

pk

[juiceguy03]

3 years. One of my skiing buds lent me his hardtail for a ride at Callahan. I was completely hooked within about 5 minutes!

[BadDNA]

Just over a year now. I used to bike everywhere when I was younger, then I got a car and I stopped for whatever reason, now I'm getting back into it.

Well, if everyone else is going back to their earliest days, 15+ years. I got my first dep't store MTB in junior high, thrashed it and several after it before buying a Mongoose Rockadile SX in '94 and riding that off and on through high school and college. Left college, sort of forgot about riding, I was too busy with work and friends, then Andrew got me back on the Mongoose last summer and that got me interested in riding again, bought a '04 Enduro Expert and I've been thrashing it for the past year.

[imploded]

Got my first MTB in 1993, rode it until I destroyed it, got a Giant, rode that until I destroyed it, bought a car, stopped for 6 years, now I'm back into it.

Why did I leave? ???

Cheers,

-Andrew

[Slider]

'89 on a Nashbar full rigid, and even on that bike it was love at first sight. I found it to be better than the best handling motox bike I'd ever been on, but far more challenging.

I really don't think I could live without my weekly rides, and more makes it only better.

Slider

[fvh420]

I bought my first mt bike in 1989 - A Univega. I bought it at a Lunch break on July 2nd, I was scheduled to pick it up on July 3rd, I got laid off the morning of July 3rd, proceeed to get dumped by my girlfirend that night (who was a headhunter to boot). I started riding on the 4th of July 1989 - truley Independence Day for me!

[C.P.]

I've been riding for 22years? I bought my first MTB in spring 1983. I was hooked right away. I did my 1st race in '85 (the Tour De'Bluff @ Bluff pt State Park, Groton CT). No more racing these days, but lot's of riding.

the "your first bike" thread (http://www.nemba.org/NEMBAforum/index.php?board=8;action=display;threadid=7383;sta rt=0)

[AA]

Since the fall of 84..... damn I'm getting old. I had a few years of down time from 90-92, bike got pretty dusty & I got pretty fat. Before 90 & after 92 I've been riding consistently

[bdee]

Since '91. Although sometimes it really doesn't feel that way at all ::) First rides were on a borrowed Schwinn Crisscross Hybrid in Wrentham and Foxboro. Bought a Giant Iguana in '92 and proceeded to go through many, many bikes since then. Working in a bike shop for 5 years is what turned me into a total bike dork. I see no hope of recovery from bike dorkitis anytime soon.

[ktmsx]

I bought a diamondback for the wife and rode once in awhille...Went with a friend on a real ride, who was hounding me to go for quite sometime ..I went and got one the next week..no turning back now....I figure this is the best way to excercise and will only help me with the dirtbike racing....

[radair]

Schwinn Sierra, May of '86. I bought my girlfriend (now wife) one on the same day.

Originally it was a rainy day activity for when rock climbing was out, but that changed immediately.

[Longshanks]

This is my 6th year, but the first year I've been serious. I started going with people who were real bikers and quickly realized that I wasn't. Now I got the fever, though. I upgraded my bike and go at least 3/4 times a week. I'm so glad I took the plunge.

[heckler]

Came to N.E. in early '86. Lived in Somerville. I was a roadie and hated the road riding around there. One day I rode north instead of west. Fighting a nasty head wind, grinding up rt 28 I came across a sign saying "no motor vehicles". I turned off the road and spent the next three hours on my road bike (13-21 freewheel) blissfully riding/walking the eastern part of the Fells. It didn't take long before I had a real mtb (Bridgestone MB2) and the rest is history.

[Superb Man]

Just a little over 7 years--in that time I've owned only two bikes-a cannondale Super V 1000 and my present 2003 k2 razorback Team.

way back in 1998 I came home one August day in NJ from an afternoon of Basketball at the local courts--and I was pissed off-now in my late 20's my skills were slipping and frankly, most of the games involved constant jawing, trash talk, near-fights--I just kept coming back wound up more tightly than when I left--Which is not what anyone needs from their recreational pursuits. I realized I needed a new sport--something I could pursue for next 3 or 4 decades-something I could grow and mature with.

A buddy of mine said he was thinking of getting a mountain bike-so, blindly we strolled on down to the bike shop, bought two bikes and (I got the super V he bought a Cannondale Raven 2000...remember those?) promptly headed into the rocky hills of North Central Jersey. 8 years later he's taken up fishing but I still love riding.

Liam

[vinnycactus]

started in 1998. my girlfriend at the time(now wife) had a bike which she had bought when she was in a previous relationship so i figured i better man up and buy one. so, here i am 7 years later, about 7 bikes deep. and that's just the bikes I've had.

so to all you people just getting into it beware!!! bikes multiply like bunnies

[narlus]

got my 1st mt bike in '90 (cannondale hardtail).

[fisherking]

First bike a cyclepro in 90 - put about 20 miles on it
Cannondale F600 in 93 to supposedly start really riding.... Rode it about 3 times a year for the next 10 years.

Convinced again a new bike would help, bought a GT I-Drive in 2003, got a knee infection 2 weeks later in hospital for a week + recovery all fall. Stopped biking.
Had knee surgery in summer 2005 (same knee, cartilage this time) started to ride again in September for rehab and now am addicted.
Glad to really start riding now and trying to get out as much as I can!!

[iceman]

hummmm, my son is 8 so it is 3 years now.

[Jisch]

My first bike was a GT Timberline fully rigid. I had been borrowing my brother's and girlfriend's (now wife) bike for a while before I got that one. I always start counting from 1987, since that's when I got my first bike.

John

[TrailBate]

I bought my first mountain bike, a fully rigid trek 820, in 1995. Didn't really actually start mountain biking until about 2 or 3 years ago.

[DAVID J]

Fall of '92,on a Mongoose Rockadile.I though $400 was alot,but it was better than spending it on drugs ::).Had I not started mtb-ing,I probably would've ended up a junkie.

[fellsbiker]

13 years. And I'm 25 now. Needless to say, I didn't go through that 10-15 year "roadie phase" most of you old folks went through. ;D I went straight from training wheels to crappy cheap mountain bikes in the fells.

[truckboy]

Bought a '92 leftover Diamondback fully rigid in '93 from some guy's basement for $425.00.

Drooled and dreamed about a full suspension for years and did nothing but put a crappy polymer fork on it. Still rode it hard, even though it was too big for me.

Bought a motorcycle in '99 and got fat while the bike got dusty.

Resurrected the DB in spring '02 but it started breaking spokes left and right so I started shopping around and got my first full suspension - a Jamis Dakar.

Snapped that frame in early '04 and upgraded a bit... to a Turner 5spot frame and some new components.

Bought an old Kona hardtail in between so I rode that while I shopped for the Turner and ruined my knees with the seat sliding down over the course of a ride.

Fall of '05 and I'm sidelined recovering from back surgery and impending knee surgery.

Hope to be back. Getting fat again.

[fellsbiker]

My first 'real' mountain bike was a diamond back. I got it at highroad in about 95-96. Cost me $700. I had to take out a loan with the folks and mow many a lawn to pay them back. Chromoly steel so that bike lasted forever. I still have it too actually. And come to think of it, maybe that is the bike I'll be riding next year. That was the bike I used to ride the :::censored::: trail on every single day after school. Good times, good times. . .

[ride in maine]

Have been mtnbiking since 1989 bought a specialized hardrock, and from there it has been a great time and great people.
ltr Calvin Weeks and I still have the hardrock amongst my collection

[Phresh]

My first bike was a 92-93 (?) Mongoose Hilltopper but I didn't really started riding in the woods until June of 2000. I was immediately hooked.

[Quo Fan]

Bought my forst "real" mountain bike in '98, and have been upgrading and riding ever since.

[bikapelli]

Wow like 12 years, The local bike shop dared me to try it 'cause I only rode ramp on my 20 incher. they kicked my my butt. So I got hooked and rode every chance I got, then I kicked their butt. Wait there's more... I got in a roadbike accident (damn trucks)and couldn't ride for like 3 1/2 years and they got way better and now my butt gets kicked again...so unfair >:(

[fellsbiker]

Wow like 12 years, The local bike shop dared me to try it 'cause I only rode ramp on my 20 incher. they kicked my my butt. So I got hooked and rode every chance I got, then I kicked their butt. Wait there's more... I got in a roadbike accident (damn trucks)and couldn't ride for like 3 1/2 years and they got way better and now my butt gets kicked again...so unfair >:(

Moral of the story: Stay off the road bikes people. Don't me lAAAAAAme

[Dino Sore]

My first real mountain bike was a Trek 850 steel hardtail somewhere around '92 or '93.

However, back in the late '60s, my brother and I modified my Schwinn Cruiser; stripped off the fenders and lights, turned the handle bars upside down to look like them fancy racin' bikes, and mounted tires with the most aggressive tread pattern we could find (knobbies didn't exist). Most of my friends had motorized mini-bikes and I used to chase them through the woods with my bicycle. I guess that was sort of like mountain biking. ???

[minkhiller]

I think it was '89 or '90 when I bought a Trek 7000. I rode some the first year and progressed slowly. In '93 I bought a "state of the art" full suspension, yes the elastomer Proflex (does this ring a bell Old Coot?). In '96 I kinda gave up MTBing while living in Durango, ya I know how could you do that...no reason is acceptable. So back in the east I didn't start riding again 'til 2003 and the bug was back.

Had to edit to add that from about '91 to '95 I was a member of Team Pedlin' Fool, anyone remember those days? No, Hillsboro Classic that should bring back the memories.

[PutAwayWet]

I got my first mountainbike in 1992 - a Cignal Chenango, bought from the local overpriced everysportpossible discounter. I rode that for 4 years, during which time I bent every set of rigid forks I put on it. Finally I worked all summer to buy my first real bike - a 1995 (leftover) Marin Bear Valley SE. Judy XC 80mm in the front, special Shimano STX RC component set. Of course, I knew nothing about bikes then and the bike shop (still in business today in a college town in NH) sold me an 17.5" frame (too big, and it was the owner who sold it to me!). So I rode my too big bike for almost nine years - all over NH, ME, NY, CO, WY, NM, and TX. In that time I had to replace the rear wheel once and upgraded the fork. Finally in a moment of clarity a couple years ago, at Ft Rock, none the less, I realized the bike was just too big for me. I bought myself a Gunnar Rockhound, and fell in love with MTB all over again. Of course this year, the Gunnar has been ridden less than a half dozen times. Note: if you like your current bike, don't buy a new single speed. ;)

The funny thing is, I've basically come full circle. When I started riding, a buddy and I used to go out to Mt. A - full rigid bikes, getting bounced around like pinballs on the rocks. Then I took the suspension plunge, he followed soon after. Now almost 14 years later, I'm back to riding Mt. A, fully rigid. Only this time I ditched the gears...

[talon.net]

Going on 18 years now, had some down years of course, mostly
due to fly fishing. I had only two bikes since, I know it's time to
upgrade...but hey ya know they still work.

[SuspectDevice]

Been riding since '90 and racing since '92.

I too grew up riding MT A fully rigid.

My first real bike was a Cannondale sm500, which seemed like the standard issue in southern York Cty. I rode it for 4 years until I outgrew it, and upgraded to a bike with full Xt and a Mag 21 Slti. Raced xc, slalom and Dh up until '94 (when the gear began to split), and chose XC. Like most juniors from the 90's Xc racing lead me to road racing, as road racing has prize money and better support. Did a long, hard stint as a JrX/Semi-pro/cat2 racer, and only rode my mtb at races (96-02).

I finally burnt out on the hyper-competive end of things, and started racing DH, BMX and 4x to hang out with college friends. Now I race some XC a few times a year at real low-key events, and have a pretty full plate of Dh and BMX races.

XC racing is in such bad shape right now that it seems like it could be fun again. I didn't enjoy the days of the "big event" races like jackrabbit run, and the super expensive entry fees of the smartcycles races, so I might race XC more next year.
Spending too much time on a roadbike has really made me enjoy the MTB more than ever though...

[auntesther1]

pretty much faithfully since mid-1989.

[rigidhack]

Made the move from BMX and road bikes in about 1989. I still ride the same bike!