Mountain biking is a rocky road

Literally and metaphorically.

PEARL iZUMI athlete Brice Shirbach hit the nail on the head in a video published Oct. 6 about mountain biking in the Mad River Valley in Vermont.

“I think that by now we all know that mountains aren’t really a requisite part of mountain biking. I mean, there are good trails in just about every corner of the globe. But man, when you get to ride your bikes up and down these things, it’s downright unbeatable.”

When it comes to riding our bikes up and down mountains, there really isn’t much that beats it. If you’ve done it, you know.

But there’s more to unpack in this statement. It’s interesting that, for a sport that has in its name the word “mountain,” you don’t necessarily need mountains. The recipe for the sport is dirt, some tools, an amenable property owner and people who happen to love riding their bikes on dirt. In other words, you need stoke.

Mountain biking, as a sport, has its roots in riding bikes on mountains. I mean, the people naming the sport really didn’t have to think hard about it. And for a while, having a mountain to ride was a prerequisite to the sport. That is, if you adopt the idea that mountain biking was born in Marin, Calif. by hippies with modified beach cruisers barreling down Mt. Tamalpais.

If you don’t fully adopt the literal idea of the sport’s origin, then you might be open to the idea that people have been riding their bikes in the dirt and through the woods since the late 1800s. And probably even before that.

One of the first recorded groups of people who rode off-road were Black soldiers. The U.S. 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps. I like to think that mountain biking was born on that 1,900-mile journey.

And ever since then, the word “mountain” has taken a more metaphorical meaning.

Today, mountain biking is about the mountainous journey of creating accessible trails for all, sharing its joys with young and old — whether it be through conventional pedaling or nascent pedal-assist or e-MTBs.

Mountain biking is a rocky road.

That’s why I liked Shirbach’s loaded sentence. The content of Underexposed videos showcases trail advocacy in all sorts of terrain to reinforce this idea that mountains aren’t necessary for mountain biking. The only requisite is stoke.

Check out the video: