Pinkbike Poll - Is It a Lifestyle or a Hobby?

Nov 9, 2013 at 11:16
by Mike Levy  
When does mountain biking, or any pursuit for that matter, transcend being just a simple hobby that you take part in when you have some free time and become a way of life? And are there certain boxes that must be checked for this to take place? It obviously should go without saying (yet we'll say it anyways to stifle any thoughts of elitism) that it doesn't matter whereabouts riding a bicycle places on your list of life's priorities, but rather that you simply enjoy being out on a bike, yet there is something truly inspiring about someone who shapes their life around the time they devote to their sport. The most obvious example that comes to mind of such dedication has to be how some surfers approach life, with it being a readily accepted thing to ditch work/family/commitments to sleep in their van and spend hours in water that is often so cold that certain body parts want to shrink right back up inside of you, all because the waves are decent. When was that last time you smeared vaseline on your face to keep the freezing wind from burning your skin during an ocean swim in sub-zero conditions?

Despite this reporters best efforts to push for a potential sale price estimate the owners were reluctant to place any figure on such well appointed living quarters. Yes kids before you ask that is an i-pod and pad compatible entertainment station and mums you are correct in thinking that is a luxurious fold out bed for all the family currently accommodating 3 sharers. And the shower Well it runs almost as thick and fast as oil drips from the undercarriage. So there are in fact dual showers.

Living out of a van as a privateer chasing the World Cup circuit is quite the lifestyle choice, one that New Zealander Eddy Masters made last season. Dedication personified.


While our sport doesn't require coating exposed skin in vaseline, many of us do go to great lengths to allow for maximum saddle time, and building your life around riding is surely a sign that it has passed from being a hobby to a lifestyle, isn't it? Choosing to live in a location that is close to world class trails, a decision that greatly shapes other factors in your life, has to be one of the most obvious examples of extreme dedication to two wheels. That might mean that you work in a profession that isn't your ideal job, or maybe it means leaving your family and loved ones behind to move to the ''promise land''. And speaking of the ''L'' word, many a relationship has been sparked when two like minded souls discover a shared love of singletrack - sometimes it is the sacrifices that one makes to be able to ride, and sometimes it is the blessings that come from a life devoted to playing in the dirt that signal how mountain biking has slowly become a way of life for you. Of course, more than a few relationships have also gone downhill because one half of the team would rather sit on a bike seat than sit on the couch and cuddle, a fact that also shows where mountain biking fits in relative to other things in one's life.

bigquotes In the end, though, it doesn't matter whether you skipped your grandfather's funeral because the conditions were Velcro-like hero dirt, or if you would rather spend a sunny Sunday with your family or friends on the beach than turning the pedals over; mountain biking is what you get out of it regardless of how important it might be to you.

While the earlier analogy to surfing offers the most obvious example of one's dedication to sport, it also carries the stigma of elitism and everything else that comes with the generic "hardcore" misconception when viewed from the outside. That sort of "I'm better than you" attitude, be it concerning fitness or the size of your gonads, is one that I personally can't stand. News flash: no one cares about your KOM, how high that drop was, or what new parts you just spent your life savings on, but those points are often thought to go hand in hand with someone who places riding above all else. In the end, though, it doesn't matter whether you skipped your grandfather's funeral because the conditions were Velcro-like hero dirt, or if you would rather spend a sunny Sunday with your family or friends on the beach than turning the pedals over, mountain biking is what you get out of it regardless of how important it might be to you.



Did you answer the poll? If so, you'll be entered to win both a Zacoo Maha floor pump and a Macha shock pump courtesy of Birzman. The Zacoo Maha features an aluminum body and a wooden handle, and has been designed to be sturdy enough for extended shop use. The easy-to-read analog pressure gauge and pressure bleed button on the Macha shock pump allows for precise air pressure adjustments, and it employs a Air-Lock valve adaptor that screws onto a threaded Schrader valve on the shock in one easy step and prevents air loss when disconnecting the pump form the shock.



Check out all the new Birzman Products on the Birzman web site.

Author Info:
mikelevy avatar

Member since Oct 18, 2005
2,032 articles

158 Comments
  • 247 1
 well our bank accounts are centred around it...
  • 19 1
 im hearing ya mate.....
  • 41 0
 After nothing left in the bank account I had to sell my mobile phone in order to get a few replacement parts for my bike. So I guess I am choosing the first one.
  • 13 1
 Can't live in the van. Need to work to buy brake pads and chain rings!!
  • 56 0
 Step one: Acquire funds.
Step two: Blow said finds on bike parts
Step three: Be broke
Step four: Repeat steps 1-3
  • 2 1
 Im with you on that one. I even have a chain ring tattooed on my chest. Definitely a lifestyle!!
  • 4 0
 graduated school and came to the conclusion i'd need to get a job in the industry in order to afford all the crazy expensive toys we love. worked at bike shop while in school and there's no way i wanna continue to do that retail life any longer. graduated with a major in history and poly sci and i work with bikes for a living... FML, its a lifestyle.
  • 4 0
 ^^ History + Poly Sci = Bike Job? Even my engineering brain cant add that equation up. How did you pull that one off? What do you do? Congrats though
  • 12 0
 I work at a bike shop and I don't get paychecks, I get components...
  • 2 0
 every cent ive had for the past 2 years has gone to my stupid bike, but on the other hand...
  • 4 0
 church of the latter-day-recreationalists - play when you can. play hard when you do.
  • 1 0
 Workin at Highway Two in SoCal… awesome company with amazing people.
  • 7 0
 Do you think surfers sit around discussing if surfing is a hobby or lifestyle?
  • 3 0
 Its definitely a lifestyle. If I hadn't kept biking through my teen years I may very well have gotten into drugs or something else, mountain biking took their place. So it is my drug! My first tattoo was biking inspired, Live the Ride, Life has been a ride for me, and I want to remember to live everyday as not just a passenger on the ride of life, but as someone who really stops every day, and smells the roses, and touches things, and doesn't get caught up in this hustle and bustle of a busy life. Remember the little things. Biking really brings all that into perspective for me, from building the trails I ride, to teaching spin for work, to shredding around downtown, it definitely keeps me sane in a crazy world!!
  • 65 24
 For me it's between the first two. I would not ditch my job for it or miss the funeral of my family, but it is a really big part of my life. IMO some of the stated examples are not 'lifestyle', but just plain idiot or dickhead-moves. I mean, no matter how much you like your sport, you're an asshole if you miss your grandpa's funeral for a random riding session. And living in a van just to be able to ride more is also just idiotic. I can't even see that being possible with or expensive bikes. I mean, a surfer buys a board for a couple of hundred euros and it will last for ages. We need to spend thousands on a bike that has many small parts that will all need replacement, which will end up costing you as much money as the whole bike did when you bought it new after a while.
  • 82 12
 The example of skipping a funeral wasn't meant to be literal.
  • 17 7
 My bad, in that case please ignore that part of my comment
  • 19 1
 pffff, its a lifestyle without a doubt! This is my spot I always say. Im always cheatin on soccer, basketball, etc., because Im always thinking about biking. After i saw you two, I go see biking.
Biking makes me happy, forget my worries, conquer my fears and feel free. It keeps me in shape and teaches me, while showing me where the boundries are and taking me to the edge. After a crash I get up and do it again until I get it right Big Grin
  • 14 0
 Well I've snapped boards first surf. Happens all the time, and lady lucky usually decides it'll be your custom board you've waited ages for to snap. Murphys Law. Surfing was all lifestyle for me, I gave up alot to be a bum and get waves every possible chance and geez I was broke and slept in my car a lot. But now that I ride its a balance, even though I moved to the other side of the world to ride. Riding taught me balance, because you pretty much ride all of the time. Hero dirt will hang around longer than most swells and you don't have to hassle a dozen 15 year old groms to drop into a trail. You can ride any time, but you don't need too, trails will be there tomorrow
  • 27 1
 Addiction would be the best way to describe it for me
  • 12 3
 I chose riding over my girlfriends senior prom this spring.. I'd say I lean more towards the first one
  • 6 0
 Working at a bike shop has been an amazing way for me to be even more devoted and attached to mountain biking than I already was. It's absolutely my biggest priority and favorite thing in the world!
  • 8 1
 And even, if you're bike works well, you want to change it....
  • 6 0
 I used to surf all the time (Yes, lived in a van too.). Got real tired of missing swell for work obligations and tired of growing crowds. Thats the beauty of riding trails... They are there before after and during work, in addition the more people that ride is a good thing! My dirtbag lifestyle transfers nicely, but now i have a paycheck to buy expensive bike parts.
  • 6 3
 If it ain`t a lifestyle it ain`t shit!
  • 4 0
 There's a number of guys out there (bikers, skiers, snowboards etc.) who live out of their vans or RV's because they can ride just that much more. Most of those guys do it so they can ride every day. These guys are often sponsored, get parts for free and bikes for cheap or free, so living out of their van for the bike park season or snow season is viable and then on the off season they can go live somewhere else. Yeah it's crazy, but people do it and they are usually very strong members of whatever sport they belong to.
  • 15 0
 Im sorry but i dont see how living in a van to ride more is idiotic. It would be unpleasent if you did it full time but its a great way to spend more time on the bike on roadtrips and other adventures.
  • 7 0
 Riding is more than a lifestyle for me, the next time I can jump back on a bike is the only thing I look forward to and it takes presidence over everything else for me. It's literally the only thing that keeps me sane and you can easily tell if I havent been on a bike for more than a day. I owe alot to my bike and I don't know where I'd be without it.
  • 3 0
 A few years back I bought a van so I could spend more time away riding in distant places. However, commuting in that thing to work was soul destroying and it had to go in the end. Now I have something with much better fuel economy, lower tax and insurance, and I rent a van for long weekends. I don't think making that sacrifice reverted my sport into a hobby, I think I chose to incorporate it into my day job differently so that I could have a better mountain bike lifestyle. It's a balance at the end of the day, and we each keep that balance differently. I'm not envious of people who balance their lifestyle differently to the way I do it as I couldn't live in 'their' lifestyle.
  • 7 1
 And living in a van just to be able to ride more is also just idiotic. - Neg pro for that man ! No way thats freaking awesome ! and Im a married man with a kid !
  • 5 0
 And it an obsession for me...all I think about is riding!
  • 4 1
 I agree with Mattin. It's right inbetween the first two - total dedication and balance. I love to ride, and look forward to every next opportunity, but life is life, and there are other responsibilities I have to meet. But all of my free cash goes to parts or adding to my already overly-crowed stable of rides.
  • 11 0
 Living in a van is acceptable. Why is having a mortgage and lots of crap better than not?
Imagine somewhere near Sedona, La Fruta, or another land of never winter, just keeping it simple. Maybe in the summer you pack it up and move to your other burger flipping job in Hood River or Kamloops for a half year. I would flip burgers in a good riding town to cover life and bike fixing if I could live in a van and ride. My wife disagrees though, so house and yard is a must. I still wonder if it would have been better for my kids to grow up in a dirt patch though. Less hooked into the world and all that.
Be a Van Nomad. I would if the woman found it acceptable. Heck, we might do it if the economy crashes and leaves us broke. Sometimes homeless just means you are free.
  • 2 0
 You snap boards all the time? Your shaper must suck! I've been surfing for 12 years and never snapped one. Boards rarely snap
  • 2 0
 Couldn't agree more. Aggro in surfing is ridiculous. Bikers are so much more friendly
  • 2 0
 “If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it.” - Frank Zappa

If this means living in a van or working in bike shop then so be it - at least i am more happy than any miserable office worker that has a horrible life cause he/she did what everyone else told them to do as opposed to doing what they wanted to do.
  • 40 0
 After 20 years of riding and working trails of Vancouver Island, and parts nearby, it's definitely a lifestyle. No cable TV in that time, no gym membership, and no mobile phone have easily paid for 2 decades worth of rinding expenses. Closin' in on 50, I'm in better shape than I was at 25. And the fun I've had and the beauty I've seen! I was riding with a friend a few months ago. During a rest stop we were talking about lost career opportunities that had allowed us to live here and mountain bike. I pointed out we were riding on a sunny Monday morning on almost deserted trails. We smiled. Neither of us thought we'd made the wrong choice.
  • 1 0
 sorry about the repost...
  • 31 0
 I'd compare mountain biking to a girl friend. It takes all my money, all my free time, and I love it to death!
  • 1 9
flag slimboyjim (Nov 15, 2013 at 0:00) (Below Threshold)
 (Alarm sounds) Stalker alert! Stalker alert!

:-)
  • 20 0
 "find what you love and let it kill you" Charles Bukowski
  • 23 2
 For me it's more than a hobby, not saying I would ditch everything for it. But it brings more to my life than just something to do on the weekend. It affects how I dress, how I talk, what I do, who I hang out with, what i spend my disposable income on and how I spend my time (mostly on pb) riding brings so much to my life and I wouldn't trade it in for all the money in the world... Unless I could use that money to buy more bikes.
  • 5 0
 This. I ditch work sometimes, cut out of some family stuff early. Its not a lifestyle quite, but I am self employed, so I have a lot of latitude to play when I want to. Fortunately my wife and kids are super cool and understanding.
  • 18 2
 Well Mountain Biking's probably a bad hobby around exam time because you're trying to revise but all you can think of is riding your bike shredding some local laps haha.
  • 11 0
 I hear you too looking at my bikes and on pink bike is my biggest procrastination
  • 2 1
 I was sitting in my English prelim thinking ''I bet my local trail is running sweet right now'' and weighing up if I should change the pressures in shock and forks. I ended up not answering half the paper hahaha
  • 4 0
 i have a final exam in 28 minutes, im sitting in bed on pinkbike, havent even showered and still need to study. but you can bet your ass youll find me on the trails an hour after my final is over
  • 3 0
 Apparently 20 minutes of exercise between 60 minutes of revision helps retain information. I tried that, only I stayed out for 3 hours. Aced PE though. @Lester, good luck and no doodling bikes on your paper!
  • 2 0
 haha thats my problem a quick ride turns into a few hours
  • 10 0
 All the guys I work with that have a wife an 2or3 kids, mortgage ana a GO car they can't afford. All snitching an moaning about Thier scrappy lives...
Yea they all think I'm the. crazy one...
See ya lads I'm off to the woods! Smile
  • 5 0
 I have two kids, a crappy car, my mortgage is almost paid off... but I have a very nice mountain bike and a very nice cross bike. Best of both worlds :-)
  • 8 0
 My happiness comes first. And my happiness is achieved best when I'm riding down a trail. I will ditch a job or school to go ride my bike. If I'm not happy I'm not performing well in anything. All my trips involve bikes, and most of my trips are for bikes. I own more industry tees than I do socks. My only pair of shoes are 5.10. I sleep on the couch my bikes get my room. I have more stickers than a thicket of sticker bushes, and more scars than I can count. And I could not be happier. Thank god for bikes.
  • 6 0
 To me it is a lifestyle.

I just counted 120 people whose numbers are in my phone. Sixty-one ride, so I just squeaked in above 50%. I thought it would be higher.

After twenty years of riding I have a whole heap of friends that are more than just riding buddies. I have lived in their houses, gone on non-MTB trips overseas, parties, get-togethers, borrowed hedge trimmers and all sorts of stuff, and I even met my wife through riding.

The only reason I have time to write this is that I just got home from work (after ducking in to say g'day to the boys at the LBS) and I'm stuffing some food into my face before going out on a training ride (hills tonight - yippee!!).

Without riding my life would be very different, and I'm betting it would be worse. Riding makes me happy, and the people I've met through riding make me happy too.
  • 4 0
 Been riding in the lower mainland for 20 odd years now, I buy vehicles that suit the sport. Good to shuttle in , sleep in and get as dirty as I like.. As I get older I don't ride as often as I like. When I start a new show(job), I find the cyclists (or, we seem to migrate to each other).. Family commitments and the need to make bank , very important if you want to stick around Vancouver .. Seems to be my lifestyle, and the hobby part is talking my wife into cutting me loose on a sat morning with the promise of being home in a cpl hours.. Never happens.. Usually home by supper time.. Just get out and ride. Family first.
  • 4 0
 After 20 years of riding and working trails on Vancouver Island and parts nearby, it's a lifestyle. No cable TV in that time, no gym membershilp, and no mobile phone have easily paid for 2 decades or riding expenses. Closin' in on 50, I'm in better shape than when I was 25. And the fun I've had, and the beauty I've seen! I was riding with a friend a couple of months ago. During a rest stop we were discussing lost career opportunities that had allowed us to live here and mountain bike. I pointed out that it was a sunny Monday morning and the trails were almost deserted. We smiled. Neither of us thought we'd made the wrong choice.
  • 4 0
 I think if you're young, free and got a bit of cash then yeah its possible to make it a lifestyle. But if you're old like me and have a family and a job to look after then it's always going to be a hobby. Most of my disposable income (not much haha) goes on my bike or riding gear but lack of free time means it'll never be a lifestyle. No regrets, obviously Smile I can definitely see how it becomes a lifestyle, when I was in my teens my life was basically skateboarding, nothing else mattered, crazy looking back on it. Again, no regrets Smile
  • 4 0
 I need my bike time, it is the only thing that keeps my PTSD in check. I occupy my mind with which line to take, the ache of my legs, to go faster, what is over that hill, ETC. So maybe it is a lifestyle.
  • 3 0
 Due to injuries and my complete lack of free time(900 hours of overtime this year alone) I've ridden 48 days in the last 10 years. Hard to call it a lifestyle at that point, but if being on my bike were a fleeting notion it ought to have passed long ago. Why is it still in my system? A year and a half after breaking my heel(on day 7 of 2012) I've splurged on a shiny new M9 and I'm taking it to Queenstown, NZ next week to beat the snot out of it. Mountain biking is a chronic disease. A brain-wasting, brittle-bone condition which leads to poverty, restlessness and aggravation. Wouldn't change a thing.
  • 3 0
 I am in my mid twenties and have a bachelors from a reputable cal state school. I dont want to work full time, I want to ride my bike. I have created my world around this notition. I dont care what society thinks, I am the one expereince life. They are the ones dwindling away for a company they hate in a office that they despise. whos crazy here me or them?!?
  • 3 0
 Think about bikes, more than you think about girls.
Spent most of your time and money on bikes.
If you don't ride, you are definitely fixing something on your bike or just cleaning it. No matter if it is already cleaned to shine.
Miss Friday parties, so you can get up early Saturday morning and go shredding.
Read Pinkbike while you are at work.
Read Pinkbike while you are not at work.
You don't know what's new on cinemas cause you are watching 'Seasons' for a 5467437 time.
Does that sounds as a hobby to you? Don't think so.
  • 3 0
 Next summer we are buying a camper and living in it. I convinced my wife we should give it a shot. We will rent out our house and live simple for a while on some family land. I am hoping she gets hooked and we decide to move out west and live in a camper for a decade. I still gotta have a job. She has to be able to be with the kids or she gets depressed, but my job only has to pay the bills. We don't need gadgets and crap.
  • 3 0
 I only work for my family and biking, and that´s real. I'm almost 9 hours per day in a desk just to see my daughter and wife have a good life and enoying myself in the mountains with my bike, there is nothing that I love most that a chat with my wife, a kiss of my daughter and a solo ride in the mountains. There isno enought money in the world to change that, at the point I lost some job oportunities because I apreciate more the time with my family and the saddle, VIVA LA BICICLETA !!!
  • 6 0
 Live to ride, ride to live...... End of.
  • 2 1
 Eh, oops.
  • 2 0
 Now i'm younger(16), And I take this like a "Big Hobby" but I want live around bikes, my our brand. My bikes. My life between wheels.
Sometimes y feel that i'm thinking more about bikes that ride bikes! But It's the priority now, The high School, etc. Otherwise I keep drawing bikes hours in the school, I don't know, but I love bikes so much.


Articles like this Motivate me so much! LETS RIDE!
  • 2 0
 Its a major priority as not riding makes me sad. Commuting 32k a day by any other form of transport but my shitheap xc makes me sad. I never thought of it as a lifestyle choice, its who I am and part of my life. If I could not ride when I wanted I would probably go insane. I dont buy into the whole Brospeak but the community around the sport is amazing.
  • 2 0
 New option: It's important to me in a way that I feel like it's the end of the world when I don't get to ride my bike...or any bike for that matter, within 3 days. But I feel that I can keep a good balance...which my wife/gf/family doesn't seem to agree with.
  • 1 0
 So true man. Rainy periods are like an early death!!
  • 5 0
 I'm thinking I may tone back the MTB a bit and really look into drum circles. I hear they are kind of a big deal in Sedona
  • 1 0
 Yeah I'm getting lazy i haven't made any crop circles in awhile...
  • 2 0
 Definitely a lifestyle, its all I do, work at a shop, ride everyday, spend most of my tiny income is spent on bike parts and I literally work on bikes 24/7 and when I'm not I'm here on pinkbike looking at more bike stuff. Most of my friends are from biking, but getting out on the trail and just riding solo can be the best release from reality.
  • 2 0
 Skiing for me was a lifestyle, started having knee pains. Doctor told me to try cycling to build up strength...Fast forward 20 years now depending on my mood, skiing takes a back seat to biking. Even in winter biking the snowshoe trails sometimes is funner than a day on the slopes...unless it's an epic powder day.
  • 2 0
 It was a lifestyle for me way back when. Wake up. Eat. Ride. Shower. Work. Ride street at night. I'd go on a date, think about my bike before, during and after date. Even during...uh..."relations", usually about what trail I was gonna hit the next day and how I could go faster or farther or higher. 15 minutes into a date, "I ride my bike everyday, you okay with that?" At work, "Wanna work overtime?" I need new bike parts, "YES!!" People would ask, "What do you do?" I'd say "I ride my mountain bike". They'd say, "as a job?" Me, "I'd love to get paid for it..." and go into 15 minutes of how cool it'd be to be sponsored, eventually have them lose interest and walk away. However, the last year or so, I have had that bug again. Cruising websites late at night, looking for a cool score. Thinking about riding all day at work, and actually riding after work. Checking the weather to see how many days during the week I can ride. Checking Pinkbike 3 or 4 times a day to see if something new is posted.. It's a lifestyle hobby right now...
  • 2 0
 I slave at work just so I can have my toy and ride. I don't do much crazy, narly rides but I love to ride. A lot of times I upgrade components when I don't really need to..probably because I like to hang out in the garage with my bike just as much. It's as part of me as my family are part of me.
  • 5 0
 Eat. Sleep. Ride. Repeat.... well, try to at least.
  • 1 0
 It's an addiction to me ,I ride everyday and i need it everyday.it feel so free that all my worries disappear. i like beat myself and push my fear. i think my mind changed during all those years of riding, Riding bikes makes me stronger.
  • 1 0
 10 years ago I ate slept and dream mtb and everything that comes with it. I left the life cold turkey to build a career and a family. Got back into as a hobby a year ago, and now my whole family, and coworkers are affected. Is it a hobby when my 6 year old is stealing my bike magazines, or my 3 year old has a camel bak, or we wake up early to try to get some miles in before work/school. At least the important people to me are involved,
  • 1 0
 Its got to be balanced, I think. There's a hell of a lot I'd give up for riding.. But there's some things that have to take priority, even if you'd much rather just ride. I love my bike.. And its kept me skint for years.. But I wouldn't be a douche, or go cheap on my family or friends, just to buy something shiny. I will still buy the shiny things.. But I'll work out how to afford them in a minimal impact way. I'd drop most things for a good ride.. But I'm not too selfish to say no to a walk with my parents, or a party for a mate, or a surf when the swell is working, just because the dirt is good.

Now screw you all. I'm off for a ride. Wink
  • 1 0
 The defining moments for me where:
Racing every weekend and decided to build a DH frame.
Got a chain ring tattoo.
Started a bike company.
Moved and travel solely based on where to ride.
Last year moved into the "Coach" full time, minimizing drive time to all those rad riding locations and giving me an office at the trail head.
Yea, it's a lifestyle. I wouldn't pick anything else.
  • 1 0
 I started dh 4 years ago with very little interest in biking since then I have become obsessed with the sport I know own two expensive bikes one for dh the other for slope. Everything I do relates to riding I got my first job in a bike shop because I loved learning how my bike works, my time off work and school is almost all for bike trips, and my first vehicle is a truck, to mice my bike around, at this point it is a lifestyle, and I don't see a change in sight!
  • 1 0
 To me I think of it as a sport. An extreme sport but a sport nonetheless. It's a lifestyle as well but I think the title of a hobby is just mocking it. A hobby is like fixing up old cars, mountain biking is like motocross and bmx mixed together in a perfect harmony. It's an adventure sport.
  • 1 0
 This article really speaks to me. For some, it's our livelihood. It's how we make a living for ourselves and our families. Right now, I'm rather on the "unemployed" side, but I'm making do by buying and selling, trying to use what I have and making something out of what I can't use. I hope some day soon to open an indoor bike park similar to Ray's, whose story inspires me.

It's cold and snowy a good five months of the year where I live/want to live, and those five months are definitely the hardest for me to get through.

For some, it's our livelihood. For an even smaller few (maybe? I don't know how all of you feel about it), it's our life blood- not just what we do but really who we are.
  • 1 0
 It's absolutely a lifestyle, that's why we're all here. Like the article says, it doesn't matter how much you ride but how you feel when doing so. Crazy how I used to think $500 wasn't no big deal for dirt jump forks but that amount to fix my car was insane. I don't ride as much but think about like I did in the beginning. I'm definitely more into getting my kids to ride so I can have riding partners in the future. Who needs cable when you have mnt bike dvds for days.
  • 1 0
 Up until last summer, I was golfing 3 times a week!
Got my h/c down to +1, but didn't feel real.
And talk about elitism, suddenly I'm being asked to play in members tournaments, watching these overweight fat cats going on how "his" team won.
I got tired of the bulls it, and returned to my first sport, that I got started in some 40 years ago, and I couldn't be more happy.
Better quality of people, who don't care if you show up at the park in a older rig, they know your in it for the thrill.
And besides "if your not living life on the edge , your taking up too much room !"
  • 1 0
 What type of riding were you doing 40 years ago? Good for you for getting back into it.
  • 1 0
 did the bmx thing in the 70's through to the 90"s,a stint in hockey,then the golf thing.was in whistler for crank works,decided to rent a dh bike and spent a few days riding the mountain. Thats when i decided to get back into biking.
besides its a better bang for the buck.
  • 1 0
 Yeah old school bmx'er.
  • 1 0
 I bought a motorhome so I could windsurf & ride where & when I want. Then I set up a bike service & repair business so I guess it became my life. My family ride with me & go to the beach so all in all it's worked out pretty well. Except for maybe being time rich & cash poor! Oh well, you can't have everything.
  • 3 1
 why would we need to define this? biking is a passion needing no categorization....change name to pollbike or opinionbike. maybe tomorrow we find out who prefers fingerless gloves...cant wait Smile
  • 2 1
 It's just a chance for people to express their passion for the sport. My initial response was also negative, but it's not as bad as RC's ' troll polls''-29er or 26, which is better?
  • 1 0
 I love the feeling of riding a bike and in a perfect world, I would have much more money to spend on building my bikes with top of the line components and endless time to shred wherever I wanted. But I work 40 hours a week, I enjoy spending time with my wife and there are other things I want and need to spend my money on. I also don't live somewhere where I need the high-dollar bikes to have a good time. I just love getting on my bike, peddling as fast as I can and enjoying the playground that is God's green earth. So based on that, I'd call it a hobby.
  • 1 0
 I work a full time job and ride 4-5 times a week. Luckily there is rarely a weather not suitable for riding here. Seriously though, I cant imagine riding more than 3 hours a day, which is more than enough to still work a full time job and do a bunch of other stuff
  • 1 0
 I dont drop anything important to go riding, like if I have a load of homework or essays for a weekend I get that done first, and only usually get one day of riding in a week. That being said, every bit of money I spend is on bikes. Everything I do online is on here. It's the only thing I really care about that I can actually make decisions about.
  • 1 0
 I think its great that for some people they can make a lifestyle out of mountain biking. That they can set their entire lives up to revolve around it. I personally never could be that 'hardcore' for lack of a better term. I don't think it could ever get past hobby stage for me since I enjoy many hobbies in addition to mountain biking, and could never imagine pushing any of them out of my life to live the 'lifestyle' of only one. I ride as much as I can but I also snowboard, play in competitive baseball, softball, and basketball leagues, enjoy watching my favorite professional sports teams etc. All those things inevitably cut into some riding time but I would never eliminate them. Each hobby has its own qualities that I enjoy and I'm quite happy balancing them all out, not pigeon holing myself into any one particular mold.
  • 1 0
 I'm a "hardcore" surfer of about 9 years. It has absolutely been a lifestyle for me. I started biking about a year and a half ago. I am now completely obsessed with 2 sports! A hobby is something like collecting stamps or birdwatching, something that interests you but does not influence your day to day actions and thoughts. Someone recently tried to argue with me that it was a hobby.I got so heated that I knew I was right when it meant that much to me .
  • 1 0
 I rode bmx in the early eighties, went to motorbikes/sex/drugs/rockandroll until my mid-thirties, i'm now 45 and if I book on the uplift I can't think about anything else, one day we'll see gravity granddads who can't give it up until it kills them! - I may be one of them..
  • 1 0
 Considering I'm selling my house, JD tlb, and every other toy I own (except for bikes of course) to move 1400 miles across to Colorado. Hell I wouldn't tell my wife this but I take more into account of how close we'll live to good trails and bike parks. Than how far it is I'll have to drive to work (not that far anyways).
But yea I'd say its just a hobby...
  • 2 0
 This is dedication for me, no matter how, no matter what. Mtb will always reveal the best of me in any way. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q2T5Q8G5VE
  • 2 0
 I'm leaving work early today to get a ride in before dark. it's not a lifestyle for me but, it's really important and it's more than a sport.
  • 1 0
 Done that 5 times since the time change. Just enough light left for a good 1 hour ride.
  • 2 0
 I love riding, I use to to self-treat some of my anxiety and depression. Hitting the trails is the best high, the highest high, and when I start flowing, it's like heaven.
  • 1 0
 Good timing pinkbike...this question answered itself when I looked around and realized I'm sitting in a hotel, in Nepal, about to embark on a 12 day riding trip with my wife and 2 friends.
  • 12 7
 It's a grudge to me...
  • 18 0
 Yeah we all know that fact.
  • 3 0
 I said it's a balance but i think i'm just lying to myself with that one...
  • 1 0
 I think about it 24/7. If i could ride every day I would. Unfortunately money is required to ride so some times I have to skip riding days so I can afford to have and keep my bike!!
  • 1 0
 I like cycling on dirt. Whether flat or in the mountains, dirt is king. I'd have a hard time living in a city without parks, or in suburbia without trails, so I'm very big proponent of natural surface trail development.
  • 3 0
 live to ride! ride to live! you want a hobby go collect stamps...............
  • 4 0
 I have a lot more flannel shirts now. So I guess its a lifestyle...
  • 1 1
 The defining moments for me where:
Racing every weekend and decided to build a DH frame.
turn my parents garage into a bike studio.
Started a bike company.
Moved and travel solely based on where to ride.
lived in my van for 10 years travelling
Last year moved into the "Coach" full time, minimizing drive time to all those rad riding locations and giving me an office at the trail head.

Yea, it's a lifestyle. I wouldn't pick anything else.
  • 1 0
 yeap.. i ll go for BALANCE .. between my stumpjumper fsr and pinarello opera cannova between the trail and the road riding Gosh i love biking lol
  • 1 0
 Walked out of a dead end job in 2009 to go on a 16 day epic in the french alps. Had an amazing time, a decision that I will never regret Smile
  • 3 0
 Steel hardtail nappies and a full time job. Boom. My lifestyle
  • 1 0
 Body parts scarified, blood given, and progression earned. Paid in full since my first BMX. I hope to keep spitting teeth when I'm 80.
  • 3 0
 Its not a lifestyle, its a religion.
  • 1 0
 i'm a total dick in the rest of my life when i don't mountain bike. so i guess "drug", "therapy" and/or "self improvement" should've been an optional answer.
  • 1 0
 Life is short! Plant your seed,,,,, have a couple little rippers and live every day to the fullest! Ride on my fellow rippers!
  • 1 0
 If no hot chicks show up at the group ride I usually just bail so selective lifestyle with a very fine balance and a hint of hobby.
  • 3 1
 if its too dry to dig to fill the space, missing riding for a couple weeks is a bummer.
  • 1 0
 I wish I could ride ALL the time! I don't have time to anything a I really enjoy in Uni Frown besides drinking beer. And cycling (on the road) but thats kinda shit lol
  • 2 0
 It's spiritual for me. It is so powerful. You can be rich but poor with no bike but poor and rich with a bike.
  • 8 0
 I was once riding and I had run out of water. I was in a ritzy neighbourhood looking for a tap when I saw a guy up a driveway washing his pimped BMW X5. I rode up the driveway to ask him for water, which he gave me and in the garage was a goddamn brand new Bentley Continental! And next to it was a POS K-Mart bike. I felt sorry for him.
  • 1 0
 Yeah, no shit! He should've had that bumper sticker on it that said: "I had a life, but my job ate it".
  • 3 1
 " When you're not working, you're riding, when you're not riding you're digging, because you know that : no dig, no ride !"
  • 2 0
 Off the lip, bottom turn, speed, remote nature - recurring themes in my life.
  • 2 0
 There was a certain "how to be a mountain biker" which pretty much sums it up for most people
  • 1 0
 Yeah... I just need a trail dog lol
  • 2 0
 for me it's more than a hobby, but have to work 50 hours per week in order to buy bikes spares and trips...
  • 2 0
 you have Harley Davidson Bikers and you have DH Bikers. "This is a Gang, and Im in it".
  • 1 0
 Well I moved across country to do it and spend most of my money on it. Along with music is the only thing in my life I couldn't live without (believe me, I tried).
  • 1 0
 Im sitting here reading comments thinking about which box to check... I look to my right and my bike is in our family room next to our computer...
  • 1 0
 The actual act of riding is definitely more of a hobby for me at this point, but bikes in their entirety are a lifestyle and career for me.
  • 2 1
 For me it's a hobby that I see turning into a lifestyle later in my life. I hope so at least.
  • 2 0
 Ill go crazy if i dont get my daily ride in... damn winter coming
  • 1 0
 I would like to get out more but life ya know?, its a hobby for me, an expensive one....haha, but i love it
  • 1 0
 Its an action sport. For me action sports is a lifestyle and mountain biking is an action sport so in a way.
  • 3 5
 I quit riding dh since it has become more of a lifestyle and has distraced me from doing and exploring other things which life offers. I mean riding bikes is fun, but there's nothing of lasting spiritual value in it. - Just a profane hour of joy.
  • 3 1
 To each their own...but who says you can't go exploring with your bike?
  • 3 2
 to each their own, definitely! but for me biking started capturing my life too much, so i had to stop this kind of lifestyle drastically! If you asked me whether i was happy during that time, I couldn't deny it. but I came to a point where I recognized that there is more than shreding your local trails. the opium of the people.
  • 1 0
 wish I could afford a van, but I cant so I make do with my bike, some panniers and a tent... proper hobo
  • 1 0
 It's a lifestyle, I can't get my brain to stop revolving my life around it.
  • 1 0
 Mountain biking is very much apart of my lifestyle and all my close friends all ride.
  • 2 0
 Mike, bravo on that last paragraph. Wish more people took that view.
  • 1 0
 Gave up a career, seeing friends and family every week, having a car or any girlfriends to move to whistler, enough said.
  • 2 0
 Get my wife to answer this poll. I am too biased.
  • 1 0
 How can it be a lifestyle when you have to have a job to support yourself and your hobby ?
  • 1 0
 I i thought i kept a good balance but my wife tells me it controls my life, so i guess probably more #1 for me.
  • 2 0
 Balance, Daniel-san...
  • 1 1
 lifestyle just means being f*ckd by branding. Rather a hobby. A expensive one.
  • 1 0
 Up in the morning and away to the hills Smile
  • 1 0
 A hobby, like any other I have.
  • 1 0
 Lifestyle. No doubt about i.
  • 2 0
 It's an obsession...
  • 1 0
 an addiction... which love
  • 8 8
 For me, it's a religion.
  • 2 0
 I second that bro...







Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv42 0.446706
Mobile Version of Website