An outline explaining why Downhill Mountain Bike Racing is the greatest sport in the world, and why all others are inferior to it.
Many people, especially those studying Kinesiology, frequently participate in the debate that asks the question, “What is the greatest sport in the world?” As a somewhat opinionated person I believe that regardless of the activity/sport at hand, the question of the greatest sport is always relative and specific to the reasoning that the person who gives the answer can provide. As I sit here listening to some Disturbed, I know without a doubt in my mind what I believe to be the greatest sport in the world. Because of specific reasons I will outline why hockey, football, basketball, baseball, golf, rugby, lacrosse, volleyball, soccer, and cricket are ALL inferior to the majority of extreme sports and in particular Downhill Mountain Bike ‘Racing.’(DMBR)If your favorite sport is in the possibly never ending list that does not include DMBR let’s hope you’re a faithful participant, because I attempt to shed light on the futility of your chosen “hobby.” So, to start off I should probably answer the question regarding why I am not a fan of ANY team sports. Believe it or not I have more reasons that I could add to the list.
1-Not every player is directly influencing the outcome at every moment. A team can still be successful at their goal, “winning,” even if the players are not participating at the absolute limits of their abilities. Just think of a hockey team, it is true that hockey is a quite intense sport and needs all its team members, but in reality there is only one puck in the game. That means that at any point in time there are only 1 or possibly 2 people that have the direct ability to change the outcome of the game (by scoring). That is the same with other sports like soccer, volleyball, rugby, and lacrosse, don’t even get me started about baseball or football. So in reality in a hockey game, a team can only ever be working at 16 percent of their maximum ability to perform, because there are always 5 players that do not have a direct influence on the outcome. (This isn’t even taking into account the numerous useless bench warmers).
2-Team sports are also often “closed sports.” What I mean by the term closed sport is any event where the circumstances of the arena or setting remain constant. That means that where ever you go all hockey rinks will be flat ovals, all basketball courts will be flat rectangles with a basket 10 feet off of the ground, and that a soccer, lacrosse, or rugby field will always be relatively the same dimensions with little exterior influence. The disadvantage to a closed sport is that it is much like learning addition over and over again. You might get better and better at it as your life goes on but your still just adding numbers! Obviously sports like rugby, football, soccer, or baseball have the potential to throw you an environmental oddball. However, have you ever watched a football or soccer team trying to fumble with learning subtraction or sometimes even LONG division on the fly! It’s terrible and looks like children having fort wars at recess. It is for these reasons that groundskeepers cut the grass, seed the brown spots, or why we have zambonis in hockey or sweat mopers in basketball. It is simply because athletes these days feel that it is necessary to have “constants,” and attempt to maintain those constants in sport at all times. What do you think would happen if someone decided to put a boulder in the middle of a football field or bananas all over a basketball court (it would finally make those sports interesting!). Those are things that downhillers have to think about every time they look down a race course, except for the bananas.
3-All sports have a “time to relax” period. If you don’t know what I’m talking about just think about any hockey – soccer game you have ever played and you will find them. They are times that the clock is still running but is filled with NOTHING that could ever be called sport. They are the moments where you or the other team has just scored, you slipped and lost the ball/puck, in-between plays in football, the entire sport of baseball, or when a fight has just broken out between 30 players in hockey. My question is how top athletes in baseball can suffer from cancer of the mouth, Hockey players need to be good boxers, or linebackers can be good even though they eat all of Africa’s food. It seems that the amount of down time in these sports has allowed athletes to become truly lazy that they have to resort to chewing tobacco, fighting instead of scoring, or can actually be 320 pound sloths! I just think that any sport that you have the down time to “catch your breath” or formulate a plan just takes way too much away from the true essence and flow of sport.
4-CON tract. I don’t really have much to say about this other than the fact that the word “contract” is sickening. I realize that people need to make money, and it makes sense to play professionally, but making 13 million dollars as opposed to 5 million dollars a year doesn’t really enhance your quality of life. It also does not guarantee that once that contract is signed, you will participate and provide full effort through thick and thin despite your prearranged payment deal. I understand that there are also professional Downhill Mountain Bike Racers, but the majority of them have real jobs in the off season (that they need) where they can go home to live a “real” life. It is also a sport where you will be downgraded to amateur categories, or lose your sponsors if you do not perform well.
5-Fan support. Whether you like it or not it is impossible to say that fans do not have an influence in sport. It is because of fans that we have stupid things like half time shows, STILL have fighting in hockey, cheerleaders, jumbo-trons, TV timeouts, and tailgate parties. There have been so many changes created with the sole intent of promoting fan base. Though a lot of changes could be classified as independent of the fans, we can safely say that all changes in widely broadcasted sports inevitably have the fans in mind. What happened to the days when the fans actually played the sport? I just think there are way too many alcoholic fans that are out to participate and promote in an activity that is far from sport. I’m not saying that there aren’t any downhiller fans that booze, but at least we are still racing after we do it.
6-If you’re out, you can still “win.” All I can say is that this concept is a pile of crap. Picture a football player. He is at a party. He has a sprained ankle (aww muffin). His team just won the big game. This football player happens to see a good looking gal that he decides to court with the, “I’m an intelligent football player with important opinions regarding real issues,” pick up line… no I’m just kidding that would never happen, but he tries to impress the girl by saying that he just won the game. This situation definitely happens and unfortunately subtracts all the merit and honor from being an athlete. If you get injured and do not participate in a game, or do not participate in the whole game, YOU are not responsible for the ultimate success of your team. Even if you were on the field and scored three goals in the first half, but didn’t play the second half, you have no right to take credit for the 3-0 victory. Because if it were not for your team members in the second half, the game could have ended up 3-9 or 3-20, which would really overshadow your insignificant contribution to the game. For these reasons I feel that team sports are truly corrupt because they attempt to identify players that “carry” their team to victory. In reality there are always points in every game where even the best players are rendered useless (simply because they do not have the ball or puck) and therefore not directly responsible for the success of a play.
What makes Downhill Mountain Bike Racing so different?
1-Seiko timers usually ensure timing accuracy within 1/1000 of a second. The entirety of your sporting event begins when the first knob of your front tire breaks through the laser beam at the start, and ends the instant your front tire passes through the laser at the finish. An accuracy of this caliber ensures that absolutely EVERYTHING you do from the moment you start to the moment you finish will have a direct impact on the amount of time it takes for you to get from laser to laser. Since it is also an entirely individual sport, all success and failure can be directly attributed to the rider, making it a true athletic competition. As the greatest sport in the world, DH requires the athlete to be performing at near perfection throughout the race run. Other sports, sorry, you just can’t come close.
2-We all know what “closed sports” are, but we now must meet the polar opposite, the
“open sport.” The open sport involves an environment that is dynamic and changes from moment to moment. There is no constant in an open sport, and why would we want them, constants just make sports easier and more predictable. In racing there are rules, rules for racers and spectators which involve objects on the course. If a rider speeds through a section during a race run and dislodges a rock, that rock CANNOT be moved. It is considered a part of the natural change of the trail. Racers also have to deal with relatively large altitude changes in the taller mountains, that have significant physiological effects regarding the bloods ability to carry oxygen (makes the top sections fun to watch). We also have to race on rock, wood, roots, dirt, mud, sand, air, grass, metal, through water, in rain, in wind, in cold, in hot, but we can still get to the bottom of a hill sporting a huge grin and say “that was easy.” Racing DH would be a lot like making all hurdles random heights for sprinters, making the basket move in basketball, or getting hockey players to play on glaciers. A dynamic sport environment is the only way to truly test who can handle ALL variations of the sport.
3-“Time to relax.” We’ve already been through this time to relax thing… don’t have any… Seiko timers… lasers… they’re smart…you can’t cheat… unless you use rockets….no that’s silly. Sure you can probably find times when riders are relaxing, but that only comes when they are in the air and can’t physically speed up. Of course it is up to the rider to relax or not while racing, but the reality is that clocks keep turning and time keeps on. Every relaxing moment that you take in this sport drags you further and further from the podium. It is one of the few sports where EVERY moment counts.
4-The concept of the
professional athlete is always present when talking about sports that people actually care about and want to watch. DMBR is no different. However there are pretty big differences between most professional DH racers and other athletes. When racers have free time, they go biking. With more money, they go buy more bikes and biking stuff, or beer. They also race because they absolutely enjoy it. Most professional DH racers don’t get paid enough to make a living so they often have jobs to help pay for racing. Combine all of these together and it’s a pretty crazy cycle no matter how high up in the mountain biking spectrum you get. Get good at biking, go pro, get money, buy bikes, get money, buy more bikes, get money, go see strippers in Gatineau, and race. There is a universal acceptance of commitment to the sport between racers. It’s only those who truly love the sport that could ever participate and for those reasons, athletes who live, spend, and breathe DH are the greatest athletes in the world.
5-Fan support. Let’s set things aside. Downhill mountain biking fans love their alcohol, and what’s better than watching some awesome racing/crashing sitting in a lawn chair with a cold beer in your hand? However there is one difference between DH fans that separates them from any other fans. People who watch DH racing are either close family and friends of racers, or racers and riders themselves. DH fans have a shared passion for racing, alcohol, and partying rather than just alcohol and partying like other sports fans. The unifying factor is that most of the fans participate in the activity itself, which makes it unnecessary to change the sport for the fans. DH fans realize that they need to scale up hundreds of feet of loose shale and rock, risking life and limb to see the “good stuff,” but they still do it and you know why? Because they are the greatest fans in the world, going to watch the greatest sport in the world. DH courses will never change just for the fans, it’s our own little way of fan natural selection.
6-If you’re out you can still win. In a fairytale world this would totally work. But in reality the idea of “not finishing” is somewhat taboo in Downhill Mountain Bike Racing. All racers fear the posting of a DNF (did not finish) or worse a DNS (did not start) on the results list. Individual sports are unique because they put the entire responsibility of success or failure on one single athlete. This would be like playing 1 on 1 football in a hallway. Sure a DH athlete can choose not to start, or not finish, or take their time riding the course, but that would pretty much guarantee that they would be finding their name, hometown, race plate number, team name, and amount of time between them and first rider, at the very bottom of the results list. It is pretty understandable why riders, especially professional riders work so hard to put fractions of seconds between themselves and other competitors. It is a sport where one less pedal stroke, slightly over braking a corner, or landing a little off balance coming off a drop, can take you from 1st to 5th place. For these reasons “I” believe that DH racing is the greatest sport in the world
A closing statement for downhill mountain bike racing-
1. It has speeds seen in a lot of downhill ski racing
2. It requires balance close to that of a gymnast
3. It requires the quick thinking of a football quarterback
4. Requires good cardiovascular endurance, and good muscular strength
5. Requires an applied understanding of physics (intertia, momentum, gravity, friction, acceleration, etc.)
6. Requires the ingenuity of a point guard in basketball, to find the fastest lines through the course
7. Is simply the greatest sport in the world
I’d like to hear what everybody thinks. But if you are just going to bash my views without providing sufficient support for your own, then I will have every reason to ignore your point. If you feel this passionate about your “hobby” then I’d like you to try to convince me…-
hermo44.pinkbike.com/
I wonder if the author of this article rides his/her bike up the hill to ride down.
1. In most team sports such as soccer u may not be directly influencing but ur always moving so that if the need arises u r there to influence the outcome which makes all the players active and also a part of the outcome because without them the outcome wud probably be in favor of the other team.
2. The environment doesn't change but the other players are the changing obsticals. different players use different tactics to win so u have to change ur tactics to counter theirs creating a change in dynamic.
3. This one I will give you but in some sports like soccer there are very few.
4. Just because professional athletes make huge sums of money does not make it a lesser sport or the athletes who participate in it less talented or the sport worse. (it bugs the piss outa me but it doesn't make a sport any lesser than the next.
5. Half-time games and cheerleeders aren't the sport theyre extra entertainment so enjoy them. At bike demos and some races u have the super hot chicks in the Monster outfits. Also fans aren't the sport theyre there to watch the sport once again i dont think fans should be held against a sport.
6. This one is true. I know however that most players wudnt take credit for something they didnt participate. Not to mention that if you score three goals in the first half then get injured or taken out then u still contributed to the team winning and therefore your team did win.
7. The last thing u completely jumped over is the benefit of a team sport. being able to work as a team and move as an individual as well as a team on the field or rink is a skill downhill mountainbikers dont necessarily possess.
P.S. Sorry to say but downhill requires a completely different kind of balance than gymnastics. Kind of a stupid comparison. And before you say it is "simply the greatest sport in the world" you might wanna argue against the rest of the sports because many other sports possess traits the downhill doesnt.
P.P.S. I liked the article but it is extremely biased and honestly I dont know why the pinkbike staff put it up. its this attitude that ruins sports and creates elitist douches. *Ahem golf* So although it was a good read i think ur just breading the golfers of biking.
Also, after some quick google-research, it appears that NFL players are on average larger than rugby players (for example). Basically I think that it was a necessity to begin wearing bigger and more advanced equipment in American football because of the introduction of helmets. As helmets added hard plastic and cages, the rest of the equipment had to match that, otherwise a player could just spear another in the ribs with a helmet on and crush their lungs (if the one being hit had no shoulder pads).
Perhaps the biggest piece of the puzzle you're missing, however, is that in hockey, there's this little, frozen, 6 oz piece of vulcanized rubber that is routinely sent towards players at speeds of 95 mph+ (153 kmh+), and it is the job of these players to either try to stop it with their bodies (defenders and goalies), or stand in front of it and try to tip it in with the small blade on the end of their sticks.
Not a good enough argument? Then consider that hockey is played on a very hard surface (ice); is enclosed with walls made of steel, super-hard plastic and tempered glass that players attempt to run each other into; and involves long, hard sticks made of wood and carbon fibre that are used to continuously wack and check other players with in order to cause a turnover.
The question, "so why does hockey need it?" is very easily answered. And NFL players? well, they're bigger, (some of them are) faster, and I honestly think Americans like viewing their football players as a type of modern day gladiator heading into battle. That's why these two sports use such extensive equipment.
(BTW, if you don't believe me about the puck, just ask anyone who's ever taken a light pass off the shins on an outdoor rink. An NHL shot against bare skin routinely breaks bones and opens wounds)
NFL; no. Rugby sevens, a sport you may have to google, is one of the fastest paced games in the world and the guys who play it are HAAAAUGE!
Anyone who has played rugby, especially at a good level will know how much a hit can hurt, but we needn't wear armor, we just developed a set of rules to make it less stupid.
You talk about the pads being needed to stop your lungs being crushed by some super nutter smashing you in the chest with a helmet. Well if you got some technique, you wouldn't need the helmet, thus not the pads.
Modern day gladiators? Gladiators = loin cloths...
thats why i play waterpolo when im not on my bike, having a guy single handedly break three of your ribs, under water, with one punch, is somewhat of a spectacle to me but you have to be incredibly strong and have the endurance of a cheetah
and as to this article, i like it but i dont want this stigma on dh that we think we are better than everyone else, everyone has the choice of what sports they wanna play, lets not thrash them for not choosing an awesome one. and team sports are rewarding but like some of my comrades said above me, its not like your standing around (or floating around) when you dont have the ball (or whatever), you are countering and attacking and such, because if you werent, your man would be open, and thus he or she would end up getting the ball (or whatever).
just my thoughts...
gladiators? hell no over payed shit talkers with drug problems is more like it. f*ck thoes guys
And as for a hocky puck flying around at 150kph being enough reason to wear armour? The rest of the world gets along playing sports like hockey(the astro turf based equivalent of ice hockey) with balls that weigh more than a puck travelling at speeds just as high as a puck ever will and they dont need armour. Not to mention sports like polo and polo-cross, both with balls travelling at high speed and horses, which reach speeds up to 70kph, all without armour, yes the collisions between riders arent direct but because of the momentum involved, you take a massive hammering. Take a look at a polo or polo-cross players legs after a game but they still dont wear armour. It confuses me as to why only North American sports need so much armour(ie. ice hockey and american football, although I do realise other countries do play ice hockey) The thing is, the only reason footballers or ice hockey players need armour is because they think they need armour. If the armour didnt exist in the first place, they wouldnt need it.
mini-yanni- sevens rugby players are midget relative to rugby or american football players, go research it. Although I must agree that rugby players dont need armour so footballers dont either.
Well done for at least attempting to write an interesting essay on why you think the sport of downhill racing is so good, however I strongly doubt you're going to get much constructive criticism on mountainbiking website.
It’s good to see someone championing DH, and your well within your rights to do so – it’s your opinion and your entitled to it but I think you’ve overlooked some things and you have been quite narrow in your definitions.
Firstly, What’s wrong with just riding your bike? Is there something inherently better about downhill racing as opposed to downhill riding, or freeriding or simply trail riding? I am willing to bet that your answer would be yes, and that is purely because of the element of competition right?. Unless of course you feel that just riding bikes recreationally is a waste of time in comparison with racing? Surely then it's the element of competition in DH which fuels your passion as opposed to the bike riding element, otherwise why would you even right this article?
You have chosen to directly compare DH with team sports. There are a myriad of individual sports out there and the same general arguments could be made for any sport where an individual competes against a clock as opposed to two teams competing.
I realize it’s impossible to write a comprehensive list of sports to compare against DH (part of the reason why this is an exercise in futility) but you have left out sooo many other sports and types of sports it renders your argument totally impotent.
Take combat sports as example, virtually any will do, the same basic criteria apply to them all but for the purposes of familiarity and hyperbole we’ll choose mixed martial arts. Cage fighting. Ultimate fighting. Vale Tudo. Call it what you want. MMA requires a much higher level of fitness than DH. MMA requires a much higher level of strength, muscular endurance , flexibility and balance than DH. In DH you race against the clock, all there is is you, your bike, gravity and the clock. In MMA you compete against a living breathing opponent who is determined to beat you. As you try to assert your game plan your opponent will adapt, improvise and change to counter you. With the exception of weather and trail degradation, a DH course does not change, it’s static. You choose the level you wish to compete at, you have the choice as to how fast or slow you go. In combat sports a living breathing opponent does this for you. When someone is trying to beat you, choke or break your bones you push harder than you ever imagined possible.
I love gravity fuelled mountain biking, it’s what I do, but even by your own criteria there are better sports out there. If you doubt my words go down to your local boxing, jiujitsu, wrestling, muay thai or mma club and get on the matt.
At the end of the day though it’s all largely irrelevant. Why we do or don’t love a sport is not based on any perceived superiority in comparison with other sports, its about intangibles. It’s about the thrills you receive from participating or watching that sport and those are totally subjective things. It shows an inferiority complex to even write this, not to mention a degree of immaturity within the sport.
Who cares if we are the best sport or the worst? Why even feel the need to objectify something like riding bikes? That’s not why I do it, I didn’t think that’s why anyone did it. I ride my bike because at the end of the day it’s more fun than anything else. Isnt that enough?
Just a word in defence of cricket (not that you foreigners play it much)...sometimes nothing beats standing on the outfield for an afternoon in the blazing sun, just waiting for that one ball to come your way. Or fielding at slip (technical term- look it up) knowing that any ball could come your way, and yuo have to be ready to catch it. Or when batting the joy of hitting a crisp cover drive (damn techie terms!) or spanking a leggy over square leg. What game can go on for 5 days (international only) and still end in a draw? What game do you get to have drink and tea (like a proper meal) breaks in the middle. Games can be lost due to a single poor performance, which you failed to mention, although I conceed not always. Therefore even in team sports everyone has to try. Cricket still comes second to any form of bike riding though
I mean if we look at fiction in general, one best seller even claimed the world appeared in SEVEN WHOLE DAYS!
But sadly, this and "quidditch" aren't real.
Back to the cricket.... HELL YEAH! Nothing like a session in slip, really gets the ol' reactions going.
NaToED - There has always a 5 day limit on test matches...unless you can prove otherwise!
That's one of the things that makes DH MTB Racing one of the greatest sports in the world - when you're into it sport you feel like you never want to leave it. You forget about everything else (family, wife/girlfriend/boyfriend), job... you marry with this sport!
Nuno
DH is superior to hockey/soccer because participants are not permitted to rest is just one issue. While this may be true for the 2-3 minutes it requires to complete a run it sounds pretty funny coming from a crowd (myself included) that takes a 5-10 minute chair lift between runs. And that's on top of the fact that you wait in line for another 10-15 minutes preceeding your race run. The time for an average hockey shift is 45-60 seconds of intensity and sometimes more (powerplays, penalty killing etc...). They do this for 60 minutes of stop time. Claiming that because downhillers exert themselves for 2-3 minutes when hockey players only play for 1 minute at a time (or 20 minutes but then get a rest between periods) makes DH superior to Hockey is crazy.
Not to mention it is unsupported. Why is rest in a competition a negative. Why is DH superior because Hockey players get a rest between periods? Just because they do rest (as DH racers do) doesn't demonstrate any sort of superiority.
It's like saying Downhillers use bikes where Hockey players use sticks. That makes DH superior.
The fans argument is nuts. You don't think that a significant faction of hockey fans are or at some point were participants? I guess the thousands of Minor hockey players across Canada must not be hockey fans. How exactly does the fact that DH fans are family, friends, and/or racers support your argument that DH is superior? If anything it lends itself to the argument that DH is not an enjoyable sport to watch for anyone that is not directly involved in it.
I have not real idea how you quantify superiority. You identify FACTS associated with the sports and make huge jumps in logic to arrive at the conclusion that DH is a superior sport. My bike is red while yours is yellow therefore my bike is superior. Give me a break.
This type of article is poorly written and offensive. It does nothing but create the feeling that Mountain Bikers are a jellous group of whiners. Mountain Bikers generally are not that type of group(although I suspect the same cannot be said for the article's author)and this article casts them that way. I cannot believe Pinkbike would post this garbage.
I love DH. I have no desire to tell everyone why it's a better sport than everything else. I really enjoy reading Pinkbike, but this article is rediculous and substandard for the quality of this site.
allenrotstein... haha thats funny you would say that about hockey players, I love my sports (all 2 of them, hockey and biking) and I can tell you hockey players are no pussies. A scracth? HA your joking right? It comes down to the person but I never EVER quit, no matter how injured I was, and most other hockey players I played with were the same. Not sure who your speaking for, but it's not the majority of us who give 100% all the time.
damn i get so annoyed by them jocks.
nice articale anyway
It is very obvious you have not played a lot of team sports in your life (and soccer in grade 3 doesn't count). You claim team sports are "closed" while dhmb is "open", however the variables in a mountain bike race remain constant throughout, while team a team sports playing field is constantly changing through interaction with other players.
The argument that only 1 or 2 players can affect the game by scoring is also ridiculous. A hockey player usually scores because of positioning, and in football, good luck scoring with only only 1 or 2 players doing their jobs. And while we're on the topic of football players, I encourage you to re-evaluate your statement about "280 lb sloths" after going through 2-a-day practices in a summer training camp.
Your arguments hold absolutely no water, and I would imagine stem from some sort of "jocks-vs-skaters" type insecurity. While I agree dhing is a fantastic sport, it is ridiculous to try to compare it to other sports.
It's not what you do. It's how you do it.
The authors does list quite a few good points, but there are so many counter arguments to be made that would make his conclusion invalid based upon the given information (many of the posts listed above state these in a great fashion).
I love mountain biking, among many other sports, but this article is demeaning to all of those who enjoy multiple sports.
That being said, I do think all-heart's comment is a bit over-the-top, but hey, I guess that's his opinion, right?
Props to DHers and riders everywhere but seriously.
I do have to say that I was put off from this article from the get go with the As I sit here listening to some Disturbed comment!
Srsly. Such crappy music.
This is a silly article, though: it's not like the users who frequent this page need convincing...it's merely asking for validation of an opinion...right, guys? right?
I have always thought that football was the slowest sport ever, and that "DMBR" was the most exciting thing ever. XC races are grueling and long, dj events are cool but not the same adrenaline and everything else is just dwarfed in the wake of Downhilling! Thank you for a truely enjoyable article.
In hockeys defense i will say though that while on a bike you can hit a tree, they don't jump out at you while you are not looking. Also any hockey player worth his salt knows no two rinks are the same from the boards to the ice or the lighting and it makes the game different everytime, also I don't think athletes should compete like this since we are all far superior to the couch potatoes that watch us!
somebody didnt study physical education
On another hand, you never mentioned competitve rowing. You can substitute "Rowing" in every instance of "DMBR" and it would be 100% accurate (except the part of it being the greatest sport in the world).
You have 1, 2, 4, or 8 competitors who must synchronize in flawless form with the strength and endurance to get the job done in varying conditions of heat, cold, wind, and rain, albeit without the changing altitude during the race, but venues range from Fla. to Denver, CO so you never know.
I'm not a rower but my wife is - anyone who has learned the skills to be competitive in a solo sport can appreciate what it takes to row well.
Of course it's nowhere near as fun as MTBing!
-B
Ooo - I see someone mentioned real wrestling - good call.
Keep low profile, enjoy the ride. If you say out too loud how good it is then more and more fashion victims will show up on the tracks and events, and DH MTB will loose a good part of why it is fun.
I like all the points about why the individual sport of DHMB is the greatest sport... However there are other individual sports that one could argue the same thing... Sport Climbing,whitewater kayaking/canoeing, downriver, slalom...), any skiing pursuit (downhill, freestyle, moguls, boarder cross etc). I think that this is what draws us to these sports including DHMB. The unknown that exists as a result of mother nature and her inherent ability to constantly challenge us. I think its amazing that all of you crazy DHMB dudes and dudettes have found the core of what your sport represents to you and are willing to argue about it! Looking forward to another summer of biking. I'm gonna go skiing now!
That said, I have to agree with jimjamm; combat sports are very taxing in a way that DH will never be. Not to mention that you do not usually take any shots to the head on your way down the slope.
I did enjoy reading the article, though. I also enjoy the discussions that ensue from such a strongly opinioned article
It's winter, but i guess biking is a much more accessible sport for most of the world as you don't need snow, mountains (you do need hills, roads, or just some shovels and dirt), or an ocean.
Pow is pretty sweet though!
i love DH, but i dont see the point comparing a "against-the-clock-individual-sport" with some whatever other sport..
This article is just an opinion guys. He's not saying that if you don't agree with it that you will go to hell. It just is a good piece to start a healthy debate. I agree with alot of his points but not all of them.
so i no naw people are gna be lyk, awwww thts nt a sport, thts drivin a car on sum mud
tbh, im nt bothered wat people think about it, jus adding my pennies worth
I love downhilling with all my heart and believe its a great and amazing sport, but the points made and the arguments constructed are weak and full of fallacy. I hate whiny multimillionaire basketball and football players just as much as the next guy, but there is no way you can ever crown a "best sport" as nearly all require different kinds of skill and are so very different.
That being said - Downhill or DMBR as the author stated, is my favorite sport and unrivaled as the top CYCLING sport.
Anyway, the argument is presented and supported excellently with all three types of support. Even though I do not think that any single sport is better than any other, I would certainly present this article to anyone dissing on mountain biking. Thanks a lot for a great article!
What types of support are you talking about? I didnt see any expert opinion, citations to academic support/research studies, etc. It has nothing other than personal experience (which is minimal since he states in a comment that he has only raced mtb and has not played any other sport).
I love mountain biking as much as all of you, but this is a poorly written, bias article that does nothing in the way of persuasion.
"Though i have never played any of those sports near the level that i race DH i have at least tried most of them. However in the past 4 or 5 years ive been geared mainly to DH racing so i guess you could say that some of my points could be a little biased"
I said i never played the sports NEAR the level of DH racing. Just because i said that doesnt mean i never participated in those sports. Ive played soccer for 14 years and through all 4 years of highschool, played rugby for 6 years and for my highschool team, played basketball for 1 year on my school team, and included in some of the sports i like to do is Windsurfing, snowboarding, motocross racing, running, road biking, used to race cross country, and the occasional shinny. Maybe next time you should ask some questions before you decide to throw in your two cents.
Oh ya and ofcourse its biased and poorly written! its biased because im a DH racer myself and poorly written because i'm obviously not a fan of formal essays. Any more witty comments?
Nothing gives you the same rush before or after completing a super gnarly course. Specially after a few touch-and-go moments.
But personal preference will win this 'argument' at the end of the day.
I once had this argument with a Roadie and realised it was pointless - everyone has their own way.
I respect you, love to you and Happy New Year
All I am saying is for example if everybody was to race downhill on Pinkbike I would come in last place, but just because I can do it does that make me an athlete, no. I also can run 100 meter dash and swim the length of a swimming pool. So does that mean I am in the same class as Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps because I can do it, (hell no). It just mean I am athletic, not an athlete, and they are professionals. But they are athletes because of the activity they do which no way, shape, or form can be compared to my beloved golf. My example is if we class everybody as an athlete that society labels a sport then I guess Bowlers, Poker Players, Pool Players, and Curlers are athletes too.
I really respect Elundy10 and Gloryhole, they are bring up valid point that I am having a hard time to dispute because I also agree with them.
Happy new year hermo44 and keep on kepping on
You must remember with an individual sport, you can go out into the back of beyond and learn on your own without the constant threat of being ridiculed for not being good. As a person who is generally awful at most other sports than mountain biking, this is very important to me. I've never been good at football or rugby or anything of that sort. So, typically, because other players are better than you, you would just be jeered at and made fun of. Although this sounds like a petty "Dey are bullyun me" argument, you can't all deny that mountain biking has a far more welcoming attitude to new riders than a team sport would, because there is no one to tell you, you can't...
1) eats money
2) bad for enviroment
3) very limited on who can engage
4) its a "closed sport"
To reiterate; great read, definitely a well written article, could be a good scholarly essay when biases and limitations are stated.
Cheers Lee
Of course, I Agree with the rest
Nice article, congratz
So, it is clear that all commentors like mountain biking. a lot.
I can see one major difference that separates the groups of haters and supporters: the desire to disprove someone elses opinion. The supporters are able to say "I like mountain biking and this guy does too and he makes some good points. Props to him." The haters on the other hand say "I like mountain biking and this guy does too but he's an idiot and he is wrong." Does the hater comment out of the need to be correct? No, the hater comments because he sees one or two things in the article as wrong. The haters choose this one thing to nitpick because they do not get the point of the article. The haters nitpick one thing because it is easier to do this and they can quickly make themselves feel correct or superior. We are taught that disproving one part of an argument negates the entirety of the argument, and so people use this as a quick way of making themselves feel better by shutting someone else down.
with me so far? it's all about the haters not grasping the whole picture, while grasping one or two things they can argue against.
here's the moral as i see it: Mountain biking is superior to all other sports for all reasons. It is not for one reason that mountain biking is the best, because that would be an unsubstantiated argument based on narrow criteria. it is for any and all possible reasons or arguments or criteria (can't think of the right word) that mountain biking is superior.
It is summed up perfectly in a teaser for a popular mountain biking movie (first, seasons, or something) that mountain biking is the best sport in the world because of the combination of all the factors.
Loser.
DH= Fun!
F1= Money!
Just don't compare things like this.
"Sure you can probably find times when riders are relaxing, but that only comes when they are in the air and can't physically speed up."
There was this clip from Kranked 7 or NWD 9 in which Steve Peat is in the air during one of the DH rounds... and he's pedalling in the air also! Check it out...! Insane!
Rest apart, I'd give this article a 9/10. Sure it's biased, but we all love the damn sport, so cheers!
Also just for a second, picture a linebacker in the gate of a World Cup Race, hahaha that would be the most entertaining site on earth seeing a professional football or basketball player try to SURVIVE a course (I'm sure they would be wondering where the water boy is halfway down).
well written and supported.