Over a Beer: Why Singletrack is the Holy Grail of Bike Riding

Editor’s Note: “Over a Beer” is a regular opinion column written by Greg Heil. While Greg is the Editor in Chief for Singletracks.com, the opinions expressed in this commentary are his alone and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Singletracks.com.

According to my Strava records, it had been almost four months since I had last ridden dry singletrack. And it had been three months since I had torn my ACL in an awkward skiing crash, leaving me with a useless leg, then a lot of pain from surgery, and then long, endless days of physical therapy and rehab.

I have to confess that through that long, arduous process of going under the knife, then re-learning how to walk and re-training my leg to bend again, that somewhere along the way I lost sight of why riding singletrack–singletrack specifically–is so special.

I mean, I knew that I was working toward being able to move around and explore and experience the outdoors again, and when I was finally cleared to start road biking and hiking, it was such a thrill–I don’t remember ever being so ecstatic on a road ride!

But during the month where I wasn’t able to ride real trails but was able to ride pavement and gravel, I somehow forgot why riding narrow singletrack is so special.

I mean, getting back to singletrack riding was always the goal, but after pedaling my mountain bike onto some flowy, smooth, beginner singletrack for the first time in four months, I couldn’t contain my excitement, the sheer bliss and ecstasy of flowing through the mountains on a narrow ribbon of dirt, my tires’ knobs digging into the soil, the swoop and the flow of the turns, the oneness with the mountains and forest around me.

See, I think I had mentally made riding the road bike and hiking good enough. And sure, those things are great, and diversifying one’s physical pursuits is the key to health and long term fitness success–more on that in another column.

But that feeling of flow, of rhythm, of navigating a narrow path with only one route forward, of the plushness and confidence afforded by a 6-inch-travel carbon fiber wunderbike… no road bike can match that. No road riding experience–gravel, pavement, or otherwise–can provide that flow and one-track focus that singletrack does.

Narrow singletrack has always been the holy grail of mountain biking. Heck, that’s what our entire website is named after! And after my inaugural singletrack ride after 4 months off, I understand why better than ever.

Culture

Family Mountain Bike Bonding: "Do you Want Stitches or a Scar?"

Culture

Over a Beer: The Inherent Dysfunction of Continued Risk Taking

Culture

Over a Beer: "What if Kids Stop Playing Outside?"

Mountain Bike Trails

Urban Trail Gentrification Bulldozes Singletrack in Atlanta. Are Your Trails Next?