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MTB
10 mini fist pump moments every mountain biker knows
The little moments that get mountain bikers weirdly excited about their ride!
This article isn’t about those moments. Instead, it's about the little things that can make your day and get you going; that give you the motivation to keep slogging up that mountain, or to get back up and try again after you’ve decked yourself on the same jump three times in a row.
1. When you go over something sharp and don’t get a flat
You’re on a mountain bike ride. You’re bound to be taking on a lot of rocks, and among those rocks are bound to be some small, mean and razor sharp guys waiting to attack your tyres.
The feeling of going over a bumpy section like this and hearing a dodgy noise come out from behind you is a real gut-wrencher. Turning around to see your back wheel still intact, though, is one of the most relieving things that can happen on a ride.
2. When you're building a new trail feature and realise it’s basically there
Making the effort to do trail work can be time consuming, challenging, muddy and unrewarding. It’s unlikely you’ll be getting handshakes from other mountain bikers no matter how good a job you do, or how many hours you’ve put in amid rain, wind or hail-soaked mud.
Why do it then? Well, because someone has to, and more importantly, because you want to ride whatever you’re building. That’s where you get your payback. Hours spent crafting a beautiful berm or a new kicker are all worth it when it’s finally finished and you flow perfectly though the build. Even before then though, there’s a mini fist pump for that first time you try it out and you can feel it start to flow just how you want it – giving your motivation to finish it a swift boost.
3. When it rains and you remembered your waterproof jacket
Let's be honest, there is something deeply satisfying when you're out on the trails and the rain starts to fall, but you know you've got a waterproof jacket neatly tucked away in your bag. A smile will come to your face as soon as you feel that first drop of rain, and once you've got it on, even a storm couldn't wipe it off.
4. When you do a really cool skid
Slamming on your mountain bike's rear brake is often not very good for the trail you’re on. And it’s definitely not the best way to go around corners. But you know what it is? Fun.
Skidding is a rush of blood to the head, and takes you back to when you first practised them as a kid. You take joy and excitement from it because it’s just that little bit sketchy and forbidden. And when it happens on the trail, it’s liable to make you produce a loud, embarrassing noise, and give you an adrenaline rush that’ll last to your fist pump at the bottom.
5. Sarnie pitstop
Pitstop time, rest and refuel
© Christoph Oberschneider
If there is one thing liable to make any human being happy at any point in time, it is finding themselves hungry, and then remembering that they have brought a packed lunch. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances; remembering you have food in your bag is a happiness that all of humanity can relate to.
6. When you realise you’ve still got lower gears left
You have been going up this hill for what seems like all eternity. Your legs are struggling, your mind is breaking – and then you look down and see that you’re only halfway through your gears when you thought you’d already used them all up.
You are saved. You do a metaphorical fist pump as you switch down a gear and your legs kick into action, your bike accelerating up and over the hill.
7. Unexpected uplifts
There’s a sense of achievement in summiting a climb; when you’ve given all you’ve got to reach the top of the trails, you’ve really earned your downhill.
But that’s what so great about an uplift – particularly an unexpected uplift. An uplift is cheating and is turning up expecting to have to put your legs to hard work only to find a machine offering to do all the hard stuff for you.
So go ahead, breathe that sigh of relief when you see the uplift truck or gondola. High five your friends, go directly to the top of the mountain and collect your downhill.
8. When a new mini-shortcut comes out in the perfect place
You’re riding your regular trail and you thought you knew it like the back of your hand. But you spot a new opportunity – a new path through the woods. You take it, and dive into 300m of roots and rocks, weaving through the trees, before getting dropped off further down the trail, exactly where you hoped you would. You can’t fist pump because you've got both hands on the bars, so you make a large feral whooping noise and continue on.
9. Riding into a shielded forest on a wet, windy day
The weather is often unpredictable on the mountains and in the hills – there’s a reason they call it the wild. The great outdoors will hit you with everything it has, but if you get to know it properly – all the nooks and crannies – then it can be a shelter as well.
Riding on a freezing cold day on exposed hills where the rain is coming at you from more angles than you thought physically possible, there’s nothing more satisfying than rolling into a forest sheltered from it all, where the wind and rain is blocked. The world goes silent, the wet pellets stop and the only noise you hear is your wheels on the mud below.
10. Seeing the sun start to peek through the clouds
The chances of ever leaving for a ride when its blue skies and perfect weather are so rare that it’s not even really a mini fist pump moment – it’s a fully fledged reason to celebrate.
On those dark winter days when you set off with no sunlight in the sky and the rain's coming in on the horizon, you expect to be riding against the conditions as well as the trail. But what's this? The sun's starting to peak out against all odds. The rain cloud has gone the other way. The wind has stayed put. That's more than enough reason for a little fist pump before enjoying your ride.
