My adult life truly began when I became a mountain biker. That might sound like exaggeration, but it’s true.
The most formative experiences of my life as a young adult took place on the countless days I spent rattling around trail centres with friends, pushing my skills at my school’s mountain biking club, and on early solo epics into the mountains around my hometown in the Scottish Highlands.
Mountain biking helped develop a sense of adolescent independence and identity, not to mention a deep interest in the natural environment, map reading, practical mechanical skills… in short, mountain biking meant a lot to me as a teenager, and those experiences shape who I am to this day.
Life and an opening mind gradually drew me towards road and gravel riding, but my heart truly belongs to mountain biking – a day spent riding trails still tickles a deep-seated atom of delight inside my brain that nothing else can match.
My experience is not unique, least of all among the staff here at BikeRadar – as a team, we share decades of experience as deeply passionate and, in most cases, lifelong mountain bikers. In fact, a desire to share that enthusiasm with as many people as possible is why many of us became writers in the first place.
Mountain biking continues to draw new riders of all backgrounds, ages and abilities for all of these reasons – you don’t have to search very far to find testimonials about how mountain biking can revolutionise your fitness, mental health, confidence and sense of belonging.
With all of that in mind, I’m delighted to introduce Get Into MTB – our latest themed week, produced in collaboration with our partners, Trek.
This week, we’ll be serving up the very best guidance you need to start your own mountain biking journey.
With beginner-friendly buyer’s guides, opinion pieces and riding advice, we’ll bring to you everything you need to know to begin your path towards trailside enlightenment – and let you in on why we love mountain biking so much.
