How mountain biking ruined my life

Some weeks ago I was sitting having a pizza with my best friend Jason. He is a copywriter for an advertising agency and I manage an e-commerce web site. Jason was a pro motocross rider for many years and has now joined the downhill mountain biking fold of which I have been a part for many years. As we sat there chewing off hanging bits of mozzarella I posed a question to him: Would he let his kids do motocross or mountain biking like we do? We are both passionate proponents of our sports and yet we both sat silent pondering what is in fact a very difficult question.

You see these sports have in many ways ruined our lives and that being the case, if we were to have kids, would we want them to participate in these sports. The problem is this: What can ever compare to laying a 250cc MX Bike flat around a corner - holding it pinned as you approach the take off of to 60 foot double? Or hooking fourth in the middle of a whoop section? What could ever surpass the pure thrill of launching a six-foot drop doing 40mph from a fire road into a section of tree and rock lined single track? Could any music, any food or even sex beat carving a switchback section deep in a forest with only the sound of your scrambling tires and your shrieking buddies to break the silence?

When we aren't riding we are thinking of riding. Our best dreams include at least one drop or gap. Sitting looking at your bike beats looking at the TV and servicing your forks makes for a good nights entertainment.

On our way to a national some weeks ago Jason and I were driving through some beautiful scenery - huge mountains and hills and forests are what some would see - we saw triples, doubles, step-ups and drop-offs. Even nature is ruined! I can't even do a forest walk or hike without assuming the invisible handle-bar position and carving around the corners making skidding noises! It's sad. It's pathetic.

Then there is work and relationships. How on earth is one supposed to get excited about work? No matter what that work is, when you are a rider it sucks. How can one give a relationship what it needs when most of the time you are with your girlfriend - you'd rather be with your bike? Hell, we all know how hard it can be not shouting out an ex-girlfriends name during those intimate moments, but us riders have to deal with not shouting out "kona" as well.

So if I was able to father a child without being thrown out of bed for calling my wife Norco, would I encourage him to ride bike? Damn straight I would. Written by J C-B Justin rides his bike and logs onto nsmb in Johannesburg South Africa