Sure… doesn’t everyone who loves collecting vintage and antique cameras enjoy spinning the pedals on singletrack? I didn’t get the bug for mountain biking until age 44 which, in hindsight, was a crying shame. So many prime physical fitness years wasted! Of course, “prime physical fitness”, being a relative term.

I almost literally stumbled upon mountain biking by sheer happenstance. I remember riding through my neighborhood, and in the nearby parks as a kid. Later, as a father of two, buying bicycles for the kids was almost a requirement. Unfortunately, where our kids grew up wasn’t necessarily the most bike-friendly/safe surroundings, so the kids didn’t end up spending a lot of time on two wheels.

Later, when my son was about 14 or so, we decided to dust off the two Mongoose “mountain” bikes we had purchased from Walmart a few years earlier. About 15-20 minutes from our home, there’s a paved “streamway” system of paths that run a considerable distance through a nearby county. Throwing the bikes in the back of our truck, we headed out to a streamway trailhead and set out on a ride. Eventually, we stumbled across what appeared to be a dirt trail off the paved pathway. Feeling adventurous, we turned off the asphalt and onto the dirt. We were never certain if it was a “sanctioned” trail but, in short order, I was hooked on “mountain” biking.

I put “mountain” in quotes due to the fact that we live in the flatlands of the Midwest. Perhaps the term “singletrack” biking is more accurate? At any rate, the joy of pedaling on two wheels through the dirt, rocks and trees was quickly impressed upon me. Over the next few weeks, we took the “Mongeese” / “Walgeese” (as we affectionately referred to our Walmart bikes) to a couple legitimate singletrack trails.

A short time later, my son and I are in a bike shop, looking over legitimate mountain bikes. And a few weeks after that we’re picking up two Trek 29ers and heading toward a local trail. We were amazed how a proper mountain bike transformed our riding experience! I, in particular, was hooked.

My son and I enjoyed a few years of semi-regular rides together after that. Of course, as is often the case, my son began riding with me less frequently as school, work and friends took more and more of his time. Fortunately, that didn’t dull my enthusiasm for riding singletrack and I continued to visit various local trails when I could.

Eventually, I attempted to coax my wife into trying the dirt life with me. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of choosing the wrong type of bike for her for the type of riding we were doing. So my first attempt to entice her into the singletrack world would be an inevitable failure.

Still, she was a real trooper by agreeing to rent mountain bikes during a West coast vacation and take a couple days riding trails in Santa Cruz, California. That was a watershed moment for her, as a truly legitimate, high-end mountain bike gave her a completely different riding experience from the hybrid bike we had tried for her previously.

Not long after that vacation, we ended up buying her the same model she had pedaled around the hills of Santa Cruz. With a proper tool in her possession, we began spending more and more time riding together as she grew to truly enjoy mountain biking.