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What was your turning point?

BigBoi

Monkey
Oct 31, 2011
310
50
Long Island, NY
Growing up in the Denver area, I have been in love with mtn biking since around 1990 and bmx before that. My 1st real mtn bike was a Diamondback Axis, which I soon put a Mag 20 on as well as Panaracer Smoke tires to make it fully legit.
I have been a longtime subscriber of Mtn Bike Action and have always loved to ride xc. That love has dwindled and been rekindled throughout my life depending on where I was living and what I was focusing on.
However, a few years ago two things changed that.

I was riding down the street when some dude on a DH bike came flying over some bushes and nearly knocked me off my xc bike. We pedalled together for a bit and talked about where we like to ride and so on. But this guy was rad!
He could ride a wheelie forever, pogo on his front wheel, and ride on anything in his way.
He inspired me to get a new bike and ride as much as possible.

I then bought a 575 ( in 2007) the next week and my LBS gave me a copy of ROAM to go with my new bike.
Since then I have been absolutely hooked on DH and FR. It's almost all I think about, do, and think about doing.
So thank you rad dude! And thank you ROAM!

Do you have anyone/thing that you would like to thank?
 

MinorThreat

Turbo Monkey
Nov 15, 2005
1,630
41
Nine Mile Falls, WA
Mountain biking was just amusing cross-training for me until I discovered downhill/downhill racing. I guess I have to thank Beacon Hill in Spokane and all of the then-guerilla trail builders for opening my eyes.
 

UiUiUiUi

Turbo Monkey
Feb 2, 2003
1,378
0
Berlin, Germany
been riding XC on and off since 1990, first bike was a used Fat Chance Yo Eddy :D
still have that one, it just needs some work, oh well...
then in 1998 a friend of mine asked me to accompany him to the Kaprun Downhill World Cup.


i was hooked!
bought a Nicolai Virus (whooping 95mm of travel) a few weeks later and it's all downhill from there...

sadly it seems my riding carreer might end this year, we will see... wish me luck with the recovery of my hands... :)
 

-BB-

I broke all the rules, but somehow still became mo
Sep 6, 2001
4,254
28
Livin it up in the O.C.
Riding for a day or two at Northstar on my Schwinn Homegrown HT. Then, in 2000, I bought a used 1999Ellsworth Dare. Started hucking off loading docks and stair sets... (Snapped the frame of course). The rest is history.
 

bdamschen

Turbo Monkey
Nov 28, 2005
3,377
156
Spreckels, CA
Had been riding mountain bikes with my dad since 86, always loved the descents the best. We had heard you could take the ski lift up and ride down in Mammoth in like 91 or so. It was awesome so we kept going back each year and seeing people and technology progress, but I couldn't afford anything other than 1 xc bike. I remember standing next to a couple of dudes in the line for the gondola while one was talking about how his new tire felt more sketchy than his old one at around 40 mph on the kamikaze. That sounded so freakin cool to my 12 year old brain that I convinced my dad that we should go rock our cantilever braked hard tails down that trail. My hands cramped and I had to move over for like 5 dudes and my dad smoked me because he weighed more but by the bottom I was hooked for good.
 

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,596
5,894
in a single wide, cooking meth...
Gary Fisher. Had a Sugar, and kept breaking the chain stay yoke, so I ordered a Heckler. After months of BS delays from SC (i.e. the original "2 weeks" bike), I got fed up and just got a Bullit off the showroom floor. A Shiver, couple Mag 30's, and a bunch of sh!tty Azonic components later, I was crushing loading docks everywherez. I also drunk watched Cranked 5 about 100 times, and thought Super T was the most radical person alive not named Mr. T
 
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Sghost

Turbo Monkey
Jul 13, 2008
1,038
0
NY
For gravity: Lars Tribus, Plattekill, and the Evil team (I don't remember your names).
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,289
5,029
Ottawa, Canada
I think it was more of a gradual development than a tipping point, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was the Kranked premiere in my town, coupled with early Bike magazine pieces on riding the North Shore... I always liked the DH better on XC rides, and those two events really opened my eyes to what was possible. Then a couple of road trips to Bromont and that was it... I was hooked.
 

EVIL JN

Monkey
Jul 24, 2009
491
24
Berrecloth in stunt junkies was what really sparked my interest, then watching sam hill in variuos clips got me properly hooked on dh but i still enjoy every kind of riding. Although the descents are more fun than the climbs.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
Mt Snow in 1996 on a Super V 700 with horrible brakes and Platty in 1998 or 1999 on a Fulcrum DH. i knew after those trips, i didnt want to climb hills on my XC bike anymore despite tackling those mountains on less then stellar bikes
the Chain Reaction videos were dope since there was a lot of east coast riding.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Probably Palmer. I was a snowboarder since young age when Palmer was on the top and it was the first time I've heard of DH. Later I visited a local bike fest as an xc racer.
 

Huck Banzai

Turbo Monkey
May 8, 2005
2,523
23
Transitory
Plattekill 2002.

Before that I rode mighty agressive XC, had been to 'pre-diablo' and was happy just raging trails.


THEN a friend convinced me to come ride Plattekill Oct 2002, Pouring rain, 3" travel, V brakes.......



.... I ordered my Bullit when I got home.
 

yopaulie

Monkey
Jun 4, 2009
165
7
NH
It was my first DH race, Mt Snow in 2001/2002? I didn't know what the Yardsale section was until I was in the line up (1st prctice run) waiting my turn....coolest thing ever.....although I never made it through cleanly that year!
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,157
359
Roanoke, VA
Accidentally taking runs during pro practice at an NCS race as a 13 year old had me scared off of DH racing for a while. When Giove bunnyhopped my head while I was smashing it into the ground I knew that it'd be hard not to improve. Canti brakes, 1.25" rigid forks and a complete lack of experience made the general experience pretty ****. The kid i got a ride with ended up in the hospital for two weeks after puncturing his lungs, that didn't help much.

I ended up being on the sidelines of most major DH and DS races for the next 6 years as a spectator since I was usually one of the only XC racers on teams full of downhillers. That means I got to spend a little time on the horrible dh bikes that used to exist and raced a couple of nationals when I had a bikes to borrow.

I started racing DH after my performance plateaued(fizzled?) in XC racing 10 years later. Another 9 years removed from that I've burnt out on racing another time and am nursing myself back into health by slamming ruts until I cry.
 

was?

Monkey
Mar 9, 2010
268
30
Dresden, Germany
there never has been anything close to a turning point for me. maybe not beeing able to train enough, because of time constrains, to keep up with my am-buddies and have fun on longer rides. i had a fairly long break from riding bikes between 2002 and 2008, i spent that time mostly with climbing, traveling and smoking weed...
had to stop climbing because some of my joints were giving out and got back on the bike, since then the gravity fed parts have subsequently taken over.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,573
24,191
media blackout
Accidentally taking runs during pro practice at an NCS race as a 13 year old had me scared off of DH racing for a while. When Giove bunnyhopped my head while I was smashing it into the ground I knew that it'd be hard not to improve. Canti brakes, 1.25" rigid forks and a complete lack of experience made the general experience pretty ****. The kid i got a ride with ended up in the hospital for two weeks after puncturing his lungs, that didn't help much.

I ended up being on the sidelines of most major DH and DS races for the next 6 years as a spectator since I was usually one of the only XC racers on teams full of downhillers. That means I got to spend a little time on the horrible dh bikes that used to exist and raced a couple of nationals when I had a bikes to borrow.

I started racing DH after my performance plateaued(fizzled?) in XC racing 10 years later. Another 9 years removed from that I've burnt out on racing another time and am nursing myself back into health by slamming ruts until I cry.
Mickey, have I ever told you that you should write a book?
 
Aug 25, 2011
526
0
West Milford, NJ, 'MERICA
My neighbor down the street had passed away
And the new neighbor had moved in
He was awesome! He raced Quads in the pro class and Rode DH like a champion
Now set yourself as a 10 year old kit who knows squat about bikes( that is me)

We had some jumps built and this guy could huck them to flat, now at the time when someone overshot something and went big it was just the coolest thing in the world. He has been riding off these drops in our neighborhood that were about 3-4 feet tall, HUGE. In those times, it was certain death and "Broken Wrists" if we had hit something that big and this guy could just do it without any problem
Just blew my mind, I had no clue about suspension of anything and just watching the bike bob when it landed and the rider not feel a thing just left me stunned!

He had a neighbor my age who had an aniki at the Time, I used to go riding with him and his uncle who had the Sunday. Just they could hit stuff and bounce, was the coolest thing ever!

I then bought my first DH bike at 10, it was a Specialized Big Hit Spec and at the time to me was the coolest thing.

Ever since then I havent stopped riding and dont plan too

Thanks to me neighbor moving in I have spent thousands on bikes and is now like a drug, I may need a 12 step program for addicts!
 

Tetreault

Monkey
Nov 23, 2005
877
0
SoMeWhErE NoWhErE
started riding bmx as a kid, then i seen ryan leech in some video, circa 2001 or so kind of thing and it intrigued my interest that these types of riding even existed. Stayed on a bmx till 2003 and then bought a norco hardtail. rode the piss out of it at the skate park, dirt jumps, hucking it to flat off of things. Then it just grew from there and got into all types of riding, still bmx, 26 hardtails, dh, am, xc, fixie, basically anything that puts a smile on my face and some hair on my chest (minus the fixie thing, thats just fun when you drunk)
 

mrbigisbudgood

Strangely intrigued by Echo
Oct 30, 2001
1,380
3
Charlotte, NC
I never felt "at home" riding/racing XC, being the BMX Bandit/RAD disciple that I am. Spandex, Onza, purple parts......just not for me.

I guess it would be '98 or '99 that I went to CABDA and really got to see/touch/sit on/ride DH bikes for the first time......and they felt so right.