Since we first entered lockdown almost one year ago, mountain biking has unsurprisingly become even more of a controversial pass-time.
With the government restrictions allowing for one hour of 'local' exercise per day we found every trip to a trail was openly debated and criticised by anyone near enough to offer an opinion, and once you arrived at your destination you spend your day dodging an army of dog walkers and errant children.
This hasn't been helped by the closure of dedicated cycling spaces and indeed outdoor recreational spaces, forcing everyone onto the same track in some bizarre anomaly of logic whereby reducing the space available apparently helps keep them apart? We've never experienced so many day-dreaming day-packers hiking their way up downhill tech lines, or giving each other a leg up to climb a table jump you're just about to hit
Finally, with the end of lockdown in sight we can start planning trips and group rides out to our favourite trail centres and bike parks (once they've fully opened!). We can once again send it without people muttering about the NHS. We can finally welcome the return of sweaty, dusty days out in the woods with your mates, lunches of Haribo and cans of Monster, and car-park skills contests, and maybe in time for summer!
Where are you going first?