Am I the only one who doesn’t find the idea of indoor “mtb” riding appealing?
I think it’s a great idea! I’ve been playing with the idea of visiting the facility in TO sometimes.
Would I rather be out in the woods riding on dirt? Absolutely!
That does look like a pile of fun though! Great for a rainy day or in early spring.
Don’t get me wrong if I had the opportunity I’d give it a go. Just can’t see going on any kind of regular basis, I feel like it would get boring quick. I get it if you’re into bmx or jumping mtb but not on a regular mtb.
Yeah, not really feeling it. I’d rather be outside.
Decent skills building when the trails are wet, I suppose.
Looks like it might be fun once in a while. I think it would start to suck pretty quickly if there were more than a couple of people there though.
At the end of the day as long as it didn’t take away from the resources needed to maintain and build new natural trails I would be all for it. Give me more places to ride at the end of the day.
Yeh, I’m pretty sure this is something I would never do.
I’m a bit surprised by some of the attitudes here.
I’ve been to both Ray’s indoor mountain bike and Joyride 150. You have to remember that Toronto is not Halifax, nature is not a stone’s throw away and once it snows, there is often little opportunity to get back on the trails until (late) spring. Also, when I’ve gone, it’s often mostly kids and teenagers. The next generation of riders that may or may not have made onto single track yet but they are getting hooked to bikes!
As an adult mountain biker, it’s a great environment for progression, as you are more likely to try sessioning new things instead of riding around them, because you’re not in the middle of a 1 hour loop by yourself. The vibe is also great, it’s a great place to watch riders more talented than yourself, or to spend time as a group with vastly different abilities.
My 2 cents!
I’ve been to Joyride and had a blast.
Yes, getting away into the woods and mountains is what mountain biking is all about, but on rainy, slushy days this would sure beat sitting on a trainer (or a road bike when trails are wet).
Plus, you can practice skills in a controlled environment. Skills practice on natural terrain can be difficult, because natural terrain has so many combo features (e.g. practicing steeps, ledges, or turns, whereas natural terrain features often combine features - a steep, with a ledge, and turn at the bottom.
Honestly, given the technical nature of our riding here, there were not too many of our technical features there - not too many rock or root gardens, but there were a few. I don’t remember many ledges to practice on, or steeps. There were lots of skinny lines and lots of variations to try out.
Plus, I love pumptracks, and enjoyed the two main pumptracks (the rider in the video snuck in a few pedal strokes, and didn’t really use the berms to their advantage). Pumptracks can really help to learn and practice making use of the terrain to your advantage - pumping a trail for speed, and using the sides of the trail for cornering, or to help control speed.
I’m not much of a jumper, but I did do the beginner and intermediate jump lines. And the foam pit. Only had time to do the foam pit once, and it was tough getting out of it. The foam blocks make it hard to move, I was stuck on my back for a bit, until I cleared a few blocks away, and I found it exhausting getting out. Next time, a couple of practice runs, then a backflip.
Next time, I’d like to have both my trailbike, and my jump mountain bike. You can do different things on both.
Here are a couple of screencaps from videos of my visit to Joyride. First shot screencap is a fuzzy picture of me about to launch into the foam pit. The second is me on the beginner jumps. You can see the XC loop in the background above the jumps running around the building. Intermediate jumps are in the background. There’s a ledge drop in the foreground bottom right, and you can just see a few of the skinnies on the left. Note that I’m rockin’ the Pedaltrout jersey.
I have been both to Joyride and Rays in Cleveland and I can say that I love them both. They are super fun to ride in the dead of winter and I just can’t get enough of their perfectly smooth jump packs. Would I ride there everyday though… no probably not, but for a winter get-away their a blast!