OK… all outdoor sport needs to be taken back from the Serious People.
Bike Parties have started to do this, working from the urban core on out to S24O’s and Coffee Camps. — Gaining THOUSANDS of new bikers, mostly people who had found NO PLACE in the outdoor establishment before their casual rides showed up.
We’re also pushing Ski Parties and Paddle Parties — where we turn outings into mellow romps that feature more than just a laser-focus on one thing.
Next stop: Mt-biking! Yes, it’s time to bring the lollygagging back to the dirt. Yeah, it might seem kinda silly, and even dangerous and irresponsible in our current climate… but the more *helmetless* riders we get out onto trails the better the scene is gonna be. Yeah, I know, this is one place where “everyone” agrees that head-armor is needed. But actually they’re wrong. It’s time to let the freak flag fly. All armor GONE. Like it was before. When it was casual … and more popular and inclusive and cheap. It’s also time for more Regular Clothes on trails. What I really mean is let’s just start going SLOWER on any of all those millions of mtbikes out there that don’t actually get ridden, much less on dirt. So, if you have a bike with tires that have some cush and some tread, go for a dirt toodle. No need to get carried away. Anyone can do it. And if you do it like anyone might want to do it, then they’re gonna do it!
Even if you have a tour-bike, or a road-bike: go find some dirt. It’s usually smooth and for the bumps just let the thing hobby-horse. Everywhere else around the world people use roadbikes on dirt if dirt is part of where they wanna go. It won’t hurt you or your bike. Yeah, you won’t be able to be Extreme, but most dirt isn’t and you aren’t either so don’t worry.
And bring a picnic. Not a powerbar or chem-potion. A pear, bleu cheese and white wine.
And simply don’t go any faster than you’re OK crashing. That’s how all biking, etc., should be anyway. Coz that’s the way it is.
Sure, there’ll always be room in the scene for the hard-core. And anyone can switch-hit all they like. Hardcore is a fun, too. But most of the public isn’t serious, and outdoor sport is suffering bigtime these days. It’s in decline and in many aspects it’s aging-out.
Bro-fever is taking it down!
Ha!
Think about it: What does outdoor sport need? It needs to easily fit the big part of the bell curve. And it needs inputs from all sectors, especially ones that aren’t playing right now.
Who do we need in particular: YOUTH, WOMEN and MINORITIES.
I’m not against the sausage-fest per se. Dudes have as much fun as anyone. But it’s the macho serious angle that most of the public can’t relate to. Big-air armored intensity is only for a tiny few — who are gonna get hurt real soon.
Let’s pile on and add White and Rich as demographics we gotta get beyond.
Ya might as well throw Old in there, too.
They aren’t the demographics that can pump outdoor fun in a global economy. Or even a local one.
We’re not just talking small declines here. We have entire sporting sectors that will soon be GONE. They have basically recruited NOBODY.
Yet because it’s easy to make Big-Air Dudes look good in a pic or vid that’s how our scenes are marketed. Remember: marketing is done in the way that’s cheapest and easiest with the smallest staff. Also, it’s 90% copycat. So this is the image of outdoor sport that we have and that we’re starting from. Also, as a scene declines and becomes poorer, marketers become more desperate and have even less room to be creative so there’s even more big-air and blatant pandering to cliches!
I remember about in 1990 when XC skiing decided that it just wasn’t going to grow and so the only way to stay afloat was to keep selling high end gear every few years to the elite converts. Get skiers to buy into “freshness dating” for top-shelf skis. Mine the existing 1000 customers you have coz you won’t be getting new ones. Give up. Look inward.
I know of big rich bike clubs that have long tried to think of ways to recruit but nothing has worked and so they’ve decided to just be happy the way they are. In a few years they’ll be gone.
I don’t blame any of these folks. But we can try having fun in new ways and see what happens.
Look to the SIGNS OF LIFE! …The Outdoor Party scenes that I’ve mentioned seem to have potential. So let’s keep spreading the word around about them!
I know that Extreme Events are also catching on, often in huge numbers. They have a place! But it is kind of a spooky feeling to be in a huge group hammering along with nobody chatting. If everyone just kicked it back 10% it could be a party. And “team challenge” events and obstacle events are also booming. There’s room for everything! But make sure the bell-curve isn’t missing!
We had a big local trail ride that built up to 50 riders then developed hammer-fever then steadily declined until there were just 2 riders killin’ each other every week and then they just quit. … A friend has restarted this ride and made it no-drop, no-hammer, and added a swim, and a potluck, and a music jam. …He wears a baseball hat backwards on the rides. Yeah, it’s not infinitely expandable due to the size of his backyard deck but he’s onto something.
Just start doing more lollygagging in whatever you do. Kickin’ back. At least once a week! Include more in an outing than just the thing itself. Include a picnic, if possible a swim. Maybe some poetry or art. Even if it’s a “workout” ! … And somehow figure out how to tell more folks about it, too. Let’s not hide our light under a bushel. Yeah, we’ve been doing this and trying to spread the word and it hasn’t worked around here — but I know it’s fun and that it’s working in a LOT of places. So I’m never going back. Actually, I never left!
Yeah, back in the day when I was gung-ho for racing it was actually gauche to say we were “training.” And we didn’t wear sunglasses because that would be “hiding.” And lycra was embarrassing (at first). And “hammering” was what idiots did — it would make you slower. And we’d play pranks on rides. And sometimes someone would sing an aria and even if it was just being funny it sounded good. And we’d stop for icecream after the weekly easy ride. And we HAD a weekly easy ride that juniors and beginners WOULD join. And Coach Walden said to go for a mellow stroll every evening, so we did. And we resisted cyclometers and heart-rate-monitors. And it wasn’t about the bike. …Though the bike had to be beautiful.
