Funny you linked to ruok, I was listening to the radio on the way home from work this afternoon being told by someone from ruok that on average people spend 46 hours a week on screens, and only 6 hours spending time with family and friends (clearly referring to this:
https://www.ruok.org.au/new-survey-...ens-than-quality-time-with-family-and-friends). Although, I'm thinking that a lot of those 46 hours might actually be interacting with friends and family as is the norm in the modern connected age, so the numbers are probably skewed a bit to make a point.
No one is going to disagree with Dozer that the internet and social media has changed mtb, just as it has pretty much every other aspect of our lives. It's made the world smaller, but not necessarily a better place. I've got at least a decade on the likes of Dozer and Mica and remember when our home phone number was only three digits long and nosey old ladies in the exchange would be eavesdropping on your calls. I try telling my kids that I grew up with a black and white TV, shat in a long drop dunny full of rats and ate rabbits that my old man would run down on the way home and mum would stew up for dinner, and it's so far from their modern reality they just don't believe me. And I shit you not - we actually had a black and white television.
In my opinion the internet has eroded people's ability to take joy and have fulfilment from the simple moments in life; now it's all about instant news, photo/video scandals, social media outrage, and shit you couldn't care less about. But, I get that this is the modern age and change is inevitable and I'm not quite the old fossil hobbling around wheezing 'when I was a boy...' through toothless gums just yet and am still enjoying the ride. There seemed to be a lot more pleasure in the simpler aspects of life 30 years ago, but back then your life was probably lived in a bubble around 50km in radius and you were oblivious to the rest of the world. Shining a torch down into the pit of that long drop shithouse and seeing rats the size of blue heelers gnawing on your still steaming loaf contributed so much more to a life less worldly. Ok, that's probably a bad example.
Bike wise, not so much history; always loved being in the outdoors and bikes were pretty much your only mode of transport as a kid, but until more recently never thought to mix the two and ever imagined being on two wheels in the bush could be such an enjoyable experience. I absolutely wish I could turn back the clock 20 years and have been riding since - I know I'd be a better person for it. I do appreciate Mica's comment that despite the increasing popularity of the sport, there's always room for more. I'm probably that stereotypical middle aged twat that can't ride for shit that you all loathe to come across on the trails, but you're still friendly toward me anyway. These inclusive attitudes and the conversations here are far more interesting than Bieber, Kardashians, Real Housewives of bumfuck and the rest of the diarrhea you get sprayed with on FB or elsewhere online.
Enough said - I'll leave you long-time riders with this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV3d6sN01a8
(fast forward to 1:34 for the best bit)
