2026 Riding Season is Here
The last couple of seasons, something has shifted for me in my riding, and I didn’t really see it coming. I wanted to share a little about that with y'all
April always feels like a reset in my riding.
The trails dry out, the daylight stretches a little longer, and without really noticing it, the question shifts from “should I ride?” to “where am I riding today?” There’s something about this time of year that pulls me back in, even if I've been off the bike more than I’d like to admit over the winter.
With the season opening up, there are a few of the usual changes worth keeping in mind. Landslide Loop and Sideshow both reopen on April 1, and Polecat flips back to its clockwise direction. These are the kinds of things most of us know, but also the kinds of things that are easy to forget in the excitement of getting back out there.
The last couple of seasons, something has shifted for me in my riding, and I didn’t really see it coming. I wanted to share a little about that with y'all.
When I first bought my Intense Carbine, I was all in on bike park riding. Eagle Bike Park, Boise Bike Park, and Bogus Basin Gravity Park laps, chasing speed, chasing features, chasing that feeling of progression. It was a lot fun, and honestly it was exactly what I needed at that season in my life.
But somewhere along the way, I have noticed I've started drifting toward XC riding. Longer rides, linking trails together, exploring sections I used to overlook because they weren't fast enough or technical enough. I'm finding I love less seasoning a feature and more curiosity in my riding. Instead of focusing on a single feature or trail, I've started exploring how everything connects, how far I can go, what kind of ride I could build out of trails that I haven't put together before.
Just yesterday I went out to Polecat with a simple goal, just ride the outer loop before the change in direction without stopping. No big workout plan, no content angle for social, just a new goal to push myself in a new way. And I ended my ride with a huge smile on my face and feeling incredibly satisfied with my riding. I found myself pushing when it made sense and sometimes when it didn't, backing off when I needed to recover, and actually enjoying the outer loop instead of just getting through it.
That’s probably the best way I can describe how this season feels so far.
It feels new again.
It’s easy for this sport to start feeling repetitive if we let it. Same trails, same loops, same habits. We can find what works and we can stay there. But there’s a lot more out here than what we default to, and sometimes it just takes a small shift to see it again.
I think that’s what I’m most excited about this year, getting back to that sense of exploration. Not riding harder or faster, just riding differently. Letting curiosity lead more than routine.
If you’ve been feeling stuck in the same loops, this might be the season to change something small. Try linking trails you haven’t connected before. Ride with a different goal. See what happens if you approach a familiar ride in a new way.
Forever Two Wheels!
-Myles