COSports - Cycling

Mountain Bike Lingo Lesson

Learn to talk the talk while you're raging down the mountain. Useful terms that every rider should know.

Dictionary
anchor (n.): A spouse or significant other who prevents you from riding with impunity. (Best not used within earshot of said anchor.)
astro boy (n.): A rider launched into unexpected flight.
baby heads (n.): Rocks the size of a newborn's cranium. Often results in bacon.
bacon (n.): Long, nasty scabs caused by falls. Also, trail jerky.
bolt-on (n.): A woman with a surgically enhanced front end . Derives from aftermarket bike parts that are bolted on.
butt ruff (n.): Terrain that isn't tough enough to ride out of the saddle but is excruciatingly painful to ride seated.
dipped (v.): To be happy. "I'll be dipped in doo."
e-ticket (adj.): A great, major hairball ride. Derives from the old ticket system at Disneyland.
half-track (n.): An overgrown trail that doesn't meet even the minimum definition of singletrack.
JRA: Bike shop slang for "just riding around". How cyclists invariably describe to a clerk the mysterious sequence of events that led to a folded-up fork or some other warranty claim.
pimp (n.): A bike-shop employee who has a bad habit of trying to sell product on the trail. Also a know-it-all who's constantly bragging about his new rig or latest gadget.
POW (n. or v.): A strong rider who gets stuck on a lame group ride.
prune (v.): To use your bike or helmet to unintentionally remove shrubbery from a trail.
soil sample (n.): An update on the more traditional face plant.
tea party (n.) When a group of riders stops to chitchat and nobody is in a rush to get going again.
three-hour tour (n.): A Sunday spin that mutates into a death march. Derives from the neoclassic Gilligan's Island theme song.
wang chung (n.): What a male rider risks if he stops his bike suddenly and his stem has no padding (a.k.a. nard guard).
winky (n.): A reflector, typically frowned upon by serious riders. "Stylin' winky set, Spankster!"