For me mountain biking forces me to be in the moment and all stress, worry, anxiety, anger, or anything else melts away into the trail behind me as my focus is on the trail in front of me. With the amount of focus it takes to rip down technical sections, or any section for that matter, there isn't much room left in your head for any negative thoughts or emotions. The bike, the trail, and I flow together into a place in my mind where nothing else exists. When I find myself heading to the trail to find peace rather than enjoyment the relief is only temporary, but I find when I'm done riding, I usually have an entirely different view of whatever the situation was that I was temporarily trying to escape. And other days when I'm not feeling like an intense ride I take it slow and just go enjoy nature.
Besides the mental benefits mountain biking is my favorite form of exercise. It's almost a full body workout complete with cardio. My favorite kind of cardio... well... really the only cardio I get in. It also covers the muscles in the legs, core, and upper body. I enjoy the feeling after getting a good workout in but I'm not a big fan of moving weights around to get it and mountain biking can really leave the muscles tired and burning. Beyond physical fitness it improves balance and coordination.... or so they say... on a bike I'm coordinated but you wouldn't believe it if you saw me trip over my own feet while walking on a straight flat surface which happens more often than I would like to admit.
Lastly, I find mountain biking to be a sport that no matter how good you are or how much you accomplish there is never really a peak that you will hit and there will always be something bigger and better to achieve which makes it feel like it will never get boring. I find myself constantly craving the risk of stomping a new difficult trail, bigger jump, or harder feature. Before I really got into actual mountain biking, I couldn't really understand why people, specifically people who ride strictly for enjoyment and not as a professional riding earning an income, would take risks that could result in minor to severe injury or in worst case scenarios death, for a reward that is simply just a boost of adrenaline. It almost becomes an addiction that seems to eventually rewire the risk vs reward part of your brain.
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