Mountain bikers like single trails. Whether flowing, rooted or rocky - but preferably natural, or at least not flattened for the purpose of mountain biking. I am one of these off-road cyclists. My current favorite trails are slow, very technical and sometimes require a bit of hopping around. But that doesn't mean that I think flow trails are crap or that I would never ride them - on the contrary. I generally enjoy their existence and often ride them. Perhaps riding on "Chügelibahnen" only takes up about ten percent of my total bike time. During this time, however, I have a lot of fun, and you can have fun too, even if you thought these trails were stupid before.

1. learning to ski on black slopes

Probably the largest proportion of mountain bikers enjoy flow trails, as most of these trails can be mastered with a low level of technical riding ability. Never before have so many families been seen on bikes together as during this season, and that's a nice development! Unless you think biking families suck, then your dislike of flow trails is of course legitimate - no, even desirable (if you didn't get it, that was meant ironically)!
And to be honest, the best place to learn something is where the demands are low. Or did you make your first turns on skis on a black slope? Did you take over the management during your apprenticeship? Probably not so much - there are always exceptions, but I made my first bike attempts on a gravel road - so on less than a flow trail.

2. open up, you won't burn!

After many reactions, you might think that flow trails are bad, even evil. Sometimes you can feel a real fear that as a hard core biker, you could burn up if you ride such a trail - like a vampire that comes into contact with daylight.

The latter could be myths, because in my environment all root lovers are still alive who ever went on a Chügelibahn (marble run), including me. So give it a try, no one will be emasculated, burned or even bullied because of it.

3. Riding a flow trail is like sex

"Shit, flow trails are boring!" Sorry for this unpleasant choice of words, but this sentence is only used by experienced mountain bikers, but hardly by professionals or other technically outstanding bikers. If you have a certain level of ability, a trail like this offers no challenges - as long as you roll through passively, that's true.

Really good bikers often have an active and playful riding style. And this is where the comparison with sex as a metaphor for fun on the flow trail comes in. If you lie motionless in bed, you can't expect the sex to still be good. So get moving on these supposedly boring trails, be creative and make something of it, then the fun will automatically return along with the challenges.

Be creative? move?

Curves have a given radius with plenty of room for "digressions". For example, you can ride high in and low out and vice versa, or ride the curve tight and skip the banking completely. Another option - although the trail builders don't like to hear this - is to "schletzen" (Swiss dialect word for {slam the door}) the bend.
The latter is also a nice challenge for good riders. I admit that I lack the courage to try this maneuver with full commitment. The energy you bring into the bend can really knock you off your feet.

The video shows you how to do it properly - fast-forward half a minute if you're not interested in the author's babble.

Flow trails often have lots of waves but no obvious jumps. But if you have aviation in your blood, try skipping two waves or making small tweaks over individual waves. Still too boring? Try riding one and then several turns in a row in the manual. If you manage that, you can soon do a Wheelie-Wednesday-Featuring with Wyn Masters.

So, enough of the eulogies and words of encouragement or attempts at proselytizing. Go out and play with your bikes. I'm sure you'll suddenly have fun on the once boring trails.