Person mountain biking

It is cycling off the road, on a bike made to survive it. A mountain bike has wide, knobbly tyres for grip on loose ground, flat handlebars for control, low gears for steep climbs, and usually suspension to soak up bumps. The sport covers everything from a gentle ride along forest tracks to cross-country racing (laps of a hilly off-road circuit), downhill (timed runs down a steep course, often reached by lift) and enduro (timed descents with untimed climbs between them). Mountain biking is usually shortened to MTB.

The emoji takes in all of that. The rider is shown on rough ground, tilted into the terrain, which is what separates it from the road cyclist 🚴. Most people use it for recreation rather than racing: a Sunday ride with friends, a bike-park day, a holiday in the Alps or the Rockies, or the slightly smug feeling of having cycled somewhere with no tarmac at all.

The plain 🚵 is a person of unspecified gender. It also comes in man and woman forms and in five skin tones, eighteen variants in total; they all mean the same ride.

What does 🚵 mean when someone sends it?

Usually: I am going riding, I just did, or come with me. On its own, next to a time or a place, it is a plan: “trails at 9 🚵”. After a ride it is a report, often beside 💪, 😅 or a photo of mud up to the knees. In a bio or profile it simply says this person rides mountain bikes and would like you to know. People who track workouts use it as the label for an off-road ride, the way 🏃 marks a run.

There is no hidden or coded meaning. The only thing to read carefully is the mood of the words around it: 🚵 with “finally” is pride, with “tomorrow?” it is an invitation, and with 🤕 it is a crash story.