Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

I'm quite happy to admit I will never be that hard. Mad slow-speed handling skillz though.

curious use of the word 'trail' ?
admirable bike handling for sure but was waiting for some flow in it and it, just didnt come.
usual wednesday trail ride later in Purbecks if you want to come Tommy? plenty singletrack.

Old MTB is currently unridable at the new and my new, "I've spent all year buying bits for it one" is waiting on a hub and a seat clamp. Nearly there!

but was waiting for some flow in it and it, just didnt come.
Indeed. Carrying your bike up for umpteen thousand feet in order to crawl your way back down via a very, very, very long series of trials riding style switch back turns just doesn't sound like fun! Most of it looked like stuff the freeride guys would simply fly down. So technically good, physically impressive (dunno what altitude it was at but it looked high, and it certainly looked like hard work) but in these days of RedBull Rampage type antics it doesn't have a lot of 'wow' factor.

To be honest, I was watching that and thinking 'I would love to be there and have a go at that, doesn't look too bad at all'. Whereas an internet video should be making me think 'I wish I was good enough to be able to do that without dying'. Maybe I'm just not getting how vertical the 'trail' really is?

Freerider would not have ripped that up as it's too remote and no run off. If you took one section it could easily be done faster and all jumpy if you want but it's the context of that section, difficult to get medical help, if you fall you keep rolling down the rocks for a very long way, no run off e.t.c. That's what make it good in my eyes.

I personally hate redbull rampage is it just looks like such a bullshit media circus with helicopters everywhere, people being lifter to the top e.t.c e.t.c.

if you want decent mtb films then the collective and seasons are worth a look.
they look a bit like a MTB film with high production values and a bit of rapha slickness thrown in.
they manage to break the link between big hucks in deserts and heavy metal music.

but if you still want big jumps in deserts then follow me is worth watching

YouTube - Follow Me - Anthill Films - OFFICIAL 2010 MTB Trailer

^^
hmmm now thats what io call more exciting riding

4 hrs climbing to pootle down a hill side if you want to do 3mph stuff why not just go down your local car park and practice handling skills
if you want to go up a mountain for 4 hrs you may as well ride it like you meant it !

i wanna see plumes or dust gravel and mud rising of the back wheels

• disclaimer * i can't do either so i'm not dissing these fine fellows
  

Like I said it's context. People I've spoke to about climbing say they do far harder routes on an indoor climbing wall than outdoors. Risk is completely different in a different environment.

but it's the context of that section
I think that's my problem with it. It looks too much like a holiday advert to me! I love remote places :). Sure, I might not be able to clear the entire descent without putting a foot down here and there - I ain't no trials rider, just a reasonable cross country rider. But there didn't seem to be anything shown that I wouldn't have a go at. As for lack of medical support, if it is in the Alps then chances are you can still get an air ambulance helicopter up there pretty speedily.

I did a trip across the Atlas mountains last year. Very long and very tough days but awesome trip. It involved a number of sections that looked similar to that video. Not quite as high up (although we did top 10,00ft at one point) but certainly had its share of narrow trails cutting across/down very steep, very rocky mountain sides.

are there any routes in surrey hills with those wooden style ramps / trails / obstacles ? or is it just mud
they just look so fun ... even with their 20 foot drops .... eeeek i'm a pussy

try Chicksands Beds, http://www.chicksandsbikepark.co.uk/
an hour ish out of town,
if everyone reading posted one place they know the list would grow, ooh that rhymed

As for lack of medical support, if it is in the Alps then chances are you can still get an air ambulance helicopter up there pretty speedily.

Air Ambulance dose not stop you from keep on rolling down a hill. Also I don't like the attitude of call the air ambulance it's no big deal, it is a big deal, it's a very expensive and dangerous situation to pick people off of the mountain.

I don't know about in the Alps but in the UK mountain rescue are volunteers as I'm sure you're aware. Self-sufficient is the key where ever possible.

are there any routes in surrey hills with those wooden style ramps / trails / obstacles ? or is it just mud
they just look so fun ... even with their 20 foot drops .... eeeek i'm a pussy

there are some gap jumps drops but most of the woodwork has been knocked down by forestry people/ the hurtwood ranger or landowners.

there are places in Kent and Hertfordshire but they are private and invite only.

been here but too scared to ride 95% of it.

wow that looks .... complex

I'm not saying you should go somewhere expecting to call out an air ambulance. I was merely saying that 'difficult to get medical help' doesn't mean you are going to die because the nearest hospital is a hundred miles away with no roads. I 100% agree that you should always make sure you never need one. And yes, I am aware that UK mountain rescue are volunteers and are putting their own lives at risk doing what they do. As someone who is just getting into winter mountaineering, they are gods. It's nice to know they are there but I hope never to meet one (except maybe down the pub!).

That's why I like doing the stuff in the first video (I know I can have a reasonable attempt without killing myself) but watching the stuff in the second (I know I can't do that at all - broken limbs would certainly ensue).

it's mental.

even bigger wow ... with added sharp intake of breath

Hahahaa....nofuckingwayamigoingupthat

it's mental.

So I did a winter mountaineering course last Feb. One thing the instructor drilled into us at every opportunity is 'consequence of failure'. As in, what is the risk, are you taking adequate precautions, etc. Sliding two feet down a snow slope or falling off your stopped bike at ground level is a low consequence of failure - more embarrassment than injury. Falling down a deep crevasse or in this case, off a stupidly high wooden plank, is serious injury time. With such a high consequence of failure, is it really worth it? The guy in the picture isn't even wearing body armour. At least the crazy freeride people do have full face helmets and such like.

I'm surprised they haven't bothered putting big, sharp spikes at the bottom!

even bigger wow ... with added sharp intake of breath

Hahahaa....nofuckingwayamigoingupthat

do you realise that your front wheel goes on the curved bit and the back wheel has to go on the straight bit across the corner.

Or you could just endo and flick the tail or hop it around

Or you could just endo and flick the tail or hop it around

that's what Ed would do.

do you realise that your front wheel goes on the curved bit and the back wheel has to go on the straight bit across the corner.

I stand by my statement one hunnert percent.

I'm beginning to think any aspirations I have of becoming a 'proper' MTBer are going to be greatly hampered by my extreme dislike of heights.

that depends what you want MTB'ing to mean to you.
some 'mountainbikers' like to bimble along doubletrack on their rigid big wheeled bikes, some like to spend weeks building drops/jumps and live for the 1 second of airtime that their 7inch travel downhill machine gives them.
each to their own.

It's not the heights that get me, it's the (complete lack of) margin of error. On a mountainside as per that first video, if you wobble you can (try to) make sure you fall into the mountain. In the photo, no matter which way you fall you are mush. To me, that's not mountain biking that suicidal trials riding!

Plus, where's the mountain? It's not called a Tighrope Walking Bike you know.

its all about the internal risk thermometer baby,
some peoples are broken ...