Monday, October 24, 2011

Mountain biking love

There's something extra special about mountain biking.  I mean, road and cyclocross are fun too, but they will never take the place of mountain biking in my heart.  It all goes back to my roots, I guess.  As a kid I would watch the same mountain bike movies over and over again, then go outside and rip around the local trails, crashing left and right as I tried to impersonate what I had seen in the movies.

My favorites films(and maybe the only mtb movies at the time?) were the early Kranked and New World Disorders.  The best scenes were the "North Shore" segments, where Dangerous Dan, Wade Summons, and other legends would ride these crazy wooden stunts with huge drops to flat.  I just read this article on NSMB that brought back a lot of these memories.

A classic North Shore clip from "Kranked 4:  Search for the Holy Trail."  

There were a couple years as a kid when I too would build ladder-bridges and skinnies high in the trees.  Instead of in North Vancouver, however, my trails were in my parent's front yard.  I really scared the neighbors when I tried to ride one stunt for the first time and ended up tacoing my front wheel and face-planting.  I never did end up riding that one successfully, despite the whole summer of work spent building it...

I feel good knowing that I got all my crashes done early, while I was still made of rubber!  The "North Shore" era of mountain biking may have come and gone, but it will always be an important part of the progression of the sport.

If I keep going on awesome mtb rides like I did yesterday in the Chuckanuts, my cross bike is going to feel very neglected...

Classic under-the-log, through-the-rocks section of Hush Hush trail.

The new Raptor Ridge trail is superb.

 View from Raptor Ridge with Blanchard in the distance.

3 comments:

  1. I've ridden the last two weekends. We'll have to go riding soon.

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  2. Oh man, you're making me all nostalgic for Bham singletrack! We are moving Deanna to Bend this weekend and the goal is to sneak in a lap on Mackenzie River Trail after unloading everything! Should be stunning this time of the year.

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  3. Charlie, we should ride for sure! Do you ride any weekdays?

    Patrick, I really want to ride Mackenzie River trail! What is Deanna doing in Bend? You are not moving with her?

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