Mountain Biking - To flow or not to flow

Well today I decided to try my hand at skinnies. Weather was dry and I hadn't hit up the small shore trail this year. My cousin and I hop into section 1 and we get destroyed. It is harder, more technical and more rougher than the other sections. Those who have ridden stunted trails know you need to find your flow or you will never ride much. I just couldn't get it. Partially, my first time on it this year and partially using a hardtail. BEing real laddars they are very rough and uneven and make torquing on a ht difficult. That AND I was basically running a SS 32x17 cause I couldn't shift any easier and there was no point shifting harder. We come to the second exit, and I decide to pull out, too dangerous riding with no flow and just not any fun (stopping every 10 ft sucks ass).

My cousin and I decide to go hit some regular trails. Without flow I can at least ride some normal technical stuff and hit some dh sections. I finally got onto some normal trails, hit some longish steep descents and got my flow back. Rode for a couple of hours and hit some drops. A couple of lessons learned.

1 - skip section 1 until I get back into stunt mode
2 - do a warmup trail to get the spin down
3 - buy a short travel dually

Just my little thing for the day. I was really fuming to start and recovered well.

what's a "skinny"?

Laddar bridge that is narrow. 6 to 12 inches give or take, Depending on how technical/high it is, it could be wider or narrower.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=90004&highlight=river+runs
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=66774&highlight=river+runs

Number 2 is a thread with the easier sections (bigger stunts but easier pedalling sections)

Yeah... if you're flopping all over the place then you should abandon the skinny. I really have to be in the right mindset to attempt skinnies. I'm also wondering why it was so much harder on the HT. Were you bouncing around too much to keep a good smooth line? How far apart were the ties? I take they were spaced enough to kill momentum easily?

They are small logs hammered down. It makes for a pretty bumpy ride. Almost like riding on an extended root garden. Not quite so rough, but enough where if you aren't geared right or on your game it takes the wind out of your sales. They also tend to go uphill and downhill (downhill being easy :))

I just didn't have my game on. I will try the roast again once I get my gearing setup right. That will make it a lot easier cause I could spin through the rough stuff.

3 - buy a short travel dually
You've been looking for an excuse to get one for a while now haven't you??? :D

North shore stuff looks so awesome: I wish I could find some near me. :rolleyes:

Me too :( i went for my first freeride sesh yesterday for a couple of months, and it was so weird to hit jumps and drops and downhills like I used to instead of slugging it out on my hardrock, it was hard to start with, but after an hour I was back to my normal self..

You've been looking for an excuse to get one for a while now haven't you??? :D

Yep :D...I have been riding a lot of trails, and a little suspension would help where I am a bit of a hack.

Wait what the? I thought riding your trails was free Mael?

"Tickets at 40 I think each day (cdn) the season pass was 300cdn which is worth it if you get up 8 days."

Anyways, I can't ride skinnies for shat. I've been practising on curbs but I suck so bad. :(

Wait what the? I thought riding your trails was free Mael?

"Tickets at 40 I think each day (cdn) the season pass was 300cdn which is worth it if you get up 8 days."

Some trails are on private property such as those at ski resorts.



Anyways, I can't ride skinnies for shat. I've been practising on curbs but I suck so bad. :(

Keep practicing. You'll get better. That's what I tell myself because I'm a sucky rider when it comes to skinnies too.

someone just finished a new section just off a trail near my place.

2x4's runnin from ground until about 2 feet high, then the 2x4' are laid vertically so theyre reallly 4x2'.. it is VERY tough to get across the whole obstacle.

Wait what the? I thought riding your trails was free Mael?

"Tickets at 40 I think each day (cdn) the season pass was 300cdn which is worth it if you get up 8 days."

Anyways, I can't ride skinnies for shat. I've been practising on curbs but I suck so bad. :(

This trail isn't on the mountain, it was free. But yes, to ride on whistler mountain, it costs money.

i dont htink i will ever do much of free riding/shore. It just seems like its a lot of stop and go and i hate stop and go. I want to go and not stop and go fast

I love stop and go, the steepness, rooty, rocky, scary. All of it, anyone can go fast on a well kept trail but it takes some nuts to travel along a skinny or traverse down a nasty technical section. But to each their own.

short travel dually

for example?

Transition PReston. :D ... I am drooling over one.

I like all types of riding. Slow and tech, fast and flowy. Each have their own flow and rythm. The good shore riders make everything flow...

I watched an interview with Gracia for example, he hates the shore. To slow, and no flow for him.

Variety is the spice of life. I have to admit that most of the time, I prefer a fast XC as opposed to stunts and super-technical crawls. However, sometimes I like testing my bike-handling skills... too bad they're not that good. ;) It's all about having a good time.

Ya I can never do shore without a warm up, I'm way to bobby, and all over the place. I actually find NS easier on a HT, I find doing trials turns much easier on the HT. I know that I enjoy NS way better when I am just by myslef, and I get into the flow way better, just the quite, and a 6" skinney. I like a little down hill riddled by short shore sections, but if you can't get into it, then your better off just getting out of the shore go do something else and come back to it. One of the best I have seen on skinny's is Tyler Kaulassen, of Drop In. Super sick.

Some trails are on private property such as those at ski resorts.




Keep practicing. You'll get better. That's what I tell myself because I'm a sucky rider when it comes to skinnies too.

I was about there for about 20 minutes after I posted and decided to try them again. I did about 3 runs ok which were all downhill or inclined and then I did 1 good one uphill. GOod means I went like 20m on the curbs including the dips without falling off.

As long as I stuck with it and didn't bail I could do it. I'm getting better at least!

Only reason I wouldn't like North Shore is because of raised skinnies. I pretty much wouldn't be able to ride it at all.

Raised skinnies, are the same skinnies you are doing just higher, it's all in the head, and overcoming the fear of falling. Tougher said than done.

I love things that test my balance, I want to try a real skinny course, the funnest thing I have ever done was the Sledge-saw from the redbull ride which was setup in Thredbo when I was there.

I also love fast DH... I love everything about riding :p

Mael c'mon... get the bike... you know you want to. Listen to that little devil on your shoulder, he knows whats right. And while your at itget me one ;)

What about that guy who rode the chain? I think it was on The Collective. That was pretty crazy. Thats a skinny skinny.

You mean Ryan Leech?...what about him, hes near god status when it comes to flowy trials (that used to be an oxymoron)

The best to date is the guy from the raceface comp who rode a CABLE teeter totter. Best stunt ever (except maybe the gerbal wheel)

Ya some of those guys have super human balance.

what's a "skinny"?

What's a "laddar"?

What's a "water hose"?

What's a "water hose"?

Huh?

A laddar is a wider skinny of sorts. Just a type of stunt.

You know the gerbil wheel or as put in NWD3 the "disconstructed wheel" wouldn't that be pretty similar to riding a normal roller coaster? Because he technically has forward momentum in respect to what he is on and the wheels are giving him a gyroscopic effect so it should be similar to riding down a skinny, then flat then up no?