Google video mountain biking

[tsteele999]

I was searching around google video and found this clip:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9041531757990435862&q=mountain+bike

The dude is kind of irritating but that North Shore stuff blows me away...How do you learn to ride that stuff? I'd be interested to learn how they plan out the stunts and the building process. It would be cool to have some of these stunts over at the 495 trails.

[gaz]

Y'know, huge mad ridiculous props to these guys. Some of the skills and moves they have is astonishing, and they can pull off crap that I wouldn't even dream about trying.

But because it's seen as "cool and gnarly man, righteous!!", I think the teeming masses are starting to view this sort of stuff as the norm when it comes to mountain biking (The annoying guy even says as much as the start: "So mountain bikers were just going down the trail, they started getting bored and putting shocks on their bikes, and then they started doing this crap") and the original pursuit of trail riding and XC is fading away. These days when you ask someone on the street about the sport, they envision some 16 year old surfer/skate punk freeriding. (Not to say that anyone who skates, surfs, or freerides is a "punk", but you know what I mean!) And given this (misguided) impression of the non-biking public, it makes you perhaps realize why it's becoming more of a "banned" sport. People in my office have seen various bike parts coming in and out, and when I told them that they were MTB parts, they usually respond with "No wonder you're always hurt! You must be crazy doing that sort of stuff!"

To me, what I just watched, isn't "mountain biking." It's much closer to BMX riding than it is to mountain biking in it's original incarnation. It's beyond that... freeriding is a seperate sport unto itself. Almost like the difference between... I dunno, soccer and the NFL. Both are called "football" but beyond the fact that both are played by guys (and girls!) on a field, with a ball, there's not a whole lot of similarity.

Like I said, I'm not knocking freeriding - it's skill and balls that I just don't have. It just makes me sad to see what I guess I view as "original mountain biking" becoming more and more lost, with folks getting their enjoyment from hucking themselves off drops and jumps, as opposed to getting it from being on the trails. (But then again, I've seen enough helmet cam footage to know that a 10 minute clip of freeriding is a lot more impressive to watch than someone's arse up ahead pedalling along!!)

[dcrider]

you have a good point but many of these "freeriders" including myself enjoy the thrill of singletrack and traditional mountain biking too... you would be suprised but many of the advanced/pro freeriders can out ride and occasionally out-climb climb devoted xc riders(keeping in mind they have much bigger bikes). I am a high school student(im no punk skater) i freeride but I like to hit up gambrill and schaeffer on the only bike I can afford which happens to be a single speed jumping bike-same goes for a lot of my riding buddies. Just goes to show you not to dismiss freeriders as "only riding at extremes" unfortunatey this misunderstanding takes place because it just so hapens that it is harder to get media/general attention with all your wheels on the ground. You have some points however that are very true (freeriding-especialy dirt jumping/urban) is very close to BMX. Also there are some annoying punk kid freeriders but just try to ignore them. Also who cares about the other people's view on our sport when they dont even ride we define our own sport because we are the ones giving our sweat, blood, and time for it(although gov./private funding is helpful).
See you on the trails-Nate

PS- the north shore stunts most likely wont be popping up at 495 any time soon if we want the jumps to stay around-to much risk for fairfax county

[GoClipless]

I don't know...I definitely go back and forth on this issue. Right now I think that I am coming down on the side of increased respect for freeriders or north shore riding. I definitely see what Gaz is saying, but I also realize that most people can't even conceive of trail riding. So many people I talk to at work or around my neighborhood think I am riding the W&OD or something when I go "riding." Either way, most of these people aren't going to be bike enthusiasts of any kind really. The more I think about it the more I think that more extreme forms of mtb'ing do progress the sport. It seems to bring more attention (especially from younger riders) then other types of riding and as a result keeps the sport growing. Anyway, this is where my head is now, but I am sure I'll flip flop again.

[gaz]

Again, I'm not knocking freeriding - and like I said it's something that needs a lot of skill, talent, athleicism, and cojones. I guess the frustration is that this sort of stuff - the North Shore-esque dudes - are now the predominant public face of mountain biking. It's gratifying to know that cross country riding isn't getting lost in the shuffle with many of the folks, but it's still a little saddening that younger riders seem to lock onto this aspect, and not the other ones. And again - with this aspect of the sport being the one that's the most in the public eye, I have to wonder how that effects decisions when it comes to trail access, etc.? I think that in some instances, trails could be being closed to mountain biking because local governments assume (falsely) that if mountain bikers move in, their beloved natural habitat suddenly becomes littered with stunts, slurpee cups, beer cans, and discarded Green Day CDs... ;)

[ianM.]

I love riding, I live about 2 miles from Patapsco, I have riden a lot of different places, in varying different ways. I also surf, use to skate, and still snowboard (and am a grown man with manors)the type of riding you do has nothing to do with what type of person you are. An arrogant person is an arrogant person, they come as XC riders and freeriders. I hear what you are saying about certain people but the case is we all ride, some are more geared towards different terrain but all that talk about all-mountain, XC, freeride, downhill, thats just silly. That kind of thinking is why roadies and mountain bikers dont even bother to wave while passing by. There is no reason to seperate us like that, if we want trail access and public support we should stick together, not seperate each other into small camps. In order to teach the new riders out there how to be responsible riders,we cant alienate them from the sport by labeling them as punk freeriders. Im not trying to jump on you or nothing, you dont seem like a close minded person, I guess im just speaking about the subject in general. oh yeah thats a cool video.

[themonkeyman]

That is a sweet video. Those stunts look like a ton of fun :D (yes, I freeride :cool: )

As for the veiws of XCing vs. FRing, as long as you're on two wheels....

[martin]

I love riding... the type of riding you do has nothing to do with what type of person you are. An arrogant person is an arrogant person, they come as XC riders and freeriders...

Amen borther ianM!

On that note. These guys have some wicked insane skills. Sometimes I look at that and wish I could do it - then I wish I don't... Just gald there are pople out there pushing the limits like that. I have inmense respect for people who have to cojones to even try something like that...