north shore is (traditionally) used over pieces of ground where a "ground" trail cannot be built, because the ground is too soft, or wet, or building a trail would disturb the ground too much (over streams and rivers?)

so to have a ground level trail next to it would deem it a bit pointless.

i know i know, its a pointless game anyway, but even in british trail centres, the NS sections tend to be where its needed, not just a "feature" dont they?

I want a go 😀

Reckon I could ride the lot eventually if it was 2ft off the ground rather than 8ft+. Height is a massive difficulty multiplier.

Olly – just another branch of slow tech riding in my book. You use a lot of the same skills on slender alpine singletrack with super tight switchbacks and lots of exposure. Good way to refine your balance and handling.

olly, i dont get what you're saying.
having ridden the north shore bc the trails many have multiple lines/options. northshore over a stream/river is just a bridge

Origionally some 'shore' was put in to get over wet ground/sensitive areas but over time trail builders have developed it into a new 'sport'.

Pretty clever and admirable in my book – some of the Herts lines are some of the toughest challenging riding you can do anywhere – big up to Jedi and his crew for what they have achieved there.

A lot of it is just "in your mind" – when you're 6' (on a ramp) off the ground your head is where? 11-12'up? Now that's gotta mess with anybodys head!!

NS is ace and much of it is in the mind – like riding on the white line of a road…only 20 feet up or whatever!

I've had a few "zen" moments myself where you get confident and free yourself of the fear (when riding about 2 feet up), amazing feeling, tough to achieve though.

Is it just me or did his front wheel seem to be all over the place in the second part of that clip? How the hell he didn;t bite it i'll never know

Can I venture that those who are at pains to point out, though whilst happy to go really fast, and do really,really big drops, can't get the point of this style of riding are, in fact MASSIVE shitebags? But wont admit it? I like Shore but wouldn't have the nuts for that stuff.

The point of riding over stuff like this is illustrated perfectly by the guy in the OP vid after he did that STUPID stall/handclap thing. He was away with it on adrenaline! Is that not the feeling we chase when you blast down through your favourite bit of singletrack, or clean a fecker of a climb. It is for me.

I know that some people use their bikes to get into nature and appreciate the vistas etc without feeling the need for speed{copyright Tom Cruise}{and I'm up for that too} but like the term or not MTB is an "Adrenaline Sport" and as such people find different ways to achieve this.

If you were to ask the chaps in this video to accompany you and 30 other 30/40 year old inept bikers round a bridleway in Northern England do you think they'd see the point? Maybe, maybe not.

If you were to ask the chaps in this video to accompany you and 30 other 30/40 year old inept bikers round a bridleway in Northern England do you think they'd see the point? Maybe, maybe not.

😆

I wonder if a trials rider would be able to do what they did on a fully rigid bike?

To be honest this style of riding has got to be one of the most entertaining types of riding. Gotta love it, reminded me of The Ryan Leech stuff I saw at Bannf film festival a couple of years ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGXwiAO57Jg

+1 MussEd

What's the point in any cycling except as an afficient means of getting from A to B?

Even though I know I prefer the fast/scary riding to shore/scary atm it's probably because I'm better at the fast stuff. I hope to pay a visit to Jedi this year to broaden my riding horizons 😀

Its just like climbing really, why climb some way overhanging route that needs bolts for protection when you could walk round the side of the crag to get to the same point?

Because its harder, more challenging and some people get a kick out of stuff like that.

Lol@ Mussed
Closest I've got is doing the Kona Dark Side trail. Anyone else tried that?
Average speed 1mph…broken mechs & chainrings….fell off & winded myself like never before…..and some of the best fun I've ever had on the bike. Yeah it was the adzenaline of it all – more of a rock climbing type feeling

Nice trail!

I sort of agree with Olly's comments – 'shore is best used to make an otherwise unusable piece of land capable of taking a sustainable trail. – most of the stuff in the UK is simply a wooden structure on otherwise flat ground. Entertaining to ride once or twice, but after that, a bit dull.

That said, I do enjoy the challenge of riding difficult woodwork – simply because it *is* difficult and scary. I've had some great times at Herts and one of the best days riding I've ever had was riding *the* North Shore. Tough trails, the woodwork made sense, in that it opened up other wise inaccessible areas or bridged ravines etc, and you had to be "on it" the whole time. Fantastic.

It's almost anti-adrenaline. Let the adrenaline get in the way and you'll screw it up. You need to be calm, focused, balanced. Zen like it fact. The adrenaline comes when you're down in one piece and you start to realise what you've just done. 😯 😀

mussed, nice!

jedi.do you do courses for biking numpty's (crap riders like myself).as i said earlier,am complete pants when it comes to anything "stunt" related.also am 34 so not a youngster.although i have a lovely new stumpy fsr comp,would love to have some skills to do it justice when riding. 🙂 cheers.

I do courses for total mtb beginners upwards.
not everyone wants north shore style riding instruction nor would i just take anyone straight to herts shore . there are stepping stones.
most people love the sessions i do at woburn .

ah,cheers jedi.i'm just really interested in gaining some basic skills to be honest (wheelieing/bunnyhopping e.t.c) as well as being able to do some downhill/getting air jump type things.unfortunately i cannot go on one of your courses at the moment,but i promise that i will make an appointment with you some time in the future.

hey no worries. if your path in mtb leads to me one day, so be it. 🙂

that's just balancing. no flow required whatsoever…

the stuff on roam etc is way better. proper gaps and drops so you need to commit to a certain pace, and use skill rather than granny ring wierdly knee bending sat down spinning.

the lid cam was flowy! they sit down and ride uphill at the start for about a second.
if anyone on here could ride the mashigina i'll eat my hat. and as for gaps and drops lol

think youll need to eat your hat then mate.

not a chance esp with borked knee

hand bags at dawn! This is proper riding in my esteemed opinion http://www.pinkbike.com/video/9537/ thems is proper gaps blud.
Whilst north shore is challenging it isn't aestheticallypleasing to watch. Oh and Nicko is an acomplished rider (except at hopton castle :roll:)

le Jew. XX

"think youll need to eat your hat then mate"

I remember seeing mashinga on an episode of drop in tv, there were people like that darma joe and tyler klassen shitting themselves as they tried to work sections of the trail.

But then again, I am sure there are loads of better riders than them on here! right??

pmsl@handbags.
no mate. just stating a fact 🙂

ianv, that is the drop in episode.

darma and tyler were flow riders too! :0

i always see shore as a 'because we can' type feature. you could ride a different trail or route but why not ride something stupid?. it keeps the ride interesting.

I bet none of those riders could ride CBC though….the hardest and most secretive trail on the planet. I might well get death threats just for mentioning the name.

pmsl@walls

hiya dood