Hate it. Absolutely hate it. Would rather end up in hub deep mud than ride it. Actively avoid trails that have it.
Bike Forum
Who else hates "boardwalk" ?!
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Posted 9 months ago #
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Damned good video!!!
Posted 9 months ago # -
I dont like them - i also dislike rock gardens, so its a wonder i like mtbing really. TBH i dont really get a buzz from riding slowly where a mistake will break your bones, but more than happy to risk it where speed is involved.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Hate the stuff as I seem to have a complete mental block with it! Last time at laggan I was avoiding some random tourist who was calmly walking along the board walk, my front wheel slipped off the board, I went head over Tit into a bog and smashed my front disc. Also the nevis red route is a nightmare if you have boardwalk fever like me!
Posted 9 months ago # -
well I did like it, but falling off a tiny bit about 2 ft high, I went over the bars and dislocated my shoulder. I'm now not so keen (and still in pain and unable to ride)
Posted 9 months ago # -
Love it. Admit I rarely hit it in the wet, but I love the sound it makes and the weaving through the woods.
Some in france earlier this year:
Posted 9 months ago # -
Love it in the dry. Smoke & Mirrors + Devils Club @ whistler = awesome. Haven't tried it in the wet yet but I imagine it would be lethal. Kind of like constant roots.
It's not because they use hand-split cedar which has a natural grain to it that provides quite alot of traction, even in the wet.
North Shore stuff built with sawn wood and no sand/paint or chicken wire is just dangerous and irresponsible.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Love the stuff! Heading up to Mabie to hit the Darkside next week. Excellent for comedy falls too, one in particular last year in Les Gets on the Canyon run (after a morning of heavy rain) as the boardwalk pops over a crest and into a sharp left hand turn, my mate nearly stacked it, stopped to watch how I handled it and watched in awe as I came screaming over the crest at far more speed than I should've into a barspin dive to flat landing with the bike wrapped around me!
Posted 9 months ago # -
Always wonder, when people brand it dangerous, what they're actually doing on the stuff... The Laggan one is built to need very little input, it swoops along so no hard turns, no hard braking. It can also be ridden very slowly, if you don't like it. Since most people manage to ride it fine, it's not the surface that's dangerous, it's the combination of woodwork and rider.
Though I do sympathise, it's a weird sort of thing to ride on and that can mess up people's heads, and that's when you stiffen up and overcompensate and overbrake and take crap lines and things go wrong. So it's a bit of a vicious circle and I think most of us have found a few of those. You can find people that'll brand practically anything dangerous or unrideable.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Also fell off the Laggan boardwalk when it was damp week before last.
Same thing as OP - moment of lapsed concentration, too much rear brake to try and correct and down I went into the bracken. Luckily only a couple of bruises on shoulder and thigh and no damage to bike.
Not sure why there is no grip surface on the boards there?
Having said that, felt the best thing was to loop round and ride it again so as not to leave with a 'can't ride boards' niggle in my mind.
slainte
rob
Posted 9 months ago # -
shocking stuff - i dont even really see where this trend came from/started?????????
and whats more annoying to me personally is most of the time where they decide to put it, it could easily have been replaced by lovely singletrack
Posted 9 months ago # -
Oscillate Wildly - Member
and whats more annoying to me personally is most of the time where they decide to put it, it could easily have been replaced by lovely singletrack
Aye, that does annoy me. When it's spanning a bog or something, that's one thing but not when it's just good forest floor and it's been added just as someone's idea of a feature. Short balance/techy sections, sure, but not for long bits.
Posted 9 months ago # -
shocking stuff - i dont even really see where this trend came from/started?????????
It started in the old-growth forests of North Vancouver and was, and is, used to make unrideable parts of the terrain rideable. Over time, as the riders have become better at riding and building, they have grown more "creative" with their woodwork.
I think it is fantastic if used and designed in the right way.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I'm not quite sure why people have such a hangup about it? Why is it different to any other bit of trail? You wouldn't fall off a piece of singletrack, so why would you fall off boardwalk? It's also perfectly easy to assess the grip conditions and take action accordingly, exactly as you would if you were riding roots or mud or slippy rocks.
I agree with those who find it a bit pointless when someone builds some across a perfectly adequate piece of ground instead of "proper" singletrack, but it definitely has it's place when attempting to cross boggy ground, or even stuff that's too rocky/not enough gradient to ride.
Posted 9 months ago # -
JonEdwards - Member
I'm not quite sure why people have such a hangup about it? Why is it different to any other bit of trail? You wouldn't fall off a piece of singletrack, so why would you fall off boardwalk?
For the same reason I can ride along the kerbstones or white lines all day, but struggle to ride along a log twice as wide but 2 feet up
Put it over a stream and all bets are off.
Posted 9 months ago # -
i blame binners
Posted 9 months ago # -
Northwind - Member
Oscillate Wildly - Member
and whats more annoying to me personally is most of the time where they decide to put it, it could easily have been replaced by lovely singletrack
Aye, that does annoy me. When it's spanning a bog or something, that's one thing but not when it's just good forest floor and it's been added just as someone's idea of a feature. Short balance/techy sections, sure, but not for long bits.
yep exactly - if its there to get over water crossing/ bogs etc etc extreme mud then fair enough - but why on earth designers think its a good 'feature' to put on a trail is beyond me - its dangerous in anything other than dry weather, and most of the time its simply just boring - its not fun at all to me.....again it goes on and on in alot of places where it would simply be alot better to just have nice flowy singletrack - i guess some people must like it, but its not for me
Posted 9 months ago # -
Posted 9 months ago #
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Frikkin hate it - the stuff at Fort Bill Red is wider than any piece of singletrack, but just anchor up at every bend. Proper fear and mental issues with it
Posted 9 months ago # -
Hey Stevey, bad luck mate! Out of interest what trails at Falkland were you riding?
Posted 9 months ago # -
I think its pretty pants as well, especially in the snow with no chicken wire, when you're racing.
Posted 9 months ago #
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