[Closed] Tips for riding wet boardwalk

Don't.

Or, put chicken wire down.

Cheers Tom, not quite what I was looking for.

don't

move

a

muscle

just roll )

Stay off the front brake.

Like on ice without studded tyres, don't steer, skid the back wheel to corner.

Or just fall off right away to save time.

don't steer

Always check it's safe .
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what they say nothing swift or rapid. Try not to brake or steer sharply and if you must do it very gently as if you are on ice.

Super Tacky Minions + keep it as straight as poss! 🙂

Was at Laggan on Sunday and managed the 250m stretch of wet boardwalk fine. Just took it easy, very small movements and little to no braking on the front.

Later on took a tumble on the wooden starting ramp after trying to turn onto it too sharply and too quickly. Bloody hurts 🙁

Apparently, the boardwalks at Gisburn are quite grippy due to their 'split larch log' construction...which consoled me as I picked myself out of the bog last winter.

If you think they're slippy now, wait until the frost starts.

As above, you have to achieve a zen like state and float along them without twitching your steering or brakes.

Very narrow speed window - fast enough not to tip off, slow enough to corner without sliding. Very fine brake control needed. And being floppy. Tense up and you're off

which consoled me as I picked myself out of the bog last winter.

As an anecdote, one day last winter I was surprised to notice a couple of [s]mincers [/s]MTBrs riding around one of Cannock's boardwalks on the bypass

Pfft I thought how slippery can it be? Watch this!

I have never fallen off so fast in my life 🙂

Brake hard, brake often, preferably when turning.

[i]Or just fall off right away to save time[/i]

This. Just fling yourself on the deck straight away. At least you'll be aware of when it happens 🙂

If it's banked, don't go to slow or you'll slide off.. too fast and you'll have to brake..

I'll throw myself down big sharp pointy rocks with abandon, but show me a stretch of boardwalk that isn't straight, dry and 3ft wide and I freeze. Hate the stuff with a passion - you can imagine how much I enjoyed the top section of Fort Bill Red 🙁

I used to ride loads of this in Finland - and it was often single thickess rather than the double stuff in this pic. There was miles of it, often in 3-400m stretches. That was happy days and great riding 🙂

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do not, as i did, get halfway througha raised icy boardwalk berm and realise that you don't have any momentum.

I ended up hanging from the top of it, my hips were blue after!

Wear a helmet - nastiest crash to date was on little wooden bridge in S loop at Whinlatter. Smashed the helmet completely!!!

Some of that Gisburn stuff is horrible eh? I find the trick is to stay as loose as possible, and take it really steady - most of the Gisburn bits you can get over without braking or pedalling, and with minimal steering. It's the only bit of the enduro I'm not looking forward to!

Remember that all wood is not the same! I ride in Sweden and they have loads of boardwalk like molegrips picture. I was on some this morning and it was very damp but I did not crash out once. Went to France and crossed a bridge that was far wider than I am used to and the front wheel slid out and I landed 2m down a dike on my head. Nothing hurt but my pride though.

I would also try to keep low and weight centred.

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It should be the option on a trail ifpossible, not the trail. If you have to ride it, stay smooth and no power surges

and don't what ever you do put a foot down, most SPDs seems to be soled with an equally frictionless rubber compound

Thanks for all the tips, common advice seems to be smooth controlled inputs but loose positioning low on bike?

I'd sooner ride through the bog beneath, given the choice

chicken wire helps, until you fall off, then you really wish they hadn't OUCH!

I find going rigid, curling my toes and puckering up my arsehole does not help at all...

Smooth and relaxed is the key

cable tie chicken wire to your tyres

Was at Laggan on Sunday and managed the 250m stretch of wet boardwalk fine.

Rode at Laggan last May for the first time and the boardwalk in the woods on our first run completely took me by surprise. Hit it at speed and only then realised it was like ice. One of my scariest ever moments on a bike trying to keep it together and lose enough speed but managed to stay on somehow.

Cutting fresh tracks in the snow this Easter at Grizedale was fun but I'd second the original advice - stay off it....

It's grippier than you think, but if your grip/traction goes then it's gone. It depends on how it's constructed aswell IMO. The stretch on The B-Line stuff is extremely well put together.

Do spiked tyres help?

I know chicken wire offers more grip but you might as well land on a cheese grater as that stuff.

So in the UK's climate, purpose built MTB trails have surfaces that are nearly unrideable when wet? Makes sense.

gisburn is gripper than llandelga and everything is better than grizedale...........

I managed to slip off & faceplant into a boggy section beside one of the boardwalks on the Grizedale North Face trail last Autumn. Horrible things boardwalks.

Was also at Gisburn yesterday, wooden sections aren't slippy even in wet, just don't accelerate or brake, really is no more to it.

So in the UK's climate, purpose built MTB trails have surfaces that are nearly unrideable when wet? Makes sense.

I've ridden Gisburn in the wet and honestly didn't think the boardwalk was that bad. OP do you have your tires pumped up mega hard?

I remember when I first started biking I rode the NFT and some of the boardwalk on that seemed insanely slippy. Had a few nasty falls on it.

They've taken some of the longer / more awkward bits of boardwalk at Grizedale out I think, and replaced it with rocks.

I don't intend this to sound like I'm bragging (I'm not, I'm crap on a bike!)

But the only time I rode his bum was in winter, ice and frosty. The wood had frost on it in the shaded areas and was wet where the sun hit it, I rode it all fine

I stupidly rode the wood at Dalby with fresh snow on it, the first banked turn I went down hard and fast

(iPad autocorrect fail left in on purpose as made me laugh!)

But the only time I rode his bum was in winter

😯

Need something to do on those long dark cold winter nights

Autocorrect of the year there. 😀

Not all boardwalk is equal though.

Although some of the sections at Fort William have a bit of exposure all of it is actually very grippy.

Most of the stuff in the 7 stanes is pretty grippy too.

Laggan on the other hand, i think they must polish it.

And Grizedale - do they have teflon trees in the Lake District?

Of course all bets are off when its icy.

But yes, smooth steady and don't touch the front brake

Ouchie 😯

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You know when you see one of those gifs where you think 'I bet the bloke was hospitalised for some time'.

That.

I hate the board walks at Gisburn they go narrow and quiet high at one point if i remember correctly.

What I did was take it very easy going on and aim the front wheel at all the boards sticking up above the normal level thus slowing yourself down without touching the breaks. 🙂

But most of the time there ****ing death traps, I have some on my local ride smooth wood plus green slime came off twice hard twice at weekend and ended up walking across VERY carefully. 🙄

Yeah, I seem to remember I fell off somewhere near the transition point between Boardwalk & equally slippy rock at Grizedale.

Not all boardwalk is equal though.

Perhaps boardwalks will all start relatively grippy then get slippy as any timber treatment wears/washes off and moss and lichen grow on the surface.

I'm not going to be able to offer any usefull advise as I almost only ever ride cannock and it's always been fine in all weathers.
It's a useful tip though, I didn't realise how different they all could be. Will be more wary in the future.

Just to add had one of my best days riding, I was able to cleanly ride the uphill quarry section and the climb out of the valley for the first time. Really enjoyed hilly gully and the swoopy section too.

Grum tyre pressures around 30psi rear 35 front.

Loddrik "don't accelerate or brake " I think I get it ......maintain momentum.

Will be up there again next week and put it into practice.

Thanks

Took another trip today and whilst drier the advice proved useful, kept off brakes and smoother steering & pedalling inputs keeping my body low meant I managed all sections comfortably, thanks all.

mud + wet + woodwork = pain

chickenwire is great but can still get slippy and needs lots of maintenance if well used as holes appear and you go back to the equation above but + cheesegrater.

I rode laggan in the semi wet and it caught me out. not enough to crash but definately brown trouser moment as i tried to brake and stay upright.

i`ve built enough fun timber features to know when to not even bother.

some stuff locally is worse than green wet chalk for lack of grip.

Gisburn in about -3 last winter was hilarious on the boardwalk. Just standing on it I was sliding sideways, all had to walk through the (mostly frozen) bog beneath

There's not much you can do in those conditions though.

Boardwalk is the biggest pile of shite I have ever seen/had to ride, it's crap it's dangerous it's not remotely fun and 9 times out of 10 it could be replaced by nice flowy singletrack! I understand some sections use it as a bridge to get over boggy sections etc but the centres that purposely put it in as a riding obstacle/fun section absolutely bewilders me, it's absolute garbage!

We have a section near us that is on a FP and cheeky and we only use it to get to other sections but it's covered in chicken wire so not so bad but if it didn't have they it would lethal

Just do not get it at all

Mate came off some in Kielder a few years ago. Ended up with a broken femur & a ride in a helicopter.
[i]Boardwalk is the biggest pile of shite I have ever seen/had to ride, it's crap it's dangerous it's not remotely fun and 9 times out of 10 it could be replaced by nice flowy singletrack! I understand some sections use it as a bridge to get over boggy sections etc but the centres that purposely put it in as a riding obstacle/fun section absolutely bewilders me, it's absolute garbage![/i]

This.

Hate the stuff. It's a dick.

So in the UK's climate, purpose built MTB trails have surfaces that are nearly unrideable when wet? Makes sense.

Let's not forget where the whole idea came from though. The north shore of Vancouver has way more rain than the UK - it's basically rainforest. The cedar is saturated for 10 months of the year. The main difference is that riders there are manly gruff Canadians who don't mince.

Although I strongly feel that UK trailbuilders don't 'get' north shore. In Canada it's a way of getting over/ around an impassable bit of terrain. It's not supposed to replace the trail for hundreds of yards at a time!

Boardwalk is the biggest pile of shite I have ever seen/had to ride, it's crap it's dangerous it's not remotely fun and 9 times out of 10 it could be replaced by nice flowy singletrack! I understand some sections use it as a bridge to get over boggy sections etc but the centres that purposely put it in as a riding obstacle/fun section absolutely bewilders me, it's absolute garbage!

Edit: argh I replied to the month-old topic not the new one. Sorry folks.

The tighter you "clench" your ring, the easier slippy boardwalk becomes.