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What an amazing weeks riding Ive had........Inners, local trails up Falkland then today up at Laggan did the black sections, upper red, few times down the orange then on the way back down the hill for the last time thought I'd do the lower red.....bad move! Rolling along the boardwalk section before you join the orange nice and easy, I must of feathered the brakes very slightly.....boom, back ends out, handlebars go 360 and im on the ground...the result? have a stomach like someones taken a cheesegrater to it and mashed up ribs! bad times.
Correct, 3rd party tools needed.
Where is your backup of the old laptop?
A mate of mine has a bit of a mental block with these sections.
I hate the stuff (a broken leg might have something to do with that)
Me - completely mental block
Broke my neck on some super-slidey stuff at Chopwell last year. Did my first section since at Ae two days ago (sh@t mesel' but thought I'd better get back on the horse and all that). Also super-slidey so didn't touch the brakes.... I found it helped me to look well ahead.
I like a bit of boardwalk - there's something about it that reminds me of going on walks as a child (honestly). There's a trail at Kielder with loads of boardwalk at the top of the hill - from a MTB point of view it is inane, pointless riding. But I still like it.
Busted ribs is never fun though - hope you get better soon.
Have they still not covered it in chicken wire or that nonslip paint? Must be as slimey as a politician by now.
I love it!
Hate it. I get some visual disturbance while riding it which means it looks completely out of focus. It's not too bad if it's completely flat (like Glentress) but the lumps and bumps at Laggan are a nightmare.
kevin1911 - Member
Have they still not covered it in chicken wire or that nonslip paint? Must be as slimey as a politician by now.
Nope in the wooded section it was like black ice, well I realised that after haha!
Ironic thing is that Ive done some pretty full on riding this week with no dramas so it just goes to show that the simplest of things can be the ones that trip you up.........also, never say one more run!!
+1
that is exactly how I broke my pelvis (3 places), sacrum, hand (metacarpal) and a rib in Les Gets; slippery boardwalk, touched the brakes, bike disappeared and I came down hard!
Dave
yep hate it.
I don't mind it which is strange cos I'm rubbish at proper North Shore stuff. Laggan took a bit of getting used to but by my third time over it I was MUCH smoother.
I like the boardwalk at Grizedale too on the NFT, in fact it's one of the few properly good bits of trail on that route. People say it's slippy but I've never found that, even doing on my CX in the snow and ice. I do know several people who've fallen off it though! There's a definite technique to it, I think faster is better but it's totally counter-intuitive.
First time I tried was on the Dalby black run a few years ago. It was a wet day and it was like ice. Got a little scared halfway down it as I nearly lost the back end. Tried about a year later after it had had a lick of gritty paint (or it might've been a really dry day, not sure) and loved it.
Can't stand the smooth wet stuff though. Hope you heal soon.
Is it just me but is the guy in the post after the op answering another thread ❓
THe stuff at Kielder is Scary if it's anything other than bone dry. Apparently they stopped putting chicken wire on it in case someone got injured when they came off. Now it's lethal. I only ride the stuff at the top of Lonesome pine if I'm heading over to Newcastleton but there are other bits just as bad on the trail. The stuff at Chopwell is not as interesting as the red natural stuff next to it IMO.
Chopwell has wooden stuff? I need to go there to Tmrw if I can find the bloody entrance
Ouch! Sounds painful! Yep, I hate it too - never come off it, but just don't see the point (unless it's totally necessary to get through a bog or something), but I don't enjoy it at all!
Liftman - Member
Is it just me but is the guy in the post after the op answering another thread
Glad you said that, I thought it was just me... I certainly have absolutely no idea what he's talking about! 🙂
That section at Laggan is a F'in disgrace. Mate and I both hit the deck within seconds on it.
I can't believe the FC are flattening jumps in the name of health and safety, but this dangerous section of trail remains.
I also hate boardwalk, especially when it ends abruptly... as a result i now have a broken collarbone which ruined almost my entire 2 week alps holiday this year! argh!
Still i was able to film this with all my freetime 🙂
Its very easy to miss the boardwalk at Laggan, you just cut up to the road and join a few corners above where you would normally on the orange. Right it enough its slippy in the wet if you touch the brakes, but once you've come off once on it you stay off them the next time!
I love it. I get a big grin on my face when I see some approaching. Maybe it's because I haven't stacked it on some yet though. Can see why riders get a bit jittery if it's slippy.
agree hate boardwalk also have mental block
The boardwalk at laggan? it's not dangerous, just rubbish!That section at Laggan is a F'in disgrace. Mate and I both hit the deck within seconds on it.
I can't believe the FC are flattening jumps in the name of health and safety, but this dangerous section of trail remains
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.
The bit at Crosscliff Viewpoint in Dalby is my most hated bit of boardwalk. It covers up a fantastic bouncy gully that I used to love whizzing down before the wooden crap was put there. Wooden greasy slippy bollocks!
its because it should be an option on trails not "the " trail
I hate the stuff! I can ride it now,but I don't enjoy it. It used to freak me out,don't know why.
peripheral fear 🙂
Love it cool tune 🙂
Not really with it one wet morning early summer, Follow the Dog, right near the begining, stood up out of the saddle to take a real easy drop off. Front wheel intantly slipped left. Smashed helmet ( properly smashed polystyrene inner) on tree, concussion, damage to muscles in r/h thigh, still hurts now, 12 weeks later.
I'm a chippie by trade and have worked on wet joists and stuff for years, just wasn't concentrating.
I HATE the stuff, i have a right mental block about it, i even managed to topple off the top of the only high piece of boardwalk at Afan, landed on my side at the bottom of a young conifer, the little bridge bit on the "black run".
I just find it boring.
brilliant video CalD, loved it 🙂
Hate it. Absolutely hate it. Would rather end up in hub deep mud than ride it. Actively avoid trails that have it.
Damned good video!!!
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.
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!
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)
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:
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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.
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!
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.
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