Pic of the Day

[Hobo Mikey]

I could have a million zip ties and I'd still get off and have a look around that corner!

Several years ago, I was riding at the Lee & Cragg quarries in Lancashire (UK) with two mates. One had a mechanical and the other was helping him fix it, so I went exploring. I followed a sheep trail that gradually brought me to a huge gash in the terrain. I was steadily approaching at an angle what looked like a 100' sheer drop to my left. To my right was a house sized rock perched close to the edge of the drop. The trail went alongside the edge of the drop and squeezed between the rock and the drop. To this day I can't imagine what I was thinking, but I kept going. As soon as I went around the corner, I knew I was in trouble. The edge veered in towards the rock and the gap between the rock and the drop narrowed to a bit less than bar width! I didn't have enough room to get off the bike and if my grip touched the rock, I'd be down that drop to a very messy ending. I considered going off the back of the bike, but thought I might lose the bike. Being a tight Yorkshire git, I rejected that and kept going. A cascade of thoughts flashed past in a second. Fortunately, with a tiny bit of bike lean left and body lean right I got past the choke point. A few yards further on the crisis passed and I dismounted and threw up. I have never forgotten that event.

Was there carrots in it.

 

[The EMF]

Decided to go full face and tried it out at Hamsterley today. Comfy

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[Mike D.]

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Another day in paradise, start of longest ride ever at around 50km, had battery worries for the last 10km to get home and didn't really want to go that far, just a little lost towards the end. That is the great thing about eebs, the exploration.

Any spaceships out last night?

 

[Slymobi]

What a beautiful day, crisp and sunny.

 

[steve_sordy]

Was there carrots in it.

There are always carrots! Was it Billy Connoly that said a masked man walked behind drunks waiting to throw a handful of carrots in to the vomit? I read somewhere that the red bits are fragments of stomach lining. I prefer Billy's explanation.

 

[Jimbo Vills]

Bike park wales in the sun. Happy days

 

[Tubby G]

Great day out at Whinlatter Forest

Thanks for the tour @Tonybro - looking forward to coming again

 

[The Hodge]

I'll start with an apology to The EMF ( who was otherwise engaged) & Jaco ( who probably will never see this anyway ) ..after saying that I wasn't riding this weekend due to injury ..I did !
A late morning decision as the weather was simply too amazing to ignore so spent a few hours on the bits that are open at Kielder ( mainly most but not all sections of The Deadwater Trail ) ..I included a trip to the summit ..which is on a ball ache of a fire road climb but on a day like today the view into the Scottish Borders is amazing ..
Three Dog Climb , Deadwater Trail

Deadwater Summit

The start of the Black section descent with the northern end of Kielder Water below

A nice few hours out ..and managed to stay upright

 

[Mcharza]

Decided to go full face and tried it out at Hamsterley today. Comfy

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Great, a Swedish potty.

 

[Tonybro]

Another shot from Whinlatter today... Still snow on the tops.

 

[Rosemount]

 

[The Hodge]

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Great scenery ..but not sure about riding on a trail where horse riders are allowed to leap over mountain bikers ..have you had any close calls ..?

 

[Tonybro]

Today's jaunt. I managed to convince my good lady to get on her bike!

15 miler around Rivington and Winter Hill. Weather still holding!

We had a Merida love-in at the top! The Teal Hornet and the Green Hornet met up for a cuddle...

From there I took a pic northwards towards Darwen Hill, Pendle Hill (and in the distance, the Dales).

 

[Tubby G]

Great extended weekend of riding. Hamsterley Friday, Whinlatter Saturday & Stainburn this morning. Spring is in the air and the trails are running great. Roll on next weekend!

(Not my bike, it’s my partners, but I paid for it and took the photo, so I’m claiming the credit )

 

[Husky430]

Didn't know if my bridge would still be there after the recent flooding. Glad I added some rope tethers before the storms arrived, couple of shovel fulls of sand and a bit of chainsawing and it will be back in action. Unfortunately my 'MTB bikes only" signs washed away so I'm hoping that the MX bikes keep off it.

 

[Mabman]

Hit up the Walt Giles Memorial Viewpoint on the way home this evening

 

[AdmChr]

While we returned home from vacation just a few hours ago, I already miss paradise, this trail, and the most amazing dirt I have ridden.

Pineapple Express Trail - Makawao, Hawaii

 

[Stihldog]

Went to the Vancouver Bike Show a few days ago. Lot of eBikes but they were mostly commuters. Trek and Specialized were the only big names for eMTB’s.
No shoes, no parts(except a hub), no clothes …blah blah…
But today I finished another bridge.

 

[ricerooster]

Black Mountain SD,CA

 

[The Hodge]

Black Mountain SD,CAView attachment 83486

Nice pic ..but 1554ft is classed as a mountain ?
That would be no more than a big( ish ) hill in the UK..

 

[Tonybro]

Nice pic ..but 1554ft is classed as a mountain ?
That would be no more than a big( ish ) hill in the UK..

I went on a cruise up the east coast of USA and into Canada in 2019. They kept telling us our stop at Bar Harbor in Maine had the highest mountain on the eastern seaboard of the continent!

Got there and couldn't see any mountains!

Transpires it was right in front of me at about 1700ft at the top!

Talk about disappointed...

Strange place as it sells everything lobster-related. Lobster ice cream, yes!

Correction: Cadillac Mountain is 1530ft high, so about 50ft higher than Winter Hill here...

 

[The EMF]

Come on boys let’s not split hairs here

 

[Slymobi]

Found a little play area on one of my regular rides Nothing too hardcore but the more i play here i reckon i can improve.

 

[steve_sordy]

Went to the Vancouver Bike Show a few days ago. Lot of eBikes but they were mostly commuters. Trek and Specialized were the only big names for eMTB’s.
No shoes, no parts(except a hub), no clothes …blah blah…
But today I finished another bridge.

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Do you need to do anything special to the wood surface to stop it becoming super slippy when wet/mouldy etc?

 

[steve_sordy]

Nice pic ..but 1554ft is classed as a mountain ?
That would be no more than a big( ish ) hill in the UK..

One thousand feet is the tipping point between a hill, and a mountain. So what is a mountain? According to National Geographic, what classifies as a mountain?
"Most geologists classify a mountain as a landform that rises at least 1,000 feet (300 meters) or more above its surrounding area."

As an aside: I once attended a multi-national after work social event and we Brits decided to do a pub quiz. We had to make the questions as international and unbiased as possible. One of the questions was "Match the elevation, mountain, and country" We supplied a long list of all the data, but scrambled of course. We were in ski lodge in Summer located above Annesy in the French Alps and the French contingent took great delight in observing that our location was twice as high as the highest mountain in the UK.

 

[Mabman]

Nice pic ..but 1554ft is classed as a mountain ?
That would be no more than a big( ish ) hill in the UK..

Sure but what do you classify as a knob?

I live at 100' elevation and can easily do 2500' vert in under 20 miles. I just have to take two laps

 

[Stihldog]

Do you need to do anything special to the wood surface to stop it becoming super slippy when wet/mouldy etc?

That was definitely a concern. The decking is 2x6x32” rough cedar. I suppose over time it will/may become slippery but in the past 2 years the decking still has grip. Aluminum expanded metal or skateboard grip could be an addition as things wear down. A split cedar slab makes for good grip but they are difficult to make or nail down.
Still, a bridge is better than dropping into a creek or tearing up a root system. The decking is thick enough that small grooves could be added with a chain saw.
There are some small primitive bridges built years ago but they are sketchy or falling apart (poorly built imo).

 

[steve_sordy]

That was definitely a concern. The decking is 2x6x32” rough cedar. I suppose over time it will/may become slippery but in the past 2 years the decking still has grip. Aluminum expanded metal or skateboard grip could be an addition as things wear down. A split cedar slab makes for good grip but they are difficult to make or nail down.
Still, a bridge is better than dropping into a creek or tearing up a root system. The decking is thick enough that small grooves could be added with a chain saw.
There are some small primitive bridges built years ago but they are sketchy or falling apart (poorly built imo).

I have come across chicken wire stapled onto the decking. It seems to work really well until it starts to come loose or worse, to break. Then you get sharp pointy bits that can puncture tyres or flesh.

 

[Stihldog]

Come on boys let’s not split hairs here

My mountain may not be the biggest but at least it’s not the longest.

 

[Stihldog]

I have come across chicken wire stapled onto the decking. It seems to work really well until it starts to come loose or worse, to break. Then you get sharp pointy bits that can puncture tyres or flesh.

Yeah, I can see that happening with chicken wire. Small aluminum expanded metal, nailed down with staples seems to be good …but expensive.