[Ultra Magnus]

I've got a friend, expert level mtbiker. Raced many DH events and local MX events, never any XC though. Anyway, I'm a beginner, started riding with him nearly a year ago. When we first went out on a ride together we started in an area new to him, but its close to home so since we've been riding out there off and on. We started out on normal trails, some single track, some jeep trails and fire roads. It's an OHV area so there's a lot of 4x4 and motorcycle trails. My friend quickly got bored with the same old loop and started making his own single track. I started following him and it's been great. Our single track isn't the kind of stuff motorcylcists would want to or could ride so they stay nice and clean for mtbs rather than getting all torn up. Recently, he's started out riding the unrideable. It's hard to explain without seeing it. It's all very slow, very technical riding, I've stopped following him because its more fun to ride a trail I can ride, than hike a section an try to follow him. Another friend refered to it as a goat trail, but there's really no trail where he's riding. Ya know, freeriding was invented by people looking for a more challenging line down a hill, but what do you call it when it's up a hill? Sorta like XC Free riding? It's brutal, off camber, huge rocks, soft soft dirt (off camber soft dirt), etc.. He rides it on a Blur, not some long legged beast. Sort of like a cross between trials and moutian biking and free riding. It can't be classified as trail riding because there's no trail there to follow. So, my question, is what would you call it? Oh, and BTW, of all the riders that have come on a ride with us, I ask them, you can ride your bike and follow me, or walk and follow him. At first I don't think they believe me, but after one lap (3 1/2 to 4 miles-ish) they believe.

 

[bulC]

call it "why MTBs get banned"

;putting in new side trails all over the place is exactly what gets the anti-MTB folks all riled up, and with such obvious visible evidence it's then easy for them to go to the BLM, forest service, or whatever governmental organization oversees riding in that location, and get your idiot friend, as well as all of us who are not idiots, banned. Next outing, do us all a favor and push him over a cliff.

 

[Pawndream]

This new style is hardly new, it is called 1%

Namely, 1% of the mountain biking population giving other riders a bad name by riding illegal "trails."

If it's private land, fine, but on government or state-owned land, that's the sort of riding that gets peoples panties in a wad because it causes damage to the environment when people just start carving their own trails.

Sure, it may be fun, but it shows little respect for other riders who may have their legal trails shut down because of trailblazers like your friend.

Let's try to keep as many legal ride options open as we can. No need to fan the flames.


Pawn

 

[Ultra Magnus]

I said its in an OHV area. The whole landscape there is criss crossed with trails. It is actually inside of city limits, just north of a nice/expensive residential area, and just sout/east of an abandoned rock quarry (there's a great view of the valley form there). You really need to relax a little bit. The sad part of it all is that it's only a matter of time before land developers bulldoze the whole area and build more houses. Until then all we have to worry about is the constantly increasing number of trash piles. The real idiots are the morons who would rahter dump their garbage in the desert than pay the $10 at the local landfill which is only about 3 or 4 miles from our riding area.

 

[Ultra Magnus]

See my other post. What we are doing is perfectly legal in our area. I probably should've mentioned that more clearly in my first post, but I guess I take for granted the great riding area we have.

 

[Pawndream]

Oh, well in that case. Tear that area up then! heh

When I was a kid living in the San Fernando Vallet with a BMX bike we used to do that sort of riding on locations that were slated for subdivision development.

It was awesome. The bulldozers would come and make these massive dirt mounds. The project would kind of stall, and us kids would go out there and build all sorts of crazy stuff.

Those were the good days.

Pawn

 

[kenobi]

Sort of like a cross between trials and moutian biking and free riding. It can't be classified as trail riding because there's no trail there to follow. So, my question, is what would you call it?

I would still just call it trials.

 

[xctico]

Yep, I think trial is the name for it.