Freeride is a relatively new discipline of mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, combining different aspects of the sport A sport is an organized, competitive, and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play, in which a winner can be defined by objective means. It is governed by a set of rules or customs. In a sport the key factors are the physical capabilities and skills of the competitor when determining the outcome . The physical activity such as downhill and dirtjumping and big mountain which has progressed rapidly in recent years, and is now recognized as one of the most popular disciplines within mountain biking.
The term is a derivative of freeriding The term "Freeriding" was coined when early snowboarders chose to break away from what they considered to be the restrictive confines of traditional ski culture and competition. The original concept of freeriding was that there was no set course, goals or rules to abide by, which originally came from surfing Two major subdivisions within stand-up surfing are longboarding and shortboarding, reflecting differences in surfboard design including surfboard length, and riding style and is now also used in other sports including snowboarding Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A. in the 1960s and the 1970s and became a Winter Olympic Sport in, skiing Skiing is a group of sports using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding, windsurfing Windsurfing is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four meters long, powered by the effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a mast, wishbone boom and sail. The sail area ranges from less than 3.0m2 to more, snowmobiling A snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, sled, or skimobile , is a land vehicle for winter travel on snow. Designed to be operated on snow and ice, they require no road or trail. Design variations enable some machines to operate in deep snow or forests; most are used on open terrain, including lakes or driven on paths or trails and Jet skiing Jet Ski is the brand name of personal watercraft manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The Jet Ski was invented by Jake Schlegel. The name, however, has become a genericized trademark for any type of personal watercraft. Jet Ski (or JetSki, often shortened to "Ski") can also refer to versions of PWCs with pivoting handlepoles known. The original concept of freeriding was that there were no set course, goals or rules to abide by. It was to make one's way down the trail with the most creative line possible that included, style, amplitude, control and speed. But, it might have been Bill Delaney's cult classic surf film free ride that was the first to implement this term; but it was mountain bike movies produced by the likes of Radical Films and Freeride entertainment that pioneered freeride and made it a house hold name. It would later become an internationally recognized genre within the gravity fueled cycling market.
The original freeride bikes were modified downhill bikes which utilized gearing that enabled the rider to go up hills as well as down them. Modern freeride bikes are similar to downhill bikes, but feature slightly less suspension travel and are lighter - which enables them to be ridden not just downhill but through more technical sections, such as North Shore obstacles. Additionally, most freeride bikes feature slightly steeper headangles and shorter wheelbases than pure downhill bikes to facilitate maneuverability on slower, technical sections of trail. A few specialist riders have embraced the sport from their humble beginnnings big mountain riding and bmx, these riders include Wade Simmons, Richey Schley, Andrew Shandro, Dave Watson, Thomas Vanderham, Darren Berrecloth, Cam Zink, Patrick Taylor and Jack "Tommo" Thompson. Apparel companies like Sombrio are amongst a handful of the originals, and have pioneered purpose built freeride gear, outerwear, and protection and are more than ever a catalyst in this sports on on going revolution.
Ski areas A ski area is a developed recreational facility, usually on a mountain or large hill, containing ski trails and vital supporting services. It is common for a ski area to have food, rental equipment, parking facilities and a ski lift system catering to the sports of skiing and snowboarding. Normally located in high mountain areas for adequate snow have started to embrace the sport of MTB freeriding, adding bike A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a pedal-driven, human-powered, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist or a bicyclist racks to chairlifts An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They are the primary onhill transport at most ski areas , but are also found at amusement parks, various tourist to create "lift accessed mountain biking". This helps keep ski areas A ski area is a developed recreational facility, usually on a mountain or large hill, containing ski trails and vital supporting services. It is common for a ski area to have food, rental equipment, parking facilities and a ski lift system catering to the sports of skiing and snowboarding. Normally located in high mountain areas for adequate snow operate year round, and gives the bikers the ability to ride more runs in less time.
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Differences between downhilling and freeriding
Hitting a jump at a freeride trail in Kansas City.Due to similarities with the bicycles used and often the riding locations, the divisions between downhill riding and freeriding are often overlooked. For example freeride bikes have steeper head tube angles and shorter wheelbases for low-speed stability on technical stunts, while downhill bikes have slacker headtube angles and longer wheelbases for absolute high-speed stability at the cost of low-speed maneuverability. Downhill riding is primarily concerned with descending a slope on a given course as quickly as possible. There are often many obstacles in downhill riding, including jumps, drops, and rocky sections.
Freeride is, by definition, a much broader realm of riding. For example, a freerider may often ride a very narrow wooden plank raised as many as twenty five feet above the ground, drop off of cliffs, raised platforms, or other man-made or natural objects onto a landing, or "transition" up to forty feet below. This may involve jumping over a structure below, such as a road or highway. Many aspects of freeriding are similar to downhill riding, with wide open speed and technical and very steep sections, or dirt jumping, with a series of man-made jumps and landings. Another key difference is the emphasis on performing tricks or stylish riding stances while airborne. A freeride course can be compared to a skatepark A skatepark is a purpose-built recreational environment for skateboarders, roller skaters, rollerbladers, scooterers and BMX riders to ride and develop their technique. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, quarter pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs stairsets, and any number of other, where the purpose of the trail is to provide ample opportunities for the rider to become airborne, throw tricks, and create new and imaginative lines on and over the terrain.
Main features of freeride bikes
- Frame A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, onto which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles, a main triangle and a paired rear triangle. This is known as the diamond frame
- Frame is made usually of aluminium alloys and/or steel, and usually smaller build compared to a downhill bike. It is almost always equipped with rear suspension A bicycle suspension is the system or systems used to suspend the rider and all or part of the bicycle in order to protect them from the roughness of the terrain over which they travel. Bicycle suspensions are used primarily on mountain bikes, but are also common on hybrid bicycles, and can even be found on some road bicycles systems, and many manufacturers still rely on simpler systems (i.e. single-pivot) in order to preserve strength and un-interrupted suspension travel. Freeride frames can also be lighter (where weight is an important consideration) than downhill frames, with these bikes being designated freeride lite and may come equipped with the new, oversized "onepointfive"(inch) head tube standard, in order to cater for increasing demand for stronger, long-travel(150-180 mm), single crown forks. There also exists a burlier breed of freeride bicycles. These bikes are designed for weight-no-object strength and reliability rather than lighter weight.
- Fork A bicycle fork is the portion of a bicycle that holds the front wheel and allows the rider to steer and balance the bicycle. A fork consists of two dropouts which hold the front wheel axle, two blades which join at a fork crown, and a steerer or steering tube to which the handlebars attach allowing the user to steer the bicycle. The steerer of the
- Single crown forks are now more popular. Companies such as Fox, Answer Products(Manitou), Marzocchi and RockShox, introduced them with very similar strength to their dual crown counterparts, with the immense advantage of being single crown. This enables a significantly narrower steering diameter, and, more recently, airborne tricks such as 'barspin' or 'tailwhip', at the expense of torsional rigidity. This enables the bike to be used in a variety of ways.
The North Shore
Dirt Jumping at a professional Freeride contest in Seattle, Washington Seattle (pronounced /siːˈætəl/ see-AT-əl) is the northernmost major city on the West Coast of the United States, and the largest city in the state of Washington. A seaport situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canada – United States border, it is. For more details on this topic, see Mountain biking in British Columbia.The sport has spread across the planet, but the widely recognized starting point for the addition of man-made obstacles for downhill trails is Vancouver, British Columbia's Vancouver is a coastal city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is named for British Captain George Vancouver, who explored the area in the 1790s. The name Vancouver itself originates from the Dutch "van Coevorden", denoting somebody from Coevorden, a city in the Netherlands "North Shore".[citation needed] This refers to three mountains across the Burrard Inlet from downtown Vancouver Vancouver is a coastal city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is named for British Captain George Vancouver, who explored the area in the 1790s. The name Vancouver itself originates from the Dutch "van Coevorden", denoting somebody from Coevorden, a city in the Netherlands, Mount Seymour, Mt. Fromme, and Cypress Mountain. The mountains weren't the first places to have downhill trails with natural obstacles, but they were one of the first places to have man-made obstacles such as skinny bridges and teeter totters. The trail builders also embraced many natural features too, using fallen logs to ride on and rocks faces to jump or ride down. They didn't take out that much nature to make their trails, leaving some tree roots exposed to give the rider a bumpy but fun trail to ride.
Trails on the North Shore are mostly described as "technical". This means that the trails corners are tight and the tread strewn of natural obstacles such as rocks and roots. These sections require quick-thinking to navigate, because roots often get slippery in the wintertime.
The "shore" has seen some controversy. Most of the trails are built on private property or parkland. In a highly publicised "War of the Woods" BC Parks cracked down on the trails and started to fine mountain bikers and one trailbuilder was caught in the act and prosecuted. A major voice in the conflict in North Vancouver District was councillor Ernie Crist, who had been lobbying for the closing of all the trails on Mt. Fromme. Housing developments at the base of the mountains complain of bikers going across their lawns etc. The expansion of the residential areas called for the destruction of some trails on Cypress Mountain, and also there were cases of "sabotage" to the trails (such as the removal of bridge supports etc.).
North Shore Mountain Biking Association (NSMBA)
To help promote biking and keep the trails open there is an advocacy group, the North Shore Mountain Biking Association (NSMBA). They negotiate with landowners, organize volunteers to maintain the trails and hold races.
Some of the most famous riders have gotten together and filmed their stunts, tricks, and shenanigans. The most famous of the batch including North Shore Extreme, The Collective, Kranked, and the New World Disorder series.
See also
- Mountain bike A mountain bike or mountain bicycle (abbreviated MTB or ATB ) is a bicycle created for off-road cycling. This activity includes traversing of rocks and washouts, and steep declines, on dirt trails, logging roads, and other unpaved environments — activities usually called mountain biking. These bicycles need to be able to withstand the stresses
- Mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain
- Lift accessed mountain biking
- Freeride mountain-biking movies
References
Sources:"Mountain Bike Action" magazine,"Decline"magazine,"Dirt Rag" magazine,and "Bike "magazine.
External links
- NSMB.com E.magazine based on the North Shore Mountain Biking Scene
- BRMBA Black Rock Mountain Biking Association (Oregon trail advocacy group and builders/stewards of the Black Rock freeride trails in Falls City, Oregon)
- Hick Hucksters Website promoting Freeriding in North Carolina
- [1] A college group promoting mountain biking through freeride venues in the Southeast US
- Bones Over Metal Video Magazine covering Freeriding, Downhill and Dirt Jumping
- Pinkbike.com Website featuring news, pictures, forums, videos etc of all mountain biking disciplines, particularly the extreme ones
- Freeride World Tour Freeride World Tour. The organizers of the Nissan O'Neill Xtreme in Verbier, Russian Adventure Sochi, the Swatch O'Neill Tram Face Squaw Valley and the Nissan Freeride in Tignes as well as their main partners Nissan.
Categories: Mountain biking
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Vancouver Sun, Canada
"In Gordon Campbell's BC some people pay while others get a free ride ," she said. James accused Campbell of turning over BC forest land to real estate developers. "In your BC the special deals will stop now, right now," she said. ...
lolajones
Fri, 09 Apr 2010 06:27:12 GM
We are often asked what is the difference between downhill mountain biking and . freeride. mountain biking and with the start of the . Freeride. Mountain Bi.
