Joe_Dick profile

I spent about the same amount of time riding this past year as I have the last 5 years or so. Lots of time on the bike by myself, but the highlight are the rides with friends. From the chance meet up at a fire lookout that ended up as a 6 person party lap down a mountain, to noodling around lower seymour catching up with a former co worker, and a handful more similar rides. While it’s the solo rides which make those rides possible, and often they are equally as enjoyable, they just don’t stand out when thinking about what I did last summer.

This time of year I am typically navigating the 4 wheel glissade on black ice across a bridge on a two lane section of the Trans-Canada highway. Currently browsing the avalanche reports brings up this gem.

“Sledded up the road to km 17 to go for a short ski to check out conditions. Rained from the moment we started to the moment we got back. Would’ve been drier in a pool. Was 1 degree at km 3 and -1 at 1540m around 12pm but still raining. Access road was in decent shape due to good throttle control from previous sleds minimizing “whoops”.”

2024 wildfire season is going to be lit!

I spent some time in Hurricane/ St. George (mostly Hurricane area) recently with new fork on my bike. I had done a couple rides before hand in sub 0 temps on frozen trails, which is terrible conditions to set up a fork. Heading down there I thought I would spend some time dialling in the fork while riding. In the end I did not feel the need to play around with my suspension setting much at all. you have some G outs at the bottom of some rock rolls and you want a mid stoke support for some of the short steeps, but there are not many long fast chunky down hills where you feel your suspension. 

don’t get me wrong, I had a great time, would ride there again, just would not go there to test out suspension settings. It highlighted to me how location specific suspension setting and requirements are.

Plus One for the Unwobbler. decent price point, works well enough for my tastes and talents in wheel building,  and does not take up too much room in the garage.

It’s interesting that you think Mark and I are on opposite sides of this discussion.

“The truth about stories is, that's all we are. you have to be careful with the stories you tell. And you have to watch out for the stories that you are told.”

-Thomas King.

I got that and I do not disagree, BUT, I do not think we are hardwired to understand the implications of the fact that there are 8 billion people on earth, and the fact that the earth is in fact finite. I don’t think we are capable of truly grasping what that means.

we are going to have to agree to disagree on that one. my response would take way to much time to type out. I do agree we need to examine our relationship with our environment, But….

I have this conversation with the foresters I work with all the time. In the time it takes me to get a trail approved, (3-5 years) they can layout a block and associated roads, build, harvest, cleanup, plant, rehab and be many more of those cycles in. 

on the flip side, I was at a rec planning symposium of sorts recently, and some of the motorized groups were complaining about the approval process, how slow and complicated it is, and how it will only lead to more unsanctioned trail building. The rec officer comment was basically, “oh yeah, I am not sure that’s possible” as in no amount of approvals are going to slow down unsanctioned trail building. 

where I think most trail builders and small organizations struggle is in planning. If you know that it takes 3-5 years to get an approval, you had better always have something in the works. I am currently sitting on a rock, looking over a lake, laying out a trail I don’t expect to build for 3-5 years. but I am in the rare position where I get paid to do this. we have come along ways in 20years.

constructing trails on crown land with out authorization is a contravention of the forest and range practises act. so yeah, illegal. but there is really no one enforcing, for the most part.

https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/consol31/consol31/00_02069_01#section57

The conclusion I have come to is that humans have a very hard time understanding scarcity and our personal impact on the world. In part due to our evolving in a world where we were a minor species in a vast wilderness playing with sticks (as in I believe this is in our DNA), and in part due to our very short life spans. 

based on that basic human trait, people get frustrated with the process of getting trails approved, maintenance of existing infrastructure is not as sexy, policy is boring, planning is mostly just talking, enforcement is non existent. most of us have jobs and just want to go ride our bikes and play in the woods and stick to the man for a few hours.

Posted by: L.Hutz.Esq.

He further noted that mountain biking terrain varies widely in different parts of the world, and even within Canada. He opined that a rider in Ontario might race competitively in an expert class, but struggle with an intermediate trail in British Columbia.

this is an interesting issue. trail rating are relative only to the local network and not an industry wide standard. also interesting that styles of difficulty is seldom represented in the rating system. a jump line could be a black and a steep rooty rock section is also a black but pose very different challenges.

may as well kick the old can around here.

1. this fork would be swapped between a chromag rootdown BA and a Kona Process 111

2. Currently run a 2015 Auron 140mm on my rootdown

3. some where between intermediate and advanced. I could figure out how to do a full service on my fork but would rather send it out to be serviced by someone who does it regularly. I do the lowers and play with the setting on my Auron regularly

4.I am actually looking for a 160mm fork for my rootdown but for the riding I do most of the time this summer 140mm is just fine.

5. both. I flip full suspension bikes regularly but I keep my hardtails for years and replace parts as the break and wear out.

6. https://nsmb.com/articles/north-shore-billet-variable-tooth-chainring/

Discalmer, after I wrote that review I ended up forking for NSB for a few years but am no longer employed by them.