July 15, 1999
BOMBS Ride
This next pictures and story are about BOMBS. No, not explosive devices (although some anguished males may beg to differ). I mean Babes On Mountain Bikes – a word one local woman rider (Dianna Kilby) initially coined but one which is often used.
Here is Kira doing her thing on Bookwos, a well-known trail built by Digger on the slopes of Fromme. Many trails were built by Digger. Common features include down-ramps, teeter-totters, big rock faces/sliders and log rides. Kira is nattily appointed on a Rocky Mountain Pipeline and is styling this ramp. Kira is a star in NSX I and NSX II, two videos of Shore riding.
Kirsten, another local and a fine Lynn Valley grrl styles this ramp on a Psycle Werks. Kirsten started serious Shore riding this winter in the depths of snow season and has already made incredible strides. She wants to race downhill – watch out World Cup!
Kirsten again (what a camera hoggete!) displaying good form on another skinny ramp. The entrance is actually quite tricky. Notice that she is using only rear brake and not front – good Shore braking technique! Kirsten’s good taste can be seen in her choice of brakes – Magura Louise discs – quite possibly, among the finest biking products on this planet.
If Kirsten has shown improvement, then this next BOMB, Sharon Bader is the exponential growth curve of Shore riders. This grrl rides her first Shore ramp on another Digger classic, “For Ladies Only”. With some patient coaching by Kira, Sharon tosses herself right off the deep end astride a hand-built Brodie Expresso!
Here’s Kirsten again on another drop on Bookwus (note this means “Wild Man”). This shows an interesting perspective on the drop. There is abundant foliage in North Shore forests and many trees fall every year. B.C. trail building ethics are not to cut through fallen obstacles (unlike in many other riding areas elsewhere) but to incorporate them into trails. The entry and exit ramps on this drop, for example, are constructed from cedar bolts and shakes from fallen trees.
One interesting common feature for Shore riders is their use of armour –
some use just legs, some use legs, and arms; while some like Kira go for legs,
arms and full-face ala downhillers. There’s a very good reason for this
as Claudia demonstrates as she piledrives into a tree. Claudia – perhaps
one of the most skilled women I have ever had the pleasure of riding with –
was surprised by the slipperiness of this ramp on Bookwus. Both Claudia and
her bike, a Brodie full-suspension, survived this mishap nicely.
Here goes Claudia again showing her form wheelie – dropping Kodak Rock, a downhill angled rock face on Bookwus. Claudia uses these formidable skills with considerable success in B.C.’s downhill race circuit and on the Shore.
Hood River, Oregon is an interesting contrast to North Shore trails. The singletrack here is fast and buff. Fallen trees are promptly sawed into two, roots are buffed out of trails and trails are immacutely smooth. Here, Sharon enjoys the lower reaches of the Pine Canyon singletrack network in Hood River.
The Lewis River trail in Washington is not quite as buff as Hood River but it still has fast, flowing relatively non-technical singletrack. Here Lisa finds a technical section but carries her momentum through on a Norco Sasquatch.
