Freeriding is an old man’s game

We had fifteen mountainboarders riding at Randwick today, and although you might not have guessed it from the stick fighting, most of them were ‘Masters’, which you can read as ‘mature’, or just plain old. There were a few youngsters, but freeriding definitely seems to appeal to the more mature gentleman. Maybe it’s all part of a nice walk in woods on a autumn afternoon. And maybe it’s not for the majority of younger riders as it involves a lot of walking, and teenagers are lazy.

Anyway, we all seemed to have a good time, and it was great to see some old faces out riding again. Tim was back after a long time out due to injury and sports cars. Jon and Sam were back after months of hiking up mountains without a board to ride back down. Beiran was out on his flexi axles. And Horse tried out the new Trampa Brakeboard and got on really well with it. The twist in the Trampa deck and easy-to-grab stopping switch go together to give you a board that is pretty much perfect for freeriding. It sticks to the rough terrain, is pretty much indestructible, not too heavy for carrying back up, and as the brake works with eight inch wheels, it’s really versatile.

Don’t know why Trampa chase after the freestyle market. MBS have that pretty much sewn up and the growing demographic is the freeriders, which, as today showed, are in the upper age bracket, smart enough to choose a board that is the right tool for the job rather than one that looks pretty, and may want a brake to give them the added safety factor (A.K.A. paying the mortgage).

Seeing this many mountainboarders out together at the beginning of the freeride season (yes, I know every season is freeride season for some of us), always gives me hope for good times ahead, and shuts up those who moan about how mountainboarding is shrinking.

Old men freeriding

For more photos of what old men get up to in the woods, check out Nathan’s Facebook Album.

I’m up in the Lake District next weekend so our next Freeride Meet is Kings Wood on the 20th Nov. And while you’re on Facebook, check out the SurfingDirt page and like our Pumpkin Peril pic because we want to win. (Befriending Surfingdirt maybe required, but that’s not a bad thing). No terms and conditions apply.

www.mountainboarding.info

The mountainboarding wiki site was a bit of a failure. Open access and community editing is a good idea but in practice it attracts a lot of spam and ‘grudgediting’. So I started another website with the same aim; to provide a community-generated, comprehensive, accumulated resource of all the mountainboarding information we can find. And helpfully it’s at www.mountainboarding.info. It’s still very much in the early stages of being set-up and needs lots of work in collating and creating content, and on the design side of things, so if you have some spare time in front of a computer and want to help, let me know. And especially if you’re not in the UK as we need the site to be global, so you can add content from your country/region/club/etc.

Lights out in Ledbury

Nightride mountainboarding in Ledbury

Walked into a dark and misty Conigree Woods and felt my way up the nearest track-looking thing. Dropped into the gulley to warm up with my headtorch to light my way. Have to say thanks to the bikers for their strategically placed safety can (you know when you’ve been impaled), and for clearing loads of new tracks which I shall have to check out one day soon.

Then I wandered over to Threading The Needle, which unfortunately has a tree down about three quarters up, but with the moon shining through the trees I strapped in and rode it without lights. It’s easier than you might think, riding in near total darkness, you’ve just got to shut your silly brain off and let your body do it’s thing.

Final run was a nice chilled down after The Needle and even with a light I managed to fall over, but you can’t win ’em all.

And I almost got lucky. I think something in the woods thought my clicking ratchets was a mating call and kept answering with it’s own clicking.

It’s a downhill kinda day

Downhill mountainboarding in Wales

Great day riding three new tracks in Wales. Beautiful weather, beautiful place. Forgot my GPS but I had Brennig to read the map and chase me down the tracks. I’m not really into going fast. Used to be, but not anymore, I’ve felt the consequences too many times. But with Brennig close behind me I didn’t have much choice. That lad is going to be an awesome downhiller one day soon.

Back to Birdlip

Nightride at Birdlip

Haven’t ridden at Birdlip for years, but a nightride with Mutley fixed that. Riding down the a-maize-ing track in the dark and walking back up to earn the ride. Definitely. Then off to Wales for more new-track-madness tomorrow.

Mountainboarding.uk.com at Sports Maker Conference

Mountainboarding.uk.com at Sports Maker Conference

Yesterday evening I attended the first SportEngland Sports Maker conference piloted by Oxfordshire Sports Partnership. The Sports Maker programme is part of SportEnglands aim of creating an Olympic legacy that sees more people taking part in sporting activities. I chatted to various people involved in and responsible for organising sports in Oxfordshire and handed out some of our new mountainboarding.uk.com business cards. Now I’ve just got to think about the next step. Training maybe…

Vee boarding

I spent the weekend at a Formula Vee race at Pembrey. It’s probably not the most obvious sport to compare to mountainboarding, after all their tracks are flat, but there are some parallels.

The Vee organising body is run by a committee of volunteers and has an annual membership fee of £30. The competitions, of which there are about 15 a year, typically see between 25 & 45 competitors. They don’t seem to have any big sponsors but instead concentrate on developing a sustainable business model. The people involved are all part of a strong community, and support each other by helping out with repairs and sharing race strategies. And they don’t get many spectators, just the few that come with the racers.

Formula Vee racing

All this makes me think two things. Firstly, that there are lots of ‘minority’ sports out there just getting on with doing their thing. And secondly, that we’re doing alright by just getting on with doing our thing.

Mountainboard spares

Mountainboard spares

Been sorting out all the spare parts I’ve collected over the years, including seven F3’s, various truck hangers, loads of springs and eggs, and more bolts and washers than I want to count. Let me know if you need anything.