Speedy Recovery

Hope you have a speedy recovery man, that sucks.

I personally think the bridge is fine, it gets ridden on/over a lot with very few issues. It is odd though, that of all the things on fight trail that could potentially cause a bad crash, its that little bridge at the very start, it isn’t exactly that risky compared to a LOT of other stuff in there.
Maybe because it is right away and folks aren’t tuned into things yet?

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Need more warmup. Let’s get Trail Flow in to build a skills park, even have all that wood from the construction site laying around unguarded. :wink:

Hoping for a speedy recovery for you @Cheshiremark. Being injured sucks.

I think the problem here is what others have stated. There is no warm up before you hit stuff that needs your attention. Yo are thrown straight into the fire. I wonder how many crashes there have been at this spot on the way out?

On a related topic, the next roll down/ launch where there is a bridge that was rebuilt in the last season or two, the roll seems to have developed a rut at the very bottom. I’ve been riding this for years but lately noticed that it seems a little more sketchy that it used to. Does anyone else find this or is it just me?

Yeah, sketch level has increased slightly over the years I think.

I personally find that Fight over all have some really nice features but one mistake one any of them have the potential to cause so real injuries. Since Fight Trail is like 80% or more exposed granite falls can be very serious.

That’s not to say spots like this can’t be improved to reduce the chances but for the reasons above this is why I limit how often I ride there.

Fight Trail is never going to be easy, it has high consequence features everywhere, but that is what makes it a bit of a special place, its so unique.

I find the opposite to some of you, I find that a lot of features have been watered down, and lots of stuff has alternate lines now. A lot of the technical climbs in the first section of Flat Lake loop going towards Halifax Rock are much easier now, with rocks added, new lines added etc. I like alternate lines, but not so much making existing lines easier.

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I agree with @pmachan that Fight Trail is not meant to be easy, and with the granite, falls are going to be more dangerous than other trails that are mostly dirt.

In terms of the the features, I agree that some have had alternate lines added to give them bail out options. I think this fine as long as the existing lines are left untouched for those highly skilled riders who enjoy Fight for this reason. If existing lines are altered to make them easier, then this really defeats the purpose of what the trail was built for. Personally, the sections I find challenging, or have difficulty with, I want to remain that way so I have something to work on each time I ride Fight. Maintaining them and keeping them in nice shape is great, changing them to make them easier is not, but just my personal opinion.

I also think Fight, like lots of other trails in the HRM, aren’t maintained as well as trails in the rest of the province so spots like @muddy mentioned get sketchy because unless they become un-rideable, people just keep riding over it. The second bridge on the way in, just before the section @muddy mentioned, is missing a piece. It is a small bridge, and not really that challenging, but missing a piece nonetheless. It has been that way since last fall at least and since it doesn’t make the trail un-rideable, it hasn’t been fixed.

as for @Cheshiremark, wishing you a speedy recovery. Having separated my shoulder riding a couple of seasons ago, being off the bike sucks but all you can do is heal and wait.

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I agree with this completely. I have no issues with an alternate line around a difficult section (within reason) but just because someone doesn’t currently have the skill to clear a feature doesn’t mean that is the case for everyone else as well.

As for the first bridge, I think it is a completely different issue, and repairing/rebuilding, re-orientating it or completely removing it is not the same as dumbing down a trail feature.

The bridge is poorly placed in relation to the line (the one I pick anyway) and quite frankly I don’t think it is really needed from what I have noticed of the ground underneath of it.

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I like the difficulty of Fight, I like that as my skill level has increased over the years it’s become easier and sections or features that I used to walk I can now ride. The last thing I would want is for it to get dumbed down. If there’s something you’re not capable of, or even if you’re just not feeling it that day (which has happened to me) walk it, or use a workaround.

My crash at Fight was a fluke, I’ve ridden that spot a million times without issue.

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Isn’t that always the way? I never get hurt on the tough stuff. It’s always when you aren’t paying attention or letting your mind wander on the easy stuff that the worst crashes happen.

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Amen Brother :pray:

You could take any rider of any skill, from newbie to pro, from anywhere in the world and they would enjoy a ride at the Fight Trail. It is incredibly unique. I always say if you were going to build a mountain bike park, Fight Trail is exactly what you would build. There is something (lots) there for everybody

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That’s the problem with high exposure to the granite… it can be technically easy but the consequence of the mistake is higher than the difficulty. Which make for a good feature because the thrill is in the minds perception of risk.

The down side is if you get complacent or have one random day you are in for the hurt.

It’s all part of the sport though.

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If you ain’t crashing once in awhile, you ain’t doin’ it right.

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With respect to go-around routes…

I always feel that if there is a go-around it should be a longer path than the challenging route. That way it is a reward for the more skilled riders. They get speed from the risk.

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I must be an expert, then.

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I’ve ridden through there a number of times without issue. It was just kind of a crazy fall I guess. I agree with not dumbing down trails/lines (which is part of the challenge/fun). And I’m not necessarily taking issue with this particular bridge, but if a man-made feature has been added to make a section more rideable and is resulting in more crashes maybe it’s not fulfilling its intended purpose and needs to be revisited?

On another note, I can’t figure why I’m seeing this ad in my FB feed

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Get well soon brother

I would really start to worry when the ads show up before the crash.

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If we could do some forensic crash examination! I think it would still come up as “miscalculated gravitational line” or as for. my term as “bad day”.

As last year I did the same at keppoch! Got out fine to double black dh line chicken old school but at the end I see kids on the mini skills zone tried and got nasty crashed instead. :joy: Kids were like hey hey hey are you ok?! Stars concussion, road rash All over.

All good @Cheshiremark brother. Any updates on he results of CT?!

CT confirmed there was no injury to the joint/socket or the femur, which is good. Only the fracture in the iliac crest, so painful but no need for surgery or anything drastic. Just needs time.

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