An extreme view of a mountain bike
North Shore is the most dangerous and extreme of all types of mountain biking. This sport is the passage of the track, consisting of wooden boards, which can be installed at a height of one to ten meters. Wooden boards arranged parallel to each other look like a narrow path.
At the same time, the boards that are used when installing the track can be so narrow that their edges border on the side of the wheels. The route, as a rule, is built arbitrarily. This achieves the uniqueness, diversity and complexity of obstacles.
The origin of sports
As a sport, northshore originated in the early 80s in the North Shore suburb of Vancouver, Canada. The area was rich in winding roads, impenetrable forest paths and small hillocks. Therefore, this place was chosen by cyclists who liked extreme riding.
Nowadays, northshore tracks have become more complex: relief paths, various bridges, spiral paths, bending around trees or structures, and even swings.
A huge contribution to the development and formation of the northshore was made by Todd Finder, known by the nickname “Digger” (from the English – digger). He was so named because he was the first to explore and dig trails for racing bikes on the north coast.
He personally checked each new obstacle, which was extremely dangerous, because there were no equipment or well-equipped bicycles yet.
Another name mentioned in Northshore history is Dangerous Dan. This guy was able to surprise Todd Finder by coming up with an unusual, at that time, obstacle for the track – driving through fallen logs.
By 1998, the north coast was becoming a very popular destination for mountain biking thanks to detailed photographs of the area that were published in Bike Magazine.
Sports history
Between 1997 and 1998, The North Shore Mountain Bike Association (NSMBA) was formed. This was a necessary security measure, as there were cases of attacks on athletes by property developers. Today, this organization is engaged not only in the training of athletes and the development of places to practice northshore, but is also actively working to protect the territories adjacent to the racing tracks.
The first Northshore enthusiasts rode conventional bicycles. But, with the advent of new ideas regarding the diversity of the track, there was a need to increase the capabilities of the bike. Chaz Romalis is one of the followers of this sport of that time.
According to him, he and his friends rode old bicycles and deliberately tore off some of the rear elements to give the bike speed. The name of this man is associated with the opening of the first bike shop for the northshore “Deep Cove Bike Shop”.
Today, a northshore bike has nothing to do with a regular city bike. For classes, hardtail bikes or full-suspension bikes are suitable. Hardtails have a suspension fork, while the back of the bike is stiff. Full suspension differs from hardtails in the presence of front and rear shock absorption.
Hardtail bikes have an advantage over full-suspension bikes in weight and roll on a flat road, but are inferior when driving off-road. These types of bikes provide reliable landing from jumps and climbing steep hills.
Olympic sport
More and more often, new sports are entering the world of the Olympic Games. Some of them are, to put it mildly, very strange, but not this discipline. Namely, mountain biking! Speaking in the abbreviated sense of the word, mountain biking is mountain biking on off-road and various mountain ranges. That is, sport for courageous, mobile and determined people, as it is quite an extreme sport.
It was recorded in the program of the Olympic Games not so long ago – only in 1996, but it began to develop long before that. About forty or fifty years ago, a teenager took it into his head to ride a bicycle down a mountain range. The young man liked this ride very much.
This idea was picked up by other willing cyclists. And, twenty years later, the first mass race took place near the city of San Francisco. In the future, mountain biking began to attract more and more young people, because it is not only a sport, but also an adrenaline rush, speed and a sense of freedom!
But modern mountain biking is not just a ride back and forth, but a full-fledged hobby. It is divided into several categories and has many varieties.