_Daemon_ Posted June 20, 2007 Author Posted June 20, 2007 Logwood...yes perhaps...but there's not a way to progress your skills safely on the north shore stuff there, it's tooo high and the entry onto some of the bridges is just tooooooo steep, and it's IMO tooo dangerous, with wooden poles on the side sticking out of the ground...don't even want to see the guy that land on one of those. Rather build smaller stuff, and then make it technical, sharp turns, off camber turns, see-saws, drops onto other bridges etc. etc. Then move onto the higher and bigger stuff. Also the jumps at Logwood is kinda pointless...cause you cannot stop and walk back and re-take them and try different stuff etc. etc. Logwood is good fun, and it's a step in the right direction, but...we need more places like that....built more with freeriding and less XC in mind. And I agree with dirt-rider you really don't need massive hills to built a fun challenging DH course. And what about 4x...we have none that I know off, I reckon lots of guys will be interested in doing 4x, I know I will be, and you don't need big expensive DH bikes for that, and it's a perfect progression from BMX racing.
dirtrider Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 The Aussie , you got to understand him !! But Logwood just got to expensive for me and it was either I give up my drinking habits or stop smoking . Not gonna happen . WTF is 4x ?
AndreZA Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 WTF is 4x ? Weet jy nie 4X (4 cross) is nie? Dit is basies 4 MTB ryers op 'n wye downhill baan. Amper soos 'n BMX race.
HomerSimpson Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 WTF is 4x ? Weet jy nie 4X (4 cross) is nie? Dit is basies 4 MTB ryers op 'n wye downhill baan. Amper soos 'n BMX race. Net bietjie meer opwindend as BMX (imho); nogal iets om te sien as twee of drie ouens dieselfde tyd 'n dropoff ry....
_Daemon_ Posted June 20, 2007 Author Posted June 20, 2007 4x race http://www.mountainzone.com/photo/2004/mtn_bike_worlds/photos/4x_1.jpg _Daemon_2007-06-20 04:46:16
_Daemon_ Posted June 20, 2007 Author Posted June 20, 2007 http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fourx/images/Perth/05perthmtxrando.jpg
Dibles Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fourx/what.htmWhat is 4X? 4X (fourcross) is the newest and arguably most spectacular form of mountain bike racing.It is also known as many other things, most commonly Mountaincross (mtx), but also as Bikercross (bx), Bicycle Supercross (bsx), and more.It first began on the World Cup circuit in 2001, replacing the two-man "Dual Compressor/ Slalom". From there it spread throughout the Mountain Biking world. 4X is a blend of Motocross, BMX, and Downhill Mountain Biking. It involves four mountain bikers racing head to head on a downhill ?Supercross? style track. Riders start on a start ramp with a BMX style start gate. The course usually consists of straights with jumps and other features of various sizes and styles, and corners that are usually bermed but sometimes can have no berm.A 4X course is typically up to 6 metres wide and between 250 - 500 metres long. Race times vary from 25 seconds up to 50 seconds.The fastest riders use either hardtail or short travel dual suspension bikes.
Pieter Henning Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 Spoke to John-lee's brother lastnight - He is currently one of the best downhillers in the country, and he can still only go to Worldchamps this year if he can get the money together to pay his own way. This is kanda sad that it is like this.
_Daemon_ Posted June 20, 2007 Author Posted June 20, 2007 Spoke to John-lee's brother lastnight - He is currently one of the best downhillers in the country' date=' and he can still only go to Worldchamps this year if he can get the money together to pay his own way. This is kanda sad that it is like this.[/quote'] Kinda sad, if you think of all the exposure Greg gives for SA, and we cannot even send over one rider....
dirtrider Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 ok dis soos BMX op MTB . Seen it before on tellie . We can have 4x going down cornwall hill !!!
Thug Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 ok dis soos BMX op MTB . Seen it before on tellie . We can have 4x going down cornwall hill !!! Racing down Cornwall Hill at night, now that's a thought
MintSauce Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 Main reason is undoubtedly the lack of properly built and maintained trails. This is why I asked about these types of trails a couple months ago. If they existed, I'd most definitely have a freeride bike. Obviously the problem is that there's no market at the moment, so no market means just about noone will build the trails and that means that the market can't really develop. A vicious circle. Meurant's approach is what will make this possible I believe. Obviously it's simply not financially viable at the moment to just build huge freeride trails, so they HAVE to start small, but it should develop into something in a couple years. Go have a look www.amarider.co.za. if you haven't checked it out yet. At the moment it's mainly focused in the Cape, but AMA stands for African Mountainbike Association and their grand vision is to promote MTB as a tourist attraction, kind of like Canada has become. Obviously this encompasses MTB in general, but I have no doubt that FR/DH type trails will form part of this and this will grow the popularity of DH as a sport. It's tricky though. Whistler became viable because there were hundreds of riders in that area of Canada building trails deep in the forest. Initially illegally and later legally with the help of the Whistler Off Road Cycle Association and other similar groups. WORCA was started after riders, other trail users and the authorities clashed over the building of illegal trails. An improved trail network leads to the growth of the sport which leads to more trails which leads to more riders etc etc.....what do you call the opposite of a 'vicious circle'? So, in the case of Whistler the market was kind of there. A lot of the park's infrastructure was already in place. Whistler Resort has a ski-lift network taking riders to the top of the hill. You're not even allowed to ride up the mountain. This makes a HUGE, HUGE difference! And the amount of money invested in that park must be quite scary. They practically rebuild the entire park after the snow melts every year.....and we're talking about 200km of buffed DH trails!Hell, the busses in Whistler Village have friggin bikeracks on them!!! But then last year they had in excess of 100000 riders over the summer! Best we can do at the moment is to get involved. Talk about it. Build the trails ourselves(legally). I just wonder if even with AMA and new trails and increased numbers and all that we'll ever have enough interest for the sport to really develop?
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