Freeride

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For other uses, see Freeriding (financial) or Free ride (disambiguation).

Freeride is a branch of mountain biking. A relatively new sport combining different aspects of mountain biking, such as downhill and dirtjumping, freeriding has progressed quickly in recent years, and is now recognised as one of the most popular disciplines within mountain biking.

The term came from the concept of freeriding, which is used in a multitude of sports, including skiing, snowboarding, and windsurfing. The general concept was that there was no set course, goals or rules to abide by.

Freeride bikes are similar to downhill bikes though they are slightly lighter which enables them to be ridden not just downhill but through more technical sections, such as North Shore obstacles.

Ski areas have started to embrace the sport, adding bike racks to chairlifts to create "lift accessed mountain biking". This helps keep ski areas profitable year round, and gives the bikers the ability to ride more runs in less time.

1 Where To Ride
2 Differences between downhilling and freeriding
3 The North Shore
- 3.1 North Shore Mountain Biking Association (NSMBA)
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Where To Ride

One of the biggest and most popular Ski Mountain/Freeride Parks is the Whistler Blackcomb Mountain. Home to many of the sports biggest events, Kokanee Crankworx , and many more. Whistler is very smooth, it can even be enjoyed with a hardtail.

The Whistler Web Site

[edit] Differences between downhilling and freeriding

Many people associate freeriding with downhill mountain biking. While similar in both bicycles and equipment, the two sports differ in the manner of riding. With downhilling, one will descend very steep terrain with many jumps, roots, and rocks (see downhill mountain biking).

With freeriding, the riding is done on man-made obstacles that are usually elevated from the ground. For example, one may ride on a small, raised platform and jump 20 feet down to another even smaller platform. There are aspects of freeriding which are similar to downhilling, such as descending on a dirt trail and jumping over a large ravine onto a wooden platform. Freeriding can be compared to the mountain bike version of a skatepark.

[edit] The North Shore

For more details on this topic, see Mountain biking in British Columbia.

The sport has spread across the planet, but the widely recognized starting point for the addition of man-made obstacles for downhill trails is Vancouver, British Columbia's "North Shore". This refers to three mountains across the Burrard Inlet from downtown Vancouver, Mount Seymour, Mt. Fromme, and Mount Cypress. The mountains weren't the first places to have downhill trails with natural obstacles, but they were one of the first places to have man-made obstacles such as skinny bridges and teeter totters. The trail builders also embraced many natural features too, using fallen logs to ride on and rocks faces to jump or ride down. They didn't take out that much nature to make their trails, they left some of the tree roots exposed to give the rider a bumpy but fun ride.

Trails on the North Shore are mostly described as "technical". This means that the trails corners are tight and the tread strewn of natural obstacles such as rocks and roots. These sections require quick-thinking to navigate, because roots often get slippery in the wintertime.

The "shore" has seen some controversy. Most of the trails are built on private property or parkland. In a highly publicised "War of the Woods" BC Parks cracked down on the trails and started to fine mountain bikers and one trailbuilder was caught in the act and prosecuted. A major voice in the conflict in North Vancouver District councillor Ernie Crist, who recently has been lobbying for the closing of all the trails on Mt. Fromme. Housing developments at the base of the mountains complain of bikers going across their lawns etc. The expansion of the residential areas called for the destruction of some trails on Mount Cypress, and also there were cases of "sabotage" to the trails (such as the removal of bridge supports etc.).

[edit] North Shore Mountain Biking Association (NSMBA)

To help promote biking and keep the trails open there is an advocacy group, the North Shore Mountain Biking Association (NSMBA). They negotiate with landowners, organize volunteers to maintain the trails and hold races.

Riders of this sport include Andreu Lacondeguy, Lluis Lacondeguy, Darren Berrecloth, Paul Basagotia, Ryder Kasprick, Matt Hunter, Wade Simmons, Geoff Gulevich, Cedric Gracia, Cameron Zink, Cameron MacCaul, Aaron Chase, Trent Kidd, Timo Pritzel, Chris Donahue, Kyle Strait, Steve Romaniuk, Richie Schley, Glen Coe, Andrew Shandro, Jordie Lunn, Dave Watson, Carlo Diekmann, Kirt Vories, Shaums March, Mike Jones, Kyle Richie, Mike Metzger, Grant brashears, Josh Bender