The Thing About Flow Trails

Back by popular demand, I present to you more Whiskey Mike and Tom Sampson from everyones favorite steep trail Mecca, Nelson, New Zealand. #followcamfriday. Accept no substitutions. 

Te Ara Koa, Nelson's version of a "flow" trail. I guess when most of the trails in Nelson are true fall-line skidders, this qualifies as a flow trail. If this was in the States, this would be considered a tech trail with a sign at the top warning people that they may die. I normally I avoid trails with the word "flow" in them like the plague. Let me explain. 

I enjoy challenge. Mountain biking is hard. I don't need to feel like a hero on every ride. I like trails to have sections that I cannot clean. Being humbled is good, it builds character and skill. Braking bumps make smile and rocks that try to break my carbon wheels are my idea of a party. Normally, "flow" trails have none of those things. And if I am being honest, I couldn't be bothered to ride those trails. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. We need flow trails. Scaring people away from out sport is definitely not the direction for growth. Hell, I wouldn't have a job if everyone hated mountain biking because it was to hard. I get it, I really do. But homogenized, sanitized, flow trails just don't do it for me personally.  Have you seen what are bikes are capable of? Frankly, it's amazing. Trails don't need to be sidewalks. 

And that brings us to Te Ara Koa. Whiskey Mike is demonstrating proper last second crash-avoidance outrigger techniques here. This trail has flow, but still presents challenges. There are roots, rocks, and hard flat-track turns everywhere. Hardly any berms. I guess the takeaway is that the trail builders in Nelson know what's up. This is a blue run that is hard to ride fast, has tech and has some flowy fast sections. Nothing overly steep or scary, but hard to ride fast. Good work boys! Turns out you don't need to remove all the rocks and roots to boost peoples egos. A solid intermediate can make it down this track with a huge grin and a sense of self-accomplishment, and we can shred. Everyone wins. 

So next time you hit something so hard that you flat, cherish that rock. If you remove that rock, you loose. If you learn to jump over that rock, you win. Avoiding things that are hard in life will get you absolutely nowhere. Same for bikes. Instead of complaining about brake bumps, skid thru them and make them bigger. Steve Wentz just smiled.  I mean, have you seen the modern mountain bike? It is built to hack holes and smash into things. Embrace it. It's a great time to be a mountain biker. 
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Nelson perfection from the top of Te. Would you just look at it. If you made it this far, thanks for reading my rant. Don't take anything I say seriously. I am just looking for some slippery roots to crash on. I will continue to try and make my life as hard as possible and hopefully learn something along the way.