Beginnerish at Fromme and Seymour

Hi,

I'm new in town, and though I've done a fair bit of trail riding and that in the UK, I had my first day at Fromme last weekend and I've gotta say I got my ass kicked. On the recommendation of a guy I met on the way up I went for Pipeline first. Whilst I enjoyed a lot of it, I had to carry my bike over some of the steeper rocky bits and skinnier wooden bits - and I also fell off a good 5 times :high::hurt::fruit:

I then on someone else's recommendation did bobsled and found it awesome - a bit short obviously but good fun. Another guy recommended Floppy Bunny next - unfortunately at this point I had to limp home as my knee was too f*cked from one of my previous tumbles. Foolishly I had not invested in knee pads - these will be my next investment before returning, and then possibly a full face helmet, and a 2 ring chainset with a guard (sensible? Any other recommendations)?

My bike's a 100mm cross country bike really (trek fuel EX 6.5 from about 4 years ago) and I'd say my skills are ok, but I really need a bit more of a gentle intro. I want to be riding the gnarly stuff, but I suppose my question is this:

- After my kneepad investment, can anyone give me a shortlist of fun trails to do that won't totally rape me? Like for example, ones around the difficulty of bobsled, building up to pipeline, which I WILL conquer once my skills and knees are up to it.

If anyone could also provide a little list of these types of runs on Seymour,that would be really cool as I'm gonna be living near here and want to get my skills up to speed ASAP.

Much obliged guys, thanks for looking and see you on the hills. I'm the one carrying my bike down the hill with blood pouring out my legs

Good work for taking on pipeline and staying round my more. Like you I'm a brit and I resumed mountain biking when moved here three years ago. Typically I ride fromme now and these I my thoughts.

1. Yes get some knee pads.
2. Full face may be wait there are plenty of more pedally trails to go at.
3. Yes loose the big ring and get a bash guard.
4. There is thread on here somewhere that has got lots of useful information for beginners.
5. May be buy Sharon and Wade's book it's good.
6. If you living in Vancouver go out to Burnaby Mountain the bus provides good uplift and it is good confidence builder. If you are living in North Van don't bother.

7. Try a shorter stem on your bike, if it doesn't mess up the geometry it will help you riding.

Once againn good job on pipeline for a first run

A bit of a tough call. Perhaps Crinkum Crankum /Leopard / Kirkford? To be perfectly honest, I have always considered the Shore trails to start at Pipeline and get trickier from there. Once you can comfortably ride Pipeline, then you can likely handle a bunch of other stuff as well. My first run down that trail was an exercise in semi-controlled panic and death grip braking. It is better now.

Until you get more in the swing of things, you might want to ride Burnaby Mountain (SFU) for a bit. Floppy bunny has seen some love recently and it is now a good stepping stone as well. Plus you can run lots of laps on it. One other thing I learned when getting used to the Shore - there is really no shame in walking. Just try to do a bit less of it every ride and things come together quickly.

My first Shore ride was on Seymour, following a group of guys I met in the parking lot down CBC, Corkscrew and Boogieman. Not the route I'd recommend for a beginner.

Bridle and severed are usually the best shore introductory trails

Check out Burnaby Mountain/SFU area. They trails are a lot more mellow (but still challenging in some areas) and there's a skills center there where you can get dialed in on the skinnies to prepare you for the shore.

Buy pads. Soon.

It's been said over and over here, but pick up a copy of the Locals Guide to the Shore at pretty much any LBS. It gives detailed descriptions of the trail systems on all 3 local mountains, and some good loops.

You might also want to consider moving to a longer travel/slacker/burlier bike if you want to get the most out of the shore.

Welcome to BC!

We can help… lots of cool programs to dial in your skills and give you some insight into trails.

Yes to knee pads, shorter stems [HTML_REMOVED] wider bars and starting with trails at SFU and exploring more of lower Fromme to dial in skills before heading up.

DB@EB

Sharon, are you nuts?

Seriously people, as a professional instructor snd guide, pipeline [HTML_REMOVED] severed are not good trails to start with for beginners around here.

DB@EB

Sharon, are you nuts?

Seriously people, as a professional instructor snd guide, pipeline [HTML_REMOVED] severed are not good trails to start with for beginners around here.

DB@EB

agreed. severed has some sections that are definitely not begginer-ish.

what about king of the shore? upper griffen? even lower griffen would be ok, although i rode it 2 weeks ago or so and was surprised at how much it's deteriorated.

SFU, LSCR, roadside attraction[HTML_REMOVED]king of the shore, upper-middle-lower Griffen, bobsled, floppy bunny, bridle path, sticks [HTML_REMOVED] stones, bottle top would all be great trails to help you get some
Experience and progress up to trails like Pipeline and the whole other dimension this will open you up to.

DB@B

Severed is the easiest 'dh' xc trail on the shore!

Bear and Sumas mt in Mission/abbostford respectively probably have some of the best xc trails for beginners.

Severed is the easiest 'dh' xc trail on the shore!

Bear and Sumas mt in Mission/abbostford respectively probably have some of the best xc trails for beginners.

Severed is not an 'XC' trail. You may have ridden it back in the day on an XC bike and many can still ride today. You go straight up and straight down, most other parts they call that more all/mountain than they do XC. Some would even think AM is a stretch.

What about lower Fromme, not nearly as steep as Severed….? What about Dreamweaver, much lower grade…. There are more too….
DB@EB

What about lower Fromme, not nearly as steep as Severed….? What about Dreamweaver, much lower grade…. There are more too….
DB@EB

Getting to DW can be issue… lower fromme trails are good too, but short.

Severed is the easiest 'dh' xc trail on the shore!

Bear and Sumas mt in Mission/abbostford respectively probably have some of the best xc trails for beginners.

Yeah Lorax is an great trail for beginers!

On Fromme I find lower Oil Can probably the least intimidating trail. Better yet is Peugeot but that seems to be an abandoned trail as it was "Too easy" back when dorp to falt became the rage. On Seymour Ned's actually isn't too bad on a XC bike. and then down Bottletop or Ridge Runner. Bridle Sticks N Stones and new bits are also great XC terrain.