North shore features that live rent-free in your head

Curious what are everyone else's north shore white whale features? Things that you have a mental block on that you just can't get past. 

My current is the Bart Simpson drop on Ladies Only. I just cannot figure it out and think I am going to go over the bars on the first roll and take a horrible crash. I actually think I am totally capable of it, but its become such a mental block for me. 

The boogie whale tail was on that list for me for a long time as well; first time I rode boogie I followed someone on it and nearly had a horrific fall when it caught me off guard. Finally pretty comfortable riding it now.

I’m 50/50 on Bart’s.  It’s a do it or don’t move for sure  

I dream of the double stacked teeter totter that used to be on Lower Oilcan.  Looked at its bones last weekend. 

I fear the double roller which used to be Aftertaste and now am terrified of Dynamite after looking down it.  No way.

The remains of the big wooden structure on Upper Crippler. I'd forgotten all about it until I did a recon mission last summer and saw it, triggering a PTSD flashback to when we used to ride that monster regularly. Or the gerbil cage on CBC or lower down the long steepish ramp to get onto the giant log. That run-in still freaks me out.

Posted by: heckler

I dream of the double stacked teeter totter that used to be on Lower Oilcan.  Looked at its bones last weekend. 

that feature was sick. ah the days when we rode dh bikes on the shore...

Holy shit I forgot about that thing on LOC. Look how rough hewn the slats are. What a time to be alive.

i'm just amazed how well the mechanism (with all the associated linkage bits) operated given said rusticity. brilliant design but was def a test of faith as to it's structural integrity. 

there's certainly a few features from back in the janky days that taunted me. the tongue on circus was one that i never completed (but came off a bunch of times) that comes to mind. and the OG discombobulator spanked me more often than not. so much tossing the bike into the woods back then...

Posted by: Coiler

Curious what are everyone else's north shore white whale features? Things that you have a mental block on that you just can't get past.

My current is the Bart Simpson drop on Ladies Only. I just cannot figure it out and think I am going to go over the bars on the first roll and take a horrible crash. I actually think I am totally capable of it, but its become such a mental block for me.

Bart's has become more manageable after the paving, but the bikes have also become quite a bit longer :-) It's hard for me to keep any speed in the corner with my 1350 wheelbase, so I'm slow into the corner nearly to a standstill, then 1.5-2 pedal strokes, level pedals, and hold the line. Once the front wheel tips over the first root, the rodeo is on.

The "projects" keep me fixated on the sport. Lots on Seymour and Cypress for me but the non-locals are currently collecting more rent. The chute on Cop Killer in Pemby is on the top of my list. I walked away from it last week and still have some regret. My biggest white whale is a rock roll south of Squamish that I've been fixated on for > 5 years. I'm pretty committed to ticking it off the list this year.

As I've gotten older, the risk of injury has become harder to mitigate in my mind. Old bodies break like dry kindling! For me personally, I know it's important to build up to these features and hit them when I've been riding a ton. When the brain and body are ready. I also feel like hitting these hard trails and features is mentally easiest when conditions are prime.

It's such a rewarding feeling when you tick the box. Bag it!

Posted by: xy9ine

that feature was sick. ah the days when we rode dh bikes on the shore...

How wide do you reckon those bars were?

Brutus was my white whale... I hit it in 2005 and the landing and runout was so severe I refused to hit it again until the access road was built and pushed out the landing, making it steeper. Even then, it took some mental fortitude to get over in 2021.

Basically all of flying circus was a no go, the first stunt was quite a qualifier.

The hip on Jerry Rig, after the wallride. I wanted it bad, but I could never line it up properly and I crashed.

I don't think I ever successfully completed the swivel teeter at the end of air supply, but tried many times.

Diggers drop... I did a few run ins, then digger showed up. I turned away. Later that ride I did a rock drop about half the size and ate shit. I'm glad I didn't try Diggers.

Overall I'm glad the style of riding has changed. Those early days were gnarly AF. Not sustainable from a self preservation perspective.

Posted by: Henry-Chinaski

Posted by: Coiler

Curious what are everyone else's north shore white whale features? Things that you have a mental block on that you just can't get past.

My current is the Bart Simpson drop on Ladies Only. I just cannot figure it out and think I am going to go over the bars on the first roll and take a horrible crash. I actually think I am totally capable of it, but its become such a mental block for me.

Bart's has become more manageable after the paving, but the bikes have also become quite a bit longer :-) It's hard for me to keep any speed in the corner with my 1350 wheelbase, so I'm slow into the corner nearly to a standstill, then 1.5-2 pedal strokes, level pedals, and hold the line. Once the front wheel tips over the first root, the rodeo is on.

The "projects" keep me fixated on the sport. Lots on Seymour and Cypress for me but the non-locals are currently collecting more rent. The chute on Cop Killer in Pemby is on the top of my list. I walked away from it last week and still have some regret. My biggest white whale is a rock roll south of Squamish that I've been fixated on for > 5 years. I'm pretty committed to ticking it off the list this year.

As I've gotten older, the risk of injury has become harder to mitigate in my mind. Old bodies break like dry kindling! For me personally, I know it's important to build up to these features and hit them when I've been riding a ton. When the brain and body are ready. I also feel like hitting these hard trails and features is mentally easiest when conditions are prime.

It's such a rewarding feeling when you tick the box. Bag it!

Bart's definitely gets me these days.  My way or the highway as well. I've done both of these several times but they have somehow got into my head lately.

Posted by: Henry-Chinaski

Posted by: Coiler

Curious what are everyone else's north shore white whale features? Things that you have a mental block on that you just can't get past.

My current is the Bart Simpson drop on Ladies Only. I just cannot figure it out and think I am going to go over the bars on the first roll and take a horrible crash. I actually think I am totally capable of it, but its become such a mental block for me.

Bart's has become more manageable after the paving, but the bikes have also become quite a bit longer :-) It's hard for me to keep any speed in the corner with my 1350 wheelbase, so I'm slow into the corner nearly to a standstill, then 1.5-2 pedal strokes, level pedals, and hold the line. Once the front wheel tips over the first root, the rodeo is on.

The "projects" keep me fixated on the sport. Lots on Seymour and Cypress for me but the non-locals are currently collecting more rent. The chute on Cop Killer in Pemby is on the top of my list. I walked away from it last week and still have some regret. My biggest white whale is a rock roll south of Squamish that I've been fixated on for > 5 years. I'm pretty committed to ticking it off the list this year.

As I've gotten older, the risk of injury has become harder to mitigate in my mind. Old bodies break like dry kindling! For me personally, I know it's important to build up to these features and hit them when I've been riding a ton. When the brain and body are ready. I also feel like hitting these hard trails and features is mentally easiest when conditions are prime.

It's such a rewarding feeling when you tick the box. Bag it!out of all the features that are on my list Bart's for a few reasons feels the most intimidating. Trying to find a 

Out of all the features that are on my list, Bart's for a few reasons feels the most intimidating. And that's why I love riding Ladies Only as it keeps on bringing me back.

Barts is the wood ramp to tight right-hander, with two root steps that follow,  that feel exactly a bike length apart just to maximize OTB action?

Barts is the wood ramp to tight right-hander, with two root steps that follow, that feel exactly a bike length apart just to maximize OTB action?

I think so. I'm sure I'm capable of doing it but I did see someone have a big OTB attempting to show me, and a bunch of others, how to ride it. And now I imagine the same happening to me, so it's been a hard no for me ever since. 

Luckily, this was many years ago when the style was to ride with full face helmets and full Dainese armour suits, so the rider who had the OTB had only some minor, superficial injuries

Bart's was a block for me until I watched someone ride it right tight to the tree, and that was the trick that worked for me. Still janky but has worked out so far. 

Usually I go into a summer with a few things to work on and get nailed down, I think this year will be Ladies Exit and maybe the big rock on Expresso. 

So often there's an intimidating feature that I know I can ride but haven't, generally when I finally do it's not as bad as I had feared.