Glorification of the Skid

Yesterday I saw another example of something that drives me nuts, when this pic was posted on the Yeti Bikes Facebook page:



Great pic, right? Beautiful colors, an awesome bike, etc. But why is the rider skidding this turn?!?! There's a beautiful, sweeping berm there that someone has carefully built and maintained. It looks like it would be a blast to rail that thing at speed. Instead, presumably for dramatic effect, this guy is locked up and sliding a tight arc. If you want to grind the coping or hit the lip, go surf or skate instead. It looks spectacular to throw that dirt, but get a few people doing that on a regular basis and you'll quickly destroy the berm.

I don't mean to pick on Yeti (I ride one), as I see this in bike mags and web sites all the time. Heck, I know that some moto-x mags have someone out of the frame throwing a box full of dirt to add to the effect. But for anyone who's ever done any trail maintenance or cares about trail acces, this has to be a slap in the face, and it drives me nuts to see the media glorifying this kind of riding at the expense of sustainable trails. And I know this was shot in a bike park, but I see the same thing in pics and vids shot on wilderness trails.

Please, bike media, stop showing this kind of thing - promote responsible riding!

BTW: I will pick on Yeti a little. I posted a comment on the pic noting that while their caption said he was "riding" the trail, they should have said he was "sliding" it, and suggesting that people should not ride this way on their local trails. The deleted my comment without a response. Social media party foul, Yeti.

 

How do you know he wasn't losing it in the corner when the pic was taken? It IS an awesome pic none the less.

It also may be in a bike park where people are paid to maintain the trails. Thus creating jobs.

 

I don't know if it matters but if you zoom the pic and look closely, he doesn't look to be squeezing the lever much at all.. unless I am looking at it wrong

 

I saw that pic and thought "Commence dirt-nap maneuver in 3...2...1...."

 

I thought the same thing.

 

Regardless if he is hitting the brakes or not, Waldo's point is the message it sends across. I am sure they (Yeti) groomed the trail for this shot, and will do so after. But in reality, those who will try to pull the same stunt on a public trail will likely not bother to repair the damage they would cause roosting a turn or berm.

 

Great shot!!!! Pretty amazing he can get the bike that far out. Don't be such a sad panda and appreciate the the awesome photo.

 

tl;dr version: don't try this at home, kids.

 

Dude is just warming up for the Coaster Brake Challenge

http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/trailhead/68110-coaster-brake-challenge-10-a.html

 

He's definitely not losing it: Inside foot down, rear brake off, front brake on, weight way forward to pivot around the front wheel which isn't countersteering or sliding...it's clearly a controlled buttonhook maneuver.

I mentioned in my post that it was in a bike park, but the point is...

This /\

And yeah, it's a visually great shot, but it could have been just as compelling if he'd been carving the turn fast and hard with the biked leaned over till it's horizontal, and no trail damage. That would make me a happy panda

 

Call me crazy but I tend to think a trail with that kind of berm is likely designed to be ridden at level where you're gonna find some dudes hitting it hard, and I agree we don't want trails destroyed, but I also hate to see things getting so politically correct that now a bike company can't publish a kickass action shot showcasing their product like that without folks getting into an uproar.. just wondering where it all ends.. just my 2 cents

 

I know what you mean, it often seems like this sport is at odds with itself. The imagery that best makes mountain biking look exciting and full of motion is often exactly what makes us look like obnoxious destructive idiots in the eyes of other trail users.

The films we love are unfortunately the worst offenders. When you shoot, you spend forever getting special permission to go use private or public land to stage your shot carefully to minimize impact, clean up & smooth over your tracks to be responsible and hope the BLM grants you another permit to shoot on pristine land again someday, ...but the end result is, a film showing someone shredding pristine Utah bluffs. To the avid rider, it's like watching porn, it's bikes and abilities and locations that are & will remain purely fantasy. For kids who don't know better, it's what they're going to try doing the first chance they get, and for angry spatchcocking soccermoms with the Sierra Club on speed dial, it's an armed bazooka we've loaded for them and aimed back at ourselves.

I was concerned enough about this kind of thing a decade ago to write a lengthy article on it from the perspective of a bike company owner & access advocate.
...I received an avalanche of hatemail and one thank-you. heh oh well

 

Was looking for stuff in Canada, and did a search on Vimeo for 'kamloops'. Got a bunch of Kona-sponsored vids of some very cool trail riding...and some very UNcool skidding!

It's just bad form all-around. Broken traction = loss of control, degradation of trail surface, dirty socks.

 

What I see in that pic is a guy who doesn't know how to ride a bike well and/or the bike handles so poorly he can't even hit a berm without sliding the rear (and if he is on the brake, he should know to brake before the turn then rail the corner). So, totally staged and just looks dumb to me. As well as being a poor example for the sport.

Whatever the case, doesn't make me want to buy one of their bikes if that's what was intended.

 

That may be the best phrase I've ever seen written here! :clap:
<opening tab to Dictionary.com to look up "spatchcocking">

I saw it on the Yeti Cycles Facebook page, but they also linked to Aspen/Snowmass - presumably where it was shot - and to Jeremy Swanson Photo. But it's not just about this pic or these companies - this is an industry-wide thing. And I happen to agree, it doesn't make me want to buy the product, and I am part of the prime demographic for both the bike industry and bike travel destinations.

 

Why oh why can't you all just let a COOL action shot be just that, 'A cool action shot'? Wether or not he was drifting for fun, about to eat dirt, bike park, natural trail, etc.

Geeezzzzz....

Different action shots don't entice me to buy bikes, riding them in fun places do.

 

This is what they are trying to copy. Personally I think its kinda dumb to do while MTB'ing due to loss of speed. For a photo op, it makes for a cool pic. There's a moto forum with a thread that's dedicated to the berm roost shot. http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/621280-best-berm-blastroost-thread/

 

As a photographer who sometimes shoots short course off road racing or motocross, I know how good a nice dust/mud/dirt-throwing shot can be. But those races are conducted on tracks built specifically for that purpose and were groomed before the race and will be after. This is something else entirely.

In this case I think it's a photographer who doesn't really know how to shoot action, trying to show some action. I wouldn't be surprised if the person holding the camera wasn't even a professional (people have become really cheap about photography these days, thinking anybody with a camera can do the job - this photo, and not just because of the skidding aspect, shows that this is not true). Not knowing what else to do, he suggested the rider kick up some dirt. The problem is Yeti should know better than to put such a photo on their Web site.

Don't get me wrong, I've done my fair share of skidding - just not on purpose, and not frequently. If you push the limit, you'll go over it. But seeing people do it on purpose, and knowing how blown out the turn is going to be as more and more people do it, is really effing annoying.

 

Looks like an explosion from a small I.E.D. placed trail side by one of those nut jobs that likes to booby trap trails...

 

The pic on their FB page says: "Summer is here, time to slay some dirt".. and credits the pic to Jeremy Swanson Photography in Aspen, and the trail is called Valhalla, also in Aspen.. I don't think they were making a political statement, I think they were just trying to show a rider "slaying some dirt"