Standing Wave

Much like the free ride underground of surfing versus the commercialised world of competitive surfing, the two continue to remain divergent in ideology and attitudes.

However, the growth of Enduro racing is testimony to a growing convergence between Downhill and XC. Enduro combines moderately technical downhill riding with aspects of cross country, such as uphills and flats. Riders are timed over stages to test handling skills as well as endurance and stamina. You don't race people, only yourself, although ultimately your time counts as a sort of virtual peloton.

It is debatable how satisfying the hardcore downhiller and cross country racing snake find this.

Before, and today to a diminishing degree, XC evolved into an almost corporate culture. Everything was weight-obsessed. Your hard-tail was light as a feather so you could climb fast and fly along the flats with fitness-fuelled pace. But coming down remained the issue. Most carbon 29-er hard-tails do not have sufficient suspension to properly and safely blitz a proper downhill course. Sure, a flowing single track with nice wide berms was a breeze. Some even managed roots or rocks, but traditionally, XC riders possessed less technical skill.

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Parallel to the boom in XC culture, bloated by legions of roadies who were crossing over, came the underground evolution of a smaller more rootsy demographic of downhill riding. Here the emphasis was on fun. The thrill of landing a road gap, or testing your aerial style on a huge table top, or how you brought your tail back in line after washing out coming into that high-speed, cambered berm were all part of the excitement.

A full suspension DH bike - with its minimal granny de railleur options, heavy frame and extra suspension - is not geared to grind uphill. Downhillers only go up the mountain – often walking – so they can come down, fast, and they have paid their dues in face plants, bust bones and body slams.

I got a painful education of this recently at the wrong end of the first new table top on the upgraded DH3 Vasbyt route in Tokai. I hit the jump going way too fast. The front wheel dipped in the air. Doof! The front wheel hit first, followed by skull-rattling impact to crotch, followed by forward flick-flack over the handle bars, followed by body slam into compacted dirt.

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The skilled downhillers make it look ridiculously easy, and breathtakingly scary. And yet for the most part, certainly the guys I come across in Tokai, they seem a quiet crowd, almost aloof, and even sullen when you see them on the mountain. You'd never know who they were off the mountain. For a hint, look out for a gritty, dishevelled person, often tattooed, often burly (even overweight), and always wearing black.

They're the Hells Angels of hipsters. They take single speed roadies, trimmed facial hair and gluten-free muffins to the adrenaline end of existential angst.

In the old days, and still today, comparing DH to XC was like comparing heavy metal with pop music; Iron Maiden to Kylie Minogue. The DH crew eschewed the lycra-clad 29-er revolution, laughing derisively at portulent captains of industry puffing up the mountain.

Now you can do both. Take for instance the 2015 Giant Trance X-2 with 27.5 inch (650B) wheels. These new bikes give you easily enough gears to climb, and enough suspension to bomb down the other side with ease. Many riders possess a lightweight low travel full suss (hard-tails are on the way out) 29er for XC events and a heavier 26 inch or 650B dual suspension bike with more suspension grunt for all-mountain fun or Enduro riding.

However, with this merging of different disciplines, comes inevitable clashes in style and culture.

In surfing, we know it only too well. Surfers got grumpy with bodyboarders because they could drop into the hollowest barrels when the standups couldn’t. Surfers got grumpy with paddle skis, with their increased paddle power and speed to the wave.

And longboarders? With the increase volume and length of their boards, surfers could get to his feet long before shortboard paddlers. This has been topped off recently with Standup Paddleboards, which are the ultimate wave hogging machine, when wielded in the wrong hands.

I read a recent Facebook post that included a video clip shot by a Downhiller also coming down DH3 in Tokai, much more successfully I would warrant.

However, as he exits the berm and blasts the first root drop-off at high speed, he spots a XC rider climbing up. He takes emergency evasive action to avoid him, and almost wipes out.

More and more XC riders are tackling the DH routes, but do not understand DH etiquette, nor do they realise just how FAST these guys go. Remember that when you’re in the air, you can’t move out the way.

Before a really bad accident happens, lets get the conversation going.

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