05/11/2008

Wade's Wisdom 3 Break out the snowshoes Wade Simmons

Thanks all you rippers for the responses to the "magical rides". There were some wicked stories and its so good that everybody shares them. Keep the nugs coming!!!

I had a little afternoon sit down with 'Mr NSMB' Cam a few days ago and he was excitedly telling me about the snowshoes he received for his b-day. As a big fan of the snowshoe, I suggested we head up Cypress that night, given that it was about 1.5 C outside and sleeting - meaning freshies up on the hill.

8 p.m. found us strapping on the shoes in the cabin area on Cypress and we proceeded to point them upwards. With the headlamps lighting the way we made fresh tracks bushwhacking up through the Old Growth towards Hollyburn Lodge - motivated by the Baileys and hot chocolate in my pack.

We talked about the usual "MTB b.s." and then conversation turned, like it has a lot recently with friends, to consumerism, global warming and the impending doomsday. We are slaves to technology, and not just good technology, but random technology. It seems that we've gotta keep up with the Joneses more and more. That got me thinking of the iPod sitting in my glove compartment that hasn't seen the light of day for months. When I first got it I thought it life changing; yeah - all my music with me all the time. Well that lasted for about a year or so and now it resides beside my insurance papers. I couldn't imagine 80 gigs to fill up, but then again I'm not really a techy. I'm sure it serves a purpose to the millions of urbanites and business folk who tune out the world on the subway or present the next marketing strategy via iPod. But what happens to the 80 giger when the 1080 giger comes out? To the garbage my friend that's where! Just like that camera mp3 phone you bought last year that's going to be replaced by the new iPhone in about two weeks. I'll probably get one too, but that new technology doesn't free up our life, it will only complicate it more. We will become a more efficient human now with this technology and it will free up 3 seconds out of our lives so we can check out the new plasma TVs.

That sounds like a bit of a rant but Cam kind of put it into perspective on the staggering trudge down from the lodge when he said he liked how the snowshoes took him back to when people only had these to get around in the snow. Not having any idea of the hardships turn-of-the-century people had, we tried to imagine what it would have been like. Tough life.

That sparked a thought that these things on my feet owe me nothing. They are probably the best buy I have made in a while. Bought them 4 years ago for maybe $150 and they have provided countless adventures into the woods and not one problem. A good core workout to boot. Sure they are slow and clumsy but it slows you down enough to have conversations such as this one with friends. Snowshoes have increased the quality of life for me because they remove me from technology - and I can't say that of many things I have bought recently.

We were beaming upon getting back to the car after an hour and half loop. And the temperature was dropping, evident by the flakes starting to fall - sweet, more snowshoeing to come. I wondered what the bike is doing buried deep in the garage beside the insurance papers. Waiting for the snow to melt that's what! And I really can't wait either; that's music to the ears! Some technology is good technology! Be smart, buy smart.

What technology, or lack thereof, has improved your life?  Write in and let me know.

Wade

Wade Charging at the Adidas Slopestyle in Saalbach Austria in 2005.  Photo ~ Cam McRae Click to see entire image.

Hey Wade,
Your question was about magical rides, and to me there have been far to many to specify. Is it when I get scared shitless, and push myself forwards, or is it when things just go right. All of them have had one thing in common though, and it's been me shredding with the boys, anywhere and everywhere. So that leads me up to my question, do you still make time for shredding with your local crew and do you try and take the level of riding down a notch as to not "show off" or potentially get hurt?

Brendan
Moncton, NB

You are so right Brendan. The crew is definitely a big part of the magic. Somebody or numerous people are always around and they absolutely enhance it if not cause the magical situation! And you can always share that memory with then - and the story will always get better of course!

Ha ha....Anyways I have about ten or so bros that I ride with on a regular basis. People that have a similar lifestyle and who like to get lost! I tone the riding down depending on different situations I guess. The vibe of the group is one element and the kind of trail/bikes we are ripping on also dictates the burl factor. But for sheer riding the time for me to rip with friends is now; in the off season when you have no obligations and school's out so to speak! The truth of the matter is that I spend too much time rippin' with the bros, so says the accountant and the girlfriend.....What you doing tomorrow Brendan?

Wade

First excuse my English Wade I 'm from France
My story happened in Belfort and is called

From heaven to Hell

It's noon the fog is here since ten days now, this lack of light and colour drives me mad.
Then I decided to put my bike in my car and pick up some friends.
We drive among a ghost city, locked by the density of fog.
The inhabitant look sad , slow and grey bit like zombies!
But we are on the road for the ride of our life without knowing it!

The road is twisty and sleepery we arrive at the toe of the mountain.
The only things we see is a very dense mass of cloud.
But after few turn the light pop up, we feel like going in heaven.

Guillaume sent us some photos to go along with his tale.  We love that!

Guillaume's crew

I know of your experience Guillaume! That's an awesome story about it. We get the same weather situation here. We call it an inversion, where the fog sits in the valley and traps the cold air and above the fog line it's like a summer day. Ha ha, and the sorry people in the valley freezing their asses off with no clue that a thousand feet above them is heaven, classic.

Sometimes you never know what you're going to find if you're willing to explore a little. Chances are more times than not your exploring would have ended up fruitless but sometimes you stumble upon something divine! Nice one....keep exploring!

Wade

First of all, thanks for helping set up this awesome column on NSMB. Its not too often riders all over the world can ask questions directly to legends such as yourself AND have them answered weekly. It is one of the best ideas ever for NSMB in my opinion. Keep it up! I'm not sure how "special" this is, but hopefully it is once in a lifetime. Several years ago a group of friends and I were building our first trail ever. It was going alright considering our inexperience but one night we decided to stay a little later to try to finish one particular bridge. The light was dimming rather quickly and I was rushing to saw through a stringer. The bucksaw I was using jumped when it hit a knot and decided to slide across the top of my hand. It stopped halfway through the bone, severing everything on its way, ligaments, veins, muscle, arteries, all cut. Luckily I managed to get out of the woods and to a hospital fairly quickly, lost a lot of blood but the doctor and later a plastic surgeon put my hand back together pretty good. My hand isn't perfect but I regained most of the function it had. Here I am years later, still doing trail work. I find it interesting that my horrible first experience hasn't deterred me from this passion. The same can be said for riding. Riders go through a lot of crashes to learn new things. I always get family members and friends asking me why I would ever want to do that to myself. And to be honest, I have no idea what to say to them. It just makes sense in my head. As a professional rider you have had your fair share of serious crashes and I'm sure you have witnessed many as well. At one point someone must have asked you "Is all this worth it?" How would you respond to that in a way which makes sense to a non-rider?

Ride hard,
Mark Taylor (age:20)
Cape Breton, NS, Canada.

Wow Mark, gnarler of a story dude! I'm happy to hear you're getting back on the bike bro! Sounds like a close call. It's kind of sad that the people you have to explain your passion to don't have the same draw in their lives. It's a fire that burns inside and I guess some people don't have it or have yet to ignite it.

When I try and put it into perspective for them I try to relate it to something they are into. Most times it backfires in my face; like telling someone who likes to cook that they get the best kitchen and stove to cook on and any ingredients that they want! It never translates directly and it probably confirms to them that we are in fact crazy. Aw well, you can only lead a horse to water but it has to do the drinkin'. Keep the fire stoked!

Wade

Hey Wade,

I'm Chris from Santa Cruz, California and well you wanted to hear about the magic of riding. I tried to think about one such unique story, but riding is such a magical sport - for each individual riding the same familiar trails and just really railing one turn and having the whole trail come together perfectly. I guess I have one very distinct story. I was out on some very well ridden fire roads on a ridge near my house, expect it was a rainy day so I was the only one out there. I had ridden to the top and found my way to a friends house for a little break, and by the time I left the rain was dumping. But there was no wind at all - just heavy rain and a pure descent home. What could get better? So I spun out and headed on back down the mountain. About half way down I came around a turn going pretty fast and spooked a pack of deer on the trail - 1 buck and 3 does - and by the time they noticed me, I was right on um. The cut was real steep, and the woods were thickly forested, so the deer were kinda trapped with nowhere to go but down the trail. I kept my speed up and followed right behind their white tails, bunny hopping roots right along with them. I must have followed them for at least a hundred yards before they scampered up into a clearing. For those few yard I felt very powerful, charging with the wild beasts in pouring rain and mud, very primal. It made me want a rare steak and a cave woman. But on to the question now. I have been trying to progress my skills and fine tune my riding, but one aspect that has really had me lagging is my turning and cornering ability. I just got a new bike and I feel like it may be a bit the large for me and it's making turing even harder and my biggest problem is too much front wheel drift. What tips to you have to really rip the turns and stay in control?

Chris from Santa Cruz

Ha ha that's a great story Chris! You were running with the pack man! If you could catch one and pull out your steak knife you would of had a steak! Interacting with animals in their natural surrounding is exhilarating. We're not really so far removed are we?

Last summer I had a similar experience following Joe Schwartz in Switzerland. We were guiding an Alpine Rock trip for Big Mountain Tours. Ripping a traverse through the forest we were just starting to come into an alpine meadow when above me to my right I could see some movement in my peripheral. We had come across a herd of Ibex and spooked them. All of a sudden they were running directly downhill crossing the trail between us. Holy smokes man, Schwartz was almost obliterated in front of me by this big male, and these things are built like mini mountain tanks with vicious horns! The funny thing was Schwartz had no idea that this Ibex was lining him up and just missed! Good times. Thanks Chris for that story.

Now for some cornering tips. Well if you're drifting the front wheel and it's not hooking up it could be a few things. First, maybe your running a bad tire. Not a joke. Next, you said you have a new bike, maybe the angles are different or the handlebars could be higher. Pressure on the front wheel from weighting and edging through your arms plays a big roll on cornering. If it's a slacker angle you will have to lean more forward to pressure the wheel down. High front ends usually don't corner well. Try these things and giv'er!
Wade

Please include your name, age, where you live and any other relevant info if you would like to Wade to answer your question. If you toss in a photo we'll try to use that as well.

Wade is sponsored by - Rocky Mountain Bicycles, Shimano, Oakley, Dakine, Alpine Stars, Bell Helmets and Marzocchi.

Send him an email by clicking here - wade@nsmb.com

Wade head shots courtesy Sterling Lorence