Bike vs. Board
December 5, 2011 6:53 PM Subscribe
MML: A snowboard v. mountainbike race, and a mountain biker doing jumps on a snowboard jump.
posted by zamboni at 6:59 PM on December 5, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by zamboni at 6:59 PM on December 5, 2011 [4 favorites]
Spoiler: Gee survived with minimal injuries. You're not watching snuff.
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:59 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:59 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
(also, eponysterical)
(also, also, the first link especially was awesome)
posted by Joey Michaels at 7:00 PM on December 5, 2011
(also, also, the first link especially was awesome)
posted by Joey Michaels at 7:00 PM on December 5, 2011
Wow, I am shockingly pleased that neither of those is a trailer for a filmed adaptation of Snow Crash.
posted by nathancaswell at 7:00 PM on December 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by nathancaswell at 7:00 PM on December 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
Wow, I am shockingly pleased that neither of those is a trailer for a filmed adaptation of Snow Crash.
What? Really? I was getting really excited by the artistic changes they appeared to have made.
posted by fuq at 7:02 PM on December 5, 2011 [4 favorites]
What? Really? I was getting really excited by the artistic changes they appeared to have made.
posted by fuq at 7:02 PM on December 5, 2011 [4 favorites]
Homo Duplex. B.S. Latrodectus Mactans Productions. Narrator P.A. Heaven; Super-8 mm.; 70 minutes; black and white; sound. Parody of Woititz and Shulgin's 'poststructural antidocumentaries,' interviews with fourteen Americans who are named John Wayne but are not the legendary 20th-century film actor John Wayne. MAGNETIC VIDEO (LIMITED RELEASE)
posted by indubitable at 7:04 PM on December 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by indubitable at 7:04 PM on December 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
"Just a concussion." Hmmm, these people have not been reading Canadian newspapers, obviously!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 7:06 PM on December 5, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 7:06 PM on December 5, 2011 [4 favorites]
This is amazing, if only for the accuracy of many of the statements. Fantastic!
posted by redbeard at 7:08 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by redbeard at 7:08 PM on December 5, 2011
So, you know that script (or whatever it is) that starts youtube videos at the 30 second mark? The second video could have use like a two minute version of that.
I love how the bike just flies apart, though.
posted by oddman at 7:10 PM on December 5, 2011 [3 favorites]
I love how the bike just flies apart, though.
posted by oddman at 7:10 PM on December 5, 2011 [3 favorites]
every time i see a crash i always think to myself that if i were in that situation, there would be something i could do to avoid crashing. human nature's weird.
posted by facetious at 7:11 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by facetious at 7:11 PM on December 5, 2011
It's snow so it doesn't hurt when you crash.
posted by Brocktoon at 7:13 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Brocktoon at 7:13 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
There are crashes you see coming, and there are crashes you have to reconstruct backwards in time (as in, "I'm on the ground. Hmm. Something is on top of me. OK. That seems to be my bike. Right. I remember braking pretty hard. Ahh. But I'm not dead. Not dead is good.")
Awesome videos, even if they didn't have enough pizza being delivered.
posted by maudlin at 7:15 PM on December 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
Awesome videos, even if they didn't have enough pizza being delivered.
posted by maudlin at 7:15 PM on December 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
there would be something i could do to avoid crashing
A quick bit of physics wouldn't hurt.
posted by jimmythefish at 7:16 PM on December 5, 2011
A quick bit of physics wouldn't hurt.
posted by jimmythefish at 7:16 PM on December 5, 2011
The music in the second clip is an instrumental version of "Lonely Soul" by DJ Shadow (performing as UNKLE), in case you were wondering and didn't know.
posted by Catblack at 7:23 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Catblack at 7:23 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
So, he had a brief moment to realize he'd overshot the ramp and brace himself for a crash. Ultimately the front wheel makes contact first and he's flung forward onto his face when the fork collapses. What would be the ideal way to hit the ground?
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 7:31 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 7:31 PM on December 5, 2011
The long flat on the end of the race in the first link seemed to favor the bicycle, who could keep his momentum by pedaling.
posted by Think_Long at 7:33 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by Think_Long at 7:33 PM on December 5, 2011
Front wheel goes down and he takes the Excitebike tumble. Glad he was ok. I can feel the "holy shiiiit" from here as he overshot.
Interesting race between bike and board, but yeah, tipped to the bike by the flats, particularly the end. (but thank you -- with the season coming up I will watch any video of any length featuring a snowboard)
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 7:35 PM on December 5, 2011
Interesting race between bike and board, but yeah, tipped to the bike by the flats, particularly the end. (but thank you -- with the season coming up I will watch any video of any length featuring a snowboard)
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 7:35 PM on December 5, 2011
Wasn't the cyclist handicapped by the surface all the way, though? The board was a large, slick area designed to slide, while the bike tires had a much tinier area in contact with the slick, icy snow at any given time. These tires also needed enough tread to allow him purchase on the surface. I'm surprised he built as much as a lead over the boarder as he did early in the race, and not all of it was from the flats. It looks as if he had almost nothing left at the end, and the final stretch just let him get back in the lead and hold it.
posted by maudlin at 7:40 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by maudlin at 7:40 PM on December 5, 2011
I always think the backwards skiing steadicam operators for these events need more credit but then they have the BEST JOB EVER.
posted by mkb at 7:42 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by mkb at 7:42 PM on December 5, 2011
Data point: I did a (MUCH MUCH SMALLER) version of the second crash earlier this year and I am still hurting from it. I had just recovered from breaking my leg snowboarding and foolishly followed my son over a jump on a downhill bike, only I went way too fast and didn't pull back enough. I augured in in almost exactly the same way as Gee and fucked up my wrist completely. It still hurts to open the fridge, and that was mid-June.
posted by unSane at 7:45 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by unSane at 7:45 PM on December 5, 2011
cyclist was almost certainly using spiked tires: I have a couple of sets of these and you can ride on sheer ice with them with almost total confidence.
posted by unSane at 7:45 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by unSane at 7:45 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
What would be the ideal way to hit the ground?
He should have ditched the bike WAAAY earlier and basically shoulder-rolled the whole thing as if coming in from a parachute jump. Would probably have been a broken clavicle or ankle vs. concussion but he probably thought he still had a chance to stick the landing. Your options for walking away from overshooting the transition that badly are not great. Folk who jump that I know would rather come up short than overshoot.
posted by unSane at 7:51 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
He should have ditched the bike WAAAY earlier and basically shoulder-rolled the whole thing as if coming in from a parachute jump. Would probably have been a broken clavicle or ankle vs. concussion but he probably thought he still had a chance to stick the landing. Your options for walking away from overshooting the transition that badly are not great. Folk who jump that I know would rather come up short than overshoot.
posted by unSane at 7:51 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
It seems a mountain bike versus a snow board is a foregone conclusion. The bike can take less air on the jumps, has less surface resistance by rolling rather than sliding, and can propel itself when necessary. He wasn't even taking full advantage of his vehicle.
posted by LoudMusic at 8:06 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by LoudMusic at 8:06 PM on December 5, 2011
It seems a mountain bike versus a snow board is a foregone conclusion. The bike can take less air on the jumps,
I don't know if that's true. I board and bike and it's a lot easier to suck up a jump on a board because your knees are really great suspension. Even on a really soft downhill bike it's not always easy to stay connected to the ground.
has less surface resistance by rolling rather than sliding
Again I don't know if that's true. It depends a lot on the kind of snow. I'd like to see some evidence. An edged snowboard has an amazingly low coefficient of friction.
and can propel itself when necessary.
That seems like it was the clincher here, to me.
posted by unSane at 8:12 PM on December 5, 2011
I don't know if that's true. I board and bike and it's a lot easier to suck up a jump on a board because your knees are really great suspension. Even on a really soft downhill bike it's not always easy to stay connected to the ground.
has less surface resistance by rolling rather than sliding
Again I don't know if that's true. It depends a lot on the kind of snow. I'd like to see some evidence. An edged snowboard has an amazingly low coefficient of friction.
and can propel itself when necessary.
That seems like it was the clincher here, to me.
posted by unSane at 8:12 PM on December 5, 2011
In the first vid, the bike lost some advantage on every jump, but made it back on the flat patches. The suspension was probably a disadvantage in that regard, since springs wanna sproing when you go up and over a ramp, while the boarder could, to a greater degree, control the amount of air he got.
If the course had been rougher the cyclist would have had to concentrate more on keeping steady than on pedaling -- as it is there are a few stretches around the turns where you can see him wobbling and recovering.
tl;dr: If the course had more turns, or the surface wasn't packed as well, or there were more ramps, my money would be on the boarder, not the cyclist.
posted by ardgedee at 8:14 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
If the course had been rougher the cyclist would have had to concentrate more on keeping steady than on pedaling -- as it is there are a few stretches around the turns where you can see him wobbling and recovering.
tl;dr: If the course had more turns, or the surface wasn't packed as well, or there were more ramps, my money would be on the boarder, not the cyclist.
posted by ardgedee at 8:14 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
I thought the cyclist looked steadier over the jumps and more secure on the landings: that definitely reflects my own experiences doing both.
posted by unSane at 8:23 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by unSane at 8:23 PM on December 5, 2011
What would be the ideal way to hit the ground?
Having Scarlett Johansson break your fall.
posted by anothermug at 8:32 PM on December 5, 2011 [5 favorites]
Having Scarlett Johansson break your fall.
posted by anothermug at 8:32 PM on December 5, 2011 [5 favorites]
It took me about 3.5 seconds to read the caption. Why did it take him so much longer -- obviously -- to reach the same conclusion I did in 3.5 seconds (in his case, at roughly about the time the seatpost was starting to do a pretty good imitation of a standard alien abduction procedure): "OH SHIT!! THIS ISN'T SUCH A GOOD IDEA!!"?
posted by Mike D at 8:38 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by Mike D at 8:38 PM on December 5, 2011
I'm flagging this as a neuro-linguistic metavirus from the cult of Asherah.
posted by the thing about it at 8:57 PM on December 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by the thing about it at 8:57 PM on December 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
What would be the ideal way to hit the ground?
At a much slower speed.
posted by Catblack at 9:13 PM on December 5, 2011
At a much slower speed.
posted by Catblack at 9:13 PM on December 5, 2011
I only watched it once, but the 'race' seemed more of a wow cool exhibition than a contest, with the cyclist scrubbing speed (by not pedaling hard) some of the time to make it look close and then only on the flat where it would have seemed obvious pulling away to cross the line first. looked like fun though.
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:38 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:38 PM on December 5, 2011
What would be the ideal way to hit the ground?
To throw yourself at the ground, and miss.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:06 PM on December 5, 2011 [3 favorites]
To throw yourself at the ground, and miss.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:06 PM on December 5, 2011 [3 favorites]
The board was a large, slick area designed to slide, while the bike tires had a much tinier area in contact with the slick, icy snow at any given time
You're not riding the whole surface of the board but maintaining an edge -- as best you can on those flats.
I wonder if Kris Holm is still doing mofo moguls on his unicycle.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:41 PM on December 5, 2011
You're not riding the whole surface of the board but maintaining an edge -- as best you can on those flats.
I wonder if Kris Holm is still doing mofo moguls on his unicycle.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:41 PM on December 5, 2011
Metafilter: a neuro-linguistic metavirus from the cult of Asherah
(You just said that so someone would say this didn't you.)
posted by sandswipe at 10:52 PM on December 5, 2011
(You just said that so someone would say this didn't you.)
posted by sandswipe at 10:52 PM on December 5, 2011
In the first video he mentions that it's a stock-regular mountain bike, no spikes in the tires. Which to me is impressive. I don't know if I could ride a bike like that. No, I'm pretty positive I couldn't ride a bike that well.
The second video is just pure ouch.
posted by From Bklyn at 11:44 PM on December 5, 2011
The second video is just pure ouch.
posted by From Bklyn at 11:44 PM on December 5, 2011
Mountain Lion vs. Snowboard would have been more interesting.
Seriously, I love this.
posted by arcticseal at 12:40 AM on December 6, 2011
Seriously, I love this.
posted by arcticseal at 12:40 AM on December 6, 2011
FLAGGED - LACKING RADIOACTIVE, MUTANT RUSSIANS
posted by Samizdata at 1:12 AM on December 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Samizdata at 1:12 AM on December 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
On the jump video, I kept shooing that pesky skier out of the way, thinking they were going to collide on the downhill.
posted by orme at 4:54 AM on December 6, 2011
posted by orme at 4:54 AM on December 6, 2011
> I thought the cyclist looked steadier over the jumps and more secure on the landings
Yeah, to be clear: It's the problematic surfaces that cause difficulties, like turns and rough snow. He's good on the jumps and it's the straight, clear parts of the course where he gains the most lead.
posted by ardgedee at 7:25 AM on December 6, 2011
Yeah, to be clear: It's the problematic surfaces that cause difficulties, like turns and rough snow. He's good on the jumps and it's the straight, clear parts of the course where he gains the most lead.
posted by ardgedee at 7:25 AM on December 6, 2011
Note to poster...I will never click on a video or picture link labeled "Snow Crash". That's just tempting fate.
posted by Chekhovian at 8:17 AM on December 6, 2011
posted by Chekhovian at 8:17 AM on December 6, 2011
Wow, I am shockingly pleased that neither of those is a trailer for a filmed adaptation of Snow Crash.
Amen.
Is no one else horrified by the idea or are you just keeping it to yourself hoping it can't happen if you don't think about it?
posted by Staples at 3:39 PM on December 6, 2011
Amen.
Is no one else horrified by the idea or are you just keeping it to yourself hoping it can't happen if you don't think about it?
posted by Staples at 3:39 PM on December 6, 2011
Staples: "Wow, I am shockingly pleased that neither of those is a trailer for a filmed adaptation of Snow Crash.
Amen.
Is no one else horrified by the idea or are you just keeping it to yourself hoping it can't happen if you don't think about it?"
Well, I do think a lot would be lost on screen, with the lack of Stephenson's particular turns of phrases...
posted by Samizdata at 3:54 PM on December 8, 2011
Amen.
Is no one else horrified by the idea or are you just keeping it to yourself hoping it can't happen if you don't think about it?"
Well, I do think a lot would be lost on screen, with the lack of Stephenson's particular turns of phrases...
posted by Samizdata at 3:54 PM on December 8, 2011
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posted by mathowie at 6:59 PM on December 5, 2011