North Shore comes to Birmingham

For those of you that aren't Mountain Bike Fanatics, North Shore is a name given to a type of man-made mountain bike trail, often precarious skinny wooden structures usually with a stunt encouraging drop-off at the end. They were first built in The North Shore, North and West Vancouver, Canada, hence the name, and similar style trails have started popping up throughout world.

Well, having fitted a new crank to my steed, and thanks to bigfootcookie who recently gave me some flat pedals to try, it was seat down and ready for me to test out my new bike setup. I've been riding home from work through Moseley Bog, a small parkland area often used by people walking their dogs. I'd never been to the actual bog as it looked, well, it just looked too overgrown to be ridden through, but I had noticed a couple of what looked like passable trails that might, just might be OK to ride along and had been meaning to explore them at some point, so that's where I went.

And I'm glad I did, some parts around the bog were just normal dirt trails, but in other areas, as the ground is quite boggy (strange that) they've built wooden pathways, some winding through the woodland, some over streams, another descending down a slope in a series of steps. Not quite North Shore but a helluvalotta fun to ride along. Alas my fun was cut short when, probably down to the chicken wire covering the paths, I got a puncture. But, you can bet I'll be back down there soon.

NB: Mountain bike riding is a dangerous sport and can cause injury or even death. Always use the appropriate safety equipment, and try not to fall off.