assfault

Ha! Touche, Moloch, touche.

You're a big boy; you can say ass.

Since when does using different techniques and speed yield a new sport? Every rider has to alter his technique constantly to accommodate different obstacles in the trail, but that doesn't mean he is switching between different disciplines of the sport during a single ride. At the end of the day, pedaling one's bike, regardless of travel, up/down/all around a mountain is cross country at it's very core. Also, I don't believe you can differentiate between national champions and average riders. By doing so, you're essentially saying that what may be an enduro trail to one rider, is a xc trail to another, which has been my point this entire time - that enduro is made up to justify riding a longer travel bike, when there's no need for justification other than 'it's fu#ckin' fun.

...Then why is our national enduro champion, Adam Craig, riding a 4" travel 29er during competition? To me, it seems that people are merely redefining aggressive xc to remove themselves from the leg shaving, spandex-clad crowd. When "all mountain riding" was introduced, people began adopting longer-travel bikes that were better suited for the terrain. But before that, those same trails were ridden on short-travel bikes and described as "cross-country" in nature. How does riding the same trail on a different bike make it more gravity-oriented, or more aggressive?

All right, I must be more ignorant than I care to believe. So, could someone please explain to me the difference between enduro mountain biking, and cross country mounting biking?

Not to mention that bottle of water that he was drinking! This guy is a responsible, clean cut, stand-out citizen, if I ever saw one. Hell, with his propensity for safety I'd probably hire him to baby-sit my children.

That's sick...it's like the rider and the bike are two planets in orbit, and at just the right moment everything lines up perfectly.

Yeah, no sh!t. I mean, if dirt jumping or street riding happened to be his area of expertise, I would maybe understand it. But, someone like Sam; who is known for his big-mountain style, World Cup downhill speed, and fluidity on a 10" travel bike sure did screw the pooch on this one. I'm nothing but disappoint.

Do you tell smokers you're not impressed by their choice to smoke? Do you tell people at McDonald's that you're not impressed by their choice to eat fast food? Do you tell motorists that you're not impressed by their choice to drive rather than commute by bicycle? Do you tell early-morning walkers that you're not impressed by their choice to not wear blinking, safety lights? Do you tell alcoholics you're not impressed by their choice to drink three more glasses of scotch? Do you te...well, I'm bored.

But where were all the Maxim babes?