Divining Ridgelines

 Thanx bro. Yes, first half of this track is a cliff! flows out nicely bout halfway down though and drops into the suburbs of Cairns. Yes mate 26" wheels, frame is a 20" tho so is still a big bike

 Love it! Still in love with 26" bro

 Sounds pretty busy with the students! Tohoku would be amazing.. pretty sure you can find nice trails anywhere in Japan. Plus you can take your bike in a bike flight case on the shinkansen.. with a "norihodai" ticket and your bike it would be an amzing way to explore Japan.. I would like to that when next I visit.

 Yes, the unkept and unrooly rogue type trails are all around us. No worries bro.. no need to go here, plenty of other gems around that are easier to love! Congrats on the boy mate ! that is awesome

 1:13 I bet that is twice as freaky if you look down that rocky shoot in real life.

 Thanks sshredder. Is scary dude.. I was scared! Much better on a full blown DH rig as you can blow thru a lot faster and find a bit more flow. Spider is probably poisonous but I didnt ask!

 Thanx man. I guess if this was Nelson there would be a lot more timber structures adding to the flow of the trail.. this would be mint with some log work augmenting the cliff sections.. scary stuff as it is and hence this trail isnt ridden nearly as much as it deserves!

 yeah. back when wood was popular everybody was building structure without necessarily knowing how. Plus we don't have a tonne of cedar anymore. That means the structures don't last and become pretty dangerous. These days we're moving away from wood and trying to use the land. You see a lot of big exposed rock slabs, berms, and techy root sections. One of the builders has a fetish for steep as possible. He's built 44 trails or something since he arrived! One of his trails The Vein is pretty committed. He still builds. I bought the stylus from his shop. The riding out here is pretty awesome. I'm lucky enough to ride right from my door and hit trails five minutes later. Livin the dream.

The article on Mark:

www.pinkbike.com/news/Characters-Mark-Holt-2013.html

 Wow, thanks for the link. Very motivational and entertaining! Sometimes after a while you ask yourself.. is this worth it ? Mark puts into perspective and highlights the benefits that everyone in the bike community and the wider community gain from efforts like his.. I found a new line near my house last week.. went out with a blade on my brushcutter and started clearing grass and saplings (weed species only!) Half way down the ridgeline a kid walking his dog came rustling out of the bushes.. shovel in hand.. was looking to do the exact same thing! Is very heartening to see how many motivated young kids there are out here willing to bash out new trails.. and the lines they are building are a great mix of xc/dh too. Thx again.. Mark is my newest hero!

 yeah he's an interesting mix of mellow yet intense. He spends a lot of time sussing out terrain and then even more time (measured in years) creating trails. I'm not sure there's a person in the region that knows the backcountry as well as he does. With a shop to run and two kids to boot. That's what I mean by "intense". I'm happy if I can get out into the woods to ride or ski. Good for you for getting out there. Cyclists will thank you.

 Hahaha! Yes, close to ideal adventure trail hound for me. Not as efficient as the Taro but a lot lighter and more nimble than the VPFree. Is the bike I ride the most cuz it covers the most riding scenereo's likely to be encountered on a trail adventure. Bottom line.. not a quiver killer but as close I have gotten thus far.

 The HT is fun dude ! A bit slower thru the gnarr but well worth the payoff thru the flowy single!

 MTB is the best! I have to agree brother

 true.. was glad i had the hardtail and not the big rig, is a one way trip on a dh sled.

 That'd be prime. Maybe do a 3 run.. waddlebla, Slipperies, Crystals.. just need a driver!

 Definitely a big bike track.. was outta my league on the HT!

 Cheers brother. Is a challenging trail but feeling after riding is very satisfying'

 True! I love Aka matsu.. my favourite mountain tree

 Lived in Japan before the era of the mountain bike. Been back several times since then sans bike, done some hiking and thought, 'hmmm, this'd be fun on 2 wheels and I doubt anyone would think to complain much about a がいじいん taking a poach.'

Looks like some fun technical roots and rock on steep. Sweet combination. I do love that moment prior to committing to descend some of the scarier stuff, when your mind says 'I know this is possible, but... I am out here on my own... Oh well, at least it will be well documented!'

Love the music choice too.

 True! That moment never goes away.. Thanks for your tales of adventure on trails in Japan. Do you have any future trips there planned? If so, you should definitely get a ride in!