Video: Laurie Greenland Shreds his Dream Bike Park Line in Sound of Speed

 I looked at that slab feature about 2 months ago and thought, yep, that's another trail I'll never have the skill or balls to ride.

 Terrys belly is where its at.

 @secondtimeuser Yep... 100% this is what I'll be doing!!

 Most UK bike parks have plenty of doubles, they're almost ubiquitous over here!

 I broke my leg at BikePark Wales 2 years ago and spent 8 hours in A&E until they told me at 3 am that no doctors would be in until 7:30 so I should probably just go home.

 @jaame: could be a hell of a lot worse. You could have to remortgage your house cos your insurance doesn't cover adventure sports...

 @jaame: Private healthcare will undoubtedly fix this. Let the market sort it out like they did with the trains. Rest assured much of that NI went to private subcontractors to the NHS.

 @Steventux: over here USA, private healthcare is super affordable and accessible to everyone. Said no one, ever.

 @jaame: I agree they are so poorly funded that they have to prioritise. Your dad will also presumably get a state pension for his years as a valued customer of NI?

The performance of the NHS is directly proportional to the funding it receives.
Politically speaking we've been in the process of running it down since Thatcher. Your comments are indicative of this process working without blowback, under-fund something, let its performance deteriorate and the public will eventually say it's poor value for money.
The pre-pandemic funding situation was like replacing the brakes on one side of your car and then wondering why it drives like crap.
Private healthcare will undoubtedly make some people very healthy and some people very rich but it won't achieve what the NHS was created to do, free healthcare for all.

There are undoubtedly people who under-perform and waste money in any organisation, in government and state funded organisations they are often harder to weed out. The NHS has often suffered from 'lifer' management adding little value.

Of the two problems I'd say tackle the funding first,

 @Steventux: yeah it’s not an easy one is it. People want lower taxes. Tax is really high in this country but when researching it I found out that it’s actually one of the lowest in Europe which is pretty hard to believe when you used to live somewhere with 4% income tax.
Regarding the US version vs the British version. In one if you don’t pay you can’t see a doctor. In the other you have to pay and then when you see a doctor she probably won’t do anything. In terms of customer experience they’re both pretty shitty.
I have had a couple of operations on the NHS back in the day, so it definitely used to be fit for purpose. Not sure about now though. It certainly doesn’t seem very good to me, but then I haven’t had Covid and I hear they are pretty shit hot at helping people stay alive when they catch it.
If funding is too low, it could be said that costs are too high. Perhaps both need fixing.

 @jaame: Recent history suggests people want lower taxes until there's a serious existential threat. At which point they pivot to wanting a functioning healthcare system.

Personally, despite being pretty well off in comparative terms I don't want lower taxes for the sake of grubbing away my own private fortune, then trying to find a way to pass it on to my offspring, not pre-pandemic nor now.
I want to contribute to a society which offers opportunities and safeguards to everyone. The benefits of which are numerous. We risk creating an underclass of the forgotten otherwise and then we come hear to bemoan people stealing our precious bikes.

 @Steventux: I would love lower taxes to enable me to grub away more wealth and pass it on to my kids. To each his or her own.
I’m not against public healthcare, but it’s not free, and right now I’m struggling to see VfM on a personal level. They could give the NHS more funding but where would it come from? If they took it away from something else I would be in favour. Higher taxes, not so much.

 @jaame: well I'm sure we don't need anymore submarines or fighter jets. So there is a lot to be saved there, or maybe ban outsourcing contracts to friends at inflated cost.
Or maybe not letting massive companies and rich pay nothing legally.
However if we were taxed more to provide better services then either costs come down or salaries go up as the value of items is based on the customers ability to buy it, which is directly tied to the amount that heads in your bank account each month.

 @Tristanssid: I think it's fairly typical that us Brits should be so easily convinced to run down something as historically and monumentally important as the NHS by focussing on the small change we are required to donate to it in order for it to run on fumes.
Our media is predominantly owned by right leaning billionaires who set the tone, the majority then just repeats and obeys.
A private healthcare system is far more valuable to the stock exchange than the NHS and that's the impetuous behind privatisation as it was with the railways, which turned out great for shareholders, commuters may give a different impression.
There are billions of pounds worth of publlc money waiting to be turned into lucrative private contracts, the NHS is an untapped source of public money for the market to exploit.
In my opinion this is why we are being taught to resent our contributions. I think the increases in NI are a classic Johnsonian divisive tactic to make more people on medium and low incomes resent paying. Once disposable income becomes tight, people will ultimately criticise the performance of an underfunded NHS (see above).
The money flows towards large corporations, who will do anything to avoid contributing to society, not because they are bad or evil, but because free market rules don't require them to, we need to fix that.
Ideas? anyone? anyone? Bueller?

 @Steventux: I’m not saying you’re wrong in the main, but personally there are two reasons why I think the NHS is a bit pants, and the media isn’t one. The first is that I went to my GP recently with several ailments on a list, and I was literally told the NHS does not treat any of them as either they are cosmetic, or your back hurts so what? Athlete’s foot, fungal toenail infection, and a lipoma to name just three. I had a lipoma removed on the NHS 20 years ago, so that is one thing I can say has changed for the worse.
The other reason is that I lived in Taiwan for ten years. The NHI contributions there are tiny compared with here, you can actually see a specialist in any ailment really easily and for an upfront cost of £2 - £5, and they actually do operations for skin conditions on the reg. I had a haemangioma removed and it cost me £20 on top of my NHI contributions, themselves about £20 a month.
I know it’s not apples to apples, but the media seems to big up the NHS if you ask me. It’s almost been put up on a pedestal during the pandemic with the children’s art on display everywhere and the clap for the NHS thing. I don’t know what news you’ve seen saying the NHS is shit, I guess I missed that one.
I don’t know the solution. Higher taxes, in my opinion, is not it. We’re already giving away approximately half of the money we make in tax, more if you’re a smoker/drinker or drive a lot of miles.

 @jaame: I'd agree that placing the burden of cost for the NHS on taxpayers in general should not be the sole answer, although I think if we want a functioning universal healthcare system that can treat more than just critical cases we do have to pay for that.
The alternative is far more expensive: carry insurance for private care or pay extortionate amounts to private firms when needed, many countries are a good indicator of how this doesn't work for the worst off and certainly doesn't work for poorer people with risky jobs or hobbies.

We're here because we ride bikes, and we've probably all experienced an injury which has put us in A&E at the very least, there's no judgement from the NHS of our decision to take additional risks as a hobby, we usually get exemplary care for a relatively trivial contribution.
That's certainly been my experience after 2 broken collarbones and numerous other non-riding related procedures.
Undoubtedly the system could do better, it could be improved and some costs may be cut without affecting performance. But the trend in terms of percentage of GDP vs. Government spending on the NHS is irrefutably a downwards one: www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/70-years-of-nhs-spending#then-and-now

I believe it's fair that higher earners should pay more tax IF we still believe in a concept of societal responsibility. I speak as a relatively high tax payer.
Of the tax I pay 20% is spent on healthcare. www.statista.com/chart/4520/where-do-uk-taxes-go

It's interesting your positive experience of healthcare in Taiwan, as their system receives generous government and employer subsidy: www.commonwealthfund.org/international-health-policy-center/countries/taiwan

I do agree we shouldn't be solely responsible for the cost: Employers contributions could be increased, we could actually attempt to legislate against large corporate tax-avoidance schemes.
Even if as you say better value could be had, it shouldn't be taken from the wages of over stretched nurses and doctors, the incentives to make a career in public healthcare are already very slim. The urge to infuse the NHS with "competition" to make for better performance will be the trojan horse used to asset strip the system.

As for how the NHS is reported, I agree that lately the coverage has been mostly positive, how could it not be? We're hopefully at the tail end of a global pandemic and the value of healthcare professionals has been realised. Our response has not been to pay them more, it has been to step outside and clap a bit, call them heroes. It's patronising and insulting given the circumstances.

It's worth having a peek at the Daily Mail, The Telegraph or The Times, or watch Sky news, GB News (!) etc.
While they won't come out and say the NHS is shit, they will imply we are not getting good value, that the money is not well spent, that immigrants are bleeding the system, that pensioners are waiting for years for operations when foreigners are jumping the queue, that doctors are misdiagnosing patients, that private firms are rescuing or reshaping the system for the better.
There may be some truth in this reporting but the emphasis on these negative narratives is pretty disproportionate when reported by center-right media. Given the sheer weight of that media I think it's inevitable that people begin to look on the service as sub-optimal to the point where they won't defend it as it is run into the ground.

 @Steventux: I’m with you on the tax avoidance. Corporate taxes should be through the roof, not through the floor or nonexistent as they currently are.
Don’t tell me the big four offenders would take their business elsewhere if they had to pay even 70% tax. They would be happy to make single figure billions in quarterly profit as opposed to double figures. The government should totes do it.
I’m not for privatisation. I am for VFM. Privatising the railways and utilities was clearly as massive balls up as my dad’s been telling me since they did it… “Thatcher sold them all off and they weren’t hers to sell. They belonged to the people.”
Car insurance is a scam too. That should be a public service not for profit.
Efficiencies should be driven in the NHS. I would be happy to sign a disclaimer to let a less than top level surgeon cut the lump out of my arm. I feel there is an issue with the level standard of equipment that is considered acceptable. It ain’t cheapening things to insist on replacing legacy equipment with no resale value with new stuff that works 4% better. I think by dropping standards a little bit for certain procedures, decent cost savings could be had. I am speculating though.
National service is another thing I support. Instead of conscripting people to the armed forces, conscript them to the NHS for 12 months between 16-20 years old. That would help and I would be happy to send my kids. It would teach them valuable lessons.

 @jaame: I love the idea of Nation Health conscription, would gladly send our kid off for that.

 Haha that vid is hilarious!

 Just make the jump 1 foot higher every year, no problem!

 Yes. I think they will cut the Christmas trees, remove the stone table and drive the ATV away. Sick looking line and Greenland is a beast.

 @jaame: they say the 4-wheeler is dead in the extended portion. Might have to drag it out

 You can sort of do that with the Fort Hill trail at Thunder Mtn in Mass. You can ride along a side trail that parallels the Pro line. In my dreams I can clear those gaps. But if that dream ever comes true (not likely at 51), then I'll consider this BPW line.

 They have so many tracks it can't do any harm to have another Pro line.