Video: Remy Metailler Chases Kirk McDowall on E-Bikes at Vedder Mountain

Nov 4, 2022 at 10:16
by Rémy Métailler  

Atfer not riding with Kirk Mc Dowall for a while, we are both back with a trail preview video. New location, but also new type of bike. On this day, we both had a limited amount of time and the forest fires had made the air pretty smokey, so we took our e-bikes and it was a good choice! We did 2.5 laps of the mountain, and a lot more descending than we would have done on regular bikes.

Support Vedder's trail network: https://www.fvmba.com/

Find these trails on Trailforks: https://www.trailforks.com/region/vedder-mountain/

Follow @kirkmcdowall and @remymetailler

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Member since Feb 25, 2009
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112 Comments
  • 54 1
 Every ebike video comes with an explanation why they chose that bike haha.
  • 2 34
flag BenPea (Nov 5, 2022 at 16:05) (Below Threshold)
 Because non e-bikes are nowhere near heavy enough for a proper rider?
  • 9 13
flag BenPea (Nov 6, 2022 at 1:42) (Below Threshold)
 Just found out it's impossible to downvote yourself into oblivion.
  • 5 0
 @BenPea: No, but other PB'ers gladly will.
  • 11 0
 At least it’s not a helicopter again, takes even longer to explain than an Ebike
  • 1 2
 @woofer2609: that's what happens when you temp for the devil
  • 3 2
 @BenPea: On the plus side, maybe at the end of the year, when PB runs their most up voted comments of the year, they'll also include the most down voted. Unless Waki was still able to comment this year, in which case, you won't stand a chance.
  • 1 0
 In the states we have HIPPA so you dont have to give an excuse.
  • 1 3
 @woofer2609: unfortunately, enough people can tell when I'm typing with my tongue in my cheek. Although I do like a challenge.
Waki is busy launching his takeover of the PB comment section, entirely for the purpose of eliminating all trolling and hate speech through the medium of other people's cash and not in any way as an inane vanity project dreamt up because, you know, where does the man who has everything go from putting Poles into earth orbit (at sea level minus about 1,000m). I don't know where I'm going with this.
  • 5 0
 and it's never because of their awesome handling lol
  • 1 0
 @woofer2609: Scott Townes or whatever could easily win too haha.
  • 44 9
 On a real bike you could have gotten 1.346 laps like the rest of us and still had a great day.
  • 3 6
 Well said!
  • 1 1
 but the descended more....... with heavy bikes......
  • 38 7
 Hi my name is Johnny Knoxville and I hate e bikes
  • 7 44
flag HeatedRotor FL (Nov 5, 2022 at 15:39) (Below Threshold)
 you couldnt of said "im stupid" anymore clearly.
  • 11 5
 @HeatedRotor: get some humor in your life
  • 13 37
flag HeatedRotor FL (Nov 5, 2022 at 16:02) (Below Threshold)
 @weebleswobbles: My problem is i have to much humor 99.9% of the time but ebike haters are the special of specials - They are the ones who spend the first 20 years putting blocks in the correctly shaped holes.
  • 6 0
 @HeatedRotor: this is a good joke, right?
  • 5 19
flag weebleswobbles (Nov 5, 2022 at 16:33) (Below Threshold)
 @HeatedRotor: well, since I have some intelligence, I can understand what you are saying, good sir, despite the grammatical and spelling errors in your post.
Did you by chance mean to say "you couldn't have said "I'm stupid" any more clearly.? Or stupidly did you really mean to say couldn't of?
And did you also mean to say that you have to much humor, instead of too much humor or did you really even think?
  • 4 15
flag HeatedRotor FL (Nov 5, 2022 at 16:37) (Below Threshold)
 @weebleswobbles: i replied with some humor and it seems to have gone over your head some.

Maybe i need an American flag next to my name
  • 2 4
 @HeatedRotor: yes I agree
  • 32 2
 I'm still waiting for the electric home trainer........
  • 59 0
 I hook my ebike up to my wahoo.. because it's just as good of a workout as my analog bike, but I get more laps
  • 27 3
 Remeee Motoriller
  • 47 29
 Oh stop the ebike hate already. Is this really negatively effecting you? Also, guess you never shuttle?
  • 22 1
 I don't shuttle & I don't have a negative opinion of ebikes.
I would shuttle, just don't have a truck or the tolerance for other people and wasted time.
I would hate ebikes, but.. what someone else rides on is irrelevant to me..
  • 12 3
 @GFozzz: thank you. I don’t own one but the hate is so old. Why do people care?
  • 17 11
 I don't have a negative opinion of e-bikes where they get people out of cars for their commute, but I dislike them on MTB trails, especially where they are "upgrades" from a regular bike. In the latter case, e-bikes are a net loss for the environment.
  • 6 0
 I don't shuttle mostly because riding up gets me focused and my muscles warmed up (for when I crashWink but also is some nice time to reflect or listen to a podcast and burn enough calories to drink a few beers and feel like I've earned it. If you want to ebike, more power (heh) to ya!
  • 8 2
 @woofer2609: you ever tried riding an e bike on proper trails? Or taking one out for an after work epic 50 mile backcountry rip on Moto trails you wouldn’t be able to climb on a regular bike? No, I’m not gonna use an e bike to climb a low grade road I could easily climb on my enduro rig, but the possibilities they open up for riding is amazing
  • 1 2
 @GFozzz: you sound not fun
  • 2 0
 @olafthemoose: I commute on an ebike, but haven't e-MTB'ed. Not against it. (maybe I'd never go back to regular biking.) I just appreciate the simplicity of the unassisted machine. Same reason I walk places sometime; whole journey not the destination thing, maybe.
  • 3 1
 @woofer2609: I totally agree with you actually. I would love to have an e bike but no way I’m giving up my normal bike for one.
Sorry if I came off aggressive there. It’s refreshing to see people who arent personally interested in owning one not complaining about them. It’s becoming draining
  • 8 8
 @olafthemoose: Because it seems a whole lot of mountain bikers, at least here, are the reincarnation of the 1985 Ahole skiers who hated on snowboarding. They have no idea how completely cringe they are, and I can only imagine this behavior manifests in many other aspects of their lives. Making them rather unpleasant people to be around. Ohz wellz.
  • 4 0
 @freeridejerk888: Eh. I'd venture to say a huge amount of people here and even more on the trails ride bikes like this, probably 80% of all riders. I shuttle maybe twice a year, and I do bike park laps once a year at best. I still ride around 400hrs per year, with 75% of my hours on a MTB. Driving long distances to get somewhere to ride is one of my least favorite things, and taking the time to shuttle is rarely worth it. I also avoid riding with big groups of people as it tends to slow down the day to a crawl.

That's just my own personal anecdote, but a lot of us like to sit in silence while hurting ourselves going up the hill, and have a few scary moments on the way down. It's a much more efficient way to get in the miles and fitness, without having to wait on other people, or have other people wait on you.

Riding with big groups of people or doing shuttle laps on a weekend is something I have to mentally prepare for, so I don't do it all that often.
  • 1 0
 @corposello: lmao what? Taking the time to shuttle isn’t worth it? Maybe you’re riding the wrong places Casue I can get 10 laps a day vs maybe 2. Seems Worth it to me
  • 17 7
 E bikes are a funny thing. The worst and best riders love em, and most of the average Joe hates em.

They are an incredible tool. If you have access to
Insane alpine rides…man I can only imagine, even just banging out 6 laps instead of 3 when you want to train for DH season etc.

My friends and I can simply do stuff we’d never do on pedal bikes. Most of our good DH has horribly steep access that no one climbs, not even the xc dudes. Now we can do a full day of unsanctioned primo DH on weekends when the rest of the trails are busy as. I can pedal during the week for fun / exercise and enjoy the serenity of no f*cking people. Win win.

Fact is most opinions are just based on some douche who has barely ridden, gets an E because he’s lazy, and when he does ride he’s riding it on stupidly flat trails / boring shit where an extremely heavy and slack bike is simply a piece of shit to ride and he’d be better off on a trail bike.

But let’s not just throw everyone into the same bucket. E can be fun and it can be lame. That’s like most things.
  • 8 1
 @nvranka Maybe average Pinkbike Joe. But the actual average Joe? Most don't even know they exist. And when you show them, let them take a spin, they fall in love. This is a very US/Canada phenomena. The rest of the world has totally embraced the paradigm.
  • 2 0
 @Chuckolicious: yes that’s fair and true
  • 31 20
 E-bikes are a blast. Love to see it.

Hopefully some people can get on here and tell the world they don’t like something so nobody else should either.
  • 15 3
 All ebike videos need a segment where they roost past those pushing amish bikes uphill whilst laughing and pointing at them.
  • 13 2
 "amish bikes" Big Grin
  • 4 0
 Well then, do I have a video for you.
youtu.be/zXozotqEXpg
  • 10 1
 The dudes. Rad! It’s no secret Kirk loves e bikes.
  • 6 2
 My lad races DH... A couple of weeks ago we read an article about Loic Bruni, his favourite bike currently is an E-bike he said.... 3 days later my lad was tired and ended up riding the wifes Ebike, getting 18 runs in on the local trails rather than his usual 5-6 when he's on the DH bike and pushing... Is it the same as riding the DH bike, heck no.... but it does mean you can ride and ride, up and down, time and time.... More bike, more practice, more fun. I'm not an Ebike fan by any stretch, but they can and do have their place and time.
  • 4 1
 Keep in mind this is just one aspect of two wheeled sports that these two very accomplished pro bikers are awesome at. I’ve seen them out and about on non Ebikes the majority of the time. Don’t have to personalize it, just because it isn’t for you or you need to get in shape or whatever. No one’s telling you what to do!.
  • 2 0
 Great vid Remy. So awesome watching my local trails in your videos. Always inspires me to ride a bit faster/smoother and find the lines you take when I go back. Just one little critique....after Blackforest Ham (aka Blackhawk Down) the subtitle indicates the next trail you ride is Adams Trail, when you're actually riding Femur. Adam's Trail starts right beside Femur. Both are awesome trails. But Femur is one of (if not) my favorite trails......so i just had to make this comment for accuracy sake. And as always, you absolutely shredded that trail....cant wait to get out for my next ride at Vedder. #vedderisbetter
  • 20 15
 I guess I'd be an E bike whore if they paid me.
  • 18 3
 No one will ever pay you to ride…
  • 8 0
 @thechunderdownunder: it's actually surprisingly easy to get a top-40 downhiller salary as a professional cyclist, I was even earning up to minimum wage with Deliveroo!
  • 1 1
 @L0rdTom: Probably anyone can do it.
  • 1 1
 @thechunderdownunder:

You need to charge your batteries son.
  • 3 0
 I was actually awestruck by the size of some those trees ripping by them so fast.
  • 2 0
 Those trees were hauling!
  • 2 0
 So when is that new Specialized Full face coming out?
  • 4 2
 Need to see more uphill riding to showcase the advantages of ebike.
  • 3 5
 First the chopper, then the ebike. I knew PB comments were going to be toxic AF as usual. Hopefully Remy ignores the haters and doesn't write another hostage letter to explain himself again.
  • 1 0
 Welcome comrade! Don't forget to pay you taxes.....
  • 3 2
 Rem boss sik vid!
  • 5 5
 I actually prefer pedalling up the hill Wink
Sweet riding guys!!
  • 2 1
 Speed and Power.
  • 2 3
 Smart batteries and forest fires. The Dance of the Clairvoyants reveals World Wide Suicide @WRCDH
  • 1 0
 Mongo Jumps???
  • 1 1
 Uhhhhh CAPTCHA?
  • 5 5
 PinkEbike
  • 1 0
 pInKEebIKe
  • 2 0
 PINK-E-PED
  • 3 5
 If all the pros are buying Ebikes it says a lot, its just these "Enduro" riders (Who never race) that have a problem.
  • 1 0
 Especially if you already moto, ebikes are gna be more attractive.
  • 3 2
 Who says they are "buying" them. They could be riding them to make sponsors happy.
  • 3 4
 @MrLynch: I guarantee they ride them because they are awesome. Remy has said himself he rides his e bike more than his normal bikes when he’s not filming
  • 1 2
 @olafthemoose: the guy paid by bike companies to help sell more bikes said he likes the most expensive/highest profit bikes best? Seems legit
  • 3 2
 @fuzzhead45: Nah, I just like riding down, and hate pedalling up. This bike allows me to ride down more, pedal less hard. I like it.
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