The Really Big Curved Bridge
A friend of mine with a big private property offered me the opportunity to take any curved cedar trees off his land. I’m very happy about this as it is quite difficult to find curving trees sometimes. The idea behind using them for bike trails is that you can cut them in 2 identical peices vertically with the chainsaw, and then use them as curved ’stringers’ when building bridges or stunts, or ‘techincal trail features’, as they have been defined by the Ministry of Tourism, Sports, and Arts.
I have always loved this method of constructing bridges both for the sweet feeling of riding a sweeping bridge with no hard angles, and also from an asthetic point of view.
The bridge below was built with the longest curved cedar I have ever dealt with, one single tree with two curves! I cut it into about a 25 foot length and hauled it into the bush with my quad to construct a bridge I’m pretty happy with. This particular bridge has a 1st curve which acts as a sort of ‘pump’ for the 2nd curve, which is much more dramatic and rounded. It’s a blast to ride and I always feel a rush coming into it on my bike because it was a bit of a project from first finding the curved cedar tree on my friend’s land, to dragging it up there in the middle of the night, to hammering it all together.
Long live curved cedar trees! (The photo is from late June and was taken by BIKE magazine senior photographer Dan Barham)
Feb 24, 2010
Can you gap it from first hump to second hump?
Jan 13, 2010
Nice work!!! you guys are artists. Big props from an amateur trail builder and a professional carpenter. Do you guys need staff?
Jan 11, 2010
nice work! cant wait to get over this summer and ride it!
Jan 11, 2010
fantastic. hope you don’t mind your technique being poached. i’ve got a big area to work in, connecting downed cedar, and i’m going to connect some in wood pump track style. your slats look milled, not split. alaskan mill?
Nov 18, 2009
This is a super fun bridge. The first time I rode it it gave me butterflies in my stomach. I was following my buddy Dave down the trail. We hauled it around the corner just before this bridge and Dave hit the brakes as we rolled up the first curve. He had ridden the trail before but must have second guessed himself rolling into the stunt. I was in awe when I saw the bridge and was so stoked to hike back up and clean it. We hiked a good 200 feet back up the trail and Dave kept telling me to suck in the bike on the second curve. We flowed down the trail and trained the Super Curve. Dave popped off the second curve catching air to the bottom of the down ramp. I pumped the first curve and felt the butterflies as I rolled up the second curve and down the other side. It felt like I got some air too but if I did it was completely by accident! I won’t forget that feeling of going over the second curve.