On the nature of risk

Hello Everyone,

Back home, riding the trails in Kanata, there's only so much risk you can take. Depending on the trail you ride and how fast or how hard you go, your risk level will always be within a relatively narrow band. There just aren't that many big descents or drops or things that can make it risky should you choose to take them. When you are in actual mountains, though, the risk calculation changes.

The North Shore is the kind of place where there is a far greater band of risk. It can be quite safe on the right trails and with the right choices, or it can be extremely risky. It's the nature of the environment. It forces you to make more, and more significant, choices.

I was riding there this afternoon, and while it did not rain exactly this morning, it was very damp. All the more so as you rose in elevation. Water makes mud, and mud makes wooden bridges and ramps slippery. And there are a lot of wooden features on these trails.

Sometimes, when we are lucky, life will give us a warning, a clue about what awaits further down the trail. On one of the first wooden features I rode, which was a bridge that took a 90 degree turn, I applied my brakes to slow down and felt my tires skid forward. There's not a lot of room for error on these bridges, so any slipping is bad. But this was a good thing, a sign.

I stopped the bike and walked the rest of the feature, and another further down. I could still take most of the bridges and such, just not the ones that were too steep or involved sharp turns. My cautious attitude was proved precient when I heard the kid who was riding the same trail behind me skid off a bridge and crash.

He was okay, and in fact was wearing a full face cage, so I didn't feel guilty about feeling vindicated in my choices.

wes