Video: Wade Simmons Challenges the Impossible Climb & Shares his Tech Climbing Tips
First, a big thank you for all the interest and feedback on the Pick -A-Part series! Wade's been sifting through all your comments for ideas for new episodes. The future starts now with the first PaP episode of the year, where the Godfather focuses on tough and technical lung-busting climbs.
Wade dissects some of the toughest tech climbs on North Van's Mt. Seymour to give you the tools to tame any nasty ascent. These climbs are unforgiving and can even catch the Godfather out once in a while but his trusty sidekick Luna is there to help out. Look for a future episode starting Luna picking apart a fallen log!
Puzzling is not just reserved for the downhillers – Wade teaches us how to look at climbs in a new way, to unlock the right balance of technique, line choice, and raw power to get over the top! Make sure to watch to the end of the episode to see Wade tackle a bonus goal of mastering the ‘Impossible Climb’, made famous by Mr. Levy at Pinkbike.
 | You're not going to catch me in spin classes; I'm out in the woods! The more I ride, the fitter I get! |
As always, if you have any specific MTB skills or trail features you'd like Wade to flex on, sound off in the comments below!
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Wade Simmons: Yes
And what does looking cool mean? If everyone has big fenders on their bikes, you're guaranteed to be uncool if you don't. We are just all just sheep
I actually did that once, slow speed endo, double unclip and land standing in front of my bike saying "how the hell did that just happen?" Pure reaction, over before I had a chance to think. Just once....
While many of my friends turn to riding indoors for "training" in the NH winter, I just go outside and ride my bike. I ride a bike to be outside, not to do intervals in front of a TV.
We have 30cm of very heavy snow ATM. Which is a lot for my region. That made me ride on paved roads for 80% today. But those 20% in the snow were hard - but boy was it fun.
I feel fit folks who have bad weather, but truly, having bad weather is just an excuse to change your set up, be it fenders, studs, of fat tires.
I’d rather a hike a bike in snow than ride a trainer.
We get snowed out in northern Nevada, about to get a week of snow, I’ll ride, it’ll be tough, like life.
No amount of downvoting will change reality, riders ride if they want to ride.
Don’t be a pansy
I love the friendly bike bike check jab for Levy to eat.
You’re a funny man, Wade.
Strength training helps immensely but training your body to respond to power surges helps a ton.
Few people meet their limits ...
Thanks to Wade and Rocky for the quality videos!
Post a new route every week and let anyone who wants have at it
Uphill is the new downhill
Here is one for Wade to try. At the the end of Penny Lane it crosses Servered D and becomes Good Sir Martin. Climb up that small short section of Servered D to the start of Shorn. Don't have the strength to hit in 2nd so I spin out on in 1st on the steep part attempting the step up.
Challenge to Wade or Mike to film and clean that short climb.
Note: Keep your head up for downhill riders on Servered.
It is a short section that is very steep with a couple of step ups, if one were to ride / walk up. I have encountered riders coming down in the past and simply move off the trail and let them proceed unhindered.
One other section that should be on the list, not far from the impossible climb is the Sticks and Stones trail. Riding counter clockwise all good, but when riding clockwise I have only made that step up around the big rock boulder once. Most times I try it I am not even close. Tried to hit it with speed, tried hit it slow and power up.
Come on Wade / Mike, show us the way.
cheers
Wade used to have an stage race event where we had to race up the Griffins with observed sections that if you cleaned you got a time bonus. One stage was up the Warden Climb, but you had to chug a beer first.
Also, I'm not sure if it was his event or James Wilson's event, where there was a speed trap to determine the fastest speed down the gravel road from about Lower Oil Can to the original Expresso Entrance
My kinda race!..as long as it's not a light pissy beer. Warden climb's good too.
Me, "interviewing": Can you corroborate?
Wade S. again: What do you think I did before I freerode? I mountain-biked.
Me: You didn't exactly corroborate.
Wade S.: Ok, let's do this!
Me: Did you just lap a tree on the Impossible Climb, get @mikelevy fired and buzz the tower?
Wade S.: Braap BRAAAP! Doneski!
Scoreboard wins a lot of smack talk.
No ya didn't, you dropped it 12.5 mm shot of Maple syrup pronto!
I just realized I should ride with someone, they can ride down and ill ride up, then we can swap bikes and I won't have to cry about the optimization of my geometry and just ride. I cant wait for the day the industry gets it together and makes a 2 way bike.
Finally I ended up with a modern geo bike with a new-school super low BB, and an adjustable travel fork. With the fork slammed the bottom bracket height was unrideable on anything but paved road, and even then it didn't help with performance. I pulled the fork off and sold it.
The bike after that also had a modern low BB but also a super steep seat angle. I wouldn't put an adjustable travel fork on that bike if I was paid to.
The big switch from downhill to uphill is that downhill is out of the saddle. Having a saddle position optimized for downhill isn't much of a thing.
Let’s you change saddle angle on the fly. Nose down for climbing, nose up for descending, level position for undulating terrain. ????
They look like they could be an contender for preventing gorse bush needles stabbing the 2 most exposed knuckles on each hand.
www.decathlon.co.uk/p/all-mountain-mountain-bike-gloves/_/R-p-303340
Love these vids, love seeing Wade have fun, keep em coming pls
Ben, is " old" to you , but Ben is young to me .
Ben is at the age where if he pushes himself , he can remain fit for a while longer and then comes the day where NO
amount of pushing will matter .
But dont think about that, just enjoy now.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6uuzb6ASHg
Pinkbike SmackDown
Has anyone ever completed the top of incline to corkscrew?
Incline would likely need lots of giant trials hops or pedal kicks, Corkscrew can be done more Just Riding Along style without the hops
the top of Incline is the same as the top of Corkscrew.
About the Turn of the Century, before Corkscrew was built, the portion of Incline above Mushroom was known as the Beer Challenge (if you cleaned the climb your buds owed you a case of beer). But there was a lot more soil then and routes to zig zag around the big features
I wish there was a cut through where you could ride up to Ned's and then cut over to Seymour road and then drop in from the top. I guess the terrain goes pretty much straight up across there, though..
I also dislike doing the whole old buck+Seymour road climb which means I pretty much never ride that top could hundred feet of corkscrew.
He notes the bike is stock, and eagle with a 32t chainring is fairly standard on a 27.5 bike and pretty common on the shore. Most people would run 30 or 32 up front and the big ring out back is largely a bailout gear, more fit people need it less often, less fit people use it more. On a 29er, 28t or 30t is more common although you still see some 32s.
I think ideally you size the front chain ring so you aren't constantly in the granny gear.
In Wade’s case, he can’t spin steep stuff because his gears are too tall, but his climbing is punchy and short so it’s probably fine for him.
32-52 is tall? Personally I think it's as low as I could imagine wanting on a 275er. And I consider myself a spinner.
... and sure (Kenny), I remember running taller gears, I’ve been riding for over forty years, I rode single speed 29ers until I left the East Coast, also spent five years riding muni exclusively.
If you think you can stand and crank up five miles of steep single track, I invite you to come ride with me sometime.
Spinning has its perks
JF