While most mere mortals enjoy riding their bikes on the beach or through side streets, there are expert cyclists out there who take it a step (maybe several steps) further. Like Canadian mountain biker, Dave Herr, for example; an athlete who laughs in the face of danger even when tackling a “black diamond” trail. In the video below, we get a first-person sense of what it means to be so extreme.
Laughing Squid picked up on Herr’s first-person video, which he recently posted to his YouTube channel. Apparently, Herr was driving through a small mountain town near Merritt, British Columbia when he spotted a trail with a sign reading: Beyond Expert. That was enough to entice the rider, who clearly does not shy away from a challenge.
In the video, Herr gives us a (4K!) GoPro view of his trip down the trail, which grows more intense by the turn. Much of the trail has wood planks lining it, but the path they carve is slim. And they are also not in peak condition. In some parts, these planks gape open above big drop-offs. (This is basically the Khazad-dûm of Canadian mountain trails as far as we’re concerned.)
It’s hard to pick a section that’ll most kickstart your heart, but there are moments that certainly got Herr psyched. The ride becomes especially ridiculous after about the six-minute mark, so much so that the mountain biker needs to jump off his bike and walk a part of it. That is, right before he gets back on his bike and performs a spectacular leap over giant a chasm.
On his Instagram, Herr gives us another perspective on riding a trail like this one. In the clip above, we see Herr behind another rider as they tackle what appears to be another black diamond trail. Seeing somebody nail the trail from a third-person point of view is just as wild. It’s probably the same point of view we’d experience if we ever tried this… With our souls leaving our bodies out of sheer terror and all.
