this is the Teeter Cannon and it's one of the most beloved features here on Berm Peak
it's really unique it's crazy looking it's scary to actually attempt but there are
some obvious criticisms for one you can't really train with somebody over it there's
so many different ways that that could go wrong that was fun sketch
but we had always planned on building a bypass for it so one person could hit the cannon one person
go around or both people could take the route around it and so that's what we're gonna do today
this is thick there's gonna have to be some cutting going on clearing through here
yeah man this is where we discussed up here we can't cut through the easy part
the Teeter Cannon is more of a novelty feature anyway so this new line will probably end up
being the main one for the first few days i'd be editing and Kevin would run the show
I don't like the teaser cannon I don't like the teeter-totter so I'm pretty stoked about
this trail and picks a pride missile I gave him executive authority to cut the trail however he
saw fit as long as it exited around the top of the Elmer Fudd skinny after that we'd both think
of some ways to spice up the trail but that's not really how it worked out we had great weather and
Kevin was on a mission he chose a line cleared out a massive thicket of laurels and started
getting acquainted with the terrain underneath as it turned out there were some big rocks in there
Kevin wasn't building the bypass trail we had originally planned but rather a masterpiece by
the time I saw what Kevin built it was clear that we had to go back to the drawing board I can't get
over what you got done here just hand cutting jump jump jump but the section is so good that I don't
want to just slam on my brakes and get on the skinny I kind of want to like do something more
I think we should come off of this hit a wooden berm slash wall ride
and shoot down a new trail connect back up the Thumb Bucket down there and by the end of the
fall we'll have the biggest longest run we've ever had to ride Kevin's line to the Elmer Fudd bridge
just to bypass the Teeter Cannon would require a whole lot of braking and scientifically speaking
braking is converting fun into heat which dissipates from your rotors instead we wanted to
find a way to keep the trail going but to keep the trail going we need to switch directions quickly
much like we do with this wooden berm after the Kevin jump but for this hairpin turn we'll need
a much bigger steeper version of this wooden berm making it basically a curved wall ride with
enough speed we should just stick to the wall like one of those motorcycle cylinder thingies
so what I've gone and done is cut these curves out so that we can string them together
and kind of stick frame it so I'm going to carry these down to the site and lay them out and see
if they line up the way I hoped looking good I'm about to measure this out and make sure
that I'm not insane on any bank turn the inside radius is tighter than the outside
so to make this feel right we need to simulate the same effect actually I can go I should go 11. well
no they're going to be close together after some precise back of the napkin guessing I decided to
cut an 11 foot radius an 11 and a half foot radius and a 12 footer to be used as framing
for this I used the remainder of our treated 2x12s saving the rough cut oak we milled over the
summer for the riding surface measuring things out beforehand allows for a more predictable
riding experience although I must admit this is the first time I've built anything like this
so my strategy is to try and frame the center first and then work my way out because that'll
allow me to get three of these ribs together get it in position and then figure out how to get each
end which is on much different terrain to kind of sit flat oscars that's how that's how you do
find a lens and go in front of it I'm not advanced enough to sketch a feature like this but
I've written enough weird stuff to know what's possible by sight
that's enough for us to jump into it for sure right i'd start by framing the middle of the
structure and work outwards to try and get a visual on the entrance and exit while having
pre-cut radiuses will make this feature really smooth and consistent you can also approximate a
curve with a series of flat sections the more flat sections you add the smoother the resulting curve
while I prefer my method I also have a wood shop right next to the trail out in the real woods
this wouldn't be as easy to pull off another disadvantage of cutting radiuses is waste wood
from the offcuts I actually use the vast majority of it for making stakes which we can pound into
the ground to hold the feature in place digging a hole and packing a post into the dirt works well
but a steak can feel like it was born in the ground but it only moves like an inch at a time
you know it's in there good for small scale jobs like this one I find steaks to be pretty useful
we have this whole thing framed out and it's really solid I was worried about
it being able to handle the abuse but not now I'm ready to put the planks on
we're gonna start bright and early and we're going to ride this thing tomorrow
so if you don't install your first plank right that can cascade across
the whole feature and then when you stand back and look at it you're like
over the summer we obtained quite a bit of lumber from dead oak trees around Berm Peak
we brought it down to the mill and had heavy two inch planks made and left them rough cut
for traction rough cut oak is perfect for a job like this as it's strong provides traction and
gives us full license to call this feature the oak barrel but with all the blood sweat
and planning we put into this feature we still have no idea if it's going to work
will we stick to this wall like a motorcycle cylinder thingy
if there was a berm here you'd shoot out of that thing and have whatever speed we
need for the rest of that endless did it not work great that time it worked so good but
yeah I have to get up higher on the wall and try and just jump off to stay higher
i was just trying to abort because I thought I was gonna fly off the top of it yeah
and get super hurt how high my tires are yeah look at the front tire there's no on ramp we
haven't built a landing yet or single track after it but the oak barrel works maybe too well whoa
so
the section Kevin built before the wall ride is probably my favorite on Berm Peak
and this is clearly the main line we should be working on
the oak barrel wall ride will give us all the speed we need for whatever comes after it
from here we'll continue the single track until it reaches Thumb Bucket in fact this
is Thumb Bucket trail and will eventually connect to where we last stopped building
I know progress on Thumb Buckets stopped over a month ago when we returned the rental excavator
due to delays in the global supply chain we've been at a standstill but the wait is finally over
now we gotta not crash into trees with it not dent it up always grease
the grease points don't let anybody else drive it I think we're way past that now
today we take delivery of a very capable permanent replacement expect exactly how we want
this is going to change the game and i'll tell you all about it on the next build
thanks for riding with me today and i'll see you next time