2010 Season up ahead (Felgueiras race report)

After the winter fog blows over and the sun starts to shine upon all us riders out there, it's time to get the gear out, try out the new goodies and have some great fun on bikes. After all and deep down, that's why we go out there every time and ride.

For me, riding can be enjoyed in many ways. Be it simply chilling out and just flowing through the local trails with the other dirtbags, or feeling like a nervous wreck on top of that threatening start gate.
I'm lucky enough to experience both, even though the usual and most common experience is the first one.

Anyway, last month, I raced the 1st stage of the Minho DH Regional Champs, held in Felgueiras.
About the track, simply awesome.
It started off with a bit of pedalling, and some tricky little jumps over roots. These were followed by a considerably big drop, that landed on a steep downhill, which made you feel like a rocket as soon as the wheels touched the dirt.
Then we had a super fun "S" berm turns bit, followed by the first road gap of the track.
Next to this was the toughest section of the track, by far: a super challenging rock garden, in which we entered through the steepest wall I've ever seen on any track, and had two small drops in the middle.
Then it was flat on through the rest of the track, with some sweet air, twisty turns and rocky singletrack right up to the sprint to the finish line.


Saturday practice went well, my dad said he didn't like all the pressure that the competition puts on you, so he rode down once and shuttled us for the rest of the day.
Only this way could my brother and I have made so many practice runs. Cheers dad.
I started to really enjoy the whole track,taking the practice runs easy, and enjoying it. I came home with a big grim on my face.

Sunday practice didn't go so well, though. After some stupid mistakes and sketchy runs, I even ran into a slower rider, standing on one of the fastest sections of the course, and had to take the blow, so I wouldn't hurt the guy. Unfortunately, I wasn't expecting to land on my *ss, on top of some very, very spiky plants.

If you're reading this (although you probably aren't), next time, PULL OVER. Cheers.


The race runs themselves weren't good at all, I was feeling really beaten down, making lots of stupid mistakes, ending up with a shitty time, which placed me way down in the result chart...


So, to sum up, although the results were worthless, I had a lot of fun, I learned some pretty important stuff, increased my riding self confidence (through that evil rock garden) and came to know one of the best tracks I ever rode in.



Cheers!

New tyre... Few choices.

Seeing that my front Michelin Hot is really... Not "there" enough for DH, I'm forced to get rid of it and make it a spare.

But I'm now in a tricky situation. I've got my "old" Kenda Nevegal good as new waiting to be set, and I think I never enjoyed a tyre so much as that. The thing is, it's a 2.50 4 ply.

And it's heavy. I mean really heavy.

So, here's the deal. There's no money for a new Maxxis High Roller, or any other new tyre at that.
Either I stay with the so-not-my-taste and slippery Michelin Hot,

which doesn't grip nearly as much as I hoped and needed, but rolls really fast and is ultra light, or I put my excelent, super grippy, reliable, strong and heavy as Garfield the cat Kenda Nevegal 2.50 4 ply. I'm hesitating this much mostly because my bike is already heavy as it is..




I'll let you know when I make up my mind about this.


Cheers

Winter training rules!

Are you sitting on your arse all day, on top of your big holiday feasts?

No more. If you ride mountainbikes, especially DH, get up and go ride some wet, perhaps snowy trails. It's guaranteed fun.

I've been winter riding with my brother on some technical stuff we love, and it's been awesome. Every turn gets extra slippery, every rock trickier, every root a menace.

It's awesome!

Every time you start to roll down that hill, you just want to push harder and harder, especially if you're trying to follow someone, which is something I really reccomend. Trying to catch up with someone in front of you makes your every pedal stroke harder, your every run as breakless as it can be.

Besides, if you start riding in the wet now, by the time Summer gets here, you'll be completely unstoppable. It's hard stuff but it's worth it, you just gotta get into it.

Signing out,

Ricardo

My new ride

Hey everyone,

Well, here she is, my brand new Berg Viper Elite:



Spec list:

-Berg Viper Elite frame
-Rockshox Boxxer Race 2009 (2008 lowers)
-Fox Shox DHX5
-Alex Rims DX32 rims
-Specialized Chunder 2.30 out back and Michelin Hot 2.50 up front
-Sunline Direct Mount Boxxer stem
-Kore BFD 710mm/25mm bars
-Da Bomb Holy Shit grips
-Truvativ Ruktion cranks
-Shimano Deore brakes (Tektro Auriga 180mm disk on the back)
-Sram X-9 transmission
-Selle Italia Shark saddle

-Truvativ Holzffeler pedals

I think that's about it. It took me a while to get her all set up, but now she's riding like a dream. I'm stoked with her.

Santa also brought me a pair of Five Ten's, a No Fear Combat jersey (Black Pinstripes), a pair of THE Skinz gloves and some other stuff, non-bike related.


Cheers and happy new year everyone