KS Bike Festival 2012 - Shenzhen, China
Nov 25, 2012
Once a year KS Suspension throw their factory gates open to the world for a festival. They invite riders from Asia and Europe to come and join local people and simply enjoy bicycles. It's one of the biggest things you notice coming here - they don't just make bikes, they love them too and are working hard to grow the sport. That's reflected in this event, it covers nearly every type of riding (except for road) and is aimed at the whole family. Inside the compound they have built a 4X track and street section, one of the warehouses had a children's area and ten minutes drive away is the XC race course around a stable. All of this in the middle of a city with a population of 10 million. It feels like a throwback to the nineties in the very best possible way, there is a sense of people just enjoying it all, without the genres, subdivisions and terminology of modern mountain biking. The XC race reminded me of my failed attempts at XC racing back in 97 or so, when there would be a couple of fit guys with all the gear who smoked everyone and the rest of us on making it up as we went on whatever we had...
I do need to apologise. There was a results sheet for the race, and rider names and numbers, however it was all in Cantonese. To get this all up today, there just isn't time to pull people away from their jobs and ask them to translate it all for me.
 |
 This is the weather we woke up to this morning. I'm not sure how long it had been raining for, but it came on in waves every so often and hit hard. |
 |
| But the show must go on, and a bit of rain didn't seem to dampen anyone's enthusiasm. |
 |
| KS' factory really is in the heart of everything - apparently to get into the countryside you need to drive for at least an hour from here. |
 |
| How many factories can you think of that have a 4X track on their grounds? When we arrived on Friday production had stopped while everyone pitched in to get ready for the festival. It's amazing to come over here and see that kind of enthusiasm about bikes. |
 |
| It's always great to see bike events that encourage children to get involved. |
 |
| Fans over here are super-keen, back in Europe enduro riders like Valentina Macheda can walk around freely. Here people were so excited to see them that they were grabbing photos left, right and centre. |
 |
| I haven't seen pogo sticks in years. The world would definitely be a better place with more pogo sticks in it. |
 |
| Dangerous Momo is a former freerider and now the KS' French importer. Before the rain cut the speeches short he got up on stage and used his flair for performing to get a audience who, for the most part, couldn't speak English clapping and making noise. |
 |
| Manuel Ducci putting the finishing touches to Valentina and his bikes before the XC race. They could only bring one bike each with them (no thanks to Cathay Pacific charging an eye-watering amount to get them here), so opted for their enduro race bikes to do everything on. |
 |
| Everyone prepared for the race in their own way. |
 |
| Grace is the editor of China's largest cycling magazine. When you make it to that kind of level over here you get someone to carry an umbrella for you while you shoot. I'm jealous. |
 |
| And when we arrived at the XC course it was really raining... |
 |
| That didn't seem to put anyone off though and the hill was dotted with people watching the races. |
 |
| This guy looked like the driest, happiest man in Shenzhen when the skies opened. |
 |
| On the first lap, one of the local riders pulled away from the field to lead as they passed through the finish area for the first time, to huge cheers from the crowd. |
 |
| Freddy, one of the French riders, reeled him and proceeded to demolish everyone. |
 |
| Manuel couldn't hang with the leaders - a 30lb enduro bike with dual ply tyres and 160mm of travel was the wrong weapon for the day. I know full-well just how fit Manuel is and how fit you have to be to race enduro at a high level, so it says a lot about the quality of the riders here that they could drop him like they did. |
 |
| After demolishing the field at another XC race yesterday, the organisers decided to put Valentina in the pro men's race. On her 30lb enduro bike she more than held her own, finishing on the same lap as most of the field. |
 |
| That's pretty much pure determination. |
 |
| Such thick vegetation meant sudden changes from light to dark, which, combined with the slick surface, caught more than a few people out today. |
 |
| Thomas Moket, giving it some French style for the camera. |
 |
| Much of the singletrack loop ran through what can only be described as jungle. |
 |
| The race was over six laps of the short course. |
 |
| About two thirds of the way in, another one of the waves of rain came in, leaving rivers running down the track. |
 |
| On the way into the singletrack was a short, steep climb that had turned into half-foot deep mud in the rain. Pushing was the only sensible option. |
 |
| Although six laps may not sound like much, with mud clinging to everything and a series of short, sharp climbs, the last lap looked tough for nearly everyone. |
 |
| Fatigue mixed with the joy of finishing. |
 |
| There was no rest for Valentina. Because of the rain the 4X was brought forwards by several hours, so one change of clothes later she was back on the same bike and in the start gate. Unfortunately wet asphalt and mud don't mix well and she took a big hit to her hip on the practice lap, but fought through the pain to compete in the race. |
 |
| People seemed to squeeze into every available space to watch the BMX riders take to the wet, metal ramps. You have to take you hat off to them for putting on a show for the crowd as those ramps were slippery as hell. |
 |
| In the alleys behind the main area the fixed-wheel freestyle kids gathered to show off their tricks for each other. |
 |
| They then came and put on a show for the crowd in front of the stage. |
 |
| The girls from the Author stand were clearly impressed by the freestylers. |
 |
| Smiling. Unassuming. Those would be the best two words to describe Martin, the owner of KS and the man who dreamt up this festival. His energy and enthusiasm are making a real, visible difference to the spread of mountain biking in China. |
