What you have here is a real mountain bike ride, a day in the life of a pro. Like the postal service, neither rain nor shine, snow nor sleet… Professional mountain bikers are apart from their bikes for only a small handful of reasons: travel, sickness, injury and strategically chosen rest days. When you compete for a living, travel is inevitable, rest days are a rare blessing, and sickness and injury keep you from making money. Training days are paramount. Sure, it’s the race days that pay the bills, but it’s all that time preparing that gets you to the finish line faster.
What you see is not a video edit pieced together with carefully choreographed and sessioned bits of trail. There was no “una mas” uttered during the filming of this, no “go back up two turns and do it again.” Instead, this is an honest look at how a Frenchman and an Australian spend a springtime training day in Vancouver, BC. Apart from a wee bit of smiling for the camera and the odd stop to play with tire pressures and suspension settings — the two teammates were also testing their new SRAM ROAM 60 wheels — Barelli and Carlson just kept “swimming” up and down Mount Seymour, banging out 33.9 rain-soaked kilometers and climbing 1,324 meters over the 4 hours and 40 minutes we filmed them. They weren’t quite finished when we turned off the cameras, either.
Like the Frenchman and the blue cartoon fish say, “Just keep swimming.”
Severed D, 5 laps — One of the oldest trails on Mt Seymour, the trail has seen a major overhaul thanks to the NSMBA TAP program and it need be mentioned, this re-birth was only made possible with thanks to the hard work from Martin & Penny. The boggy swamp traverse across the top has now become a fast & flowy pump track that puts you into a rowdy descent. Includes a few skinnies all low to the ground, and several small rock rolls, some of which may be dropped. Lower Severed (after the Shorn turn off) has a very steep section with some black/double black optional lines. If you wish to avoid the technical descent, turn off at CBuster to take a cruisy descent on Asian Adonis or bail out lower down at Shorn Scrotum to connect to C-Buster. Unfortunately, both options mean you'll miss the happy ending on Severed, one of the trails’ best parts. — trailforks.com
Upper Dale's Trail, 2 laps (combined with Forever After) — Newly machined by Joy Ride Bike Parks, this trail is now very fast and flowy. If you wish to continue on flow trails it is suggested that you turn left at the bottom of this trail (before the ladder bridge), climb back to the Mushroom Connector and back down to the New Severed entrance to access the lower trail network. If you want to continue on Lower Dales expect Old School technical.
Forever After, 2 laps (combined with Dale’s Trail) — Described as mostly blue with a couple 'black diamond' moves, this is primarily a downhill XC trail complete with climbs, some pedaling and a downhill section at the end with rock faces, berms, some high speed and even an optional drop. Going through some stunningly lush micro valleys, this trail was primarily built with efforts by the NSMBA. Continue straight across Bridle Path into the High School League trail, another NSMBA project, to feel the full power of the FLOW! The name is a combination in tribute to the Trails Forever Fund, from which funding was derived to complete the project and the utilization of existing portions of Aftertaste.
Video by: Mind Spark Cinema / @mindspark Photos by: Adrian Marcoux / @amarcouxphotos Words by: Joe Parkin
It's such a breath of fresh air when you get an edit that is so well made and so different from what we've been getting. Nice originality!! And it somehow makes me miss rain lol
Agreed, this was a great edit..... It makes riding in the rain look like a lot more fun than it sometimes can be. I'll watch this next time I say "nah, it's raining outside"
Here in Sweden they have started with lift assistance on enduro competitions on hills with 150meters of elevation... In my opinion that is simply ridiculous and it gives our riders a completely skewed image of what it takes. The clash with reality will be hard when going out on the big scene, so hard that some just can't cope with the thought of it.
It takes top level fitness to cope with an EWS weekend or a multiday race like Trans Provence. So I would like to see a lot more of this kind of videos that show what really go in to being "up there" as a pro. There are simply no shortcuts just hard hard work 24/7.
Hopefully it's gonna be a fashion to skip shabby musics in bike videos just to keep THE real sound that makes those so much sexier. That video represents so well the wonderful sport we practice: friendship, communion with nature, challenges and exciting risks, unmeasurable fun, personal fulfillment, positive addiction
I had the privilege of riding with these guys in Chile for this year's EWS Corral, this is real mountaibiking and I think a 1300 m climbing day is like a warm up for these guys!!!
Raddest EWS team fosho!!!
I was wondering what the time it took them to complete this ride was. Seems a bit slow to me. I'm anything but fast (no where near even national level enduro rider's capabilities i think), and i do 800 vertical meters and ~20 km in about 2 hours - ~1:45 for pure riding, ~2:15 with the stops at the top to change some clothes and the like.
On the other end, a couple of weekends ago we did 38 kilometers and ~1800 (mobile phone Strava) vertical meters in 3:30 of pure riding or in 5:04 in car to car terms. But i was easily the second strongest rider of five in that group and two of the others had some leg problems.
I'm not saying either of the two in the video are slow, it's just i was expecting for that lap to be banged out in something like 2:30 or max 3 hours
@Primoz: Distance and elevation are only a very small part of the puzzle. The technicality of the trail has a huge difference on average speed.
Then you've got to consider that not every ride is done at flat out pace... and they had film crew along with them who needed to setup and get the shot.
@Primoz: What you don't quite see on the video is that every single trail they ride is decently technical. There is no resting time anywhere. Even the climbing trail they are on is an ass kicker. I can almost do twice more elevation gain if climbing on a gravel road than on these trails for the same amount of time spent on the bike.
Previous trainings shouldn't have much of an effect on performance, at least not in the range of adding about an hour. I did used to race xc BTW and i do know what you are trying to say, but just the last Friday I went reasonably fast (not flat out) on My fifth ride in seven days (the first being the five hour one I mentioned) and almost set a new uphill pb (admittedly I am in a much better shape than the years before, when I srt that pb).
As for technicalities, I ride the alps, where the climbs are steep. And the trails are rocky and rooty, I don't ride fire roads (well, I do on the climbs, but not all the time).
As for the film crew, it is said they were just riding and we're being filmed, no reruns. That means the film crew should have zero effect on the time.
Again, not saying they aren't well prepared or anything, it's just a bit puzzling, I was S expecting a much quicker pace. This pace looks like I could keep up and I expect them to be waaaaay faster than me both up and down.
@redridesrule i said i don't even stack up in the middle of the national field, let alone EWS.
@ukr77 why is it slow? I mean, as i said, i ride the alps, some fireroad climbs are steep as hell, we sometimes ride up the trails we ride down as well, etc. The thing is the distance AND the verticals add up to the riding i do, so it can't be that dissimilar?
@delusional i don't race when i ride. I always cruise. I quit racing about 9 years ago. I sometimes go a bit faster for Strava purposes (yeah, i know...), but i'm not even capable of racing anymore, i just can't suffer at high heart rates.
Again, as i said, the stats given (the time, distance and verticals) add up to what i'm capable of. I die if i go for a ride with my friend, who races in national enduro races, since he's in such a better shape than i am. EWS pros, i supposed, should be much faster still, easily.
And, for i think the third time, i'm not saying they are slow or something, i'd like to know the reason for this pace. The trails don't look like a slop fest to bog you down (they seem rocky, rooty and sandy, which is almost perfect for wet weather riding).
I noticed the picture with the bikes in the truck. Is that just to get there or do people do shuttle laps ? I live pretty close to there and am thinking about a road trip, but I don't really like to go places where people are shuttling. Thanks.
Great video...sorry "edit"! Something about riding in the woods seems to appealing. Maybe because you don't really get terrain like that here in Southern California.
great video and an almost exact copy of the weather we had a bike park wales recently which still turned out to be an amazing day
and its giant bikes which for me is also a win
Nice to see I'm not the only guy that can't figure out how to shove your glasses in your helmet and just carries them in your hand while you're peddling
Both Yoann and Josh raced up in Pemberton on April 30th on their Giants , I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Yoann for a bit , pure class really nice guy to meet ,
Giant is lucky to have both Yoann and Josh representing there products
Funny when I go just riding everything is in colour even in grey Scotland, but only trails that flow as well as these are the ones I built or modified my self
They turned off of Severed D onto the Good Sir Martin climbing trail at one point in the video.
So I would say they were mostly climbing the Good Sir Martin climb up to the power line.
I'll watch this next time I say "nah, it's raining outside"
Wouldn't mind one of those at all
It takes top level fitness to cope with an EWS weekend or a multiday race like Trans Provence. So I would like to see a lot more of this kind of videos that show what really go in to being "up there" as a pro. There are simply no shortcuts just hard hard work 24/7.
On the other end, a couple of weekends ago we did 38 kilometers and ~1800 (mobile phone Strava) vertical meters in 3:30 of pure riding or in 5:04 in car to car terms. But i was easily the second strongest rider of five in that group and two of the others had some leg problems.
I'm not saying either of the two in the video are slow, it's just i was expecting for that lap to be banged out in something like 2:30 or max 3 hours
Then you've got to consider that not every ride is done at flat out pace... and they had film crew along with them who needed to setup and get the shot.
As for technicalities, I ride the alps, where the climbs are steep. And the trails are rocky and rooty, I don't ride fire roads (well, I do on the climbs, but not all the time).
As for the film crew, it is said they were just riding and we're being filmed, no reruns. That means the film crew should have zero effect on the time.
Again, not saying they aren't well prepared or anything, it's just a bit puzzling, I was S expecting a much quicker pace. This pace looks like I could keep up and I expect them to be waaaaay faster than me both up and down.
Sometimes people like to just go out and cruise around a loop.
@ukr77 why is it slow? I mean, as i said, i ride the alps, some fireroad climbs are steep as hell, we sometimes ride up the trails we ride down as well, etc. The thing is the distance AND the verticals add up to the riding i do, so it can't be that dissimilar?
@delusional i don't race when i ride. I always cruise. I quit racing about 9 years ago. I sometimes go a bit faster for Strava purposes (yeah, i know...), but i'm not even capable of racing anymore, i just can't suffer at high heart rates.
Again, as i said, the stats given (the time, distance and verticals) add up to what i'm capable of. I die if i go for a ride with my friend, who races in national enduro races, since he's in such a better shape than i am. EWS pros, i supposed, should be much faster still, easily.
And, for i think the third time, i'm not saying they are slow or something, i'd like to know the reason for this pace. The trails don't look like a slop fest to bog you down (they seem rocky, rooty and sandy, which is almost perfect for wet weather riding).
www.strava.com/activities/547156819 - this one was done in almost exactly 8 hours total (car to car) with two coffee breaks (after two descents)
www.strava.com/activities/560981433 - this one was done in about 5 hours total (car to car) with only one larger break
www.pinkbike.com/photo/13472762
Macduff's crash www.pinkbike.com/photo/13472969 (almost rip)
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