Valparaiso Cerro Abajo 2015 - 44 Photos
In Canada it's Crankworx, in Chile it's Valparaiso Cerro Abajo. The biking season is at its peak in South America, energy is high and it's the perfect time to take the big DH rigs from the dirt slopes to the hot colourful streets. Urban DH is a different beast. Instead of trees and cliffs as relative "dangers", the stakes are raised dramatically and broken glass, rusty metal, telephone poles, electrical cables, cars, dogs are only some of the potential hazards. In one day, a mob of workers convert an urban sprawl into a down hill course. This day is obviously the result of a lot of logistical planning and organization. This year was completely different than the last 5 years, with a totally new course. The city is so chock full of zig-zagging roads and potential routes through the madness that organizers decided to mix it up and find a new line. The course was loaded with hair pin turns on stair cases, tight corridors, drops, dirt jumps, a detour through someones back yard, the list goes on. The Valpo Urban DH is one of the most entertaining events of the year and this years event was one to top the charts.
MENTIONS: @polcster, @remymetailler, @urteam, @COMMENCALbicycles
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 Stairs, mazes of streets, jagged metal, and houses stacked on top of houses, the perfect platform for a bad ass urban downhill course. |
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| Walking the streets of Valpo is an exhilarating experience. The smells, the noises and the hustle and bustle of cars pinning it to try to climb the steep streets all make it what it is. In the midst of the chaos this guy chooses to keep it simple. |
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| I could walk this city and just shoot graffiti. Chile is loaded with very talented artists and Valpo is the perfect canvas. |
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| Chilean flag flying proudly in the gnar of the new Cerro Abajo course. |
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| When you bail in Valpo you may need to top up your tetanus. The sidelines are a friendly mixture of broken glass, barbed wire, jagged concrete and rusty metal. |
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| Here in Valparaiso people are super into their colours. This guy really likes fuchsia! |
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| This guy was a little near sighted, and the polarized lenses help in for the reflections off the white concrete. |
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| Somebody turned their garage into a rad little shop. |
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| Colour, colour and more colour. |
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| You can use the bike, if you can get it!. |
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| The calm before the storm on race day. |
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| The Chilean Carabineros out just on case the rowdies get out of hand! |
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| On race day the crunch is on. An army of workers spread through the city to build stunts, close roads, set up fences to keep people off the track, and battle the mountain of logistics that are involved with an Urban DH race. |
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| Remy Metallier saddled up for the near vert shuttle to the top of the course. |
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| Shuttle to the top can be pretty sketch. Hold on tight to something and try to not fall out. |
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| The crowd started to gather pretty thick around ten in the morning. Those are some pretty dedicated fans as the finals aren't until six in the afternoon! |
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| The big craze in Chile right now is the poles. Phones, go pros, a hot dog, it's better on a pole, or so they say. |
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| The Red Bull girls spreading the energy. |
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| Hello Chile... |
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| This zig zag stair set at the top of the course was a crux for sure. Bernardo Cruz trying to get the flow through this section which proved to be pretty difficult. |
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| Mick Hannah. |
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| In a split second this tight corner can turn bad. Luckily he did a perfect roll and was right back on his bike ready for more. |
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| Polc getting off the bus and hitting the city. |
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| Tomas Slavik. |
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| Bernardo Cruz. |
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| Sik Mik launching over someone's house... Just another day in Valparaiso. |
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| Slavik executing the house drop hip with grace first try. |
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| Flip Polc and Bernardo Cruz train the house drop in practice. |
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| Nicolas Quere, team Commencal. |
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| Pedro Ferreira going big with grace on his way to finish as the top Chilean in 5th place. CHILE RULES!!! |
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| You may need to do a double take when you see Tomas Slavik flying by your bedroom window at Valpo. |
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| Remy floating the three set of stairs. |
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| Getting the crowd rowdy is not hard. |
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| And the hecklers be a heckl'n'. |
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| Tomas Slavik on the dirt to wood gap back into the streets. |
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| Remy Metailler always with style and always pinned. |
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| Throwing a little extra style in there is always good. |
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| Polc sending his was to victory in the waning light of the day. |
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| The crowds at Valpo are massive and make the race super high energy. Without the crowds, Urban DH wouldn't be the same. |
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| The announcer declared Polc the winner and mid celebration realized that the stats weren't 100 percent. This is the look of relief on Polc's face when he was declared the winner for real. |
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| Bamn, Polc with another first at Valpo! |
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| The 2015 Valparaiso Cerro Abajo top three podium! Flip Polc on top once again, Tomas Slavik in Second and Johannes Fischbach in third. |
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| Winning champagne for the fans. |
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| And that's a wrap, another incredible VCA in the bag. See you next year! |
MENTIONS: @polcster, @remymetailler, @urteam, @COMMENCALbicycles
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Dude's friend: What?
Dude: I swear I just saw a ghost flying on a bike outside that window?
Dude's friend: Pass that over here dude its my turn!
I hope that next year , a Chilean is on the podium
Ferreira was close, so was Acuña until he fell in the finals...
The more exposure the chileans get the stronger the endorsments get.
Probably none of the Chileans get paid to ride.
BS to me!
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@Bikerguy13 I dont sure the lighting!!
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Photo of the year 2015.