2012 Santos Urban Downhill Race Video

Feb 12, 2012 at 17:39
by Lucent Productions  

While most riders North of the equator have hung up their wheels for the season, some of the worlds best travel throughout the Southern Hemisphere in search of mountain biking's version of the 'endless summer'. Heavy hitters Greg Minnaar, Cedric Gracia, and urban champion Filip Polc arrived in Brazil's port city of Santos to take on some of South America's fastest in the 10th Anniversary of the Descida Das Escadas de Santos, which translates to "Descent of the Holy Stairs". **Apologies, I was misinformed on the translation. It just means "Descent of the Stairs of Santos"****

Descida das Escadas de Santos urban downhill race.

by lucent
Views: 83,868    Faves: 1,047    Comments: 58


Santos
  Welcome to Brazil


Chair lift for the weekend
  Not your typical shuttle rig.



Filip Polc
  Arriving for the rider welcome meeting, and checking out the course for the first time.


Wheel Building
  A common site throughout the weekend. Many stairs, many wheel builds.Thankfully for Filip, one set of Mavic wheels is all he needed all weekend long!


Common theme to make it through the tight section of the course.
  Every inch counts when there is no margin for error.


Lunch of champions.
  Rice, beans, and delicious salty meats. After a long day sweating on the hill, a typical Brazilian meal hits the spot.


CG Brigade old school and new school Marcelo and CG
  New school and old school. Young gun Marcelo Gutierrez and young-at-heart CG


photo
  If you were hungry or thirsty, have no fear. There were plenty of on-course bars inches from the action.


Brazilian culture. Hand drum band and the delicious acai ice cream stand.
  Despite being a super short trip, I highly enjoyed absorbing colorful Brazilian cultures and foods.


Greg Minnaar
  Minnaar was on the bubble spot for the finals on Sunday, but was not able to make up time and earn a podium spot this year.


Marcelo Gutierrez - one fast S.O.B.
  Marcelo Gutierrez was the top qualifier on Saturday, 1 second ahead of Filip Polc. Unfortunately, a flat in semi-finals on Sunday would put him out of podium contention.


Polcster examining GoPro footage the night before race day.
  Filip scrutinizes footage trying to determine if it's humanly possible to make up a few seconds on a 1 minute course.


Race day crowds
  I've seen some of the world's biggest World Cup races, but I'm still blown away by the crowds that come out for urban races in South America.


Filip Polc king of urban racing.
  After a crash in last year's semi-finals, Filip was pushing hard to redeem himself. Polc was on the limit on Sunday and it paid off. Literally and figuratively crowned king of the hill.


Signing autographs.
  Rockstar treatment.


The hill at night time.

Thanks again to Marcelo and Juliana for putting on a great race and our sponsors for the project who made the awesome trip possible. I made some awesome new friends and hope to make it back next year!
Check back next week as we recap the infamous Valapraiso Cerro Abajo in Chile.

http://www.lucentproductions.com

Author Info:
lucent avatar

Member since Jul 8, 2005
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125 Comments
  • 82 2
 if only moneyy could buy bigger balls........
  • 30 0
 I would expect no less of a quote from CG..
  • 14 0
 Except we all know he has no need to say such a thing.
  • 13 1
 if MINAAR says "these guys are crazy, they dont break!", then i cant imagine what the hell hes talking about! hehe)....man..i lived 18 years of my life in Brasil (i am brasilian) and ive never been to the race..consider i lived 20km away from the "track"...shame on me...and "descent of the holy stairs" is a wrong translation..its just "descent of stairs of santos"...santos is not "holy"..santos is the name of the city...
  • 25 0
 if he needs bigger balls, where does this leave the rest of us?!
  • 28 0
 wallowing in our local 5 ft jumps
  • 11 0
 I would like to see Danny Hart on that race Big Grin

Our country racer, Emanuel Pombo was in a good place, in Portugal is one of the best places to practice Urban Downhill, lots of stairs in Porto and in Lisbon. Big Grin
  • 4 0
 Lol, Santos, in this case, is a proper name, so it shouldn't be translated to holy hahahaa
  • 6 0
 sorry about the translation! Someone had told me that day that's what it meant, I guess I was misinformed!! I think it sounds cool!! hahahaha

Thank you Brazil for a great time! Smile
  • 3 0
 i have to admit it does sound cool)))
  • 1 0
 Yeah, it sounds better actually! But Santos is the name of the city, and I guess it would be better translated to Saint. Yet Holy Stairs sounds awesome!
  • 1 0
 haha Cedric is the quote-masta: www.pinkbike.com/news/intothedust-Andreu-Lacondeguy-film-by-blackmedia.html
  • 3 0
 www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZK_PtDu3tI&feature=share
  • 1 6
flag larryssman7 (Feb 13, 2012 at 18:28) (Below Threshold)
 dude i think its spelled "braZil" not brasil which looks like basil. and it would be descent of the saints stairs.
  • 3 1
 I think the rich kids already have enough of an advantage with those nice ass bikes, they don't need to be buying bigger balls too.
  • 6 0
 larryssman7 In portuguese it is Brasil. And the actual translation would be Descent of Santo's stairs or Descent of the stairs of Santos.
  • 1 0
 Great job, as the name of holy stair is perfect, so you could give more soul to the video. congratulations, keep it up, great to video.
  • 33 2
 I've never seen a video that truly shows the intensity of urban DH, looks so freakin' naarrrr!
  • 1 0
 Minaar is a hucker as well!! gnarrly
  • 24 0
 Haha CG kills me...

"I need to buy bigger balls..."

Hahaha
  • 6 0
 ha Ya dude that stuff is Crazy
  • 13 1
 These races seem to becoming more common Big Grin
  • 10 0
 that course facilitates a change of underwear
  • 9 0
 that's sick. Looks like so much fun
  • 5 1
 Man those guys are hauling down those stairs. Huge gaps. Very cool.
I was curious about tire choice. Seems like a big sticky tire with very small knobs or even slicks would work best (maybe a tire like that doesn't exist) then I noticed one bike was running Muddy Mary's?? I wonder if they trimmed the knobs down. It didn't look like it.
  • 2 0
 It was complicated for the tire choice... It couldnt be slicks for sure... In some parts of the track it was a bit sandy to make it worst
  • 1 0
 i think "4x/Dj" tires would be the best choice...
  • 7 0
 i think the idea of DH tires was to add some additional 'padding' between the stairs/concrete and the rims and the added protection of a stronger sidewall tire. A DJ/4X tire would not offer much protection at ALL to wheels and you'd be replacing rims every run.
  • 9 1
 Sure fun way to bring DH into the masses.
  • 5 0
 Whenever you come back to Brazil post it before coming, and we can arrange some nice riding, food and places!
Besides we have the hottest girls around here!
Salute
  • 5 0
 Cool video, but Im missing the word of some brazilian rider....to put local perspective into it....anyway great vids!!!
  • 2 0
 I would need a translator for all the interviews haha Smile
  • 1 0
 haha true! should´ve called Sylvio....some beers on the table and you go it, hehe

cheerss
  • 6 0
 Fly on POMBO! 4th place is amazing...
  • 2 0
 yeah Pombo! He was my roommate all week, super nice guy and VERY fast!
  • 7 0
 Nicely Done
  • 7 1
 "Young gun Marcelo Gutierrez and young-at-heart CG"
  • 2 0
 like him on Facebook
www.facebook.com/pages/Marcelo-Gutierrez/192919837418680
  • 6 0
 Portuguese Pride at 3:04!
  • 4 0
 Emanuel Pombo!!!
  • 2 0
 POmbo in 4th place, pride!
  • 4 0
 Did anyone else catch the guy in the beginning riding with two prosthetic legs? That blew me away, true dedication right there.
  • 1 0
 yeah that guy is mind blowing! I might try and get an interview with him when we go to Chile. He doesn't speak English so I'll need a translator.
  • 2 0
 For sure! You should definitely try to get a translator and interview him, I'm sure a lot of people (and myself) would be really interested to hear what he has to say about riding with prosthetic legs/ racing in general.
  • 1 0
 Adolfo Almarza , CHILEAN RIDER, big balls there!
  • 1 0
 Absolutely big balls! Thanks for his name, I'm definitely going to look him up right now.
  • 1 0
 Amazing!
  • 5 0
 4º - EMANUEL POMBO(PORTUGAL)!!!!!
  • 1 0
 ohw yeah and now the pro's do its it cool. we've been doing urban dh for 3 years now and everybody is all over uss that were are idiots and that we schould have trials bikes or street bikes. its just how much fun you could have on a bike right? thats the binding factor in mtb!

downhill michel
  • 4 0
 I wonder if it were rocks and trees instead of stairs and poles if I'd want to pin it like that? Uh, probably not Smile
  • 4 0
 Damn risky riding, one mistake and it would be lights out. You have to have to balls to do that shit lol.
  • 4 0
 who thinks this should be part of wc circit?
  • 3 0
 thank guys for all congratulations !!! and get ready for another movie from Valparaiso/Chile.... coming soon
  • 1 0
 super jazda - congrats and best of luck in the next one!
  • 3 0
 Stoked to see Catherine Short representin the Sunshine Coast at Valapraiso Cerro Abajo next week!
  • 2 0
 Is impressive but not too much harsh. I would say insane if you try to beat these guys. One millisecond counts. Are you ready to toss the dices (or your balls)?
  • 4 0
 Polcster rules Urban DH scene. Congrats! Gracia funny as always Smile
  • 2 0
 Was i the only one bricking it whilst watching this.... Kept expecting to see a big crash and someone being heli'd out of there!!
  • 1 0
 siiiiick race im portugese and brazilian and hope to go out and race the lisboa race and the race we just saw it would be a dream to go rep for both my countries at my countries. Still got love for the usa.
  • 1 0
 I think this guy doesn't need bigger balls, but I do when I watch him riding :-) does anybody know what sound that is in the background?
  • 1 0
 I would not mind riding hard downhill if my sponsors will fix it for free and replace all fracture parts bolts bearings etc... after use.
  • 3 0
 welcome to Brazil big balls!AWESOME! congratulation PB
  • 3 0
 Sick Justin! Looks Awesome.
  • 1 0
 TAK JEST ! TO JE TO ! siódmy raz oglądam i nadal się jaram. ..ale baty po sprzęcie idą..
"usually there's not much pedaling on this.." hah
  • 1 0
 When Minnaar says "These guys don't use breaks", you know they're flying! A good crash on that course and you might kiss your mtb career goodbye!
  • 1 0
 course it wa ssponsored my mavic, imagine all the rims that were used up, no one would ever do that to throw out your rims... haha
  • 1 0
 Perfect video. You know you've got a great event when CG says he needs to buy some bigger balls! That Oakley Sender tattoo was sick too!
  • 1 0
 Clay or Anthill or... should do an in-depth movie dealing with these urban venues. Very cool, and the crowd attendance is insane. Thanks for sharing these!
  • 1 0
 did you saw the guy with leg prosthesis, probably he`s twice faster than me.. The limit is no limit, hands down for this guy !
  • 1 0
 @lucent guys...I'm a DJ and this tune have a amazing beat, what is the name...?
  • 4 1
 Looks fun for sure!
  • 3 0
 Girls that ride (Y) Big Grin
  • 1 0
 (y)
  • 3 1
 I love urban downhills! What a beautiful city!
www.bikefat.com
  • 3 0
 Congrats Filip!
  • 2 0
 Filip is the BEST . GRATULUJEM FILIP
  • 1 0
 You know these guys are balls to the wall, when you have guys like Greg Minnaar and CG, saying they are crazy.!
  • 1 0
 U guys make a huge thread about the Brazilian Race and didn`t made a single interview with any brazilian rider?
  • 3 0
 sorry, I'm not fluent in Portuguese. I'll make sure to learn it for next year Wink
  • 2 0
 Luana O. kicked some asses!!!! good job Lucent!!!
  • 1 0
 Has anyone noticed on 1:21 the guy riding? At his "legs".....respect right there
  • 1 0
 my bad, just saw a post about it
  • 1 0
 The Adam Sandler of MTB...
  • 1 0
 why didn't they included those staircases at the shuttle?
  • 1 0
 Chilean pride@ 3:46 ... Antonio Leiva!!!
  • 1 0
 I like how Minaar whispered that he was being slow
  • 1 0
 Congratilations for the portuguese Emanuel Pombo!Big Grin
  • 1 0
 Some images fron DHU 2012
vimeo.com/m/36609686
  • 1 0
 Some images from DHU 2012
vimeo.com/m/36609686
  • 1 0
 Thats crazy some of those guys go faster on conrete then on dirt.
  • 1 0
 has been "VAC" in Chile, another urban career really crazy as Santos.
  • 1 0
 I'm so proud to see this in PB. Smile
  • 1 0
 sick video! sick event! Brazil rocks!
  • 1 0
 i'm super pumped, but shit scared. good combination?
  • 1 0
 Hope Filip will get a good sponsor for upcoming wc season. Big loss for MS
  • 2 0
 agreed!! Filip is a great rider, SUPER nice guy and would be a great addition to any team.
  • 1 0
 Balls?
1:26@Adolfo Almarza
CHILEAN PRIDE!!
  • 1 0
 Looks like a Holzfeller stem still attached to Minaar's Fox 40, no?
  • 1 0
 Looks fun but I'll stick with dirt
  • 1 0
 massa demais camisa DCDC...
  • 1 0
 Its truly the test for all bikes and components manufacturers...
  • 1 0
 How can they focus on racing with all those brazilian mamis around?
  • 1 0
 Minnar in neck brace shocker. :o
  • 2 0
 Good job POLC!!!!
  • 1 0
 Thanx for another quality vid. Sick job Lucent
  • 1 0
 Sweet video. Would be nice to be in South America right now.
  • 1 0
 G.Minnaar's neck Brace??
  • 4 0
 Not his. They had a mandatory rule that all riders were required to wear a neck brace. I think he just borrowed that one for the weekend.
  • 2 0
 on a course like that i can definetly agree with that rule, i just hope they dont make us start wearing them at whistler races or bc cups
  • 1 0
 sick!!
  • 1 0
 Awesome!!!
  • 1 0
 SEX C!!!
  • 1 0
 that is one steep tram
  • 1 1
 Filip Polc = Incredibly boring person, amazing rider!
  • 2 0
 Yeah cos boring peolple allways do 30 MPH down stairs and race WC downhill?
  • 3 3
 Sinse when has minnaar been running fox?
  • 7 0
 Since a couple of weeks ago when the syndicate moved to Fox/Shimano!
  • 1 0
 gotta rough on the bikes
  • 1 2
 youd think that a professional mechanic working for Shimano wouldnt be using a cheap universal spoke wrench
  • 1 0
 was simply amazing!
  • 1 0
 Maneiro!
  • 1 0
 shit thats fast
  • 1 0
 Muito bom!
  • 1 0
 Parabens pombo : )
  • 1 0
 my god rides a bike /,,/







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