fall colors by bike

Now we are well into the fall colors here in Nagano, mornings are actually cold and at night I am burning wood to stay warm. Cold nights and sunny days make for ideal fall colors and riding conditions. I did a couple nice one day rides last week, one ride was around Yatsugatake about 120 kilometers long and the other a nice flat ride in the Azumino Valley of about 60 kilometers. The Yatsugatake ride has lots of climbing and decending, not a ride I would reccomend for beginners but the Azumino Valley is perfect for a nice easy flat days riding, we stopped and checked out a Wasabi Farm, ate freshly picked apples and enjoyed the sunshine.

Panorama "motai nai"

I had 3 Austrailians up here for a week a the start on July. 3 very solid riders who were happy to spend their time riding the Gondola at Panorama and ripping up the trails. I was suprised to hear that in the land down under they were riding 2-3 minute tracks,when you think about how many Aussies are at the top of the MTB downhill game it is hard to understand why there are no fast Japanesee riders, Mio-san excepted. They also wondered why Panorama doesn't make some trails like Whistler has done, this would help with the erosion problems ,slow the riders down and make it more enjoyable. They wonder why the thinking in Japan is "small world not the big picture". My favorite quote " This place could be Aisa's MTB capital,don't they know we are out here?" I had no answers for them ,, who does? Check out this video of the 3 Aussies enjoying a bit of Japanese single track.

The Natural

On Sunday I had a group from Kanagawa-ken come for a ride, this group shows up once or twice a year, the numbers vary but they are always ready for anything. This year just before we got to the top of the mountain, I was told that this was one guys first ride. I was quite concerned as the trail we were about to ride is not ideal for beginers, dropping in is a good way to descibe the first 10 meters of this descent. I was pleased to see him use good judgement and walk this section, I gave him a very quick , 1 minute, how to brake lesson and we were off. He made it down the first trail, a bit jerky but no injuries. One of his friends decided to let him try his full suspension bike and then it was game on, he found his groove and was riding right in the middle of the pack. Even during our afternoon ride when he was back on his "Bridgestone Slugger" he was right there ripping it up. I hope he keeps riding, he is a Natural

Age doesn`t matter

Saigo-san and his friends came for a ride during the week, it was my first time riding with this group and we had a really good time. The ages in this group varied from 30 something year olds to 60 something , they were a perfect example of what makes cycling so wonderful. We did one of my more aggresive rides with a good 8 kilometer climb and fun downhills, I won`t say who was fastest or slowest but I will say the youngest and oldest were right in the middle. Great day , Paul

BC RACE stage 5

Stage 5
If you ever have the chance to get over to the sunshine coast , make sure you ride the trails around the towns of Sechelt and Gibson known as the Rat Race Trail System. The locals have built some of the most fun flowing trails that I have ever had the pleasure to ride. Not super technical but just tricky enough to keep you on your toes. Great banked trails through the rainforest help you keep your speed on these fast smooth trails. We were feeling good about our riding over the last couple days and were looking forward to this day. The cycling gods were not on my side though as today was my turn to have the mechanical problem , with about 15 kilometers left to go on this 65 kilometer ride my chain snapped. Not only did it break but a whole section of chain came off. By the time we got that fixed we had lost at least 20 minutes and once again finished the day feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Stage Winners-

Team Old School ( Canadain 2008 olympian Seamus Mcgrath, Chris Sheppard) 3:36

Brownfishjumpers 4:47

Freeride Adventures Video

This video was made by one of our customers last weekend. Everytime Paul looked at Suzuki-san he seemed to have his camera in his hand. He filmed all this one handed while chasing us down the trails riding his mountainbike. The only thing he couldn`t do one handed was eat the hamburger! You can link up to either of these links to check it out.