BC RACE stage 3 , Sunshine Coast

The Sunshine coast is BC`s hidden jewel,even though it is very close to Vancouver the Expensive Ferry ride seems to keep people away. Any of you who have watched the DVD Follow Me will remember the segment with Brandon Seminuk and Stevie Smith, that is the Sunshine Coast! For the next 3 days we play here!
Day 3 started and finished in Powell River 50 kilometers of single track,very hard technical riding , most racers finished saying"the downhill was harder than the 1000 meters of climbing". To go fast on the DH you had to work hard to keep your momentum going. Today was the first time I started to really enjoy the Shimano 2x10 system, instead of using the rear derailieur I was just going from big to small ring on the front, it was perfect! Tonight we camp at a park right on the ocean, beautiful setting for a cold beer!

Happy New Year! 2010 Last Ride

What an end to a great season, Fresh Powder for our last ride! This season is the first time we didn`t cancel any rides in November or December. On Dec.29th,a record for riding so late in the season! I had a group of 4 beginners come riding, I had been worrying about the weather for this ride ever since Noguchi-san made thier reservation back in early October, we ended up riding in 5 cm of fresh powder snow and it was a super fun day in the sunshine. What a great sport mountainbiking is!
Next year makes it 30 years of riding a Mountainbike for me, it keeps getting better for me. I still feel like a kid when I ride, I still improve my skills and am enjoying watching my 2 young boys riding thier MTB`s. I hope it as good for you as it is for me. Thanks to everybody that came riding with us year and we are looking forward to seeing you all again next year.
HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

The Flu, seasons end

I love riding during the month of November, the fallen leaves make for a red carpet ride through the forest, the weather is chilly but sunny most of the time here in Nagano. I must apollogize to the customers who I had to cancel suddenly on because of the infamous Swine Flu, Adults are least likely to catch the flu I was told, but I managed to pick it up from my son, Nesta. I am still riding up here now, the trails are frozen but have no snow, definitly a nice time to ride a full suspension bike. Nesta has stopped ridng now and has traded his bike for speed skates, I will ride until the snow is too deep!

Father and Son Ride

Genki and Nesta took thier fathers for a summers end ride last week. I am very lucky to have some customers who are starting to bring their kids to ride here at Freeride Adventures, my son and I really enjoy spending the day riding the trails with them . Takagi-san has come riding with his son Genki a couple times this year and it is really exciting seeing both the father and son riding better and better. Kids learning curve is so much quicker than us adults and it won`t be long until they are demanding bigger jumps and faster trails to ride, but for now it is great cruising some easy trails.

Summer Time at Last

I haven`t been able to get the camera out much recently,the rainy season really dragged on this year and it was really nice to finally have some sun for the Holidays. I had some Demo Bikes, www.covebike.jp , for an event a Panorama Ski Area last week and spent a bit of time checking out the new 4 cross and jump areas now open. I thought it looked like a lot of fun and today I took my 8 year old son , Nesta and his friend Ayano to give it a go. I have never tried this style of riding but after a few hours playing today I am hooked. It really helps your riding on the berms and jumps. If you ever have a chance to pump of a few runs definitly give it a try, it will only make you a better rider.

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.

This is Fun!!!

I was joined by Murata-san and his friends for a ride last saturday, Murata-san came for a couple of rides last year with me and this time brought some friends that he road rides with. It was great to introduce MTB`ing to these road riders,because of the good cycling fitness they have from the road they could climb on the big full suspension rental bikes without to much problem.The advantage of ridng these bikes doesnt become evident until you hit the trails, when the suspension sucks up all the bumps and the disc brakes help you control the speed and let you enjoy the challange of single track riding. I too love the feeling of my 7 kilogram road bike but it doesn't compare to a good single track ride. You must concentrate on the trail at all times, you don't have time to think about much else so you really can forget about the real world while you riding.