HARD CORE MTB RIDERS

I have quite few groups of riders who come for a ride once or twice a year. I really enjoy meeting them again and seeing how much better riders they all seem to be getting. Its also interesting to see some customers meeting and joining into different groups over the years. Once such group sent me this link to a video they made when they last visited us, over the years I have watched them all become realhard core MTB riders, not just Downhill, or XC, they just enjoy riding anywhere, anytime and anyway. Check out their video

Summer- Fall - Summer

 The weather has been very strange this year, it has been very hot in the Mountains and quite dry. When it rains it pours, not very good for the trails or the riding. When  one months worth of rain falls if 2 hours it turns the trails into rivers,  a good time to avoid riding off road. We got caught out last week and were lucky enough to be able to get off the trail and wait for the rain to stop but for 10 minutes it was quite a downpour. It cooled down a bit but once again I am sweating at 1300 meters today as summer wants to hang around a little longer. Soon my favorite riding season should be here but for now

 It cooled down a bit but once again I am sweating at 1300 meters today as summer wants to hang around a little longer. Soon my favorite riding season should be here but for now the mountain is still green.

Summertime Rides !

  It has been a very hot summer this year,
 August has been  the hottest that I can remember here
 in Nagano, we are very lucky to have it cool down at night
 or I wouldn't be able to sleep.  Before I got into the MTB rides I spent a week riding the Noto Peninsula with a family from the USA , it was the second time  that they came riding here in Japan and it was super fun to show them the Japan Sea side of this country.

 This season I have been kept busy with all sorts of riders and rides.  Each day seemed to be super fun, some were with Families enjoying MTB riding with their kids,  groups of Hard Core Riders wanting to get their fix of Adrenaline and also riders who just wanted to ride all day in the forest.

 

  A few people have asked me a funny question recently "Paul-san, What type of rider are you"? Answer-" I am a bike rider" ! It is all good enjoy the ride!
 

 

Time to get some Altitude

 The temperatures are rising above 30 degrees even up here on the bottom of Yatsugatake. Last weekend we rode up to 1800 meters and the cool breeze was fantastic. As  we descended back down to the valley not only was the riding heating up  it felt like the furnace was also cranking. I drank about 2 liters of water during the 4 hours of riding and it still wasn't enough, take care out there this summer

Rainy Season at Panorama

    I usually don't ride Panorama in the rain, living near bye lets me pick the good dry days and stay clean. Yesterday I had a 16 year old from Australia here and we only had the one day to ride. I pulled out the rain gear, put the bikes in the car and got a quick start before I started to hesitate about riding in the rain.
 As we were riding up the Gondola, Henry could not hide his excitement. He keep telling me about the 1 minute DH tack that him and his friends practice on. He was shocked to find that he had a 7 , 5 or 4 kilometer course to play on. First we rode C-course and I warned him about it getting a bit slippy further down but it took him one crash to learn himself . After is minor crash he was ready for the day, we rode all day in some ugly weather , I realized that I was going a bit slower than normal but actually felt like I was riding really well , you have to concentrate 100% when the conditions are not perfect and it really is good for your focus. I hope next time the course is dry I can keep the focus and get some good flow happening ! I won't wait another year for my next rainy day session!