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 !!

summer came and went

This year is the first year in the near 20 I have been living in Japan that I can remember such a hot and dry summer. It lasted even here in Nagano until just recently and now the colors are beautiful here at 1300 meters. A few pictures from the summer.

North Shore

I just returned from a 10 day trip to Vancouver. I managed to get in a few rides with some friends who really know the North Shore trails. I am always surprised at how many trails there actually are so close to the city. I had one day at the bike park in Whistler and was shocked to see so many people riding at a very high level. It took me almost the whole day to find my rhythm, but once I found it and gained trust in the trail builders I was in heaven! If you really want to increase your riding ability then a few days at Whistlers Bike Park is definitly the best way to do it, they have practice areas for jumping , riding tecknical stunts and just riding the berms. I tried to get some shots of some local riders but they seem to be going a bit quicker than what I am used to and my shots were not to good, sorry.

My Bikes - Hooker

I bought my first MTB from the Cove Bike Shop in North Vancouver, B.C. back in 1982, it was a Specialized Stumpjumper and it changed my life. I haven't stopped riding since that first ride on the now famous North Shore. Bikes have come along way since then and I am fortunate to be the distributor for COVE BIKES here in Japan. Being the distributor means I must have some demo bikes available so I get to ride all sorts of different models. Cove Bikes specializes in high performance, Canadian made Mountain bikes. Over the next few months I will introduce some of my favourite rides,starting with the HOOKER, a bike designed as a short travel, big air, play bike. It is a one size only, 4 inch rear travel bike that our pro riders use in events like the Crankworxs Slopestyle event held in Whistler every summer. I can't jump very well myself but when I ride this bike it definitly feels like it wants to play! Very quick through the turns and super fun on the small jumps.
This is Cove rider Erik Lawrenuk playing with his Hooker:

Spring!! Winter??

This past weekend David and his son Brian came to Freeride Adventures for 2 days at the end of thier trip to Japan. The plan was to do 2 days of MTB riding but 20 cms of fresh snow on Saturday morning forced us out onto the road. At least the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and Matsumoto Castle looked fantastic with the blue sky and white mountains for a backdrop. This year the weather has really been crazy with summer like temperatures one day and then snow the next, I myself am ready for some warm weather. The snow was pretty well all gone by Sunday and we ventured out onto the trails. A bit of snow in the shaded areas kept us on our toes, and I learned a few things about the handling of my new ride. My son Nesta joined us for the afternoon and we all enjoyed an afternoon in the sun. Special thanks to Brian and Dave for being so flexible when mother nature was not cooperating.
Paul