Indonesia part 2

 After our second day of riding in Bali  we flew to the City of Yojakarta, here we rode on Mt. Merapi an active Volcano that last blew 2 years ago. It was a hard climb getting up onto the Lava flows but it was spectacular to be there. There are some jeep roads that have been built in the last 2 years and we visited a place where they rent motorcycles and have built a small track to play on. They track was not made for MTB riding but I gave it a go and had the locals screaming. It got me thinking though that this area would be an easy place to build a great MTB trail down through the Lava fields, the dirt is a bit loose but easy to work with and already there are lots of natural features to play with. A nice massage at the hotel had me ready for the next day when we visited the World Heritage Sites of Prambanan and Ratu Boku, a mixture of an old 8th century palace and temples. Nice backroad touring around this area

  Last stop of our trip was a mountain city called Bandung, the 3rd largest city in Indonesia, it is well know for the cool weather since it's located up in the mountains. We were met early in the morning and we rode right through the city with all its scooters, dirty trucks and cars, this turned out to be the most exciting part of the ride as once we got out of the city and started climbing the ride turned into a steep climb then a rest stop at the top and then we U-turned straight back down the road we had climbed up and back into the City. The rest stop at the top was something I had never seen before, bike racks were built everywhere and a couple of small cafes selling snacks to tired bike riders. We were told that on weekends this was the main destination for all the local and many Jakarta City based riders.  Big billboards advertising upcoming events and ridng info and even on this  weekday many riders kept coming by. I really would like to go back to this area and ride on of the big events that seem to happen quite often, I was told some of them attract 2000 riders with riders of all capabilities participating.

  Overall I had a super fun and interesting time, the local culture is so much different than here in Japan and even further from where I grew up in Canada. Traffic was ridiculous but with its freeform stlye it somehow works. When I think about all the places that I saw with POTENTIAL for MTB riding and the amount of riders I saw I can't wait to go back again and see what progress the Indonesian riders have made.
 Thanks to all those who organized this trip for us, we were met and picked up at each airport, driven to our hotels and riding spots and without them we would still be waiting at the airport wondering what to do !



 Paul

Indonesia - MTB touring

 Last week I went to Indonesia to do a little MTB riding. Garuda Airways asked myself and Akira-san to travel down there and check out a few different places they are considering for using for a MTB tour. Over 6 days we visited 3 different locations, the first was the Island of Bali.

  Bali is well know for its beaches and culture. We were met at the Airport and driven to our hotel in Kuta, watching all the scooters and cars work their way through the city was super entertainment , I was happy to be a passenger.  There are  a few  adventure tour companies offering some whitewater rafting and MTB tours. After a  nice breakfast with an excellent view of Lake Batur we were driven to our ride starting point The ride  we did was quite easy, mainly downhill on dirt roads with a bit of single track through the rice fields. We saw villages and some beautiful countryside that you would not find without a bike and guide Personally I would like to spend much more time exploring the area around Mt. Batur where I saw lots of good looking roads and trails that I think would make for a more challenging ride. Day 2 saw us meet in the morning for our Balinese Village Tour. First we rode through an Elephant camp then through some typical rural villages. It was nice to stop and check out a local family's living compound as it was much different than anything I had experienced before. When we rode past some kids playing in the local swimming hole I wanted to jump in with them, the water looked perfect. The rides we did here in Bali were set up more  tourists than cyclists , nice easy rides but for a cyclist with some fitness I think we need to work on making the rides longer and more challenging.

 

 

MIdori Yama Family Relay

   Over the years we have met many wonderful people through Freeride Adventures, it is usually quite easy to make friends because we all have one thing in common, BICYCLES. The last few years quite a few families have been coming to ride with us and we thought it might be nice to do something differrent and try and introduce our new customer/friends to each other.

  We decided to gather at Midoriyama in Yokohama for a relay race. There was no presure to win the races our only goal was to enjoy the day. I was very happy when I warmed up on the course because it had a few challenging sections and each lap should easily be under 10 minutes for  each of us.  At the end we had 2 teams on the podium and smiles all around, a very successful day and we are looking forward to next years event. Thanks to those who came and played.
  Paul

Winding it down with a Race

 This year Summer blended into Fall really nicely, not to much unstable weather just a gradual drop in temperature and a few weeks of beautiful colors. Now I see snow slowly coming down the mountain and soon the bikes will have to be put away for the Winter.

  I usually do at least one race a year just to feel some real pain, but this year I have not done so yet. So this year we have decided to enter the race at Midori Yama on Dec. 2 in Yokohama. http://www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/~mtb/
 We are going to enter a kids  team and an adults team in the enduro race.  Anyone who would like to join us is welcome, please contact us if you are interested.

Sad Times but Great Times!

  This time of year always makes me a bit sad, snow on top of the mountain means soon the MTB season will be finished. It is one of my most favorite times to ride but knowing that I have to put the bikes away soon is a bit depressing. Last weekend was one of the best fall weekends I can remember here in Nagano. A bit cold in the evenings to help the leaves change their colors and nice warm blue sky days for the rides. Still a few more weeks to get that last ride in, don't hesitate, do it!  

 

Hot Japan Summer

  I usually spend the summer holidays riding around the trails here on Yatsugatake Mountain, the altitude we ride at is between 900  and 1400 meters and is according to my customers  much cooler than the city. This year I spent 2 weeks with my family and another family from South Africa traveling around Japan. We spent a few days riding, rafting and dancing in the mountains before heading to Hiroshima, Kyoto and Tokyo. It was the first time I have spent any time in the big cities of Japan in August and I now know why so much beer is consumed during the summer months here. It was so hot that every time I saw a Beer Garden I wanted to stop!!  I really enjoyed doing something different this summer, but was very happy to get back to the muntains and start riding again

HONG KONG HAS MTB RIDERS

  Last week I  had 6 customers travel to Japan from Hong Kong for 4 days of riding. When I think of Hong Kong the last thing I think about is Mountain Biking but was very happy and surprised to find out how good these guys were. They all had nice all mountain full suspension bikes and could easily ride Panorama at a good pace.  We spent 3 days doing some hard core shuttle/ lift  riding and one day riding  an easy xc course.  They told me they will be back but not next year because they want to ride the BC Bike Race first. I told them they are ready for it but now they have me wanting to do it again!  Thanks to Jeff and the boys for a great time.

Starting Young

 It seems like yesterday that my youngest child, Dayna , started riding a bike. He is now 7 and has been chasing his older brother for 3 years now. He really seems to enjoy watching the latest Freeride movies, he tells me Thomas Vanderham is pretty good,  and it is fun watching him trying to copy him.  He doesn't jump or shred the berms just yet but his riding style and position on the bike is perfect, he stands on top of the bike and uses his knees to absorb the bumps and jumps. This year he is riding Panorama's c-course and loving it! When I look back at what I was riding at 7 and see what the young kids are doing today it is not suprising to see how good all the young riders are these days, I can't go back to my youth but I thank my boys all the time for making me try!

MTB Ryder comes good

 Last Sunday night I sat on the edge of my seat watching Canada's Ryder Hesjedal ride the biggest Time Trial of his career to win the Giro D' Italia. Canada has had a few good professional racers, Steve Bauer came close to some big results but nothing like winning the Giro.   With Cadel Evans winning the Tour de France last year and now this, it really brings a lot of respect to the Mountain Bike world. I actually raced against both Cadel and Ryder when they were both starting out in the late 90's and even then it was obvious that they were special.  Just being special is not enough to win a big race though, it took both of them many years of hard work and sacrifice to get where they are now. I congradulate both of them and I hope to see them both battle for the Tour de France !

A good day !

Last weekend we had a group of riders come for a day of riding. The group was an easy going bunch of friends and we had a nice day riding. Kubota-san wrote a nice blog about the day and here are the links to it. He wrote it in 3 sections, 1st the morning ride; http://asaren-kbz.blogspot.jp/2012/05/blog-post_13.html , then lunch at our house;http://asaren-kbz.blogspot.jp/2012/05/blog-post_8262.html and finally our afternoon ride;http://asaren-kbz.blogspot.jp/2012/05/blog-post_8262.html It is written in Japanese but pictures do tell the story ! Thanks for the great ride ,, Paul

Golden Week MTB- ROAD

It warmed up here in Nagano just in time for the Golden Week holiday. The cherry blossoms were still blooming at the begining and the rain held off. Every year the weeks holiday here in Japan helps get me in shape for the coming season, I usually end up riding for 6 or 7 days in a row. Most of the days include a lot of climbing on the MTB. This year though I enjoyed having a couple of Road tours during the week as well. The Nagoya Giant Store came for a day of riding and I had a private group on another day. All my customers were very happy to ride quiet backroads even though it was one of the busiest times of year around here.

Olympic Downhill Please !

Its early March now,spring is showing itself now and my body tells me its time to ride! The trails are still wet and muddy but it won't be long until I can start riding on the lower elevation trails. For now I will stick to my road bike. Mountainbiking is what got me into cycling and will always be my first choice but as I got stronger and rode more I came to enjoy road riding and racing as well. When it comes to watching races on TV I find that watch the pro road races more than anything, its awesome to watch the best racers riding over such hard courses. I was a pretty good xc rider but when I watch a xc race I find it hard as really there is not much action, it is a participation sport not a viewing sport. This summer the biggest sporting event is the London Olympics and the world will be watching. I hope the xc race is a bit more exciting to watch than the race 4 years ago in Bejing but it is hard to show how demanding it really is. I wonder why the Downhill is not yet included? The winter olympics have the Ski Downhill event and it is one of the most viewed events of the games, anyone who watched Danny Hill's winning run in last years world championship would agree that the world is ready for this!

Long Cold Winter

This year it has been one of the coldest winters I can remember since I moved to Chino, it has been at least -10 at night for the last couple of months now. I went for a ride last week and crashed on the black ice, lucky I slid into a big snowbank. For now I will go back to winter activities, skating and snowboarding. When the conditions are right snow riding can be super fun but when the snow gets to deep I would rather be on a snowboard. Here is a link to a video of Mitch and Katherine riding on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. They really know how to ride and have fun doing it. Mitch is one of the best wheel builders I know and last year I finished day 5 of the BC Race with Katherine. She was a guest rider for the day and I had no idea who was riding in front of me with a Cove Jersey. When I caught her she told me I was "pretty good rider", I was actually having a great day and was in the top 30 , the level of riding in Canada is incredibly high. When I watch the video I myself feel quite good about my riding because she is "pretty good".

Ultramontane & Company - Mitch & Kath on pinkbike.com

Happy New Year !!!

Happy New Year from all of us here in Nagano. Lets hope 2012 is a better one than last year for Japan. A good friend of mine, J. Smoke at bushpilotbiking posted this video on Pinkbike recently, 40 seconds into it I am featured showing you how to break ribs in one easy motion.(I did ride this section clean later that day!) Everyone crashes sometimes, the best riders crash harder!

Hits and Misses :: 2001-2011 on pinkbike.com