Drunken Chicken

PICS AT BOTTOM OF POST! Note: they weren't taken by me.
See the first part of that stair gap in one of the pics? What about the cement block to the right? Well, I dropped off the cement block onto the stair, great fun.

Hey all, I've been lurking on the spanish MTBing forums for a while now and in the end we organised a group ride (Freeride and Downhill); two rides actually, one on Sunday and one today, Tuesday (it's a holiday here).

Sunday, 13 people came altogether, we went down a few new trails which are really long and awesome. There's a little clearing with a massive stepdown on it made from wood, no one dared to hit it. We continued along and came upon a fireroad. Then we rode down it and took a right, a small trail which led into a clearing, a clearing full of jumps, stepdowns and drops! I did a few smaller sized drops but didn't dare hit the actual gaps. We stayed there for a while, then we cycled to the train station (we were pretty far away from Barcelona, out in the suburbs) On the way to the station there is this cinema, and there's a nice stairgap there. Some people hit it, then we moved on and went to the station. We got back to Barcelona and went up with the funicular, then came down some trails I know and the last trail on Sunday was simply amazing: a 3 minute trail with about 2 minutes of AWESOME berms, I mean they were simply so amazingly fun to ride I couldn't believe it.

Needless to say, I decided to come today too.

Tuesday, 31 people came altogether ( ), and we did the same route as on Sunday, except we stayed by the cinema much longer . We stopped by the little DJ park and some crazy people hit some of the gaps (namely a guy on a Demo 8 with Shivers, he did the 10 foot gap and even threw in a whip).

All in all, two awesome rides, maybe not funnest, since the funnest were in the bikepark in Andorra but definately and extremely close 2# on my top 3 rides list.

Just felt like sharing that, pictures soon to come when the people who had cameras upload them.


-DC

PS: We had some crazy ass wind today, I went out of my front door, sat on my bike and got blown right off. One of the trees in my street had been uprooted and the long and gruelling climb to the meeting point was really nasty, with the wind right in my face, I ended up pushing the bike up.

PPS: Most people went on freeride fullys (Stinky, Faith, Demo, Atomic, etc) but I was going at nearly the same speed throughout the whole trail which made me feel good, considering there was a buttload of rocks, roots, drops and whatnot.

pinkrobe

Sounds like you had a really good time. I LOVE berms. They are so much fun!

Drunken Chicken

Yeah, I really did. As for berms, once I got the hang of them and I did not brake they were awesome. There was a gap that I'm thinking of hitting up this weekend... not too sure yet though, it's pretty damn big and I don't want to break anything days before Christmas exams. xD

mtnbiker66

Sounds sweeeeeeeeeet!!!!!!!! Why no invite for Gastro and me?

madbiker555

Sounds like a lot of fun! The 10 foot gap sounds like even more fun, now I want to move to spain.

rasheed

can't be bothered to find the picture, but everyone knows threads like this are useless without pictures...

j/k. sounds like good times.

Drunken Chicken

Well, I suppose I should have, but I figured you wouldn't have been able to come all the way to Spain anyway.

Pics posted. ^ Pictures don't do justice to the jumps nor the ambient. Jumps seem puny in the pic...

Drunken Chicken

Oh god, ! One of the guys injured his knee pretty bad on the ride during gapping some stairs and a guy who owns a bikeshop which opens this Friday told him the shop gives him a gift of some Dainese leg & elbow armor.

FLBandit

Man, makes me wish I wasn't old and fragile! Pretty much XC only for me these days.

WannaGetGood

This cheeses me off. There is no good spots around here.

Drunken Chicken

That's what I thought until I joined the local bike forums and got together for a group ride; trust me, people who've lived there will always know some spots to ride in.

jeff williams

+1.

myenzo

That deffinatly looks like a lot of fun. I can't wait until I get my freeride bike, I really want to learn how to do drops and jumps and stuff. Though if anyone has some tips about how to do stuff similar to that on an rec. hardtail bike, I would like to know.

Drunken Chicken

You'll want to absorb a lot of the impact with your legs so keep them ready to bend, same goes for your arms, since most hardtails use less travel than FR/DH full suspension bikes. Apart from that, decent protection helps confidence.

myenzo

Thanks for the tips. I have one other thing I would like to know. How exactly do you launch off of a jump, or prepare for a drop? (I've been having a lot of trouble with that)

madbiker555

Launching off a jump: pull up at the lip of the jump and land with your back tire if it's basically to flat, and land on both wheels if its to tranny (a downward slope).

Preparing for a drop is basically the same as launching off a jump, pull up and land back tire first to flat, or on both wheels if it's to tranny.

Drunken Chicken

That's right, when I roll up towards a drop, right before my front wheel goes off it I pull up (so as not to nosedive).