Comments on: Valparaiso Cerro Abajo

Valparaiso Cerro Abajo

Combustible Edison Lighthouse — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:32:18 -0800

The Valparaiso Cerro Abajo is an increasingly popular urban downhill bike race. This is what it's like to ride it. [via]

By: FAMOUS MONSTER

FAMOUS MONSTER — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:34:53 -0800

This is an excellent video. More or less every muscle in my body was clenched while watching it. Terrifying and exhilarating.

By: tomswift

tomswift — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:42:36 -0800

I think I counted about 10 "Oh Shit!" moments.... Hope the dog is OK....

By: unliteral

unliteral — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:44:41 -0800

Did he have a pin-stripe suit on? He nearly came a cropper with that dog.

By: Krazor

Krazor — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:44:49 -0800

I think I counted about 10 "Oh Shit!" moments.... In the space of about five seconds. That might be the most terrifying thing I've ever watched.

By: MrBobaFett

MrBobaFett — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:46:33 -0800

That was pretty sweet, tho I spent most of the video craning my neck back trying to get the camera to pan up more so I could see what was coming.

By: jsavimbi

jsavimbi — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:49:52 -0800

That was awesome.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:52:44 -0800

That really ought to be a game for Kinect.

By: unliteral

unliteral — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:53:11 -0800

Same race, different dog.

By: Corduroy

Corduroy — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:54:31 -0800

Woah. So glad they didn't try to pump it up and add intense music; the actual sound of the recording is way more effective.

By: echo target

echo target — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:56:14 -0800

Holy balls that's great. Love the jump through the second-story window.

By: mannequito

mannequito — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:04:04 -0800

Woah. So glad they didn't try to pump it up and add intense music; the actual sound of the recording is way more effective. yep, and actually it lends itself more to blending with the viewer's music. I had some random psychadelic dubstep playing on my computer already and it worked excellently.

By: T.D. Strange

T.D. Strange — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:04:05 -0800

At first I was like "Oh shit!" Then the dog came out of no where and I was like "OH SHIT!!"

By: unliteral

unliteral — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:08:00 -0800

"And the memory I have of 2009. I did the jump and a dog was sleeping between the stairs."

By: LarryC

LarryC — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:30:35 -0800

Video of a bicycle race? bIG DEAL, How cool could it--HOLY SHIT THAT IS INSANE!

By: ChuraChura

ChuraChura — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:34:15 -0800

Between this and the skier falling off a cliff, it's been a harrowing day of first person videos and flying down things very fast. I am going to remain firmly planted on ground, thanks!!

By: Slap*Happy

Slap*Happy — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:35:20 -0800

I watched this while listening to Jay Z's Roc Boys. Now I am convinced black superheroes ride mountainbikes in the Chilean favelas.

By: zardoz

zardoz — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:35:34 -0800

I saw this on reddit yesterday and should've posted it here then. Very, very cool, and a nice endorsement of the GoPro camera. A miniscule HD camera you can attach to anything.

By: Barry B. Palindromer

Barry B. Palindromer — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:38:18 -0800

Awesome. I wonder what makes people do things like this? Maybe being young makes people do things like this. I mean, a couple of those jumps were pretty scary.

By: spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints

spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:43:19 -0800

STOKED

By: His thoughts were red thoughts

His thoughts were red thoughts — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:43:33 -0800

Well, that was hair-raising. Who needs coffee? A few more of these and I can power through the day juiced on adreneline alone.

By: The Winsome Parker Lewis

The Winsome Parker Lewis — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:44:56 -0800

ChuraChura, that video made me short of breath in a way no YouTube video has since that guy climbed the big radio tower with no safety line.

By: KirkpatrickMac

KirkpatrickMac — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:48:12 -0800

Sorta makes me want to trade in my road bike. But only sorta.

By: Slap*Happy

Slap*Happy — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:53:20 -0800

Trade it in for a commuter bike. My morning 3 miles to the downtown Providence T-station makes this race look sick and weak. Difficulty - Flooding at the Girlscout Headquarters! No, really, the water was blasting out of the manholes and overlapping the canals here last April. Wait, let me rephrase...

By: Jibuzaemon

Jibuzaemon — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:55:15 -0800

PERRO! PERRO!

By: isopraxis

isopraxis — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:01:26 -0800

Anybody up for trying this out on a tandem?

By: domnit

domnit — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:02:13 -0800

This guy has brass ball. You know, after last year's race.

By: domnit

domnit — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:02:41 -0800

d'oh

By: milestogo

milestogo — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:06:20 -0800

this is awesome!

By: Brocktoon

Brocktoon — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:07:53 -0800

How fast was he going?

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:20:38 -0800

If I had young man's knees, and plenty of time, I'd like to do this a lot.

By: Rarebit Fiend

Rarebit Fiend — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:21:21 -0800

Ommigod! I think I broke a collarbone just watching that. And the dog - dear god - the dog! I was thinking, maybe they should put the spectators on the steps and the bike on the road ... and then the jumps started. Yikes.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:51:06 -0800

Whew.

By: mindless progress

mindless progress — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 22:09:42 -0800

This reminded me of a link a friend sent me a while back about "cycling the world's most dangerous road.

By: mexican

mexican — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:10:29 -0800

Here are some guys from the 2010 race talking about how dangerous the course was. and here's some footage from the spectator's point of view. Same race, different dog. It looks like they made the 2011 course more dangerous! some of those sections were crazy narrow and sketchy. it also looked like they made the backsides for the drop jumps smaller. and that crazy mandatory wall ride near the end!? no thanks.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:27:28 -0800

Apparently the trophy they award are a gold-plated pair of knees.

By: mrzarquon

mrzarquon — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:37:16 -0800

> Between this and the skier falling off a cliff , it's been a harrowing day of first person videos and flying down things very fast. I am going to remain firmly planted on ground, thanks!! Go back two years to the first person video posted here of a skier being buried alive in an avalanche and then rescued.

By: psycho-alchemy

psycho-alchemy — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:24:18 -0800

What? All video and they don't show his spiffy duds!?

By: delmoi

delmoi — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 02:44:27 -0800

What we need are little drones that can fly around and get killer shots of events like this. There was actually a video a while back about a guy who stuck an electric chopper on a DSLR and got some pretty cool shots.

By: KirkpatrickMac

KirkpatrickMac — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:21:16 -0800

isopraxis: Anybody up for trying this out on a tandem? You're on

By: dowcrag

dowcrag — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 04:21:22 -0800

Based on how tight my arse was clenched watching that, I'm going to poo a diamond.

By: Forktine

Forktine — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 04:58:54 -0800

Awesome. I wonder what makes people do things like this? Maybe being young makes people do things like this. When I was sixteen to eighteen, something like this would have been perfect for me. I was all testosterone and energy, taking a big hit barely hurt, and taking big risks scratched an itch that I just don't have anymore. So the weird part to me is not the young guys doing it, it's the ones who are still taking these risks into their 40s and beyond. Past a certain point, your body just doesn't heal nearly as well, so the consequences of a screw-up get a lot bigger.

By: misha

misha — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 05:00:46 -0800

Internal dialogue: Whoa. So, we're avoiding the road, then? Well, okay...wow, that's pretty fast. Ack! MOVE, DOG! Oh, good, that's out of the way and it's just downhill, sure is bumpy but wait what is this ramp thing for OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD. *** Great video, thanks!

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 05:06:42 -0800

the actual sound of the recording is way more effective. Yeah, the sections of the race where the crowds are stacked thick are amazing! I love how the the noise of their applause is so sudden and loud and distracting! Meanwhile he's just trying to get down the steps without killing himself. Very ass-clenching.

By: Rarebit Fiend

Rarebit Fiend — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 07:08:09 -0800

Are the people blowing whistles merely spectators or is that part of a message system to let people further down the route know that a bike is coming?

By: spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints

spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 07:29:39 -0800

Since the whistles come mainly around bends, I think it's a warning signal.

By: Nelson

Nelson — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 07:56:47 -0800

I like the part around 1:25 where the roped-off part of the course includes a bunch of 1x2 foot wide holes in the sidewalk. Good incentive to know the course. The Skate videogames have sequences that play a lot like this, in the deathraces. It's fun going bombing down a hill and then realizing you're going to need to jump that curb that's coming up fast.

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:37:14 -0800

that is fucking extremely awesome sauce

By: dhartung

dhartung — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:41:57 -0800

That looks completely amateur at the beginning and then seems to morph into a professional race course -- plywood replaced with logo-painted ramps, etc. Anybody else think the concrete pipe about 2/3 through was supposed to be part of the race until he went around it? Video games on my mind, I guess.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:02:46 -0800

Anybody else think the concrete pipe about 2/3 through was supposed to be part of the race until he went around it? Video games on my mind, I guess. Yes, and I was cringing.