The Mountain of Hell, the biggest mountain bike race!
May 31, 2022 10:36 PM Subscribe
A wild ride with Damien Desbrosses, incredably talented rider who does. not. give. up. Period. In his qualifying run, Desbrosses got a flat tire, placing him at the back of the pack for the start of the race. The start which is pretty much solid ice for the first of this race. Which puts Desbrosses weaving in/out/back/forth through the pack of less talented riders as they crash and careen. It's one hell of a show, just getting through that pack on that terrain. But he does get through them, and now into better riders on every kind of terrain you can imagine, and more than a few types you *cannot* imagine. He's happy, he's festive, laughing, hooting, politely wiping the camera lens so we stay right in the race with him. Right at the middle of the race, unbelievably,
Damned if he doesn't blow another tube. The back wheel. So now he's got to stop and fix the flat.
Ha Ha Ha!!! Fooled you there!! Of course he isn't going to fix the flat. Rather, he decides, in his off-hand, festive way, to keep on rocking. So now, along with being insanely difficult, and crazy dangerous, now he's got to work twice as hard to keep that bicycle moving, much less moving it where it needs to be moved so as to preclude his death and stuff.
Human beings, what we are is big air-pumps. The more air we move the better we'll be able to move even more, ET CET and ET CET. Desbrosses was breathing hard as he was working his way back into the front of the pack, one section of the race especially had him really laboring, it didn't appear to me that it was uphill but perhaps it was, plus he seemed caught behind a lot of other cyclists as they staggered that section. Though once into the downhill again, Desbrosses was flying, and passing more and more of his competitors. And those people are like NASCAR drivers, seemed to me, just because you're right on their ass they don't wave cheerily and blow you a kiss and let you by, it's competition, for sure.
He passed many of them, then blew that tube and had to watch as many of them passed him by, and by now he's really got that air-pump thing going to even stay on the track. I'm certain that wouldn't bother you, but I'm pretty sure I'd be wishing I had a cross-bow and as many bolts as I could stuff into those mountain biking pants.
Unbelievably, it gets worse. Instead of just (just?) having no air pressure, now the tube itself works its way out of the damn tire and wraps itself up in the gears. Only then did he stop, and try to pull the damn thing free, and he got it out some but without a pocket knife that tube was not coming free, so finally, finally, he gave up.
Ha Ha Ha!!! Fooled you again!! This guy is never, ever going to give up. He climbed back on that bike and somehow, some way, in some fashion, even though the rear tube was wound around gears and whatever else, and he's having a real hard time breathing, damned if he didn't get that damn bike to the finish line.
I wouldn't even want to play checkers with Desbrosses. Jesus H. Christ.
I found this on Reddit, a link to just the first six minutes, showing the ice festival, all of these people crashing and spinning round, with Desbrosses weaving his way through them, except for maybe five or six crashes. But I have experience with mountain biking on ice, and a *lot* of experience of crashing on ice, which leaves me able to tell you that going down hard on ice isn't as enjoyable as eating when I'm hungry but it's nowhere near as bad as going down on concrete or rocks or cactus or what have you, as you slide on the ice, maybe a bit of a spin but really, not a big deal.
(4 minutes on ice, start of the race)
Damned if he doesn't blow another tube. The back wheel. So now he's got to stop and fix the flat.
Ha Ha Ha!!! Fooled you there!! Of course he isn't going to fix the flat. Rather, he decides, in his off-hand, festive way, to keep on rocking. So now, along with being insanely difficult, and crazy dangerous, now he's got to work twice as hard to keep that bicycle moving, much less moving it where it needs to be moved so as to preclude his death and stuff.
Human beings, what we are is big air-pumps. The more air we move the better we'll be able to move even more, ET CET and ET CET. Desbrosses was breathing hard as he was working his way back into the front of the pack, one section of the race especially had him really laboring, it didn't appear to me that it was uphill but perhaps it was, plus he seemed caught behind a lot of other cyclists as they staggered that section. Though once into the downhill again, Desbrosses was flying, and passing more and more of his competitors. And those people are like NASCAR drivers, seemed to me, just because you're right on their ass they don't wave cheerily and blow you a kiss and let you by, it's competition, for sure.
He passed many of them, then blew that tube and had to watch as many of them passed him by, and by now he's really got that air-pump thing going to even stay on the track. I'm certain that wouldn't bother you, but I'm pretty sure I'd be wishing I had a cross-bow and as many bolts as I could stuff into those mountain biking pants.
Unbelievably, it gets worse. Instead of just (just?) having no air pressure, now the tube itself works its way out of the damn tire and wraps itself up in the gears. Only then did he stop, and try to pull the damn thing free, and he got it out some but without a pocket knife that tube was not coming free, so finally, finally, he gave up.
Ha Ha Ha!!! Fooled you again!! This guy is never, ever going to give up. He climbed back on that bike and somehow, some way, in some fashion, even though the rear tube was wound around gears and whatever else, and he's having a real hard time breathing, damned if he didn't get that damn bike to the finish line.
I wouldn't even want to play checkers with Desbrosses. Jesus H. Christ.
I found this on Reddit, a link to just the first six minutes, showing the ice festival, all of these people crashing and spinning round, with Desbrosses weaving his way through them, except for maybe five or six crashes. But I have experience with mountain biking on ice, and a *lot* of experience of crashing on ice, which leaves me able to tell you that going down hard on ice isn't as enjoyable as eating when I'm hungry but it's nowhere near as bad as going down on concrete or rocks or cactus or what have you, as you slide on the ice, maybe a bit of a spin but really, not a big deal.
(4 minutes on ice, start of the race)
Here's another view of the upper section of the course (the icy part) and a large portion of the riders crashing. Debrosses was probably fortunate to be so far back at the start since it allowed him to navigate around the worst of it.
posted by theory at 1:25 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by theory at 1:25 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Tubes? I thought mtb was all tubeless. Such a crazy race. Thanks for the reminder the 2022 edition is later this month.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 4:08 AM on June 1, 2022
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 4:08 AM on June 1, 2022
I thought mtb was all tubeless.
Mostly it is - although there are a few holdouts due to it being a bit more faff to set up and messy when it fails, it is more reliable overall so DH/enduro racers almost always run tubeless in my experience*. This guy might have been running tubeless in qualification, but perhaps couldn't effect a proper repair in time for the race, so has just thrown a tube in to keep the bike rolling. It's a quick and easy fix. Unfortunately tubes do fail much more often than (properly set up) tubeless so it's not that surprising that he flatted, given the course!
* Some 'tubeless' systems actually have tubes in them, they're not just normal inner-tubes though, they're basically acting as protection for the wheel when the outer tubeless tyre takes a big hit, other systems use rubbery foam liners like pool noodles for this purpose. This guy looks like he just popped a normal tube here though.
posted by tomsk at 4:45 AM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Mostly it is - although there are a few holdouts due to it being a bit more faff to set up and messy when it fails, it is more reliable overall so DH/enduro racers almost always run tubeless in my experience*. This guy might have been running tubeless in qualification, but perhaps couldn't effect a proper repair in time for the race, so has just thrown a tube in to keep the bike rolling. It's a quick and easy fix. Unfortunately tubes do fail much more often than (properly set up) tubeless so it's not that surprising that he flatted, given the course!
* Some 'tubeless' systems actually have tubes in them, they're not just normal inner-tubes though, they're basically acting as protection for the wheel when the outer tubeless tyre takes a big hit, other systems use rubbery foam liners like pool noodles for this purpose. This guy looks like he just popped a normal tube here though.
posted by tomsk at 4:45 AM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
"Oh, that looks like fun! I mean, dangerous, but fun!"
/gets to the part with the incredibly narrow switchbacks over drops that look like you wouldn't stop falling for a good long while...
"nah, I'm good."
posted by Ghidorah at 5:52 AM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
/gets to the part with the incredibly narrow switchbacks over drops that look like you wouldn't stop falling for a good long while...
"nah, I'm good."
posted by Ghidorah at 5:52 AM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
At the three minute mark, that one bike that had the entire front fork just torn off the front of it, geez.
It, uh, takes an awful lot of force to do that to a modern mountain bike.
posted by mhoye at 6:09 AM on June 1, 2022
It, uh, takes an awful lot of force to do that to a modern mountain bike.
posted by mhoye at 6:09 AM on June 1, 2022
Getting a bit anxious every time this guy wipes off his gopro lens. KEEP YOUR HANDS ON THE BAR!
posted by mhoye at 6:17 AM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 6:17 AM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Damien's channel -- Owlaps -- has a lot to offer. I spent a lot of last Christmas getting lost therein, covid isolated, smoking a little herb, cranking the tunes. The best thrills are the cheap ones.
HE OVERTAKES 961 RIDERS! - THE GREATEST CATCH UP IN HISTORY! - during the 2019 Mountain of Hell
posted by philip-random at 6:32 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
HE OVERTAKES 961 RIDERS! - THE GREATEST CATCH UP IN HISTORY! - during the 2019 Mountain of Hell
posted by philip-random at 6:32 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Those switchbacks at the 32 minute mark are gnarly enough that I'd have a hard time on foot, but this guy just sails through them? I suspect GoPro's image stabilization is doing absolutely heroic work here.
posted by mhoye at 6:39 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by mhoye at 6:39 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
My joke when chatting about bike/snow is that it's fine as long as you don't brake, or turn or accelerate... well breaks all those rules, and down hill omg.
posted by sammyo at 6:41 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by sammyo at 6:41 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have a nibling who started doing this aged 11-12 on hills outside small town Ireland. Somewhere along the way, one of his mtb heroes knocked on the door and gave him their second best wheels . . . and a contact in the sponsorship world. 10 years on The Chap is living his best life in the French Alps - downhill all the way. But I tell ya, all through his teens the family thought he must have notably brittle bones for the amount of time he spent with one limb or the other in plaster.
posted by BobTheScientist at 7:42 AM on June 1, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by BobTheScientist at 7:42 AM on June 1, 2022 [6 favorites]
I don't have brakes.
Son, you don't have any self-preservation either. Apparently you don't need either one.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:05 AM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Son, you don't have any self-preservation either. Apparently you don't need either one.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:05 AM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Getting a bit anxious every time this guy wipes off his gopro lens. KEEP YOUR HANDS ON THE BAR!
posted by mhoye at 8:17 AM on June 1
He's a very polite man, wants us to experience all of the terror.
(Honestly, I'd bet that their sponsors beat that into their head -- Keep the lens clean! They could have the most astonishing ride ever but if it's a muddy blur it's not going to sell any bicycles.)
I wonder if there is a record kept, how many broken arms, fingers, thumbs, sprained necks, broken legs and broken ankles, and where on the route it happened.
Or: how many $3000 bicycles got completely trashed, and where on the route it happened.
Pro Tip: Esp at the start, on the ice downhill, the sun is at their back, you can pick up a lot of how the riders maneuver by watching their long shadow.
posted by dancestoblue at 8:38 AM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 8:17 AM on June 1
He's a very polite man, wants us to experience all of the terror.
(Honestly, I'd bet that their sponsors beat that into their head -- Keep the lens clean! They could have the most astonishing ride ever but if it's a muddy blur it's not going to sell any bicycles.)
I wonder if there is a record kept, how many broken arms, fingers, thumbs, sprained necks, broken legs and broken ankles, and where on the route it happened.
Or: how many $3000 bicycles got completely trashed, and where on the route it happened.
Pro Tip: Esp at the start, on the ice downhill, the sun is at their back, you can pick up a lot of how the riders maneuver by watching their long shadow.
posted by dancestoblue at 8:38 AM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Also. I'm pretty sure I've never called any woman a "big air-pump" and I can't see that I ever would.
posted by dancestoblue at 8:48 AM on June 1, 2022
posted by dancestoblue at 8:48 AM on June 1, 2022
Two things struck me about this... one, I've done some mountain biking at altitude, a long ride at about 8,000' in Utah and a descent from about 14,000' in Colorado. Judging from the lack of vegetation, he's at least at 14K for quite a while-- and when there are some brief climbs, he just hammers them. I'd be a beached fish if I ever tried that.
Two, I'm ~20 minutes in and he's passed ~500 people and, aside from during wipeout recoveries, not one person passes him. (Maybe his partner, briefly, but I think he passed him right back.) So he's literally faster than every single person on the mountain-- way faster, as he literally passes them like they're standing still.
Amazing.
posted by martin q blank at 10:38 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Two, I'm ~20 minutes in and he's passed ~500 people and, aside from during wipeout recoveries, not one person passes him. (Maybe his partner, briefly, but I think he passed him right back.) So he's literally faster than every single person on the mountain-- way faster, as he literally passes them like they're standing still.
Amazing.
posted by martin q blank at 10:38 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm curious how that works, because he doesn't seem to be pedaling hardly at all, in fact almost no one is. So how is he getting so much more speed? Is it just that he's braking less because he's more daring?
posted by tavella at 10:43 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 10:43 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yup! On high speed descents, pedalling doesn't add much speed, but not using the brakes makes a huge difference. I used to race bicycles on the road, never did any off-road or downhill races. I used to suck at descents because I really really don't like crashing so I'd brake before going into a turn....
posted by phliar at 11:04 AM on June 1, 2022
posted by phliar at 11:04 AM on June 1, 2022
From someone who just went over the handlebars this past weekend in the redwoods and won't be touching my bike for probably two weeks, thanks for posting this! It's time to live vicariously through youtubers who are about as reckless but much more skilled than myself.
posted by destructive cactus at 11:37 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by destructive cactus at 11:37 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm curious how that works, because he doesn't seem to be pedaling hardly at all, in fact almost no one is. So how is he getting so much more speed? Is it just that he's braking less because he's more daring?
That's a huge part of it, but of course it's also more complicated than that and involves picking a good line, just like auto racing.
One of the things he's doing is not taking turns too tight when he doesn't have to and he's carrying speed and momentum by going as wide as possible when he can. Forcing a turn too tight even though it might be a shorter or more direct line means you're scrubbing speed and momentum even without using the brakes.
Unlike auto racing you don't apex turns by braking and accelerating out of them since you're depending on downhill momentum for most of your speed, so when there's plenty of room between the official course gates he can go as wide as he likes between gates and choose a faster, smoother line.
This gets complicated because the terrain is also important, so you can see him picking and choosing his terrain based on how fast and smooth it is as well as how crowded that line is with other riders. Well packed talus or scree (the fields of mountain rocks) are going to be faster than slushy snow. Packed dirt is faster than talus or scree. Sometimes heavy grass is faster than heavier, rockier lines with boulders or ruts in it, especially if it means he can go wide and avoid having to brake or dodge other riders.
There's also a whole art to pumping and working the bike over terrain like larger rocks, ruts, and cracks where you're trying to smooth out your motion over the terrain so you're losing less speed to your suspension and trying to float over it, not unlike apexing turns on a auto racing course but vertically and/or in 3D. Ideally you want your suspension to not be used at all unless it's needed to keep your wheels on the ground, and use your body english and bike handling instead, because every time your suspension compresses hard it's converting momentum and energy into mechanical heat.
But also note when he does make sharp, tight turns on switchbacks or course gates where braking absolutely must happen, he makes those turns super sharp and fast and gets his bike whipped around and pointed downhill as fast as possible, stands up and hammers the pedals and charges that line, looking for the steepest and smoothest parts.
He could also even be way faster. There's a few places where he should have switched back to riding instead of running/walking the bike uphill much sooner where pedaling hits the break even point where it's faster and more efficient than walking, but that's easier said than done when you're above treeline and sucking truckloads of air trying to fight off the hypoxia.
Also I'm super confused why he's even running tubes at all. Running tubeless with sealant and ride-flat donuts or inserts is pretty standard these days for MTBs, especially a huge all mountain race like this. They're also generally way faster, have less rolling resistance, are more resistant to impact and pinch flats, and you can usually fix them in seconds with a CO2 inflator. If he was running sealed tubeless tires that tube never would have even been there to slow him down and he could have likely finished the course sooner even just running on flat tires and donuts.
I use some of these techniques on smaller scales whenever I'm out riding my local gravel trail. There's a bunch of counterintuitive things beyond just not braking, like going wide on turns and using body english and control to make coasting and carrying momentum super efficient and smooth. Even stuff like drifting wider around parts of the trail that are rougher can carry a lot more momentum and speed, even though the route or line is technically longer.
I also use these techniques when practicing "hyper miling" while under power with my ebike but for range instead of speed. If I have to brake too much or at all I didn't plan my route and line well, and if I want to get the maximum range out of my ebike battery it's better to naturally coast right up to a turn so that it's timed that I can make that turn at nearly maximum safe speeds for that turn without ever touching the brakes as opposed to keeping the power on, braking hard and then hammering the power back on.
When I go on rides with other people they sometimes notice that even when I'm not using the ebike part of my bike and just coasting, I pedal a lot less than they do and carry my momentum through turns and terrain a lot more. That's because I'm flowing and working the most efficient lines of the trail right on down to details like the surface roughness of the trail and the camber, pitch and general geometry of the trail.
It's a lot like piloting a glider or sailing or something where the least dramatic, lowest G movements are usually the most efficient and fastest.
posted by loquacious at 11:48 AM on June 1, 2022 [9 favorites]
That's a huge part of it, but of course it's also more complicated than that and involves picking a good line, just like auto racing.
One of the things he's doing is not taking turns too tight when he doesn't have to and he's carrying speed and momentum by going as wide as possible when he can. Forcing a turn too tight even though it might be a shorter or more direct line means you're scrubbing speed and momentum even without using the brakes.
Unlike auto racing you don't apex turns by braking and accelerating out of them since you're depending on downhill momentum for most of your speed, so when there's plenty of room between the official course gates he can go as wide as he likes between gates and choose a faster, smoother line.
This gets complicated because the terrain is also important, so you can see him picking and choosing his terrain based on how fast and smooth it is as well as how crowded that line is with other riders. Well packed talus or scree (the fields of mountain rocks) are going to be faster than slushy snow. Packed dirt is faster than talus or scree. Sometimes heavy grass is faster than heavier, rockier lines with boulders or ruts in it, especially if it means he can go wide and avoid having to brake or dodge other riders.
There's also a whole art to pumping and working the bike over terrain like larger rocks, ruts, and cracks where you're trying to smooth out your motion over the terrain so you're losing less speed to your suspension and trying to float over it, not unlike apexing turns on a auto racing course but vertically and/or in 3D. Ideally you want your suspension to not be used at all unless it's needed to keep your wheels on the ground, and use your body english and bike handling instead, because every time your suspension compresses hard it's converting momentum and energy into mechanical heat.
But also note when he does make sharp, tight turns on switchbacks or course gates where braking absolutely must happen, he makes those turns super sharp and fast and gets his bike whipped around and pointed downhill as fast as possible, stands up and hammers the pedals and charges that line, looking for the steepest and smoothest parts.
He could also even be way faster. There's a few places where he should have switched back to riding instead of running/walking the bike uphill much sooner where pedaling hits the break even point where it's faster and more efficient than walking, but that's easier said than done when you're above treeline and sucking truckloads of air trying to fight off the hypoxia.
Also I'm super confused why he's even running tubes at all. Running tubeless with sealant and ride-flat donuts or inserts is pretty standard these days for MTBs, especially a huge all mountain race like this. They're also generally way faster, have less rolling resistance, are more resistant to impact and pinch flats, and you can usually fix them in seconds with a CO2 inflator. If he was running sealed tubeless tires that tube never would have even been there to slow him down and he could have likely finished the course sooner even just running on flat tires and donuts.
I use some of these techniques on smaller scales whenever I'm out riding my local gravel trail. There's a bunch of counterintuitive things beyond just not braking, like going wide on turns and using body english and control to make coasting and carrying momentum super efficient and smooth. Even stuff like drifting wider around parts of the trail that are rougher can carry a lot more momentum and speed, even though the route or line is technically longer.
I also use these techniques when practicing "hyper miling" while under power with my ebike but for range instead of speed. If I have to brake too much or at all I didn't plan my route and line well, and if I want to get the maximum range out of my ebike battery it's better to naturally coast right up to a turn so that it's timed that I can make that turn at nearly maximum safe speeds for that turn without ever touching the brakes as opposed to keeping the power on, braking hard and then hammering the power back on.
When I go on rides with other people they sometimes notice that even when I'm not using the ebike part of my bike and just coasting, I pedal a lot less than they do and carry my momentum through turns and terrain a lot more. That's because I'm flowing and working the most efficient lines of the trail right on down to details like the surface roughness of the trail and the camber, pitch and general geometry of the trail.
It's a lot like piloting a glider or sailing or something where the least dramatic, lowest G movements are usually the most efficient and fastest.
posted by loquacious at 11:48 AM on June 1, 2022 [9 favorites]
Also I'm super confused why he's even running tubes at all.
I was confused by this too - I rewatched with closed captions on and he does mention 'tubeless product' i.e. sealant, just after he tries to disentangle the tube from his cassette, just before the end. Either he's got some sort of tube-based "tubeless" system like Schwalbe Pro-Core, or he just had to throw a regular tube in after the qualification malfunction to get moving again.
Is it just that he's braking less because he's more daring?
Much more to it than just braking and bravery. I've been lucky enough to follow proper fast gravity riders a couple of times, and the difference is unreal, they just see trails completely differently - it's amazingly good fun, until you lose their line or mess up and end up in trouble! Years of honing all the skills necessary to just ride the fastest line intuitively enables them to skip right over stuff that would stop most of us dead. Also pro-level fitness: riding downhill fast is tough, like doing pushups, rapidly, but someone is trying to knock you over at the same time, interspersed with sprints, for ~30-40 minutes in this case. So it's more than just YOLOing off an alp...
Should also note that nobody who qualifies for something like the main Mountain Of Hell race is an average rider in any normal sense - just getting onto the start line of that race takes considerable skill and guts. Makes Desbrosses effort here and elsewhere extra impressive, really.
posted by tomsk at 12:30 PM on June 1, 2022
I was confused by this too - I rewatched with closed captions on and he does mention 'tubeless product' i.e. sealant, just after he tries to disentangle the tube from his cassette, just before the end. Either he's got some sort of tube-based "tubeless" system like Schwalbe Pro-Core, or he just had to throw a regular tube in after the qualification malfunction to get moving again.
Is it just that he's braking less because he's more daring?
Much more to it than just braking and bravery. I've been lucky enough to follow proper fast gravity riders a couple of times, and the difference is unreal, they just see trails completely differently - it's amazingly good fun, until you lose their line or mess up and end up in trouble! Years of honing all the skills necessary to just ride the fastest line intuitively enables them to skip right over stuff that would stop most of us dead. Also pro-level fitness: riding downhill fast is tough, like doing pushups, rapidly, but someone is trying to knock you over at the same time, interspersed with sprints, for ~30-40 minutes in this case. So it's more than just YOLOing off an alp...
Should also note that nobody who qualifies for something like the main Mountain Of Hell race is an average rider in any normal sense - just getting onto the start line of that race takes considerable skill and guts. Makes Desbrosses effort here and elsewhere extra impressive, really.
posted by tomsk at 12:30 PM on June 1, 2022
...
Or: how many $3000 bicycles got completely trashed, and where on the route it happened.
...
posted by dancestoblue at 8:38 AM on June 1 [1 favorite +] [!]
$3000 LOL
double or triple that, more bc most of these riders are paying in euros.
posted by youthenrage at 12:44 PM on June 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
Or: how many $3000 bicycles got completely trashed, and where on the route it happened.
...
posted by dancestoblue at 8:38 AM on June 1 [1 favorite +] [!]
$3000 LOL
double or triple that, more bc most of these riders are paying in euros.
posted by youthenrage at 12:44 PM on June 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
I found that part from 01:20 to 42:50 to be particularly intense.
posted by JSilva at 12:51 PM on June 1, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by JSilva at 12:51 PM on June 1, 2022 [11 favorites]
Yeah, this looks like a lot of fun, but I don't think it's for me as I've become quite accustomed to being alive.
posted by Naberius at 1:22 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Naberius at 1:22 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Judging from the lack of vegetation, he's at least at 14K for quite a while
According to what I guess is probably the official race site, the start is at 3,400 meters, which would be a bit over 11,000 feet, and there's 2,400 meters of total descent.
And, from the FAQ:
Do I need a medical certificate to register?
If you have a licence, you must present your valid competition licence in the discipline concerned. You are then exempt from the medical certificate.
If you do not have a licence, you must present a medical certificate of no contraindication to the practice of the sport or discipline concerned in competition, dated less than one year.
Yeah, I'm not doing that.
posted by Naberius at 1:28 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
According to what I guess is probably the official race site, the start is at 3,400 meters, which would be a bit over 11,000 feet, and there's 2,400 meters of total descent.
And, from the FAQ:
Do I need a medical certificate to register?
If you have a licence, you must present your valid competition licence in the discipline concerned. You are then exempt from the medical certificate.
If you do not have a licence, you must present a medical certificate of no contraindication to the practice of the sport or discipline concerned in competition, dated less than one year.
Yeah, I'm not doing that.
posted by Naberius at 1:28 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
which would be a bit over 11,000 feet
thanks, Naberius. Even that's enough that I wouldn't be sprinting over those rises. I live at sea level now-- I'd be gasping just coasting on a downhill.
posted by martin q blank at 2:24 PM on June 1, 2022
thanks, Naberius. Even that's enough that I wouldn't be sprinting over those rises. I live at sea level now-- I'd be gasping just coasting on a downhill.
posted by martin q blank at 2:24 PM on June 1, 2022
The video from the 2021 2nd place finisher is amazing as well. Doesn't have the comeback story as the top linked video, but that hasn't stopped us from watching it through several times.
posted by Quack at 2:40 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Quack at 2:40 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
$3000 LOL
Yeah, you can barely get a decent hard tail trailbike for that kind of money these days. You can spend more than 3K just on tubeless carbon fiber enduro rims.
Some/many of the pro bikes in these videos are probably pushing over 10-20k USD if not more. Modern pro level full squish mountain bikes are crazy expensive because the tech has evolved so much. We're a loooong way from no squish Specialized Stumpjumpers or Rockhoppers.
Also for some other ride perspective if I tried to ride that route on my no suspension adventure-touring bike I could probably make it down most of the mountain without too much portaging, walking and carrying and trail including the snowy bits because I like doing silly things like riding in snow on skinny bike touring tires.
But it would probably take me as much as 3-6 hours as opposed to the 30-ish minute times these riders are posting. If not more. If I even made it half way without a major bike failure and got stopped cold.
And I wouldn't be having any fun at all, either. I'd definitely end up with a ton of bruises and severe scrapes at a minimum, I'd be sore as hell just from bike vibrations even without crashing. And it would probably totally ruin my tires, rims and maybe even major components like my headset, fork or frame. I'd have to crawl my way down most of the route at stupid slow speeds compared to what they're doing if only so I didn't yeet my dumb ass off a cliff.
For further perspective I wouldn't even want to do this at all, even on a pro all mountain enduro bike and wearing full armor. Crashing on talus and scree is absolutely no fun at all at any speed, much less the ludicrous speeds they're doing.
To be honest it would probably be safer and less painful to strap on a bunch of armor and walk to the nearest steep mountain face traversing parts of that route, lay my bike down and just toss myself off the cliff and go for a nice unarrested cartwheel down a talus slope and call it a day.
These riders are fucking *bonkers* and pushing the whole concept of riding bikes and bicycles in general to the non-figurative bleeding edge of what's even humanly possible.
posted by loquacious at 4:18 PM on June 1, 2022 [4 favorites]
Yeah, you can barely get a decent hard tail trailbike for that kind of money these days. You can spend more than 3K just on tubeless carbon fiber enduro rims.
Some/many of the pro bikes in these videos are probably pushing over 10-20k USD if not more. Modern pro level full squish mountain bikes are crazy expensive because the tech has evolved so much. We're a loooong way from no squish Specialized Stumpjumpers or Rockhoppers.
Also for some other ride perspective if I tried to ride that route on my no suspension adventure-touring bike I could probably make it down most of the mountain without too much portaging, walking and carrying and trail including the snowy bits because I like doing silly things like riding in snow on skinny bike touring tires.
But it would probably take me as much as 3-6 hours as opposed to the 30-ish minute times these riders are posting. If not more. If I even made it half way without a major bike failure and got stopped cold.
And I wouldn't be having any fun at all, either. I'd definitely end up with a ton of bruises and severe scrapes at a minimum, I'd be sore as hell just from bike vibrations even without crashing. And it would probably totally ruin my tires, rims and maybe even major components like my headset, fork or frame. I'd have to crawl my way down most of the route at stupid slow speeds compared to what they're doing if only so I didn't yeet my dumb ass off a cliff.
For further perspective I wouldn't even want to do this at all, even on a pro all mountain enduro bike and wearing full armor. Crashing on talus and scree is absolutely no fun at all at any speed, much less the ludicrous speeds they're doing.
To be honest it would probably be safer and less painful to strap on a bunch of armor and walk to the nearest steep mountain face traversing parts of that route, lay my bike down and just toss myself off the cliff and go for a nice unarrested cartwheel down a talus slope and call it a day.
These riders are fucking *bonkers* and pushing the whole concept of riding bikes and bicycles in general to the non-figurative bleeding edge of what's even humanly possible.
posted by loquacious at 4:18 PM on June 1, 2022 [4 favorites]
Seems sorta dangerous.
posted by mrgrimm at 4:31 PM on June 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by mrgrimm at 4:31 PM on June 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
Was there a flasher at around the 21:47 mark?
posted by Literaryhero at 10:48 PM on June 1, 2022
posted by Literaryhero at 10:48 PM on June 1, 2022
To be honest it would probably be safer and less painful to strap on a bunch of armor and walk to the nearest steep mountain face traversing parts of that route, lay my bike down and just toss myself off the cliff
Most importantly, this approach really limits the wear and tear on the bike.
This was a great video and utterly bonks.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 11:49 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Most importantly, this approach really limits the wear and tear on the bike.
This was a great video and utterly bonks.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 11:49 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Was there a flasher at around the 21:47 mark?
Yep.
Most importantly, this approach really limits the wear and tear on the bike.
Yeah, I do some silly things I probably shouldn't do on my bike, and my bike is beefier and stronger than most aluminum 700c touring-like bikes in that class because it's a bit of an oddity and rarity made by Redline, which has something like a 40 year history of primarily making BMX bikes and forks and they were one of the very first bike makers that specifically made race ready BMX bike frames and forks. Redline only briefly made 700c sized "grown up" bikes for a few years back in the early 2010s and sadly they're now discontinued and they went back to focusing on dirt bikes in the 20" and 26" BMX "cruiser" sized range.
My bike has been through a lot like carrying my fat ass around with up to 100+ pounds of camping gear and cargo strapped to it. I non-figuratively lived on it for a couple of years while homeless. I'm also now even heavier, and I've converted it to an overpowered gravel ebike that can do 30+ MPH on dirt while also hauling 40-60 pounds of groceries.
I have no doubts that trying to do that all mountain course at any speed on that bike would break something.
posted by loquacious at 10:37 AM on June 2, 2022 [3 favorites]
Yep.
Most importantly, this approach really limits the wear and tear on the bike.
Yeah, I do some silly things I probably shouldn't do on my bike, and my bike is beefier and stronger than most aluminum 700c touring-like bikes in that class because it's a bit of an oddity and rarity made by Redline, which has something like a 40 year history of primarily making BMX bikes and forks and they were one of the very first bike makers that specifically made race ready BMX bike frames and forks. Redline only briefly made 700c sized "grown up" bikes for a few years back in the early 2010s and sadly they're now discontinued and they went back to focusing on dirt bikes in the 20" and 26" BMX "cruiser" sized range.
My bike has been through a lot like carrying my fat ass around with up to 100+ pounds of camping gear and cargo strapped to it. I non-figuratively lived on it for a couple of years while homeless. I'm also now even heavier, and I've converted it to an overpowered gravel ebike that can do 30+ MPH on dirt while also hauling 40-60 pounds of groceries.
I have no doubts that trying to do that all mountain course at any speed on that bike would break something.
posted by loquacious at 10:37 AM on June 2, 2022 [3 favorites]
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