Gear updates

A few random shots, and some thoughts to accompany it.

My latest Point One Racing Podium Pedals are still going strong. Sure its lost some pins here and there, but overall they have been doing great since mid-2011. Perhaps I was unlucky with my former set.

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I did a very positive review of the Fox Launch Pad Pro some time ago. But after a year of use they started to annoy my skin, just above the knee actually - its the red stuff on the pic.

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The annoyance resulted in the purchase of the 661 2012 EVO Knee. Relatively expensive, but you get that 661-knee-comfort, that few players match. These pads has their cons and pros, but overall im positively surprised, there is a big BUT however. I will do a full review shortly and let you know what im talking about.

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New shoes from FiveTen, its the FreeRider PRO. The Pro model adds a hardened toe box, and an ankle support. The ventilation has once again been improved, and  the weight has gone down as well, about 80 grams, FiveTen is obviosly very keen on improving their most popular shoe - good job guys.

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So its been more than an year of ONE riding. Still a great bike, that I really enjoy to ride. The low BB took some time to get used to, but today its something I enjoy, and its definitely a charming side of the bike

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How to (almost) destroy a camera.

So there is a story to this clip. On the first day of our roadtrip we wanted to shoot some rockgarden footage with my high-speed cam. And so we did, from several angles, all was good and dandy - so we started to experiment some more - with camera placement in particular.

I asked Christian to to ride past this stone field, with close proximity to the camera. He did so, what he didn't tell me was that he decided to block his rear wheel to "make stones fly". So there he went, blocking his rear wheel, kicking up stones, some of them where pretty big, like in hand-size big, and just as he did so, I saw them coming full force in the direction of the camera, I remember thinking; "There goes my cam".

For some lucky reason the stone missed. The camera was a inch from destruction, but hey, they footage turned out sweet. Watch the stone at 22 sec.

Roadtrip R us

We packed our stuff, and went south. The plan was to ride some AM and DH for the 3 days we where away. Day 1 was all about the AM, but we got ourself into an awesome local DH-line , and we ended sessioning that alot. Day 2 and 3 was spent in Braunlage Bikepark. The weather was amazing, and we had such a fun time there. We shot a few (not many) pics:

Christian trying to spot the best line. The AM trail we rode was challenging, so much so that we actually had to walk past a few technical spots - as we deemed them unridable (this day). And that's something I usually NEVER do, I rather prefer a fight to the death, than walking away - tail between the legs.. Fun fact; the stuff wee rode this day far surpassed the tech stuff in the bikepark. 
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AM-setup. Dual ply tires, and coil out back. Btw im not taking a dump here, Christian is cracking me up by asking me to do a better am-pose.

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Rubbing elbows with...trees.

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Breakfast when its at its best. The redbull is not mine tho' - thats taking it a tad too far ; )

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DH-setup. Boxxer up front, 40mm stem, and no adjustable seatpost. 15.89kg, or 34.96 lbs btw. Note the Mavic Crossmax SX wheels. I wanted to stress-test them in a bikepark on the DH and FR lines - they did great, so look forward to a concluding review soon.

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The cue to braunlage bikepark. This place is getting better and better every year, and people has started to notice.

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Felt a bit XC'ish

Several hours away from home, new lines, new territory, what is there not to like? I had the opportunity to be a bit more XC'ish, and took upon the challenge..sorta.

So without mentioning actual trail names;

Another day of sharing a hotel room - with your bike.

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Sweepy trails near the sea is not that uncommon to me, what is new to me are the trails itself.

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Pulling a little fun out of the xc trail

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Another place I had a go on my bike, was this huge forrest, lots of climbs and descends, and good variation as well. The xc trails where very varying in quality; both good and bad trail work was apparent. 

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Besides sporting alot of animals..

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...there was the occasional roadgap. Its actually a DH line (well more like a FR line), it was pretty apparent thats this particular line has had a solid thought process behind it - and I salute that.

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Raw vid, of a "Your Mom" session

Good times, background stuff here.

Watch HD version here.

33sec, raw edit.

Chicks dig scars - not bruises

Apparently I'm doing it wrong

Look at it, looking all guilty and stuff..