[Ridemonkey.com]

Helicopter crashes, exploding berms, and one of the world's most dominant racers. Bringing Gee Atherton off the race course always seems to provide entertainment for the masses.
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Filming in Finale Ligure, Italy with Freeride Entertainment in August of this year, Gee Atherton managed to compile a collection of amazing shots for his section of Dust and Bones. Be it from the sketchiest chopper known to man or on the ground getting sprayed by the remnants of a berm, cinematographer Brad McGregor was there to capture it all.

<object width="480" height="315" id="mporaplayer_kA59K2qb3" classid="clsid<param name="movie" value="http://video.mpora.com/ep/kA59K2qb3/"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://video.mpora.com/ep/kA59K2qb3/" width="480" height="315" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object><br /><font size="1">More <a href="http://mpora.com/mountainbiking">Mountain Biking</a> >></font><br />​

Keeping with the theme of highlighting Gee Atherton's prowess on a bicycle, here is a video interview from the Atherton camp with ample riding footage.

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Ridemonkey member David Tufino snapped this amazing photo of Gee at the U.S Open, be sure to check out his website for more photos! ​

And finally, Gee checks in from Brazil, with all the happenings from Red Bull's latest mountain bike street race: Desafio no Moro.

Writing this I'm sitting in my hotel after a night out in Rio, a city renowned for partying, beautiful beaches, drug wars and generally a place for a good time. And there was no exception for the street race that took place in the Favela: The Red Bull ”Desafio no Moro”.

Red Bull took a risk with this one i think, it could have gone one way or the other, either a street race turned kidnapping, or one of the most groundbreaking street races to have ever been held. It definitely went with the latter. The race started at the top of the mountain on a ridge that overlooked the whole of Rio, underneath the famous statue of Christ. You sprinted out of the start gate, hit a kicker, then literally dropped into the slum. The track was made up of steep stair sections, wooden platforms and concrete ledges. It was a seriously steep hill for a street race, and it cut straight down the center of the favela. There was no pedaling here, you just had to lay of the brakes slightly and you would be charging through narrow alleyways, hitting steep steps that would be randomly wet, there would be dogs, cats, chickens and children wandering over the whole track. Still, you had to ride past them like you were hitting some fast section on the Maribor WC track.

I think the thing that really made the race was the atmosphere though. All the way down the crowds were screaming and cheering and were so stoked that the race was coming through their hood, through their part of the world. At the podium, it turned into a carnival / street party. They called the boys up (Polc, Markolf, Athy), gave them the prizes and then it just erupted. The DJ hit Jacko on the music system and literally the entire crowd just started dancing and partying like they were in a night club. I’ve never seen anything like it. Everyone there was hands in the air, killing it. I was even told that some of the locals were selling VIP watching spots in the ghetto for the friends and family to watch the race from. It definitely set a benchmark for street races.

Gee Atherton at last year's U.S Open, as photographed by David Tufino.​

Big things are sure to come from Gee on this year's World Cup circuit, but is anyone else looking forward to the U.S Open just as much? Long live independent races!