[ALEXIS_DH]

January thru april is rain season in the andes. It rains a ****load and mudslides are pretty common (as you can see in the some parts of the video).

because of this, i havent ridden any big mountain trail since last year... but dammit, it was killing me.
so, today, i decided to say screw-that!, and went up the mountains for a 12 miles /8000ft vertical ft down ride....

with this in mind, we decided to drive up the mountains at 6am, in order to beat the rain (rain is usually after noon). at 10am, we were at 12000ft high, and we were rewarded with a fresh day, open skies and more sunlight than we ever hoped for this time of the year.

shuttling

me, ridiculously happy

unloading at the trail head...

as we got lower and it became later... we started to hear thunders... just as we were reaching the bottom of the mountains, and got to load the bikes under rain...
nonetheless, we were rewared with an awesome ride, solid grip and flowy singletrack..

this is the first part of the ride, as gopro-ed by my friend (the one with the blue intense uzzi riding behind me in the previous video).

 

[Banshee Rider]

That's rad. Jealous!

 

[jackalope]

Hell yeah, that is sublime terrain for gravity propelled mountain cycling, altho there certainly seems to be some areas you don't want to have an accident on - thanks for posting. Love the chase dogs in the first vid btw!

 

[jonKranked]

me, ridiculously happy

so you ARE a real person

 

[-BB-]

Was that some sort of priest that you passed about 28 seconds into the second video?

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

Was that some sort of priest that you passed about 28 seconds into the second video?

goat herders/farmers. those are traditional quechua everyday clothes.
we cross roads every now and then when we ride... most are extraordinarily nice and wave us and are in awe of the bikes and speed we move from village to village, others (the old ladies specially) dont like us very much, and hit us with their donkey slashes if we make them/their animals too uneasy
i wish i could speak quechua (am of indian origin), but unfortunately, my family forgot all about that as they moved into the cities....

these roads are, after all, ancient roads that connect the thousands of tiny villages/settlements of subsistance farmers/herders scattered up in the andes.

 

[jonKranked]

so how many times have you been donkey whipped?

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

so how many times have you been donkey whipped?

many, them old ladies whips carry a big punch.. hahaha....

 

[Da Peach]

Looks like fun. Huge speed potential fo sho.

 

[ICEBALL585]

Looks like a lot of fun, but there is definitely a few ledges I would not want to fall off of.

 

[Pesqueeb]

Dude. Awesome.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

the other side..

 

[DirtMcGirk]

That looks like more fun that twin blonde "escorts" and a glad bag full of Bolivia's finest export!

 

[jdcamb]

That looks like more fun that twin blonde "escorts" and a glad bag full of Bolivia's finest export!

First comes the marching powder, then the hookers. Were you in a frat in college?

 

[DirtMcGirk]

Does the Army count as a frat?

 

[svastava]

Its awesome.. love each and every picture and the video...

 

[?????]

This looks like a good trail for the buddy Dirt's taking to Moab.

 

[DirtMcGirk]

This looks like a good trail for the buddy Dirt's taking to Moab.

That'd end in awesome!

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

Does the Army count as a frat?

I think there's more consensual sex in the army.

 

[DirtMcGirk]

I think there's more consensual sex in the army.

Oh how I miss tag chasers...

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

The fastest guy in the group (and country, actually, lol), destroying a wet rock garden, left by a giant mudslide.
Alejandro Paz - zona de piedras Casta - YouTube

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

Holy ****!

Very rarely does helmet cam footage to speed any justice, and that was nuts.