#R14QT – Day 4: And then there were two

And so, the reunion tour rolls on… Into day 4 and we were leaving behind the radness of Coronet Peak to head back into the Bike Park. However, it was a day of differences today.

The big difference and the source of much rumour, innuendo and a healthy dose of feverish excitement in qTown was the debut of Das Wolf on a DH bike! Yes, after 3 days of the Dirty Demo double probing, he finally saw the light and gave into the inevitability of the need to bring an automatic weapon to a full noise firefight. First up, he had to provide extensive briefing notes to his mechanic:

“You need to dial in the base tune of Max Radness for me, I’m kind of a big deal around here, I have many leather-bound books and Flat Stanley is my homeboy”

Yes, it was time for the Demo Duo to become a triple act of shredding… It was hard to contain the excitement and in particular, Das Wolf was just stoked to be back on 26 Inch wheels:

“Thanks fuck I can end the trip on a real wheel size” (Actual quote)

Let’s forget for a moment that he had opted for the 140mm (of useable travel) Boxxer fork and the Avid brakes (‘Avid’ is Slovak for cunt FYI), it was good to see Das Wolf on a DH machine. The only issue with Rental bikes is that they’re like marrying a retired Porn star, but without the benefit of them bestowing their experience on you…. Yes, you are just left with things feeling a little thrashed out. This old R2 unit was no exception. Still, its geometry was still intact and that was a massive plus. Besides, Wolf was too busy doing his kids homework to worry about any of that:

Even the Chinese tourists said “What The Fuck?!”

Its almost as bad the boys busting me bringing my heart rate monitor and recovery drink on a DH trip… Allegedly. It was time though for the debut of the DH Wolf, coverage is a bit patchy, but we managed to grab a couple of grainy photos of the Wolf in the wild getting to grips with the Demo awesomeness (dialled down a few notches due to the rental factor):

Squeal like an Avid pig boi

It took a period of adjustment, but quicker than you can say “You cunts were right”, the radness was starting to approach maximum for Das Wolf… Nothing like a couple of runs of Thundergoat to get things going… Fast becoming a crowd favourite:

“Fuck the guys for telling me I should have brought one before the trip…”

Whilst it took a few runs, by the final DH run of the morning session, the Wolf had to profess that it was the best run he had managed in the bike park. We’ll consider this to be a firm blow to the evilness of 27.5 and a win for DH bikes in the experiment of “Should I bring a trail bike on a DH Holiday?” This smile says it all really:

“I can’t wait to fuck that Bronson off and get a Demo! #26foreva

However, the radness was suddenly brought to an abrupt halt, when unexpectedly the Wolf Illicit Fieldtrip Enforcement agency finally worked out that he wasn’t on a business trip in India and was instead shredding in qTown. Desperate negotiations by phone over coffee could do little to gain clemency and with Predator drones circling overhead, it was time for the Wolf departure on the next flight out of town:

“No, I said QUEENSTOWN… No… I did not say Chennai… oh come on… No, shredding dirt, not documents!”

So, with Das Wolf and the Brondog leaving the reunion party, all of a sudden there was only two left. It was up to the Dok and I to carry on the shredding mantle and settle into an afternoon session of carving in a now all Demo line up. First however, by special request from our London and Korea DN Affiliate desks, here is another shot of today’s golden scenery and weather action… Hope this is what you are after guys?

True story…

It was during this time that I made one of the most important tweaks to the Dirty Demo of the whole trip – I cut the seat post down and ran it low. Yes, I should have been doing this from day one and wish I had, but this very small mod made a massive difference… Just when I thought it couldn’t get any faster, the fucking thing DID! Yes, GPS confirmed that on the BIG trails today it was personal record time across the board. Even though it was a slow start to the day and fatigue is starting to kick in, the flow and mojo action was starting to do its business. Minimal braking, loose hands and zen like concentration all combining to allow for some riding that even my own harsh self criticism let me say that it was “NOOOOT BAAAD”. It must have been alright, as I snapped my chain guide in half through some epic shred move (or perhaps just cased another jump):

Spot the part that’s missing… Yes, there is a chain tensioner goooone from that photo

It was during one of these high speed slaying runs that we had our hands down winner of the Cunt Of The Day (COTD) award. Yes, once again it was the cast of Coronation Street, this time deciding to stop on a black run and stand in the middle of a high speed shute that comes after a blind crest, make that 3 of them. There may have been some words, not to mention emergency dodging:

“Blimey, are we in da way? Why you going so fast?”

The afternoon session was all about turning up the volume, with multiple hits of a massively golden combo of Vertigo into Thingamygig, an absolute blast of a time, Dok launches into it:

Right in to the Danger ZONE

There may have also been some quality filming action going down… Those memory cards are almost full, so next week will be busy getting back into work making Dirty Vids:

Dok shows Thingamygig who the fucking BOSS is

After nailing such a golden top section run, its hard to go past the goodness of Thundergoat to get to the bottom of the run. Here we see a rare shot of the DN as I cut under a shoulder dislocating tree to begin dropping the hammer on my favourite track, so much for taking it easy this week before racing this weekend… This golden track has me pretty much at threshold the whole way down:

Seatpost down and extra carve factor dialled up… Shit is GOOD.

And… As a sneak preview, how good is the new camera angle we trialled today! The sensation of speed here is epic and while the still shot doesn’t do it justice, the video footage is freaky fast and shows just how much a DH bike gets pounded, it would bring a tear to Bree’s eye:

The Dok ducking under the same corner to smash the tGoat

However, it wasn’t all plain sailing with the camera angle trial… Hmmmm… Firstly, this is the final frame shot before the rear wheel slams into the Go PRO as the Demo bottoms out through its 200mm of travel at high speed, its fair to say it makes an interesting sound as the tire impacts the camera:

This is possibly not going to end well… Here comes the PAIN!

But, whilst that could sort of be dealt with, the other issue that cropped up down the steepness of the Armageddon trail was that of angles. Yes, this is me, off the back of the bike and about to get intimate with my rear tire… SO many captions possible here if I was to run one of those wretched as fuck “give us the caption” competitions:

Here come the turd jokes… At best…

So… with the penultimate day in the bag and some absolutely awesome riding action going down, its only fair to turn to the awards to cap things off:

• Best Product Award – Good mechanics. Not a product per se, but today was all about good dudes sorting a whole lot of stuff out with great service and advice. Cut down seat post, tightening some dangerously loose pivot bolts and and replacing one fucked up MRP chain guide. Vertigo Bikes in qTown get particular kudos for being gold
• Cuntponentry Award – Nothing major stands out today… My MRP G2 chain guide probably getting the nod for suddenly vaporising, with not even some weak pings to tell us how, why or where… Random and, not cheap to fix either!
• Favourite trail – Multiple sessions on Vertigo into Thingamygig were awesome today, even when fuck heads stood in the middle of the track in the worst possible place. I could never get sick of riding that trail combo.
• Trail bike reaming update – Well, and I quote: “That was the best run I have done in the park, awesome”, Sounds to me like a bullet into 27.5 wheels and trail bikes on DH holidays. I am taking bets for how long it is before the Wolf appears with an S Works Demo Carbon in his stable, a week is currently paying $1.20, with $5 for a month. Get in quick sports fans.

And so, the last day on the reunion tour beckons and just the DEMOlition team remain… A final day of Bike Park action to come.

Footnote – Today’s post is a learning for future DN Tour participants: Early Departure = Roasting