And so, to the last day we come… Yes, it was the final day of qTown shredding and bike park action on this most excellent of reunion tours. Last days can be funny however, especially when you arrive at them free of A) Major mechanicals and B) major stacks. The pull to be slightly more conservative is like a tractor beam from a small moon and this is where problems can arise. If you back off then you may not commit when you need to, which can easily lead to exactly the type of problems that you’re looking to avoid in the first place.
The antidote is to therefore not ride or behave like its the last day… Just sit back, relax and act like a normal motherfucker should be the tune you play. There was only one thing standing in the way of this approach: Fatigue.
Yes, 5th day of ripping and the body was starting to feel it. Some may recall from Shredpocalypse in July last year that day 5 was the rest day where I got mega intrepid on it. No such luxury here, back into the park for more DEMOlition time. We were a wolf/man down today, with Das Wolfenstein back on the commune making breakfast. Wanting to support our felled Gravity Brother, we also made breakfast in his honour and sent him supportive messages to help his transition back to reality:
Have fun leaving early cunt!
It was a sign of the times that we couldn’t be fucked taking our neck braces off to have breakfast, which ultimately translated into a sifting start to the day. This provided me more time to take photos of the Delicious Dirty Demo and marvel over its Carbon goodness… Topped off with gratuitous addition of TLD D3 Carbon helmet and Oakley goggles and you’d be more than excused for thinking this was a Dirt Mag Porn shoot as opposed to a riding trip:
Dream build = Dream ride and performance
I wasn’t the only one marvelling over how good the Carbon Demo is… Even people who want to pretend that they are cooler than the rest of us have been foaming at the mouth all week at the sight of the Deemax wheeled Stealth carbon shred machine… Lift operators, Barista’s and even old people are dishing high fives over this thing:
“Fuck these things are rad dear”
They’re so cool that at one stage, even some fucking monkey stole my one and fucked off down Vertigo on it, with Dok giving chase to get it back (jury is out on some of our experimental camera angles from today):
Case studies in why its best to have the seat down AND why my arms are fucked
Whilst Vertigo is a handy -33% on average, my love affair with Thundergoat still continues. Yes, the middle section is a bit energy sapping, but the top and bottom sections are so fucking good that I’m not sure even a body slide from Scar Jo would match up to its flowing madness:
Possibly another experimental camera angle…
There was a lot of camera work going down today…
Doing my best to duck under my favourite tree… You may see this from multiple angles soon
Note in the above photos the difference between the Go PRO and the Cuntour Cameras… No wonder they almost went out of business. One of the raddest parts of tGoat is busting through a massive G out and into the open, which leads you to a decision: Look at the scenery and maybe die, or concentrate and pin the fuck out of a series of high speed jumps and berms with blind crests? The faster you smash it, the better it is:
Get low, pedal hard and then let the mother F fly…
Fair to say that we hit a few laps of the tGoat today, fighting not only fatigue, but working out the best camera footage angles and lines as well as some set up refinements… All part of the theme of this week: Preparation for Shredpocalypse II later on this year. With this in mind I decided to sample Whistler-esque rock any chance I got while chasing the Dok:
Ok… So trust me, looks way better on video
Lower Thundergoat is where it really starts to get demanding… Arms are burning a little bit after fuck knows how many runs and its the final few sections where the trail starts to ask you to be not only perfect on your line and timing to get the most out of it, but it also makes sure that its set up so that if you make a mistake, you’re going to pay a hefty price. In today’s final experiMENTAL angle, the 888 fork at full extension moments before its back into getting drilled by braking bumps:
Better than a birds eye view… the 888 view
Yes, fair to say that there is going to be a LOT of video editing to be done over the coming weeks.
On these trips there is always a break point between radness level and fatigue management… Its an equation that needs to be kept in check throughout the mission, as there is a dangerous tipping point when you can no longer attain the radness level you crave like a dirt junkie needing a fix. By mid arvo when I was struggling to slow the bike down and keep on the lines that gave the biggest buzz, it was evident that the fatigue was starting to win the battle over rad highs. So, with mixed emotions of not wanting to leave, but being mega stoked at the shreddage and surviving without any destruction, it was time to pack up the weapons and prepare for the inevitable trip back to the world:
It feels so wrong…
The only way to end the awesome day and week of shredding was to head to one of the best dinner spots in town, Winnie’s Pizza, soak up the atmosphere, awesome food and of course send some more supporting messages to our fallen comrade/wolf:
Dok’s response when I suggested that we save a piece for Wolf out of respect
No awards today on the basis of the internet being cunty and my arms being flogged out completely.
Its been a super awesome week of DH action and as reunions go, this one had all the upsides without the weirdness (we didn’t mention the Tallboy LT at all), so thanks to the boys for making it golden and to qTown for turning on another legendary mission! Stay tuned for the obligatory wrap up when I resurface back in the Global Hub.
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