I've been having a hard time motivating to ride lately. Maybe it's because I've been logging too many hours on the trainer. Or perhaps it's that the spring winds are starting to strafe Santa Fe again, blasting away at my resolve as well. I use lots of ploys to beat these down times: new playlists, training games (e.g. pursuit with a buddy), or (for the trainer) obnoxiously rollicking flicks like .
But nothing gets me fired up for a ride faster than a clip of some badass bike handling set to an even badder-ass soundtrack. Here are five great videos to fuel the fire. Check back next week for my favorites.
10. A downhill race through the streets of Valparaíso, Chile, shot from a helmet cam (Red Bull branded, of course). No music or this would be higher up the list.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=jO0VLouJFNQ%C2%A0
9. Okay, he's not on a mountain bike, but that's what makes it—you try rock hopping on stiff carbon with high-pressure 23mm tires. A shame about the music though…
https://youtube.com/watch?v=5z1fSpZNXhU%C2%A0
8. There, the soundtrack for this trailer of Ionate's latest film, , is more like it. There's a lot going for this one, not least of which is that, after a winter of traipsing my test bike up and down Ski Santa Fe, I can really appreciate the snow antics on skinny tires.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=eRSenBC35Kk%C2%A0
7. Does anyone else see the irony in the fact that Carhartt is sponsoring a BMX video? Anyway, what I like here are the crashes and the misfires before Lantschner eventually succeeds. Makes it seem more, well, not plausible, but human.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=LqPXCu6C8WY%C2%A0
6. Why aren't all downhills this long? Mountain biking, climbing, cute towns, beaches—once again I realize that the Spanish have it going on.
ٳٱ://..dz//20601448
BONUS Okay, you can't talk about good mountain bike videos without a hit on Danny MacAskill. The comments say it all: “This guys is like F—ing Chuck Norris on a Bike!” and “Watching this was the best 8 minutes of my life.” Good lord!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Cj6ho1-G6tw%C2%A0
Go here for and my top five picks.
–Aaron Gulley