The World's Best Bike Videos #57
MTB Dad advice, the hardtail holdout, behind the scenes at the biggest race in the USA.
Let’s Ride
While it’s my privilege to share knowledge and insight about mountain biking on a weekly basis through my videos and this newsletter, I also get the opportunity to learn from the best! This week, I got quite the education from Eric Porter about getting your kids into mountain biking.
The Hardtail Holdout
Respect! I honestly couldn’t be more stoked on this video - or this rider. Robbie Kane is locked in on a hardtail, never owning a full suspension bike in his twenty years of riding. I’m so psyched on this!
On The Up
This feels like a proper movie. Rapha put this together around the women’s elite racers at Leadville this year, which was special for all kinds of reasons. Watch this film, you won’t regret it. More of this, please!
Blue Ribbon
Nico Vink came through Bellingham and worked with Transition Bikes to create this trail. From start to finish, you get to see this trail come to life. Now that I’ve watched this, I think I need to drive North to ride it!
Voyage
I like the vibe of this video. Epic spots, check. Legit riders, check. Solid edit, check. Casey Brown, Graham Agassiz, and plenty more riders to bring it all together.
Have You Seen This?
Sometimes a little positive self-talk goes a long way when you’re riding something scary on your bike. I wonder what was going through Fabio Wibmer’s head when he was riding this thing? I think I held my breath for the entire length of this clip!
Newsworthy
🔥 Natural Selection - Bike is official! Queenstown, NZ is going to be the location - get the scoop here. February 8th can’t come soon enough!
🏆 Red Bull Rampage isn’t the ONLY mountain bike event in Utah. The Green River Classic is a bit more of a gathering, open to more riders and a little bit looser jam format than Rampage. Check out Dylan Stark’s edit from the event!
🎥 There’s this trend of “dad cam” edits where the footage looks a little more raw and rough, and this video from 50to01 is a great example of it.
🐐 Greg Minnaar did another sit down with the PinkBike podcast, and they covered a ton of topics, now that his World Cup racing career has drawn to a close.
🤯 Ondra Slez dropped this cool slopestyle-ish edit a few days ago, this is a fun (quick) watch if you’re in the mood to watch a bunch of new and creative tricks.
🎙️ My podcast, Second Nature, hit the 50 episode milestone this past week. If you’re not already listening, now would be a great time to check it out. It’s all about the outdoor industry, and we’ve got a very special guest lined up for tomorrow’s podcast.
I Can’t Stop Thinking About
While the topic of my video this week is about getting my oldest son to ride, one of the biggest things that’s happened this past week has been my ten-year-old daughter’s sudden interest in mountain biking. It might have something to do with all the videos I’ve been posting lately about her big brother, or it could be related to all the signed posters in her room from Kate Courtney, Rebecca Rusch, Jill Kintner (and plenty more incredibly inspiring riders).
The most important piece of advice is actually for me - not her. If we want to get our kids to stay with the sport, we have to play it cool and take it super slow. Even though I’m already dreaming about her standing on top of all the NICA and World Cup podiums, I know that if I push too hard, it’ll become my vision and not hers.
So here’s to all the parents out there (just like me) that are carefully balancing between excitement and patience. It’s the hardest bike trick I’ve ever had to learn.
MTB Dad Advice
I learned a lot over the two week roadtrip with my son (most of it, the hard way) - but Eric Porter has been a constant source of wisdom along the way. We stopped in to visit the Porter family on our roadtrip, and in addition to a great ride at Woodward Park City, we also did a “dads only” ride where he imparted even more wisdom about getting your kids into mountain biking.
Protect Your Knees
During today’s episode on the roadtrip, Teegan unboxed a fresh set of Endura Ghost Knee Pads. This was a well-timed delivery with the steeper and gnarlier trails we’re riding out west. I’ve ridden with a lot of different knee pads, but these are my current favorites. Yet another delivery meant for Teegan that was almost immediately swooped by me. They’re on sale right now, too - 25% off.
Thank You!
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter - and hopefully you enjoyed the videos that I shared this week. Fall is always a little tricky for mountain bike videos, but so far…so good. If you’d like to help me out, could you test this new button below? Supposedly, clicking it will help this newsletter grow. Let’s find out!