Danny Hart's Fantastic Final Run at The 2011 World Championship

Just recently I saw a video of Danny Hart at the 2011 World Championship in Champery and I would say this is one of the greatest runs in the history of the world championships, I don't see any reason why Sam Hill cannot be dethroned because of  that run. It was totally insane considering the condition of the track. How did he get through that section where he almost slipped only a man possessed with a mountain god can do that.

All hail to new champ Danny Hart

One epic tail whip!

 Before the start of the world championship season Danny or Dirty Dan as he is popularly known has been showing his potential already giving the elite downhill racers a run for their money, although not as popular with the likes of Sam Hill, Steve Peat and Aaron Gwin he is on a class of  his own in the 2011 season. Here's a look of his stats up to his world championship win.

Pietermaritzburg , SA 22nd place, Fort William, SC 2nd place, Leogang , AU 6th place, Mont Saint-Anne CN 4th place, Windham, US 9th place, La Bresse,FR 13th place, Val di Sole, IT 2nd place and Champery SW 1st place and World Champion.

For those who are stating a fan page for Danny Hart her is a brief bio of the champion. He was born in Redcar England on September 20 1991. He rides for Giant Factory Off- Team.

The bike that Danny used on Champery was a Giant Glory frame large size set which a prototype frame, while most riders tend to change their set up time and time again Danny is much concerned on how well the ride will go, he just basically wants to have his bike set up then just leave it. He's been using the same bike with same set up all year. The bike was also fitted with Schwalbe's Dirty Dan mud tires one of the most important aspects on his final run because of the slippery conditions at Champery it is proper to select the most road worthy tire for the job it has a triple compound mix which work very well in these muddy terrain. Another mud-beating feature is the braking system which has neat carbon fibers covers.

No doubt with that epic run at Champery it only shows the mountain biking world what a technically gifted athlete Danny is. He truly deserves the rainbow stripes and seeing him defending them this March in South Africa is another experience worth having.

Best Weekend Ride

Snow capped mountains creates a beautiful landscape of this area.

Let me tell you about the latest trail ride that I had when a riding buddy of ours Gary invited us to Mexico, it will be my first time to experience riding in this area so I'm pretty excited. He advised us on the road condition once were there. We will expect a lot of  technical trails with many beautiful scenery along the way, also the trail is littered with a lot of sharp objects like small rocks, dried tree branches and sharp grass we can expect this on the climbs and on the decent as well.

One of the many beautiful scenery Ajusco has to offer.

The name of this area is called Ajusco it is actually an extinct volcano measuring 3,930 m. It is the highest point in the Mexican Federal District situated at the at the southern most part of the Mexico City.




We started out at Parque San Nicolas a very popular cycling and hiking town  which opened in 1998,  because of the awesome trails across mountain passes ali types of out-door enthusiasts come and visit these trails.

So far so good until one of the guys had a flat tire.

I think the best adventure involves some hiking.

As you can see things can be quite deceiving once you enter the park itself. Although the beginning part of the trail is not quite extravagant but once you've pedaled for a few kilometers the back draft suddenly changes. It really gave a new perspective of the area. We were awed by the beauty of the scenery until one of lead rider Tommy blew out his front tire because of some sharp rocks. lucky for him he was using his clip less pedals, we saw him almost flipped over.

That was very nasty rock, check out the puncture wound.

After pedaling for a couple of hours our guide "Gary" advise us to take a rest to give us another quick briefing before we continue on further. Perfect time to enjoy the stunning view of valley below and Mexico City.

He further informed us that Ajusco is a source of water and that two of the major rivers in the area the Lerma and Balsas River draws from it. Also adjacent to it's peak there are remaining springs where Mexico City also get some of their water supply.

The view from above is always breathtaking

View of Mexico City from Ajusco

One of the beautiful trails on our way back

After the briefing and a quick lunch we pressed forward until a couple of  hours we finally  reached  the summit, we had to put on our jackets because it got very cold all of a sudden. The view from the summit is spectacular every body yelled rejoicing our success in conquering Ajusco.

We stayed there til sunset which give another spectacular view of the area. The decent is equally as exciting but since its getting dark we would need to go down on a faster pace because we are not prepared for a night ride and its always risky to do it on this type of terrain. We reached the park entrance at around 6:30pm.

With all the different back draft this area has to offer I would highly recommend it as one of the place for group trail ride.Also I must say this will not be the last time for me to ride this area. 

Welcome to the Mountain Rider Blog

This blog is about my life as a common BMX rider evolving into a  Mountain Biker, how it all started, the experiences that I would like to share on the past rides that I have with friends not to mention how it helped me alleviate stress. My name is Noel Amores father of  three kids 2 girls and a boy. I did work as a Sales and Marketing Officer for numerous companies , I am a full time dad or at least I try to when I'm at home also with all the schedules that I need to attend to I make sure that I find time for my hobby which is Mountain Biking.

Its actually an understatement to refer to it as a hobby,  for me I consider it a lifestyle that I would like to share this to everyone especially to those who  are confined to their work, this is for me the best remedy for stress, no need to work your way to be a professional you can always choose your own discipline weather you like riding on the road or off-road not to mention the exercise, and if off-road is your option then I  welcome you to Mountain Biking.

 It all started during the 80's when the BMX scene was at its peak, E.T. was a big hit and back then safety was not part of the fashion the only thing that matters is that you have your bike and your friends and go to where ever the ride takes you, The only safety feature I can remember from my bike back them were the foams wrapped on the middle part of the handle bars and the top part of the frame,much like this one.

I always love the out doors even when I still don't know how to ride a bike I spend most of my time hiking or walking thru the city, you might say that I'm always out, its the thrill of discovery  going to different places even in a small town, best of all my friends shared the same interest as I did , we would hike for hours I especially like the forest trails where we usually end up at a cliff with a remarkable view of the beach or hill.

 I learned to ride a bike when I was 9 using a womans bike were the top tube is lower, then got my dad to buy me a GT BMX. I was so caught up with biking until I was in high school were a new kind of bicycle came to the scene, back then my first view of a Mountain bike look strange especially the wheels size since that was the first time I saw a size 26" wheel, my first impression of it that is was too heavy.
But once I got to ride one I was convince this the rig for me. 

Today now in my early 40's I am still very much attached to that principle,the thing that really matters is the " journey" rather than the destination I can still remember how thrilled I was as we prepare for a ride every weekend with my buddies.  As in every ride that we go through, we always encounter different challenges wherein we will need to help each other to overcome it, you have your usual flat tires which can easily be addressed, in our case going were no man have gone before,  a lot of times we tend get lost  especially when we travel near forest areas but somehow thru our cooperative efforts we manage to find our way back, not to mention a combination of these problems that we did encounter and each one has a different ending. Most important  is the lesson that we did learned thru these adventures.

Riding a mountain bike for me is the next level of my experience with an upgraded version of my childhood rig, it made me travel more into uncharted regions farther than I have ever been, with the technological  advancement in its gears and accessories its now possible to go to a higher location,one can actually carry his bike because of the light materials being used to create the parts company are now shifting to carbon fiber rather than usual aluminum.

Nowadays a rider can enjoy both aspect of a ride "ascent and decent" especially when riding in the mountains and the another important factor is the improve safety and comfort of riding newer bikes, back then you wouldn't dare ride on top of a hill without having good brakes but now fortunately its a lot different.

Also you learn a lot of things from the people that you ride with new trails, fixing your gears, riding tips things that will help you grow as a rider. and these are the things that you need to bring into the mountain other than your toolkit.