Alrighty folks – it’s Abe here with your insider-scoop coming from Vegas! Aside oogling the new products and bikes being launched into the public, we see Interbike as the venue to put the TSEpic into the spotlight for vendors and teams and companies, frankly so they can see how friggin’ cool this Central PA race really is. And yes, TSEpic is on the radar for many of the people we talked to – the race must be making waves in the stage-racing swimming pool.
I came in to Interbike hot and heavy from a full weekend of photographing events, and was thrown into the Dirt Demo venue. Yeah, it’s abysmally oven-like and dry and dusty, but unlike the Vegas strip lurkers, nothing about these terrain features is fake or plastic. It was pretty amazing to be out in the desert with a few thousand people hopped up on bikes, and getting to ride some of my dream bikes (Spot Brand’s Honey Badger and Moots’ Mooto X) through out the beautiful canyons was a treat. I broke out my camera much less than I should have, as it was tough to take a bad photo out there, and luckily I managed to stay upright over both of the days of riding.
Fat-tire bikes and disc-brake roadies were all the rage out there, and my advice is to always work from the heaviest bike to the lightest – not trying the 16 pound XC SS racer and then moving to the 35ish pounder fat-bike in the heat of the day. It just will be more fun that way. Enough said – here are a few photos from the madness:
9:Zero:7 Fat Bike Fiesta! Perfect for skids, too bad it’s not a fixie.
On the way out to the demo area – Hot Tip #1: Stay hydrated for extra fun, and sorry, beer does not count.
Fat Bike Pump Track.
View from the top, looking into the Downhill Challenge. Biggest regret I had was not giving it a shot.
Fun. Wayyyy fun. Note: Shimano’s Zee standup was written backwards here. In no way was the lens to blame.
Another view from the top… Why didn’t I do this again?!
Alas, I got to ride one of my Fantasy Bikes, the Moots Mooto X through the XC portion.
Two guys from Clean Bottle, cleaning the trail. Hot Tip #2: Whatever you do, don’t fall. Thanks Justin from Freeze Thaw.
Got some more coming down the pipe, so stay tuned!
