Midweek Mini Movies 223

It’s another week’s worth of films to feast your eyes on. Tune in, brew up and slack off; it’s time for Midweek Mini Movies!

Anka Martin – Juliana Racer

Juliana Bicycles headed up to Whistler to cheer on Anka Martin, one of our Juliana Racers, during the penultimate round of the Enduro World Series. Anka and the rest of our crew of Juliana riders reflect a go-getting attitude that inspires us all to get on our bikes, go out there, and ride.

If you share Anka’s passion, then get in touch and tell us about yourself. We’re ready to grow this family of riders, so we’re looking to support more racers, ambassadors, and juniors in our dealer communities who identify with the spirit of Juliana Bicycles. Find out how to apply here: julianabicycles.com/en/us/ambassador-program

Riding England’s Finest Trails, Whatever The Weather | Trail Ninja, Ep. 19

England is green for a reason: rain. But to prove once and for all that we are men and not mice, we hit one of England’s classic mountain bike rides -Cut Gate- on a wet October day. Riding in the wet tests your skill and gives you a damn good reason to hit the pub after – to warm up. Throw in some world-class terrain, incredible views and epically fun riding and you have one of the world’s finest excuses to get out on your bike. The Peak District, England. It doesn’t get much better than this. Really. Riding England’s Finest Trails, Whatever The Weather | Trail Ninja, Ep. 19

Chromag: Logan Peat

After a successful 2014 contest season, Logan Peat takes to the coastal forests of British Columbia to explore and relive some of his favourite riding spots. Video by Mind Spark Cinema

Frank The Welder

An insight into the life of Frank The Welder, renowned framebuilder, Mountain Bike Hall of Fame inductee and all round good guy.

FEST series – Loosefest – All drone

Nico Vink worked hard to build a massive set of jumps in the town of Malmedy at the Bikepark Ferme Libert for his FEST event, which was held July 29th to August3rd 2014. Loosefest showcased, not only, the biggest jumps of the 2014 FEST series, but some of the biggest jumps ever cleared on mountain bikes. The beginning of the course had aflowy section with 2 berms, a shark fin into a first 60 feet left side hip, followed by a 70 feet straight jump which lead into the final 75 feet booter slightly hipped to the right.

Tuscany Trail || unsupported bicycle adventure ||

Tuscany is one of the most astonishing gems of Italy, an amazing place so famous also beyond its borders.

Tuscany Trail goes through the most peculiar places of this region: Apuane alps, the historic centre of Firenze, San Gimignano, Volterra, Siena, Pienza, val d’Orcia and the Argentario peninsula. Beauties that comes either from nature and Renaissance, side by side, along the trail.
Like in a puzzle where every single piece of a great plan perfectly matches, so sport, nature, culture and art join this adventure.

What is Tuscany Trail? It’s an adventure, not a race, in other words an experience: an unusual, exciting and uncertain experience. A bikepacking experience.

It’s unsupported: there’s a start and a GPS track, but nothing more.
Everybody has to plan the course looking at their needs and attitudes or listening to what their body communicates. There’ll be who is challenging himself and who’s taking it easy, relishing the stunning view.
640 km (400 miles), with an elevation gain of 12000m (39000 feet), where half of them are on gravel roads and singletracks.
This is Tuscany Trail.

Video and editing: Martino Vincenzi
Tailored music: Leonardo Borchi
Camera assistant: Daniele Dalla Valle

Filmed during the first edition of Tuscany Trail (1-6 May 2014)

Emerald Enduro

The Chain Reaction Cycles Emerald Enduro presented by Biking.ie will host the 2nd Round of the 2015 Enduro World Series on the 23rd and 24th of May in the stunningly beautiful surroundings of Carrick Mountain in the Wicklow Hills, also known as the ‘Garden of Ireland’. The best bike riders in the world will complete several timed technical downhill stages, in a rally style format called ‘Enduro’. The rider with the fastest combined stage times on day shall be crowned the winner. Several thousand spectators and dozens of international journalists, photographers and film crews will descend on County Wicklow to witness the most spectacular biking event Ireland has ever hosted.

Afghan Cycles Trailer

Afghan Cycles is a short documentary film about the Women’s National Cycling Team of Afghanistan.

“The bicycle has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives a woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. The moment she takes her seat she knows she can’t get into harm unless she gets off her bicycle, and away she goes, the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.” – Susan B. Anthony

Nowhere is this quote more true than in Afghanistan today. Afghan Cycles introduces the first women to ride bikes in the country, illustrating the gender and social barriers that the team is breaking, one pedal stroke at a time. Highlighting 4 of the 12 teammates, we look at their lives on and off the bike. From training on dangerous trucking highways to following them through a typical day in Kabul, the film shares the intimate story of these brave and passionate young women who feel free when they are on their bikes in an otherwise oppressive culture.

To understand the cultural shift that these women are igniting, we spoke with Parliament member and Presidential hopeful, Fawzia Koofi. She speaks to the conditions of women’s lives in Afghanistan, and the cultural benefits of women in sport. We also sat down with Heather Barr of the Human Rights Watch who has been working in women’s prisons throughout the country as an expert on women’s rights in Afghanistan. Our characters also include the President of the Afghan Olympic Committee and the coach of the team, who both explore how the team was formed and their goals for the women.

Downhill Taxco 2014 Final City Downhill World Tour video

Highlight’s from the City Downhill World Tour in Taxco.

The Photographer

https://vimeo.com/110439986

Obsessions run deep and can be pervasive. And in our line of work a lot comes down to presentation, so we definitely obsess about photography. We appreciate how high quality shots can accentuate the beauty of the ride, capture the emotion of the moment, and show off the fruit of our labor.

It’s funny how things can come together, and in our pursuit for the best visual representation of Kitsbow we were juggling the usual factors: photographer, location and subjects. Suddenly we thought, “picturesque place to ride, home of a great outdoor photographer, willing riders…. Wait – that’s Park City with Scott Markewitz and our friends!”
Park City is one of America’s iconic mountain towns full of great riding and adjacent to the beautiful Wasatch. It is also home to the great Scott Markewitz who has made his career capturing people in motion. His perspective comes from vast experience participating in the very adventures he choses to shoot, from big mountain skiing to mountain biking. Our mutual friends, Yuri Hauswald, Levi Leipheimer, and Mark Sevenoff know a thing or two about going fast over uneven terrain, and said they’d love to participate. Perfect.

The rooms were stunning with walls painted yellow, the ceiling blue, and the carpet a loamy red. The weather cooperated and gave us great light. Shooting a day like this from before sun-up to after sundown makes for a hard day, but we love the results. So much so, we thought we’d share a little behind-the-scenes edit. Even when obsessing, one shouldn’t take anything too seriously.

Jay blasts around Cardinham Woods

Jay Williamson rides the trails at Cardinham Woods like you’ve never seen before.

Dusty days

Switzerland had the wettest summer since 50 years with almost 200% more rain than last year. So it wasn’t vey easy to find the sun to shoot but we went to the dusty italian trail and finally found summer.

Urban Downhill Mountain Biking with Filip Polc

Who needs dirt trails when you’ve got 132 flights of stairs? Filip Polc shot over to Tbilisi, Georgia for a chance to show the locals how urban downhill mountain biking really goes down, hosting a race that ran between urban stair sets and dirt trails in a day filled with all-out riding.

Oil & Water presented by Armada Skis

Oil and Water
a short film by Armada

The Armada Team has always been a group of skiers who have brought new life and a unique perspective to an industry in need of change. This film is a journey into the lives of five of these skiers and their approach to the sport. They are the ‘oil in the water’

Starring: Phil Casabon, Henrik Harlaut, Mike Hornbeck, Riley Leboe, Kim Boberg, Tanner Hall, JP Auclair, Jacob Wester, and Oscar Harlaut.

And finally, if the internet had corners this would be one of our favourites…

“Discovering Scarfolk” by Richard Littler

“Scarfolk is a town in north-west England that did not progress beyond 1979. The entire decade of the 1970s loops ad infinitum. In Scarfolk children must not be seen OR heard, and everyone has to be in bed by 8 p.m. because they are perpetually running a slight fever…”

Part-comedy, part-horror, part-satire, Discovering Scarfolk is the surreal account of a family trapped in the town. Through public information posters, news reports, books, tourist brochures and other ephermera, we learn about the darker side of childhood, school and society in Scarfolk.

A massive cult hit online, Scarfolk re-creates with shiver-inducing accuracy and humour our most nightmarish childhood memories.

Thanks to everyone that sent in suggestions this week. If you’ve seen or made anything you reckon should be up here next time the address is, as ever: newsdesk@singletrackworld.com.

And remember: Keep feeling fascination, yeah?

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