This video is of a 70-hairpin 1000 vertical metres (1200 m amsl to 200 m amsl) an hour by car from where we live in Sardinia. The singletrack is just having its annual spruce-up from the Ente Foreste and so the switchbacks are much easier to ride than usual, when they are “alpine” – rocky and washed-out –

and you can’t use the skid-your-back-wheel-round technique. Some of them though, where the path hasn’t been cleaned and the really tight ones, remain pretty hard, as are the steps in the lower section. After it rains the rocks will be exposed again.

This is the descent described in my mate Dave’s blog which (finally) marked my deciding I had learnt to ride a mountain bike, though there are 5-6 obstacles + the steps that I still have to ride. For the first time, though, I did all the switchbacks above the half-way road first-time.

We do this leaving one car at the bottom and driving up to the top, then descent takes 2 hours. Or I just do half, pedalling up. The climb up on the asphalt is a very nice climb on a road bike, often used in local road races.

Peter (sorry for typos in subtitles, but can’t be arsed to redo it all)

Looks like a grand day out!

As a video I’d say its a tad long, and I’m sure your mate doesnt dab / stop all the time! Maybe more footage of the “failure price” (cliffs etc). And some more speedy bits.

Hope thats not too critical!

I’ve only been to Sardinia once – I wish I’d brough my bike! We were walking and still got scared a few times!

#Edit – forgot to say a lower camera position / angle might make things look faster & steeper.

looks good

As a video I’d say its a tad long, and I’m sure your mate doesnt dab / stop all the time! Maybe more footage of the “failure price” (cliffs etc). And some more speedy bits…a lower camera position / angle might make things look faster steeper.

Thanks for the comments. Up to now I (engineer from Yorkshire long on facts short on imagination) have tried to make the videos an accurate representation of what the riding is like, mixing in HelmetCam and normal video footage…a sort of documentary…and the camera on the helmet is easy to turn on/off. I have looked at video of other mounting positions, may try on downtube so you see fork working but is still easy to reach when riding.

And some more speedy bits.

There aren’t that many on the rides round here, the singletrack trails aren’t bermed/banked and are quite technical. I suspect I would be crap at riding (fast) standard black runs in a trail centre.

Maybe more footage of the “failure price” (cliffs etc).

Try 4:00 of this video, we are half-way up this cliff which Jerome base-jumped off (video).
cheers Peter

That looks ace.

And some more speedy bits…a lower camera position / angle might make things look faster steeper.

The camera position is too behind the stanchion but in this video the lower position makes even ax XC ride look rad. The lads and lasses chose the music 🙂 Peter

Ace? I don’t get it.
Top speed 10 mph?
Sorry but riding 1000 switchbacks with no flow in between seems dull to me. Would I not enjoy the alps?

“No flow in between” The fact that you have to go slow doesn’t mean there isn’t flow…in fact one of the challenges is cleaning successive sections which, taken singly, you can do but which ridden in succession challenge you not only to ride the section but to set up for the next one.

Look like a nice place but I could slay you on my HT I reckon. 😉