maanantai 20. heinäkuuta 2015

SRC Road Trip 2015

This one is turning into a tradition already! Third time in a row now, SRC Racing Team headed to Voss Ekstremsportveko and Åre Bike Festival to combine world class rivers and some quality enduro biking.

The Finnish base camp at Voss Ekstremsportveko - Pay attention to the perfectly organized way the vans are parked to create a good shelter from outsiders!

Lots of snow on the mountains around Voss made the rivers flow unusually high this year. That meant lots of fun even on the standard racing sections, endless park'n'huck show on the famous Teigedal double drop (not my cup of tea though…), and a couple of rarely seen rivers to be conquered.

It's late June, and there still is some snow left to make the rivers flood.

The main drop on the Brandset kayak race.

Toni Lähteenmäki on a seemingly good line to boof a hole in the last gorge of Frya. One second later the line turned out to be more on the entertaining side of good… A really enjoyable continuous river, sometimes in a nearly unescapable gorge. (This river is actually not in Voss, but closer to Sjoa. It just had to be ran because of the perfect water level!)
(Photo by Jukka Ollikainen)

The highlight of the Voss Ekstremsportveko is definitely the Horgi Ned race - an extreme triathlon combining downhill skiing, downhill biking and white water kayaking. And flying up to the top to enjoy the views at the start line is not making the day any worse…

No need to pedal up! You actually have to take the pedals of your bike, to avoid breaking the other bikes hanging in the net.

This is where it all starts - try and find your way down as fast as you can!

Looking really fast(?), but still had some catching up to do with the bike and the kayak. I wonder why...

People enjoying the mountain views (or getting nervous…) while waiting for the start.

Five races in two weeks - most of them requiring a training day before the competition itself - made a full on road trip. Not all the results are something to be remembered, but the SRC racing team had some fast moments too - especially with the bikes! Nowadays there are corners in Åre Bike Park called The Finnish Elbow #1 and #2.