Gimbals and Swivel Mounts; oh my!

I'm back! Another weekend at Blue Mountain, yielded another sore ass, dirty, sweaty pads and of some decent new footage from behind, over and around the bars. Pushing pride aside in the name of creative exploration, I hit the trails looking like R2D2, just to see if I could get some more exciting yet steady footage of what I enjoy most. I picked up a Rhino Swivel mount from Amazon to take advantage of the 360° coverage as well as a cable extension for my gimbal, which I mounted to my chest. The results are shown below. If you compare this video the last video I posted here, you ought to notice a lot more image stabilization. As I continue to ride at Blue Mountain, my cajones grow larger which means more speed and more exciting footage. For now, here's the latest from phattire headquarters!

DH ride at Blue Mountain

Fortunately, I got a few XC rides in this summer and for that; I'm thankful. A ride up in Jim Thorpe, PA and a few trips to my local trails at Hashawha have quelled my thrist for dirt and speed.

Although over the past few years, like the mold in my vegetable crisper, the urge to get into downhill (DH) mountain biking has been steadily growing. What once was an exciting thought has now become reality. A few weeks ago, I picked up a  used DH rig that I found on Pinkbike. It's a 2015 Specialized Status 1. In all my years of riding, this is my first "Spesh". After a quick bleed of the breaks, new tires, flat pedals, and overhaul of the drivetrain, she's running tip-top.  I took it out to Blue Mountain and we put eachother through our paces. I was exhausted after only 5 runs down the mountain. 7" of front and rear travel makes for a lot of bike but I am absolutely loving it! This is not to say DH riding is new to me. "Back in the day" I was quite a ballsy freerider, spending most of my weekends riding pirate huckle up at the Frederick Watershed. Those were the days. My bike was a beefy hardtail and my body was made of rubber. Young and fearless, you might say. Things are a little different today. I was quite reserved during my first day of riding this bike on the mountain. I got some hangtime and I carved some berms, but a lot slower than the rest of the riders at the park that day. Nevertheless, I did have my Gopros running and I put together the 3 minute video you see below. More soon.

Above: 2015 Specialized Status 1