Early Christmas

Today was like Christmas: I got a parcel from Scotland ...
With lots of apparel from Endura!
Thanks to Jim and his team!

Also thanks to Johannes for making great photos.

So I dressed up and went for a ride.
Luckily there was no fog up in the mountains, just blue sky!

The Duke

A long planned Videoproject from Andi was realised this Juli:
A Mountain bike trip into the heart of the Hochschwab! A mountain range near
my hometown. Johannes and myself with our bikes, Andi with a big (!) backpack full of
Video equipment. After more than 4 hours mostly carring our bikes we had a short break
at the refuge. Luckily we were fast enough to reach the top before sunset!
What a great view, a touching moment ... A sunset on a mountain is really something special!

After a short night we started filming about 5 o´clock the next day. Section after section we
rode down, Andi had to walk a lot to find the perfect spots for filming. It took us long after
midday till we reached our starting point. What a great trip, what a great experience!

And here it is:


Visiting the Duke from amotion.at on Vimeo.


some photos:
The Alpha & Omega; sunset & sunrise:

Panorama from the top:
(as with most photos: click to enlarge)

Various pictures

Some pictures I really like, mostly from 2010.

without a story, just good shots.

(klick to enlarge!)
Photos take by Johannes!

Last autumn

This is a video from last year, we were riding a big mountain (2680 m) in Osttirol.
On the top there was some snow and also ice passages. Altogether there are 1900 m of downhill!
But first you have to get up, 900 m mostly carrying the bike!
We were lucky to have perfect weather and thanks to Andi (www.amotion.at) who was filming.


Silly Lines Reloaded from amotion.at on Vimeo.

View from the top of the mountain:

Every time I see this mountain down from valley, I´m surprised that you can ride such a mountain!
The red marking shows the first 900 m of downhill, still 1000 m of singletrails are waiting!

Time travel

A time travel from 1982 to 1994.

As an 11 year old boy I got my first race bike:
a used "Chesini" from my father.
The first picture shows me on top of the Großglockner road!

Unfortunately there is no picture from my first MTB (1984; a RWC with 15 gears).

From 1988 on for the next 4 years I had a Scott Windriver (Shimano XT with 18 gears).
With this bike I made my first attempts in the alps.
The wiggly picture shows me near the Seekofel area in Italy.

Playing around in Greece, where I worked as a Guide for 2 summers.

Last one: my time as an XC rider, getting air with my Kona Explosif steel frame.

Psychotrail Part II

Last week I´ve done a new video on a challenging trail near to my hometown.
The first section is very exposed to a cliff, the more technical stuff after it is very steep.
Unfortunately you can´t really see it on the video.

Springtime

Spring is coming, ice & snow are melting from my hometrails.
Despite the fact that today the mountains surrounding my hometown are fresh covered with snow!

Here are some pictures from this week:
Fine, warm weather on wednesday, the first 800 m climb this season.
I was a little bit exhausted ...
Nice view from the top!

The whole downhill is nice singletrail with lots of flow!

On Saturday I had the chance to ride the socalled "Lifttrassentrail" near Graz.
(thanks to Daniel, Wolfgang, Martin & Johannes for their invitation)
A steep, technical trail under the chair-lift.

Some thight turns with loose gravel.

Very steep section that wasn´t riden before! :-)

Thanks to Martin (http://www.trickytrails.com/) for taking the photos!

Playin´ in the woods

For the first time I experimented with a video,
filming myself with my small Sony camera.
The name speaks for itself: some playing around with fallen trees!

Pics of 2009

2009 I really did a lot of biking, several summits could be done for the first time.
This is a short excerpt of it.
For the small photos: click to enlarge.
Thanks to the photographer!

Silly Lines

Why "Silly Lines"?
I came up with the name after some riding with friends, where I always tried to make the
trail more difficult by choosing not the smooth line, instead riding over all obstacles on or beside the trail.
Now "silly lines" is a synonym for playing around with my bike and the trail.

Gear

Bike:

A Banshee Rune V2 X-Large size, with Fox Float X .

Fork: Rock Shox Lyrik Coil Uturn 160 mm

SLX Brakes, rest is XT.

Chris King rear hub with Notubes Flow Ex Rim.

Hope front hub with Atomz trial rim.

Apperal: Endura

As you can see on my photos, I wear mostly a Hummvee baggy and Baa Baa Merino shirts.

Helium or Adrenaline Jacket.

Protection: Singletrack lite gloves and knee protector.

Eyewear: Endura Gabbro glasses with photocromic lens.

 

About me

It all started a long time ago, together with my father I bought one of the first MTB´s that were sold here in Austria (RWC, 1984).
I was racing XC, later I mounted a DH bar on my XC bike, then a Fullsuspension bike, the tires got wider
and the bikes heavier ...
More & more being fast became less important. The aim was not training to get as quick as possible,
just playing around with the bike became crucial, often doing some basic trial moves.
So for me it was a natural evolution to ride difficult trails trying not to put my foot down on the ground. It´s a kind of downhill-trial.
As I progressed in my riding techniques I was able to ride mountains
that were reserved to mountaineers before.

One of the big reasons why I enjoy biking so much is the great outdoor experience.


Biking is not only a hobby for me: since several years I work in a bikeshop.