agentgreen

These terrace ruins were discovered in 2008, while building the trail...the trail runs through them (but were not used for the race)

haha chairlift...thats funny...nope in Peru you take a taxi up...takes about an hour to get to the pass from where you start the trail...don't have a ton of pic's with me, but here are some,

yeah with the extended first section at the start it's just under 20km

Haha, true that...busy trying to resize some of the pic's now, we hosted a race last month (Chris Van Dine and Aaron Chase came through, here is the link, the pic's are not so good, but there are some vid's though: www.incadownhill.com) My problem is I don't have enough spares...(read ANY) basically got a brake bleed kit (and quite a lot of spare pads, as our 20km DH run is pretty hard on the brakes) and wet weather tyres (can't ride here november-mid may without them wetscreams!) will get cracking on some of the pictures...check out that vid!!!

If you saw the trails you'd totally understand how worth it is...CRC and Evans have saved my ass plenty over the last year!!! hoping to get some cash together for a camera to record the rides and post them (just gotta stop breaking stuff on my bike for long enough to achieve this!!)

Naa Corsairs come stock with Marzocchi's, got a mate of mine from the states to bring the Elka down with him in exchange for a couple of nights free at at a local hostel, You can't get jack in the south of Peru (had to come to Argentina to get a wheel sent here, as Peruvian customs are bastard swine and I've had too many bad experiences with them)...Lima's got some nice bike shops, something like five Specialized dealers there and even a Yeti dealer, but it's a 23 hour bus ride and I was coming here anyway.

Yip, Elka stage 5, Unbelievably smooth!!

In it's current state...Wrote off my back wheel on a big double so I took the chance to pull apart and clean out the mud from the rainy season...new Hope Pro2 laced to a Mavic 729 is in the mail!!!

nope...in this poll i voted nookie!

Got a Boxxer on my Corsair Crown...they are 2008 world cup Boxxers and I cant complain, Lighter than my mate's Fox 40's, but way less of a pain in the arse to maintain....older marzocchi's (the made in Italy ones) are good, they are pretty much bullet proof so the weight is not so much of an issue...i'd run888's just for their strength and bomb proof-ness, boxxer's (not so much) and 40's (in particular) require a lot of attention and servicing whereas, for example, my boss run's 888's on his chumba and he has not serviced or touched them in more than two years...(in fact, he wrecked his frame and had to replace it but the 888's were hundreds!!)

Got juicy 5's on my XC and Codes on my DH rig's, good reliable brakes, no problems, but my vote goes to Formula's...a mate of mine is running them on his freeride rig and they are the business!

Hahaha! nice one. I gotta offer my two cents worth here...I Live and work in the Sacred Valley, in Southern Peru and without contest I can say I am blessed to ride the best trails (fantastic cross country, in nearly every direction, a nearly 20km Downhill course, and if I had my road bike with me, a great 58km climb at a good gradient or something shorter and steeper), HOWEVER, the price paid is a heavy one, I work as a tour guide (yip, taking americans and bike tours) and more than 90% of the tourists I guide are couples, young late 20-somethings or early 30-somethings (the majority) who are about to be married, or just got married, sometimes we get just-been- wed's (the WORST) and it is not easy when the town you live in is populated by Incas and Llama's (SERIOUSLY, I'd rather shag a Llama than a Local girl...they are not the prettiest to make a gross understatement!) so my advice to all of you is, be careful what you wish for!!!!

My link

YES!!!! I agree, It does not matter what you ride, it's THAT you ride. get it? since the age of 5 I have ridden almost every category possible, Started out as a junior rodie, rode mountain as a teenager, dabbled in BMX, in my 20's I did lot's of cyclo-cross and now in the last year i have been blessed to live in a place with the best DH on the planet...i still get excited when i see a group of roadies going up a climb and think "gosh, that looks like a fun time" the ONLY divide there should be is between those who ride and those who do not...and if you ride, you should not be such a bike snob that you criticize another form of the same activity, because then you are a tool, you should swing a leg over ANY kind of bike knowing you are going to have a fun as hell time, and if you are unable to do this then you are simply a poser...bottom line.road bike, bmx, trials bike, mountain bike (hard tail or sull sus), freaking commute bike with a flower basket on it...it's still a bike and that is all there is to it...

WOW...great to see so many replies...keep them coming with cool routes and places to go... Road or mtb? To answer that question...EVERYTHING! got a road bike back home in S.A. (it is chilling out with my XC bike) and currently have my 26" DRD street trials (for cities) and Corsair Crown DH rig with me...If I want to do any cross country stlye cardio training I just take one of the bikes at work (working as a guide in the Peruvian Andes) for a whirl... The main reason I had asked this question is because I was doing a search the other night for trails in South America and literally nothing came up (apart from GravityBolivia, the sister company of the company I work for who have web domination-but really only take gap year kids and backpackers down the "camino de la muerte" (worlds most dangerous road, as seen on bbc's Top Gear) I have done some time in La Paz with them and feel sorry for their guides, as they work hard but pretty much exclusivley do this route, which is a bit of a yawn to be honest... Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador have some of the most spectacular riding avalable, not just the scenery, but the trails also are beyond belief...not quite like bike parks of North America, which are lush, well maintained and silky smooth, Or the Perfection of Switzerland these trails are rugged and challenging and just mind blowing (did a 20km DOWNHILL this morning from the base of the glacier on Mt Veronica, through the middle of a recently discovered incan terrace, down into the sacred valley, for example-which is a almost daily ride for me now) and if I had my road bike with me (would prefer a cyclo cross bike for Peru though) I'd be able to do the 58km climb up to the same pass....any kind of riding you can think of is here, and yet the rest of the world just want's to do Europe or Bike parks? I guess it just strikes me as rather odd, that people complain about the recession, the global economy and all that but one of the most economical biking holiday's you could do (without a doubt WAY cheaper than Europe or North America) is a literal unknown!!! Like I said, I'm not on a soapbox here, really just curious as to where you all like to go and why... Oh, yeah, AND Lesotho does not count as S.A. and is a damm fine place to ride!!! (wish I could be there for that one!)

SSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!! Love that!

So here is a question i'd love to see answered...where is the best place ( NOT IN SOUTH AFRICA ) to take a holiday and do some biking? Yes, the global economy is *** and so in all probability most folks keep things on home soil, and with good reason, we do have brilliant terrain for biking in South Africa, but i'm curious as to where you all have gone and would like to go in the world to get in some great riding and do some travelling?

agreed!

yeah i enabled multiple votes...thats fine! like i said, i've already made up my mind...just wanted to gauge popular opinion!

yeah i've seen many people complain on international forums about the mac compatibility... luckily i'm a mere mortal and would rather spend the pittance i make on bikes than on a mac!

i'm sorry, i don't get that one? over my head...

dang nabbit...80% i'm flabbergasted!